Are Legal Concepts Embedded in Legal Norms?

In this paper, we discuss the problem of the relationship between legal concepts and legal norms. We argue that one of the widespread theories of legal concepts, which we call ??the embedding theory??, is false. The theory is based on the assumption that legal norms are central for any legal system and that each legal norm establishes an inferential link between a certain class of facts and a certain class of legal consequences. Alf Ross??s embedding theory was presented in his famous paper ??Tu?CTu??. According to Ross, the sole function of legal concepts is to simplify normative information. Hence, the use of legal concepts may be a matter of convenience, rather than necessity. We criticize this approach mainly by pointing to the existence of so-called second order substantive concepts, which are not reducible to any determined set of conditional sentences (inferential links). In short, second order substantive concepts play the role of general standards, and general standards are used to provide flexibility for a particular legal system. In addition, general standards are ??value loaded??, since they serve as a frame of reference for judges applying law to particular cases. To understand such general standards as a predefined set of conditionals means to overlook their ??open?? content, and thus their function. In our opinion, the acceptance of the embedding theory means to misinterpret the function of general standards. We also argue that Giovani Sartor??s idea of defective legal concepts doesn??t help to clarify or defend the embedding theory.     

Medico-legal knowledge of general practitioners: disjunctions,errors and uncertainties

This article discusses a survey of Victorian general practitioners which investigated doctors' legal knowledge, the impact of law on clinical practice, doctors' current medico-legal information sources and their legal education needs and preferences. Knowledge of legal standards was investigated in relation to three areas: disclosure of risk; ownership of, and access to, medical records; and proxy decision-making. Additionally, the impact of statutory reform in relation to proxy decision-making was explored. Further, doctors' past experience of medico-legal education, current sources of medico-legal information and preferences concerning future medico-legal information were explored. Results indicated that overall, respondents had a very inadequate understanding of relevant law and that relevant statutory standards have had little impact on clinical practice. Professional bulletins and journals were identified as major current legal information sources, whilst printed materials, seminars and conferences were preferred sources of legal information. The authors conclude that there is a significant disjunction between legal standards and doctors' awareness of those standards, thereby creating a significant source of liability for doctors. Results highlight an urgent need to develop legal education programs for general practitioners based on doctors' identified needs and preferences.     

当前农村弱势群体法律援助面临的问题和对策

近年来,我国法律援助制度建设取得长足进步,但针对农村弱势群体的法律援助明显滞后。究其原因主要有:现有法律规定不完善、法律援助适用标准模糊、资金来源渠道单一、法律援助队伍不健全、法律援助的实施缺乏有效监督。有鉴于此,应该以坚持基本权利保障、尊重个人发展权和公平正义原则为指导思想,细化农村弱势群体的法律援助适用标准,加强法律援助队伍的建设与监管,进一步健全和完善农村弱势群体法律援助制度。     

Developing regulatory standards for the concept of security in online dispute resolution systems

Online dispute resolution (ODR) has improved access to justice in the digital world. ODR users benefit from faster and cheaper dispute resolution mechanisms compared to traditional litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution. There are few and quite varied regulatory systems for ODR.This research aims to develop a set of standards to measure the concept of security and to increase the consistency of security in ODR systems. An exploratory mixed method approach is used, involving a quantitative (survey) and mainly qualitative approach (face-to-face interviews) for gathering data. We identify three elements of information security, privacy, and authentication as standards for an appropriate ODR legal framework. Finally, these findings led to practical implications for policy makers and regulators.     

The psychiatrist's guide to right and wrong: Part III: Postpartum depression and the "appreciation" of wrongfulness

Whether or not the psychiatrist testifies on the ultimate issue in insanity defense cases, it is critically important that he familiarize himself with the applicable legal standards and interpretations in order properly to relate his clinical findings to the relevant criteria for insanity and thereby enhance the probative value of his testimony. This is the third in a series of articles which attempts to explicate judicial and statutory standards of insanity and correlate them with the psychiatrist's findings of psychopathology. This article analyzes the Model Penal Code formulation of insanity, with special emphasis on the all important distinction between "know" and "appreciate." This formulation permits the defendant possessed of mere surface knowledge or cognition to be exculpated, requiring that he have a deeper affective appreciation of the legal and moral import of the conduct involved if he is to be held criminally responsible. The Model Penal Code approach more readily lends itself to application as a standard of responsibility in cases involving affective disorders. An important disorder within this group, postpartum depression, is discussed in the context of raising the insanity defense in a case of infanticide.     

