The feminist defense of law

The purpose of this essay is to highlight the fact that certain specific governing or guideline criteria are in fact necessary before one can establish cases in which it would be admissible to treat the genders unequally. Those criteria, insofar as women＇s rights are concerned, consist of the need to overcome a situation of inequality which arises due to cultural and social reasons. An analysis of the different types of feminist movements follows, concluding that feminism implies two types of hypotheses. On one level feminism can be said to be a theory for equality; on another level it is a theory which turns around the objectivity of law, although it does, in both cases, challenge classical political and iudicial theses.     

The impact of economic theories on the law in market relations

The impact of economic theories on legal development, thinking and practice is undeniable. This is particularly true for neo-classical and institutional economics. Neo-classical economics are based on model assumptions of human behaviour such as pursuit of personal advantage, individualistic goals, complete information and at the same time law obedience which are the foundations of the functioning of the market mechanisms. The assumption leads to an almost mystical belief in the self-regulatory power of the market and a strong disdain and disapproval of the State. The concepts of a minimal State and de-regulation of all social relations follow from there. This article argues that model assumptions are valid scientific tools, as long as they are not taken to reflect the real world which is populated by real people that are not necessarily behaving like homines oeconomici. Preaching de-regulation and the dismissal of the State can prove simplistic and even dangerous and may lead to financial and economic crises like the ones witnessed in recent years. Institutional economics part from these empirical findings. They do not question individualism and the pursuit of egoistic objectives of market-participants, but they insist on inherent risks of this mechanism which stems from opportunistic behaviour, lack of information and transparency and the limits of trust. Property economists deduct from there that sustainable and dynamic economic development is unthinkable without well defined property title, the distinction of property and possession and credit securities. These institutions cannot be self-regulatory but need a clear legal frame, in other words rules established by a State. Transaction costs economists understand the danger of opportunistic behaviour and a corresponding systemic lack of trust in the negotiation, conclusion and execution of contracts. They underline the necessity of institutions which are capable of limiting these dangers and thus reducing transaction costs. Institutions may be customs, informal arrangements and formal law. At the end two examples are presented-real estate transactions and post-patriarchal family relations-to test the utility of these considerations.     

Informal ad hoc groupings of states as alternative means of conflict resolution： The case of ＂Contact Group＂

This paper investigates the role of informal groups, such as ＂Contact Group＂, in modem-day practice of conflict prevention, mediation, and settlement. It further aims to examine the legal status of this ad hoc grouping of states under international law, analyzing the Contact Group＇s involvement and operation in cases of Namibia （formerly South West Africa）, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. This empirical survey is instrumental to delimit and define the relationship that is created between formal and informal processes and institutions at the planetary level, as a result of the emergence and proliferation of informal ad hoc groupings of states. The bases of authority, political effectiveness, and the place and position of the Contact Group within the existing UN system of collective security are used to understand the rationale behind the formation and existence, as well as contribution and utility of such informal structures.     

An analysis to the foundation of rule of law in Civil Society

Civil Society refers to the civil organizations and activity space existing in society but outside the control scope of a government, and it is a society formed by citizens and the totality of citizen communication. Civil Society has a close connection with the law as the law just derives from regulations of Civil Society and acquires political form through a country. Civil Society is the social cultural foundation of laws and the rational regulation of Civil Society is the foundation on which the legal order is established.     

Piracy of copyright in Pakistan and its effects

This article analyses the copyright piracy in Pakistan through International Intellectual Property Alliance Reports. Copyright piracy ratio is very high in Pakistan in last fifteen years. The article discusses the piracy situation year wise and its effects on Pakistan economy. In this way, it tries to improve the implementation of intellectual property rights. In the end, the article recommends some suggestions to improve the enforcement situation in Pakistan.     

China＇s Labor Contract Law and the liberalization of global markets： Will employees＇ rights equate to employers＇ nightmares？

Lower labor costs and realization of profits have been key components in the expansion of the global market. As we continue to witness the prolific liberalization of the global market, it is essential that we remember the importance of human capital. Workers play a paramount role in the realization of continued and sustained global market growth. Paradoxically, sustained growth in the global market is also fueled by the absence of workers＇ rights and the resulting reduction of labor costs. Thus, multi-national companies and workers employed by multi-national companies, have encountered a seeming contradiction of workplace realities. From a capitalistic economic perspective, it is necessary for multi-national companies to compete for market share and realize profits. However, in order to promote social harmony and ensure against large-scale social unrest, workers must be given basic rights ensuring economic security and workplace justice. China has enacted the Labor Contract Law to address challenges surrounding these issues. This paper will discuss the efficacy of China＇s embracing the rule of law so as to effectively enforce the Labor Contract Law. The paper will also give an overview of the concepts forming the foundation of the rule of law. Further, the paper will offer a brief comparative analysis of the United States＇ use of the rule of law in relation to resolving post-slavery labor issues. Finally, the paper will recommend a model system for use by China in enforcing the Labor Contract Law.     

