Legal profession in Britain: The 1992 conundrum

In an era of change, the year 1992 will be significant for some lawyers while irrelevant to others. Among solicitors big City firms are prospering, but those who depend on legal aid feel the pinch. The Bar has long‐term problems. Many of these developments are irreversible, argues Marcel Berlins in an Article in the “Financial Times” written shortly before the Lord Chancellor's recent announcement of proposed reforms.     

英国法律援助制度及借鉴意义

2011年6月,司法部法律援助管理干部赴英国培训学习。培训期间,先后听取了来自英国法律服务委员会、法律服务监察委员会、法律行动小组、法律援助专家小组、青少年法律中心、伯明翰事务律师协会、伯明翰法律中心、伯明     

反内幕交易法律制度的经济根源

内幕交易首先是作为一种经济现象而存在的 ,对内幕交易存在价值的经济分析 ,是构建反内幕交易立法的重要基础。本文在介绍、评析内幕交易经济分析正反两方面的观点后 ,认为内幕交易所引发的道德风险和投资者信心的丧失 ,是反内幕交易立法的基本经济依据。     

A Legal Semiotics Framework for Exploring the Origins of Hermagorean Stasis

Stasis is a process of classical rhetoric that identifies the core issue in a trial or a similar debate. Hermagoras of Temnos included the first comprehensive analysis of stasis in his second-century BCE treatise on rhetoric, now lost. Modern scholars tend to echo George Kennedy, who maintains that Hermagoras’ inspiration for the hierarchical structure of stasis is indeterminate. This article, however, employs scholarship in legal semiotics, including the work of Miklós K?ncz?l and Bernard S. Jackson, to argue that Hermagoras based stasiastic structure on Aristotle’s first-figure syllogism. Ideally, knowledge of that structure can enhance modern applications of stasis.     

Legal Rights and Political Realities: Governmental Responses to Homelessness in Britain

This article presents a "contextual" study of Britain's Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977. The article addresses the ostensibly perplexing policy question of why Britain's homeless population has almost trebled in the H years since the homelessness legislation was introduced. The answer is found by subjecting the legislation to a very wide-ranging contextualization process. Rather than simply focusing on the administrative arena in which the act is implemented, the article seeks explanations for its apparent ineffkacy in ideological considerations preceding its enactment, in the legislative process itself, in the (im)precise wording of the emergent statute, and in subsequent government policies in various relevant constitutional and social policy areas. The article concludes that a thorough understanding of the impact of this particular law requires it to be located in a series of interrelated contexts, a conclusion that might plausibly be extended to all studies of "law in society."     

动物法律地位刍议——私法视野下的分析

在动物法律地位问题上,存在"肯定论"和"否定论"两种观点。"肯定论"的观点在认识论上忽视了动物不可能具有道德判断能力的事实,在本体论上曲解了法律主体据以享有权利的"内在价值"的含义,在私法理论上带来一系列的难题,在法律制度上缺乏可操作性,故不足取。"否定论"中的"义务论"观点则认为,需要人类保护的动物乃是人类的保护义务的客体。"义务论"既可以达到"肯定论"拟保护动物的目的,又完全不与现有的法律理论和制度相冲突,还具有可操作性,所以是解决动物法律地位问题的最佳方案。     

英国法律职业人才培养模式对我国的启示

英国法律职业人才培养模式分为理论、职业、实习和继续职业教育四个阶段,其特点是虽无统一的法律教育体制和司法考试制度,各地区和各法律院校在法律人才培养过程中具有较大的自主性,但同时有相应的机制保证法律职业人才的同质性;法学教育注重法律的实践性和应用技能的培养,法学教育机构和法律职业管理机构在人才培养过程中相互协作,共同发挥作用。英国的法律职业人才培养模式有可供我们学习借鉴的优点和经验。     

法律方法:法律认知之根本

在我国 ,法律方法论一直是一门处于边缘位置、发展迟缓落后的学科 ,主要原因在于 ,人们始终把法律方法论作狭义的理解 ,对其角色的工具性、实用性定位 ,在观念上的单一陈旧 ,严重制约和影响着对法律方法论理论体系的建构。法律方法论要从困境中走出来 ,必须进行检讨与重构。     

悲悯与守护:论佛学之于开明派的精神建构

开明派文人与佛学文化之间存在着深刻的联系.他们通过对佛教人生观念、道德观念的吸收和改造,在出世与入世之间形成了一种平衡:一方面以超脱的姿态去抵拒无常的侵袭,抚慰心灵的创痛;另一方面在对病态社会的批判和童心的赞美中着力于人性的守护,并以对人生的慈悲胸怀贯穿自己的社会实践.     

Recovering the Indigenous Legal Traditions of India: Classical Hindu Law in Practice in Late Medieval Kerala

The collection of Malayalam records entitled Vanjeri Grandhavari, taken from the archives of an important Namputiri Brahmin family and the temple under its leadership, provides some long-awaited information regarding a wide range of legal activities in late medieval Kerala. The organization of law and the jurisprudence represented by these records bear an unmistakable similarity to legal ideas found in dharmastra texts. A thorough comparison of the records and relevant dharma texts shows that landholding Namputiri Brahmins, who possessed enormous political and economic power in the region, mediated the implementation of dharmastra into the legal system. From this comparison arise new understandings of law and legal categories such as custom and positive law. Moreover, such comparisons begin to elucidate the problems involved in Western assumptions that it is textual law, not its interpretation and application by humans, which controls behavior. The Vanjeri records demonstrate not only the importance of dharmastra as a historical document but also the manner and extent to which dharmastra provided the foundation for legal systems in Kerala as well as in other regions of India.     

The (Limited) Space for Justice in Social Animals

While differentialists deny that non-linguistic animals can have a sense of justice, assimilationists credit some animals with such an advanced moral attitude. We approach this debate from a philosophical perspective. First, we outline the history of the notion of justice in philosophy and how various facets of that notion play a role in contemporary empirical investigations of justice among humans. On this basis, we develop a scheme for the elements of justice-relevant situations and for criteria of justice that should be fruitful in studying both humans and animals. Furthermore, we investigate the conceptual connections between a sense of justice, on the one hand, and various other mental powers, on the other, and indicate which of the latter may be beyond the ken of animals. Next, we consider recent empirical research on justice-related phenomena in animals. We argue for an intermediate position: While animals can at least in principle satisfy some preconditions of justice (intentional action, rule-following), others are problematic, notably possessing a notion of desert. A space for justice in social animals exists, yet it is rather limited compared to the rich cultures of justice in humans. Finally, we reflect on some actual or alleged implications of research on animal justice. As regards justice in humans, one should avoid a simplistic image of ??natural justice?? as boiling down to equal allocation of goods. As regards justice for animals, one should be weary of the contractualist assumption that only those capable of justice themselves are deserving of ??just?? treatment.