Law students' trust in the courts and the police

Law students prepare for a legal career and it is therefore of general interest, how much trust they have in the police and the courts. Their views may be influenced by their studies, media consumption, direct experience and other factors. In a previous study it appears as if law students are becoming more critical over the course of their studies. This explorative questionnaire study compares the views of 2012 final year undergraduate law students with the answers the same cohort gave in 2010, when starting their studies, and with final year law students 2010. Contrary to our expectation, the final year law students of 2012 showed more trust in courts and police than their predecessors 2010. The data suggest that the study of law, personal experiences and those of family and friends, as well as media effects are among the factors forming trust in the institutions.     

从制度修辞视角看法律信仰

法律能否被信仰?这是国内法学界近二十年来持续关注的一个重要理论争点。尽管法律信仰的理论有演化为意识形态的倾向,但法律信仰论自身是一种严谨的理论论述。法律信仰的论述理据,不应仅仅是伯尔曼所强调的法律与宗教在某种意义上的契合性或相似性,而且还在于即便完全不受宗教影响的、世俗化的法律,作为一种价值体系、传统、"事物规定性"的规范表达以及舍此无他的利益获取机制的内在禀赋。法律在实质上是基于价值、事实以及与此相关的利益的博弈结果或博弈的规范表述,是一种制度修辞。人们对一种制度修辞抱持不尽的热忱和追求,恰如人们虔信、又热忱地追求同样是一种修辞预设的上帝一样。所以,从制度修辞视角看法律信仰,饶有兴味——法律、法治本身是信仰的事业。     

论法律与理性

理性作为非权力话语 ,是法律人自我理解的前提 ,而自我理解又是法律人自我存在的依据。法的规律性认识可以通过运用人的本能的理性来获得 ,理性已不单是一个人的理性能力问题 ,而涉及主体相互间的语言沟通、交涉与理解的架构。我们对法的理性的理解 ,通常是从认知理性与道德或实践理性两种意义上来认识与讨论的。人们对法与理性的认识不是被动意义上的认识 ,而是一种解放性、扬弃性的认识。所以 ,法的理性还是一种批判能力。法的信仰不能超越理性。信仰一旦超越理性、为信仰服务 ,则将导致理性丧失生命。如果我们不能正视或无力回应当前理性所面临的各种各样的问题 ,那么 ,我们就无法切实地为我国法治建设提供充分而有效的理论支持。     

The emergence of the rule of law in Russia

This paper challenges an empirical claim about the commercial courts (arbitrazhnye sudy) made by Kathryn Hendley and her co-authors in their paper “Law, Relationships and Private Enforcement: Transactional Strategies of Russian Enterprise” in Vol. 52, No. 4, Europe-Asia Studies in 2000. Basing their case on a quantitative survey of Russian firms, they conclude that economic actors in the 1990s relied on ‘the law and legal institutions’ because the commercial courts were relatively effective. In order to test this claim about the link between individual behaviour and the judiciary, I ask: What type of belief about corruption was held by Russian economic actors who trusted the commercial courts for conflict resolution at the end of the 1990s? The data set is drawn from a survey of 227 Russian firms made in 1997. I use self-reported data on economic actors’ preference for using or not using the commercial court (in case of a hypothetical conflict about a considerable amount of money) as a proxy for trust. A binary logistic regression model shows that economic actors who accepted corruption as a fact of life at the time of market entry were three times more likely to trust the commercial courts for conflict resolution than economic actors who rejected corruption. This finding contradicts any reasonable definition of the rule of law and suggests that the neo-liberal reformers should have paid more attention to the content – rather than merely to the speed – of reform.     

