国际商事诉讼中区块链技术证据的运用及中国因应

依托于区块链技术的数字货币为国际商事交往带来了前所未有的变革,已经应用于国际商事诸多领域。但与此同时,数字货币的运用导致国际商事诉讼产生新的困局,即传统证据形式于此类诉讼中作用有限。有鉴于此,区块链技术证据开始逐步进入国际商事诉讼视野。区块链技术证据运用的必要性在于其不仅能够应对数字货币类诉讼的特性,而且能够对传统证据形成有益补充,这正契应了国际商事诉讼的发展需要。区块链技术证据运用的可行性在于,其满足了国际商事诉讼对于证据资格的标准,即满足了真实性、关联性与合法性等标准。区块链技术证据的运用在域外已有诸多实证,但在我国尚处于起步阶段。我国应尽快出台关于区块链技术证据的法律规范,增设"区块链法庭",以此推进区块链技术证据在国际商事诉讼中的进一步应用。     

公安机关电子数据司法鉴定的现状与挑战

电子数据取证是信息时代公安机关重要的基础工作,是打击涉及互联网各类违法犯罪的“杀手锏”。电子数据鉴定是公安机关电子数据取证工作的重要组成部分,起到最终判定案(事)件性质,为侦查与诉讼提供依据的重要作用。公安机关电子数据鉴定与信息技术共同飞速发展,其领域不断延伸扩展、技术要求越来越高,面对的挑战也越来越多。概要介绍了公安机关电子数据鉴定的法律要求、鉴定资质、鉴定流程等内容,阐述了其面临的挑战。     

Informational externalities and settlements in mass tort litigations

This paper elaborates on a basic model of mass tort litigation, highlighting the existence of positive informational externalities afforded by the discovery process (as a general technology of production of evidences) in order to study when a class action is formed, or when a sequence of individual trials is more likely. We illustrate the argument that when several plaintiffs file individually a lawsuit against the same tortfeasor, the resolution of the various cases through repeated trials produces positive informational externalities. When class actions are forbidden, these externalities only benefit to the later plaintiffs (through precedents, jurisprudence...). When they are allowed, the first filer may have an incentive to initiate a class action as far as it enables him to benefit from these externalities, through the sharing of information with later filers. We provide sufficient conditions under which a class action is formed, assuming a perfect discovery process. We also show that when contingent fees are used to reward attorneys’ services, plaintiffs become neutral to the arrival of new information on their case.     

我国知识产权侵权损害赔偿司法现状再调查与再思考 ——基于我国11984件知识产权侵权司法判例的深度分析

通过再度对我国11984件知识产权侵权案例展开实证研究，发现知识产权侵权平均判赔额依然较低，“法定赔偿”占绝对多数的状况仍未改变，惩罚性赔偿在司法实践中虽已出现，但适用率极低。然而，并不能仅仅根据平均判赔额就简单地得出“赔偿低”的结论。深度分析发现，批量案件尤其是商业维权案件的大量存在，对相关统计结果的干扰性影响十分显著，知识产权案件审理负担过重等法外因素的影响亦不可忽视。建议限制商业维权诉讼，优化司法资源配置；建立证据开示制度，明确证据规则和赔偿计算方法；严格“法定赔偿”的适用条件并取消“法定赔偿”限额,同时加强惩罚性赔偿的适用。     

Women in Prison as Litigants:

ABSTRACT

Current rules of evidence restrict the use of sexual history evidence in civil sexualharassment cases. This paper argues for an extension of those restrictions to civil product liability litigation. The discussion focuses on the use of questions regarding sexual history during discovery and at trial in medically-related mass tort litigation and the potential repercussions this has on women and their cases.     