Imagining the law and the constitution of societal order in Los Angeles Police Chief William Parker＇s 1965 ＂Crime and the Great Society＂ address

Legal scholar James Boyd White has challenged both lawyers and rhetoricians to imagine the law as an enterprise of language. In contending that members of the legal profession should see law as an activity of speech and imagination occurring in a social world, he has urged lawyers to view the legal profession as an interaction of authoritative texts and as a process of legal thought and argument instead of thinking of law as a technical system of regulations and applying its rules in a mechanical way. By asking members of the legal professional to consider law as rhetoric, White has encouraged them to recognize the socially constitutive nature of language, which runs contrary to a perspective of law as machine or, rather, the law as only a mechanistic system of rules and regulations. His ideas have inspired the ＂law and literature＂ movement, which has motivated other scholars to analyze the texts of judicial opinions, for example, according to White＇s theories. However, this essay takes White＇s concept of imagining the law and applies it public address and, specifically, to the 1965 ＂Crime and the Great Society＂ speech given by former Los Angeles Police Chief William Parker. Chief Parker＇s address reveals a vision for the City of Los Angeles in which Parker, himself, asks his audience of citizens and civic leaders to share for advancing a specific agenda for law enforcement＇s role in society.     

Judicial review of penalty clauses in Spanish law： A reason to not converge towards other European laws

Unlike the majority of European civil law systems （France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Portugal and Switzerland）, the UNIDROIT Principles and the projects for the harmonization of European Private Law （PECL, DCFR and Gandolfi Code）, Spanish law only allows courts to reduce the sum stipulated by the parties in a penalty clause if the breach of contract has less entity than the one anticipated. Hence, the judicial review of penalty clauses on the grounds of equity is excluded. This paper aims to analyze why this is the most desirable solution in terms of efficiency, and why Spanish law should not converge towards other European laws.     

Small arm transfers and state complicity in international law： Challenging the limitations

Small arms have been frequently used in perpetration of human rights violations, and thus need to be subjected to legal scrutiny. This piece attempts to contribute this aim by making a legal analysis of the issue of state complicity in arm transfers. Drawing a frame of applicable laws, it highlights the importance of Article 16 of the ILC Draft Articles on State Responsibility where the notion of complicity in international law is typically designed. Moreover, this piece finds the scope of protection provided within this Article limited, and contends that the boundaries of liability for complicit acts must take into account the contemporary political, social, and economic settings for a wider understanding of complicity.     

＂With faces hidden while the walls were tightening＂： Applying international human rights standards to forensic psychology

This paper considers the relationship between forensic psychology and international human rights standards （and about the relationship between mental disability law and such standards in general）, especially in the contexts of the sorts of cases in which forensic psychologists are involved, the special issues in the context of nations with developing economies, and the relevance of international mental health norms. I conclude by focusing on the use of therapeutic jurisprudence as an interpretive tool, and offering suggestions as to how the practice of forensic psychologists can and should best incorporate international human rights standards and principles in their work.     

Which trademarks are detrimental to socialist morals or customs or have other unhealthy influences according to Chinese trademark law？

The paper at hand analyses how the Chinese Trademark Office （CTMO） and the Chinese Trademark and Adjudication Board （TRAB） implement Article 10 cipher 8 paragraph 1 of the Chinese trademark law. This provision prohibits the use-and hence the registration-of certain words and devices as trademarks which are ＂detrimental to socialist morals or customs＂ or ＂have other unhealthy influences＂. The paper primarily intends to concretize this open-end provision for practitioners by giving examples of signs which have been rejected by the competent authorities in the past but may also deliver some amusing insights into Chinese conventions for Non-Chinese readers.     

Ethical and legal dilemmas surrounding bio-banking

The interaction of medical technology and advancements in human life and biological tissue offers many possibilities and issues, for example the area of assisted conception and the identification and treatment of disease. However, hand-in-hand with these, ethical dilemmas arise. The overarching ethical issue surrounding cryo-preserved embryos is： Should an embryo be accorded the status of ＇life＇ or should it be labeled nothing more than ＇property＇？ This question is the interaction between frozen embryos and divorce, adoption, research and terminal incidents; it is a legal and ethical quagmire that cannot be readily resolved. This issue is of particular moral importance when one contemplates the fact that the scientific definition of life is dealt with on a continuum ranging from the metabolic view to the emergence of self-consciousness. The question must become property versus life or, in essence, sale or destruction of property versus sale or destruction of life. As this paper will show, the underlying attitudes of the progenitors involved in cryogenics can be driven by the darker side of our species; that side being the possible exploitation of those individuals or those capable of becoming individuals for personal and community gain while denying or rationalizing that point of view to society as a whole.     

Building a new paradigm in law education in term of upholding the rule of law in Indonesia through clinical study

Clinical legal education or CLE is known long enough in Indonesia by establishing Legal Aid Body named Lembaga Bantuan Hukum （LBH）, which aimed to train and prepare student to work in the real world especially in contributing and supporting marginal people （low-income people）. This mission was in line with the rule of law principle, which has characteristic values of supremacy of law, equality before the law, and due process of law. Recently, CLE is linking practical experience and legal theories to provide students with comprehensive understanding of legal aid and its goals, in particular, the implementation of the rule of law in Indonesia.     