Bleedings, purges, and vomits: Dr. Benjamin Rush's republican medicine, the bilious remitting yellow-fever epidemic of 1793, and the non-origin of the law of informed consent

To the consternation of many physicians, the modern law of informed consent imposes certain constraints on their actions, not least that they respect patients' decisions to redefine at will the scope of care. The consequences of this transfer of power are often a nuisance and occasionally fatal, but always a reflection of democracy's leveling march: Physicians now take orders rather than give them. However frustrating the modern preference for process over result might be, we should ask ourselves-before condemning the law's evolution-about the consequences for patients' health of a more radically democratic practice of medicine. This paper proposes to examine this question as framed by the life of Dr. Benjamin Rush, who, in addition to signing the Declaration of Independence, crafted a medical practice uniquely suited to the young Republic's presumed moral character: Self-aware sufferers would promptly identify their own maladies and courageously treat themselves. In the end, his enterprise was flawed because his democratic instincts misled not only his scientific inquiries (disease is complex, not simple) but also his practice recommendations (patients are scared, not intrepid). Reflection on Rush's failed project should give pause to those who lament the passing of paternalistic medicine, for the law's requirements, however onerous they might be, tolerably accommodate both patients' need for physicians' expertise and our democratic belief that consent is the fundamental precondition of all rule.     

需要何种法律信任

"法律信任"对"法律信仰"概念的修正,实质走向了一个韦伯式概念,其理论本身在很大程度上也是韦伯命题的理论映照。这一韦伯式的"法律信任"概念,无论是在理论上还是在现实上都面临着巨大的困难,这种双重困难指向同一问题:"法律信任"如何可能?由此,立基于韦伯式的形式法律理论之上,不可能产生真正的"法律信任"。"法律信任"概念要想有意义,就必须建立在一种更具实质性的法律理论之上。     

中国信托立法缺陷及其对信托功能的消解

中国信托立法有关财产权转移及信托业管制的规定存在一定的缺陷。隐藏在这些缺陷背后的是我国传统民法观念与信托这一新兴财产权制度之间的冲突以及固有的金融监管体制与领域宽泛的信托业之间的冲突。不能积极协调甚或漠视此等制度冲突 ,不仅不利于法制的统一 ,同时亦难免消解信托制度自身的积极功能     

Walking the Tightrope: Harmful Acts and the Construction of Crime in the Norwegian Securities Markets

The main topic of this article is the regulation and the construction of insider trading as crime. Trading on inside information is not something new, but the dramatization and the attempt to regulate these acts by penal law are of quite recent date. This article tries to examine the simple question of why there has been such activity in this field the last 20–30 years and the goals of this regulation. The article points out the need for building trust in the financial markets, even if it might be illusory, especially when these markets have been opened for the money of ‘ordinary citizens’. It also stresses the importance of creating a ‘moral map’ in order to establish clearer lines between right and wrong in the rather blurry world of financial markets.     

Women,psychosis and violence

Psychosis confers a disproportionate risk of violence on women compared with men, but such women barely affect national crime statistics anywhere. Much research in the field does not include women at all. In our literature review, we found that information about women, psychosis and violence generally had to be extracted from studies including women but focussing on men; not uncommonly analyses ‘controlled for gender’ rather than treating it as interesting in itself. A tendency for women to be older than men at onset of psychosis may not apply to those who become violent, but women with psychosis do seem to start offending later and desist sooner. Rates of seriously adverse childhood experiences are similar between women and men with psychosis, except for sexual abuse—more frequently reported by the women. Some evidence of special patterns for women in the nature of psychosis and violence relationships requires more exploration, as do treatment questions. With so few women in any one service, multi-centre co-operation in research with them will be essential.     

Wills,Trusts and Trusting from the Statute of Uses to Lord Nottingham

Medieval feoffments to the uses of a last will provided, in effect, a power to devise freehold land, otherwise generally impossible at common law. The Statute of Uses 1536 put an end to this mechanism, and in 1540 the Statute of Wills provided, within limits, a substitute power to devise. But conveyances inter vivos upon trust for the performance of wills continued to be made after 1540; and the distinction in practice between such trusts and wills was less clear than might be supposed: wills under the statutory power were understood as conveyances; executors were frequently trustees in a narrow sense; and the perception that executors were, in a broader sense, trusted, had substantive effects. In understanding wills, trusts and trusting after the Statute of Uses, distinctions between those who are ‘trustees’ and those who are not, or between conveyances upon trust and wills, may be an essential starting-point in bringing order to the sources, but cannot fully reflect the complexity of contemporary arrangements.     