The dilemmas of legal mobilization: ideologies and strategies of mental patient liberation groups

The decision to participate in the legal process depends in part upon the ideologies of the potential participants. The ideology that has dominated the rights movement during the past two decades is what Stuart Scheingold describes as the myth of rights. But participation in litigation, including rights evolution litigation, has also been colored by other and sometimes conflicting ideologies. Thus the mobilization of legal resources can be seen as the ways participants in litigation cope with multiple ideologies.
This paper looks at the mental patient liberation movement in this way. That movement has been very much affected by a myth of rights ideology, as well as by a liberation ideology that is quite contradictory to the tenets of the myth of rights. The paper documents these ideologies, looks at the way the movement has tried to reconcile them, and shows how this problematic reconciliation affects the nature of mental health rights litigation.     

The legal risks of quality assurance in Australian public hospitals

Quality assurance techniques aim to measure and uphold the quality of patient care. Tools have been developed that investigate bad outcomes, and identify system errors that may lead to bad outcomes. Hospital administrators are motivated to use these tools, but worry that quality assurance may itself cause legal risks to a hospital. For example, if a hospital finds and documents substandard care, a patient who has suffered a bad outcome might discover this and try to use it in litigation against the hospital. This article examines the legal doctrine behind document discovery, freedom of information, legal professional privilege, medical professional privilege, qualified privilege and defamation, to explore how patients and their relatives may, first, come across and obtain quality assurance findings, and second, use them in legal action. With this knowledge, public hospital administrators might then be able to engage in quality assurance without unduly causing legal risk for their hospital.     

知情权及其保障——以《政府信息公开条例》为例

知情权具有宪法基本权利的位阶。在我国,宪法没有直接规定知情权,但它却被确认于地方政府规章以及党和国家的重要文件中。通过宪法解释方法将知情权列入宪法基本权利的条件已经成熟。《政府信息公开条例》作为保障公民知情权的行政法规,需要处理好处于其上位的《保守国家秘密法》、《档案法》以及处于其下位的"法规和国家有关规定"之间的关系,协调与"卷宗阅览权"、"隐私权"保护之间关系。由政府信息公开引发行政争议构成了一种新类型的行政诉讼,它需要我们在行政诉讼法理论与实务中作出积极的回应,方可切实保障公民的知情权。     

The Duration of Litigation

This paper analyzes the duration of litigation. The analysis of court congestion by Posner (1972) and Priest (1989) suggests that the effects of delay reduction programs may be only transitory, because initial improvements may be swamped by an offsetting increase in demand for litigation. However, we find some evidence that time to settlement was reduced in a Michigan court by a program that provided for early intervention in each case by a judge who imposed a time schedule on major events of the litigation.
Using two new data sets on personal injury claims, we find that the time to settlement increases with the amount at stake but is sharply reduced when the case is referred to a specialist in personal injury litigation. Estimates of a duration model indicate that the likelihood of settlement is increased by the completion of discovery and especially by the settlement conference. We find that the hazard of settlement increases as the case gets closer to trial. This finding is in accord with the "deadline effect" derived from certain bargaining models.     

Localization Path of the Research Paradigms of Legal Commentary in China — Focusing on the Public Legal Service Function of the Case-Commentary Research on the Style of Civil Litigation Documents

Conducting case-commentary research on the style of civil litigation documents is a key method for judges to produce legal documents, develop professional writing and creative skills, and enhance legal thinking. Such a study is an important way to deepen the reform of the judicial power operation mechanism and to improve the trial management mode. Considering the background of the judicial responsibility system reform, the localization of the research paradigms and case-commentary methods of the style of litigation documents can help reach the consensus of the legal professional community. It also helps promote judgment rules and the spirit of the law. Legal commentaries convey the important functions of public legal services to the public. It is necessary to integrate the Style of Civil Litigation Documents, the “one-stop” litigation service with the reform practice of judicial committees in China, and conduct detailed research on the procedural ruling function and guiding function of the style of civil litigation documents. By studying the guiding function of civil litigation document style for judicial behavior, litigation procedure, and entity processing, it is good for judges to broaden their ideas and methods to write civil litigation documents, enabling an examination of the localization path and method of the legal commentary research paradigm and demonstrating how to continue using the paradigm within the context of the comprehensive reform of the judicial system. Moreover, the study emphasizes how to exert the function of public legal services integrated with the style of civil litigation documents.     

