RESEARCH ON DIVERSIFIED FINANCIAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION MECHANISMS IN CHINA

After the US Lehman mini-bonds crisis in 2008, global countries have been exploring the financial consumer protection legislation. This paper mainly focuses on the status quo and problems of China’s current financial mechanism, as well as how to construct a financial dispute resolution system and financial ombudsman system (FOS), how to employ mediation, arbitration and other various dispute resolution mechanisms to deal with financial disputes.     

THE POLITICS OF PARTICIPATION AND NONPARTICIPATION IN DISPUTE PROCESSES

Although the access to justice movement has placed great emphasis on expanding participation in dispute processing through informal mechanisms, little theoretical or empirical research in the area has explored the relationship between the organization of dispute processing and legal participation. This article develops a framework for investigating that relationship by examining the ideological and organizational structure of participation and nonparticipation in a comparison between mediation and prosecution of minor criminal cases. The analysis suggests that the concept of participation associated with informal mechanisms has played a role in transforming the institutional legitimacy of dispute processing, yet patterns of participation in conventional dispute processes are reproduced in the neighborhood justice center.     

THE LEGITIMACY OF RACE AS VARIABLE IN THE DELIBERATIONS OF INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARDS

This paper investigates the issue of race as a variable in research ethics and the extent to which it is morally appropriate to regard the race of research subjects as a relevant factor for research outcomes. The author analyses the challenges posed to deliberation in Institutional Review Boards （IRB ＇s） on this matter. The first part of the paper consists of a conceptual analysis of the notion of deliberation, drawing on the work of Elster, Habermas, Rawls, Gambetta and others. Special attention is paid to the dialogical structure of deliberation and the complexities attached to the notion of race, as a social construct. Arguments in favour and against the proposal that race is a valid variable in biomedical research are systematically distinguished. The author comes to the conclusion, based on an extensive literature review, that race sometimes has to be taken into consideration, subject to clearly stated qualifications. In conclusion it is argued that deliberation, especially about such a controversial notion such as race should not be expected to yield definitive truths. The most we can expect is a series of （hopefully） progressive settlements that represent provisional beacons of insight on which we can draw in future conversations. Race represents a field of tension and contestation that will inevitably continue to permeate interpersonal contact and social relations for the foreseeable future.     

CHINA'S PARTICIPATION IN THE WTO DISPUTES SETTLEMENT MECHANISM FOR TEN YEARS

China has participated in the WTO for ten years.It can be divided into two stages,which have different features for the first five years and the second five years.As China has become the new emerging power in the WTO,many comments have focused on its participation in the WTO,especially its practice in the DSM.China,as a new member in the WTO,is not very aggressive,and all the challenges and issues to be settled largely depend on its participation capacity in the WTO.     

LAWYER'S DUTY TO DISCUSS ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILDREN

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) has been championed for its power to devise agreements that meet the parents' and the children's needs and for its ability to encourage parties to work together, eventually leading to stable agreements. The Model Rules of Professional Conduct do not create any ethical duty to advise, suggest, or encourage lawyers to discuss ADR with their domestic relations client. In the medical field, patients are given a choice of treatment under the informed consent doctrine, but there is no analogous doctrine in the legal field. The Model Rules of Professional Conduct should be revised to reflect the best interests of children, as well as client choice. Clients, specifically parents in domestic relation matters, are entitled to know their options, and lawyers should be obligated to provide them with the information that will enable them to make informed decisions–decisions that will benefit their children and ultimately our nation.     

THE IMPLICATIONS OF ARREST FOR COLLEGE ENROLLMENT: AN ANALYSIS OF LONG‐TERM EFFECTS AND MEDIATING MECHANISMS*

This study draws on labeling theory and education research on the steps to college enrollment to examine 1) whether and for how long arrest reduces the likelihood that high‐school graduates will enroll in postsecondary education and 2) whether any observed relationships are mediated by key steps in the college enrollment process. With 17 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) and propensity score matching, we derived matched samples of arrested and nonarrested but equivalent youth (N = 1,761) and conducted logistic regression and survival analyses among the matched samples to examine the short‐ and long‐term postsecondary consequences of arrest. The results revealed that arrest reduced the odds of 4‐year college enrollment directly after high school, as well as that high‐school grade point average and advanced coursework accounted for 58 percent of this relationship. The results also revealed that arrest had an enduring impact on 4‐year college attendance that extended into and beyond emerging adulthood. Two‐year college prospects were largely unaffected by arrest. These findings imply that being arrested during high school represents a negative turning point in youths’ educational trajectory that is, in part, a result of having a less competitive college application. Implications are discussed.     

AN OVERVIEW OF CHINESE LAW ON FOOD SAFETY

This article reviews the evolution of Chinese law on food safety and the concerned system defined by the Food Safety Law (2009) and other related laws. Although being improved by this law, in comparison with the Food Hygiene Law (1995), food safety still remains severe today. In analysing the food safety problems in China, it is found that the issues, such as tension between security and safety, problems in agricultural products, difficulties in administration and supervision etc., cannot be solved by this law in the near future.     

TAKING DIVORCE OUT OF THE CONTEXT OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION

It has been suggested that a new system be developed for handling family problems, such as divorce and child protection—a system that would replace the adversarial court system. The author suggests going one step further: an alternative system that would take divorce out of a dispute resolution frame. The Danish system is described as an example of an administrative approach to divorce.