＂Common knowledge＂ and the legal construction of race： Constructions of white people through U.S. expansionism,naturalization and immigration law

This article takes as a starting point, key claims from studies of the invention of the human category ＂white＂ during the late Seventeenth Century in Colonial North America： that ＂white＂ reflecting a unique group of humanity was an invention deployed to divide laborers; that white people were by law assigned greater material value and rendered more valuable; and that those who were seen as white were thought to be like the British and believed to be superior to those seen as nonwhite. Each of these claims will be briefly reviewed. Building upon the foundation of whiteness studies in law and history, this article explores what Ian F. Haney Lopez identifies as the ＂common knowledge＂ of race, the legal standard established within naturalization prerequisite cases in order to determine whether one was racially ＂white＂ by law. This article works to bridge the ideas revealed through studies of the invention of white people within Colonial North America and this legal standard that emerged in the 1920s. U.S. expansionism, immigration and naturalization law in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries provide critical areas of inquiry for the developing understanding of the ＂common knowledge＂ of race and the role of law in the construction of race.     

Applying the applicable law： The ex aequo et bono provision of the FAT Rules

One of the characteristics of arbitration is the freedom of the parties to choose the applicable law, i.e., the law governing the merits of the dispute. According to the FAT Rules （art. 15.1）, ＂Unless the parties have agreed otherwise the Arbitrator shall decide the dispute ex aequo et bono, applying general considerations of justice and fairness without reference to any particular national or international law.＂ In fact in almost all the cases ruled by FAT, the parties choose the application of ex aequo et bono.     

The Procedural School of Sao Paulo

The Procedural School of Sao Paulo originated itself from the lessons of Enrico TuUio Liebman, Italian scholar, during his stay in Brazil at the time of the Second World War, and consisted of the gathering of local studious participants who had a methodological unity and a scientific point of view of the procedure. The School spread for all the country. The master died in 1986, but his influence is still alive among us. Everywhere and in every Brazilian author＇s writings, one may recognize the master＇s method as well as his most important ideas.     

Pragmatic relevance/strength of lexico-grammar choices in EU legal documents

The present study focuses on the communicative relevance of lexical choices in the documents of the European Union Committee of the Regions （CoR） and of other related bodies within a pragmalinguistic perspective. The function of the Committee of the Regions is to issue opinions on proposals for Community legislation which are closest to the citizen interests - education, youth, culture, health. It is thus a voice at the heart of the EU which aims at increasing the participation of European regions in community life. Our corpus consists in 100 documents （Proposals and Opinions） whose lexico-grammatical aspects and communicative/ rhetorical strategies are here investigated. Our hypothesis is that such texts aim at creating a holistic we to construe a common ground of interests, within the constraints of legal intercourses, shared by both the sender and the receiver of the messages. Frequently occurring lexical items are： welcome, ensure, strengthen, aid. To stress urgency, generate empathy, emphasize needs and endorse value-positions are the recognizable perlocutionary effects of such semantic/pragmatic choices. Tools for analysis were taken from the domain of pragmalinguistics, from Evaluative/Appraisal Frameworks and, also, from social sciences. Particularly relevant appeared the notion of＇advocacy＇ （i.e., when researchers are asked to use their expertise to defend the subjects＇ interests in healthcare, education, political rights, and cultural autonomy）. This study will provide both qualitative and quantitative data to support our hypothesis, and will offer suggestions for further research.     

The international movement to deter corruption： Should China join？

Global concerns over the corruption of weak governments by firms engaged in transnational business are the source of an international movement that emerged in 1997. Special concern is presently directed at the weakness of enforcement of laws enacted in recent times to deter corrupt business practices in international trade that were enacted in response to that movement. One cause of weakness in law enforcement is the failure of China to share actively in those concerns and the efforts to address them. This essay will briefly record steps taken in other nations to address the concerns and the limited effectiveness of those steps. It will urge Chinese participation in the international movement and briefly suggest the need for private enforcement of the law if the movement is to succeed.     

Rehabilitation of abandoned housing projects： A comparative analysis on laws and practices in Peninsular Malaysia,New South Wales and Australia

Even though there are laws and policies promulgated by the Malaysian government to govern housing industry, abandoned housing project is still one of the housing malaises in Peninsular Malaysia. If it is not feasible to rehabilitate the abandoned housing projects, they will be stalled forever to the detriment of the purchasers. Virtually, there is no universal way to resolve this problem due to the fact that issues faced by the stakeholders are different in almost every abandoned housing project. Thus, different methods are absolutely necessary to tackle the problems especially to rehabilitate those projects. To this point, laws and practices in New South Wales, Australia may deserve consideration.     

An empirical analysis of development of water rights in China

This paper select the Jiangxi province located in the South of China and the Tarim river basin located in the North as two representative cases to empirically analyze the characteristics, the strengths and weaknesses of water rights development in the South and North, then point their significance for the whole country. Comparing and summarizing their differences and identities, the author point the future path of water rights development in China.