Cloud forecasting: Legal visibility issues in saturated environments

The advent of cloud computing has brought the computing power of corporate data processing and storage centers to lightweight devices. Software-as-a-service cloud subscribers enjoy the convenience of personal devices along with the power and capability of a service. Using logical as opposed to physical partitions across cloud servers, providers supply flexible and scalable resources. Furthermore, the possibility for multitenant accounts promises considerable freedom when establishing access controls for cloud content. For forensic analysts conducting data acquisition, cloud resources present unique challenges. Inherent properties such as dynamic content, multiple sources, and nonlocal content make it difficult for a standard to be developed for evidence gathering in satisfaction of United States federal evidentiary standards in criminal litigation. Development of such standards, while essential for reliable production of evidence at trial, may not be entirely possible given the guarantees to privacy granted by the Fourth Amendment and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Privacy of information on a cloud is complicated because the data is stored on resources owned by a third-party provider, accessible by users of an account group, and monitored according to a service level agreement. This research constructs a balancing test for competing considerations of a forensic investigator acquiring information from a cloud.     

Civil Litigation, Access to Government-Held Information, and Coordination of Public and Private Enforcement in the Czech Republic

To correct the historical suppression of environmental information under communist rule, the Czech Republic has instituted several new laws granting citizen access to government-held information. This access should facilitate civil litigation by providing evidence in court for establishing causality in a country where practically everyone feels the effects of broad and severe environmental degradation. However, poor de facto citizen access and citizens'; traditional distrust of information severely limits litigation activity. Similarly, this paper examines the joint use of a privately-initiated ex post liability policy (i.e., tort litigation) and a state-initiated ex post liability policy (i.e., penalties). In particular, it explores a potential exchange of information between a government enforcer and plaintiffs, where the government enforcer provides information on the causality of harm to plaintiffs and plaintiffs provide information on the level of harm to the government enforcer. With more accurate information on both causality and damages, the joint use of state and private enforcement should lead to more efficient outcomes. This paper finds great potential for such improvement given the limited use of privately-provided information on harm and poor de facto access to government-provided information on environmental matters.     

Public information; communications with state and foreign government officials--FDA. Proposed rule

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing to amend its regulations governing communications with State and foreign government officials. The proposed rule would permit FDA to disclose confidential commercial information to international organizations having responsibility to facilitate global or regional harmonization of standards and requirements. These disclosures would, in almost all instances, occur only with the consent of the person providing the confidential commercial information to FDA. The proposed rule would also streamline the process for FDA officials to disclose certain nonpublic, predecisional documents (such as draft rules and guidance documents) to State and foreign government officials. The proposal does not alter current procedures for sharing documents that contain confidential commercial information. These changes are intended to facilitate information exchanges with State and foreign governments and certain international organizations.     

Coping with Electronic Data Discovery Issues

This article provides an overview of the steps a company should take if electronic discovery is requested from it during the course of litigation. Either by seeking a protective order or by inducing a motion to compel by objecting to the discovery requests, a ruling should be obtained from the court as to the parameters and limits of the requested discovery and who bears the cost of retrieving and producing the electronic data. If production is ordered by the court, the producing party must ensure through the use of formal review measures that any privileges protecting the data are not waived. While severe sanctions may be imposed on a party who destroys electronic evidence after litigation is initiated or when it is reasonably likely that litigation will ensue, a company may prevent a broad-scale, expensive production of electronic evidence by installing prior to any litigation a system of routine organization and disposal of non-essential electronic data.     

Information technology in complex civil litigation in England and Wales

The use of information technology in civil litigation in England and Wales is in its infancy. In particular, litigation support systems are used by few,¹ and only within some solicitors’ offices and barristers’ chambers. The process of litigation support has not yet been taken from the solicitor's office into the court room.

