Access to justice

Conclusion The central aim of providing access to justice should be to ensure that every citizen receives implementation of his legal rights at the lowest overall cost, not just the cost to litigants, or the courts' budget, or insurers, but to society as a whole. How far the proposals in the Report will achieve that will have to be seen when they are implemented, whether in whole or in part. Although the proposals are radical in many ways, it is certainly possible to argue that on one construction they merely preserve the present distinction between small claims, County Court, and High Court cases, with a variety of significant modifications. If that be so, it is equally arguable that very much the same result could be achieved by modifications to both the County Court and High Court rules without the need for universal sweeping changes. Certainly all practitioners and judiciary are going to find that the next few years are full of challenge and interest. It will be fascinating to observe the changes and the outcome. Q.C., M.A., LL.M. (Cantab), J.D. (Chicago), one of Her Majesty's Circuit Judges since 1987. The opinions expressed in this article are purely personal to the author and should not be attributed to any other member of the judiciary.     

Access to state-held information

China-EU Law Journal - On the basis of different cases of the ECHR regarding freedom of information and its scope of protection; this article analyses the individual right for access to state-held...     

公民的司法参与权研究

公民享有司法参与权是人民主权的有力体现,也是公民实现政治参与的重要途径。宪法和相关法律为公民的司法参与权提供法律依据,正当程序和司法民主理念则是公民司法参与权的法理基础。我国公民司法参与权的表现形式多种多样且范围十分广泛,但我们仍需要通过增加诉权的宪法保障、规范细化陪审制度和人民监督员制度等途径予以完善,以保障公民司法参与权的实现。     

无线电频谱资源使用权的开放性设计

我国传统上僵化的频谱监管没有确认无线电频谱使用人的民事权利,不利于电信市场的竞争和技术创新。而《物权法》对于无线电频谱国家所有权的规定混淆了"民法之物"和"公物",背离了频谱使用权开放性的改革方向。应当将频谱资源所有权界定为公法所有权,进而将经行政许可获得的频谱使用权确认为准物权,准用民法规范,允许其自由交易,合理设计其取得、期限、内容以及效力,从而增强频谱资源利用的开放性和灵活性,鼓励投资和竞争,激励创新。     

走近论题学法学

伯尔曼对西方法律传统的描述,并未细致地揭示11世纪之前西方古代法学在知识论和方法论上的特征。不可否认的是,近代大学体制不仅打造了一个"以学术为生"、专事学问研究的知识群体,而且也铸造了一种追求逻辑形式主义的科学精神,但是,"经院派"以及以后的"公理方法派"法学家们的做法,实际上遮蔽了古老的法学作为一门法的实践知识的性格。古代的论题学体现了这种性格,它将法学的论辩活动带入到了更复杂、更可靠、更贴近人类社会生活现实的思考结构之中。     

奥地利的法律信息公开制度

我被邀请谈一个十分特别和技术性的题目 :关于法律诉讼的当事人和公众查阅法院案卷的法律制度 ,以及关于判决书的公布和对判例法的了解的法律制度。法院案卷的查阅在一个法治国家 ,查看案卷的权利是法院和行政机关公正地行使职能不可缺少的条件。在很多情况下 ,法律程序的当事人必须依靠它的帮助才能维护其相对于其他人以及相对于社会权力机关的权利。刑事诉讼在刑事诉讼当中 ,被告人必须被给予了解侦查结果和所提出的指控的机会 ,以便准备其辩护。虽然《欧洲人权公约》① 和《公民权利和政治权利国际公约》② 没有明确赋予获得公诉人的文件…     

Law and Firms' Access to Finance

This article examines how a country’s legal origin influencesthe operation of its financial system by using firm-level surveydata across a broad cross-section of countries on the obstaclesthat firms face in raising external finance. Using panel regressions,the article assesses two channels through which legal originmay influence the financial system. We find that the adaptabilityof a country’s legal system is more important for explainingthe obstacles that firms face in accessing external financethan the political independence of the judiciary.     

接近正义与诉讼保险制度研究

诉讼保险以商业运作模式为基础,通过投保将诉讼的成本和负担转移给保险公司,甚至社会。诉讼保险制度保障了老百姓接近正义的权益。引进诉讼保险不失为一种比较可行的对策。