目的信托制度比较研究——以日本《信托法》为参考

传统信托法理论不承认没有受益人的非公益信托（目的信托）。但是,现代信托法在朝着认可目的信托的方向发展,英美和日本的信托立法都显示了这一迹象。本文以日本新《信托法》上的目的信托制度为中心进行探讨,主张为了向制度利用者提供满足多种偏好的制度菜单,为了更好地体现信托制度的灵活特点、实现其破产隔离和财产安排功能,应在控制目的信托的弊端的基础上引入目的信托制度。     

法律信任初论

当下中国学者的法律信仰研究的理论前设和结果实际上是对法律的神化.然而,法律具有不可克服的内在局限性,这决定我们在法律之上只能产生法律信任,即理性主体对这种具有不可克服的内在局限性的法律的宽容和尊重.从本体意义上说,法律信任是一种关系性质的信任,它以三大支配关系为特征.从价值意义上说,法律信任是法律权威性的直接来源.     

法治及其社会资源——兼评苏力“本土资源”说

鉴于中国法治建设和法律实施中存在的问题,有必要重新检视苏力的“本土资源”说。中国法治建设之所以不很成功,以及现代法律制度之所以在中国社会“水土不服”,最重要的原因,不是“本土资源”被重视不够,而是“社会资源”(即社会成员之间的相互信任)供给不足。归根到底,是由于中国社会目前面临严重的信任危机。     

论英美信托财产双重所有权在中国的本土化

双重所有权是英美法信托制度中精巧的法律制度设计,但它与我国单一所有权理念格格不入。我国移植了信托制度,但没有妥善解决双重所有权的本土化问题,由此导致信托财产所有权归属模糊不清、受益权性质悬而未决、信托登记名存实亡。分析表明,是否采用双重所有权的形式并不重要,关键是本土化的制度设计能否实现同样的制度功能。在大陆法系的框架下,由受托人享有信托财产的单一所有权,同时受益人享有对受托人的债权请求权,这种设计既可以发挥信托制度的功能,又能够避免对我国传统物权制度造成巨大冲击,有助于实现信托制度的本土化。     

信任、法治与国家治理现代化

不同的国家治理模式有着不同的信任基础,只有与国家治理模式相匹配的信任模式才能促进国家治理的有效实现。中国的国家治理现代化面临着从特殊主义信任模式向普遍主义信任模式的转型,从单向依附型信任模式向协商合作型信任模式的转型。法治实践可以从提供稳定预期、保障公民自治权利、规范治理方式等方面促进信任模式的转型,但法治发挥作用的前提是重建自身的公信力。     

Multiculturalism,Institutional Law,and Imaginary Justice

Following Le Pen's relative successin the French presidential vote and the BritishNational Party's historic return in our own2002 local elections, the article considers theprospects for the production of morecommunicative race relations in contemporaryBritain. To this end we reassess the media'streatment of the Stephen Lawrence case andexplore the political logic of the Macphersonreport, the policy document which followed theapparent miscarriage of justice that allowedLawrence's alleged killers to walk free. Interms of our analysis of the media we areconcerned to show how the real of Britain'sordinary racism was hidden behind an ideologyof multiculturalism that scapegoated singularindividuals to cover for the structuralinequalities of wider society. The article aimsto show how the media upheld the notion ofobjective justice that institutional law wasapparently unable to secure.But while the media supported the ideology ofthe law, its exposure of the failings ofinstitutional law also led to calls for legalreform to guarantee the realisation ofinstitutional justice. Although we accept thatthe attempt to achieve legal totality isimpossible, our argument is that the critiqueof legal objectivity, which takes in subjectiverights claims, may present the possibility forthe realisation of a novel, inclusive, model ofrace relations. That is to say that althoughthe media supports the ideology of the law, thefact that this support requires a critique ofpractical law forces the law to modernisearound the idealistic demands of its ownideological structure. Akin toDouzinas,¹ who has argued for theendless expansion of rights as post-modernutopianism, we believe that this process ofmodernisation, which is arranged to maintainthe status quo through minimal reform, is thecondition of possibility of a more inclusivesystem of race relations.     