Complex litigation is an area of legal practice particularly apt to benefit from the use of modern information technology both before trial and during the trial. Complex litigation involves such a diversity of issues, allegations of fact, and divergent opinions as to be difficult to retain within the short term memory of one human brain for the length of time taken by the exposition of the evidence and argument followed by judicial analysis and expression of the judgment.

This type of litigation also benefits from intervention by the Court in the preparations for trial, and in that endeavour information technology would also be most helpful.

In this article I shall try to review in very general terms what is done and what could be attempted. I shall generally concentrate on civil rather than criminal litigation.

The views expressed are my views alone.     

Civil Discovery: Lawyers'Views of Its Effectiveness, Its Principal Problems and Abuses

This article, the second in a three-part series based on interviews of 180 civil litigators in Chicago, describes lawyers'assessments of the health of the discovery system and their views about the relative severity of several major problems and abuses that burden the discovery process. The data present a disturbing picture of the way the discovery system functions, especially in larger cases. Big case litigators are much unhappier with the current state of affairs in discovery than are their smaller case counterparts, and apparently for good reason. Tactical jockeying, evasive and dilatory practices, and various forms of harassment play major and costly roles in a high percentage of large lawsuits. And in at least one of every two big cases the discovery system fails to distribute the relevant information to all the parties. Perhaps the most dramatic evidence of disaffection with the current state of affairs in major litigation, however, is the widespread support the lawyers expressed for more aggressive judicial involvement in the process and for more frequent, telling use of sanctions to punish its abusers.
The third article in this series will report the lawyers'reform proposals and will explore some of the implications of the data described here.     

我国商事诉讼制度的解析与重构

基于民商实体法之间的显著差异,导致商事诉讼在许多方面均区别于民事诉讼。无论是否设有独立的商事法院,商事诉讼仍以不同的形式在各国得以存在。重构我国的商事诉讼制度,应以既有的民事诉讼制度为基础,同时建立若干适应商法特性的特别诉讼制度来实现商法的功能。     

Work-Product Protection and Experts' Documents: The Ninth Circuit Strengthens the “Because of” Standard and Extends Protection to Dual Purpose Documents

Since the Supreme Court applied the work-product privilege to documents created by an attorney's representatives, so long as the documents were created in anticipation of litigation, the lower courts have attempted to interpret this application. The various circuit courts have addressed this issue as it relates to documents serving both litigation and nonlitigation purposes. Most recently, in November 2003 the Ninth Circuit joined the First, Second, Third, Seventh, Eighth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits when it adopted the rule that an expert's documents may be protected when they are prepared “because of the prospect of litigation.” In contrast, the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Circuits, Tenth and D.C. District Courts have constructed a stricter interpretation. Further, the Ninth Circuit's recent holding in United States v. Torf (In re: Grand Jury Subpoena) 350 F. 3d 1010 (9th Cir. 2003) sheds some more light on the scope of the work-product protection as it applies to environmental consultant's documents created in anticipation.     

特殊文件相对形成时间的鉴定

伪造、变造、异常处理文书的书写时间鉴定在诉讼中的作用越来越重要。笔者在多年的文书鉴定工作中曾遇到多起特殊处理的文件,如人为老化文件、塑封文件,污染文件以及书写于传真纸、宣纸等特定材料上的文件,在对这些文件的检验过程中,笔者进行了部分研究,获得一些实际体会。     

Insurance Coverage for Environmental Claims: Current Litigation Issues in the United States

The insurance industry introduced exclusions for environmental claims in the general commercial litigation policies in the early 1970s, and introduced even greater restrictions in the 1980s. Litigation over the two most common pollution exclusions has been robust and will likely continue to increase. This article first briefly reviews the history of insurance coverage for environmental claims in the United States, including the most common issues and how the courts have addressed them. The article then discusses the current issues and emerging trends in insurance coverage for environmental claims under the general commercial policies. Finally, there is a brief discussion on the growing market for insurance products that specifically cover (rather than exclude) environmental claims.