Repartnering and the Management of Risk

Social theorists working with concept of ‘risk society’have addressed the issue of family change, suggesting that processesof individualization mean that family relationships have become‘elective’, which has in turn raised questions aboutthe nature of trust and commitment in intimate relationships.The position of those who are repartnering is particularly sensitivein these respects. Their awareness of risks may render themmore likely to make only contingent commitments, or may makethem more anxious to achieve a relationship founded on trustand commitment. We draw on in-depth interviews with a representativesample of people in England who have repartnered from a varietyof types of intimate relationship into different statuses inorder to explore the management of perceived risks. We findthat for most respondents repartnering is a process involvingdifferent kinds of relationships, although living-apart-togetheris understood as something rather different. There is littlesupport for the risk society thesis in respect of intimate relationshipsin respect of rejection of commitment and absence of trust.Rather, changes in relationship status often seem to be partof the process of building trust and of achieving the goal ofa rather traditional relationship. This poses challenges forpolicymakers as they seek to regulate different statuses indifferent ways.     

农村土地承包经营权流转信托的法律问题——以中信安徽宿州农村土地承包经营权信托为中心

法律对土地承包经营权的转让、转包、入股的受让方作出了限制,信托作为一种能够避开法律限制的流转方式而备受瞩目。但是,设立信托需要转让土地承包经营权,法律没有明文规定信托作为转让的例外情形的,即使采用信托方式流转,也不能避开法律的限制。实践中,为了避开法律对受让方的限制,农户与村委会、区镇政府签订了层层委托关系,致使信托财产、信托当事人不明确。为解决这个问题,重新构建土地承包经营权流转信托:不以土地承包经营权本身作为信托财产,而是以土地承包经营权的租赁权为信托财产。     

视域融合的法哲学的现实分析

在现代法哲学的范式里,作为法律解释者的主体和作为法律文本的客体是分离的,这种二元结构使法律的权威得到了保证。而有的法哲学家认为,主体和客体之间只有相互沟通,才能防止一种价值压制另一种价值,所以视域融合的法哲学应当有更大的生存空间。但在我国目前的语境下,这种法哲学却可能使法律的王国支离破碎并削弱人们对法律的信仰,或许我们需要的是现代性而非后现代性的法律。     

Having the cake and eating it too: efficient penalty clauses in Common and Civil contract law

In this paper we examine one of the areas where there is a marked difference between Civil and Common contract law, that of the enforcement of liquidated damages and more particularly of penalty clauses. Common law judges are quite reluctant to enforce liquidated damages, especially if they believe that they include penalty clauses which are not enforceable. On the contrary, in almost all European contract laws liquidated damages are readily enforced, as are penalty clauses when they are not manifestly excessive. Although most law and economics scholars have criticized Common law courts for the non-enforcement of penalty clauses, there is a sizable minority of scholars who have defended the Common law “non-enforcement” policy on the ground that penalty clauses are inefficient because they hinder efficient breach. However, and despite the merits of the arguments advanced by advocates of the non-enforcement of penalty clauses, we believe that Common law’s rejection of penalty clauses is inefficient. We further show that the Civil law solution to the problem is not only comparatively more efficient, but that it can also appease the worries of those scholars who are afraid that efficient breaches will be deterred. The solution that Civil law systems give to the problem manages to enforce the parties’ wishes and to avoid deterring efficient breaches. However, we point out that in order for the Civil law systems to take advantage of this superiority, the interpretation of their Civil Codes should be guided by economic analysis and the respect to the wishes of the contracting parties.