试论国际私法涉外标准之认定

所谓国际私法的涉外性,是指民事关系具有涉及外国法适用的因素,而非民事法律关系的涉外。我国目前的国际私法的涉外性标准采取的是以民事法律关系的主体、客体以及产生、变更、消灭民事法律关系的法律事实涉外为标准。该标准过于宽泛,内容有待完善。只有依据冲突规范连接点的内容才能找出某一具体的民事关系中的有效涉外因素,进而结合案件事实才能最终确定外国法的适用。     

论我国立法和司法对法定外在标准的过度依赖——以我国医疗损害责任鉴定与诉讼实践为例

我国法中存在着在侵权法问题的判定上过度依赖"法律法规"、"行业标准"和"诊疗规范"的倾向。这些"外在"标准替代了法官对法律"内在"规则的审视和适用。行业标准替代了法律标准。比如,在医疗过失判定标准上,法官过度依赖"诊疗规范",忽视了基本法律标准——注意义务违反说和"合理医生"标准——的探寻和适用。我国法应纠正此种现象,注意对法律规则,比如医疗过失和因果关系判定规则的细心构建,以给法官具体指导。"法律法规"、"行业标准"和"诊疗规范"在侵权法中是判定过失的重要标准,但不是终局性和根本性标准。     

我国个人信息匿名化的法律标准与规则重塑

大数据时代,匿名化规范既是个人信息保护中风险预防的手段,也是我国数据经济发展中数字流通的法律基础,但匿名化的法律标准在我国法律中还有待明确。欧盟已通过《一般数据保护条例》提出明确的匿名化标准,但该条例基于流程设置的标准适用于欧盟境内尚可,适用于我国或显得过于严苛,有碍数字经济的发展。我国个人信息匿名化法律标准与规则的重塑应当考虑环境、再识别风险,建议进行功能性匿名化。将比例原则应用到我国匿名化法律标准和规则的重塑之中,并将其引入到评估匿名信息接收者的风险等级,有助于降低个人信息被再识别的风险亦有利于匿名化的法律标准制定和规则构建。     

Management of forensic psychiatry patients who refuse medication--two scenarios

An Ohio federal court set Wyatt-type standards for treatment rights of forensic psychiatry patients and ordered legal due process-type hospital hearings to protect patients from what the court considers harmful clinical practices. Experience with this legal method for management of patients who refuse medication is examined for its impact on staff and patient care. Under legal pressure Ohio has built new regional forensic psychiatry hospitals. In one, spurred by legal activism, the prevalence of patients refusing medication has become pandemic. In its typical 16-bed ward, when 2 or more patients refuse medication, danger escalates rapidly for patients and staff. The method adopted to manage these situations is to assess the emergency of danger to patient or others, and if warranted to administer medication despite objections. This emergency management is dramatic in improving patient behavior and defusing milieu tensions. The psychiatrist ordering emergency management, however, faces challenges from several quarters--patient advocates, outside patients' rights legal advocates, and the commissioner of mental health. The clinically managed process contrasts markedly also with the legally imposed one in its impact on the personal and professional integrity of the responsible psychiatrist. Both scenarios illustrate the task yet remaining--integration of the clinical and legal concerns into a multisystem resolution of diverse interests, values, ethics, and rights.     

试论法律位阶划分的标准——兼及行政法规与地方性法规之间的位阶问题

法律位阶的成立,是以明晰而准确的标准为前提的。作者认为,可以通过三个准则来对法律位阶进行上、下位的确定:(1)权力的等级性,是指法律位阶的高低以权力的不同等级为确立基准。(2)事项的包容性,是指法律位阶关系以立法事项的包容性为标准,由此形成法律与法律之间的层层递进关系。(3)权力的同质性,指法律位阶的划分以权力的同质性为基础。这一标准本身也是对"权力的等级性"标准的限制。以上述三个标准为准据,本文认为,在行政法规与地方性法规之间并不存在上下级的位阶关系,而是属于法律之下同等的规范性法律文件。     

公证人的法律责任问题研究

就公证法律责任的主体、承担法律责任的基本原则、及其种类等方面来研究公证人的法律责任,从而规范公证法律行为,构建和完善与国际接轨并符合中国国情的公证法律制度体系。     

论环境标准的法律地位——对主流观点的反思与补充

环境标准不同于环境标准法律规范，也不同于环境标准法律制度。从形式上看，它无构成法律规范所需的完整结构，也无独立的法律效力，故其属性只可属于行政规范性文件，而不应归于环境法的渊源，但环境标准可经法律规范的援引而成为构成该规范的“条件假设”或“行为模式”的组成部分。从而才被赋予相应的法律效力和法律意义。在裁判实践中，环境标准可作为判断环境行为违法与否的法律事实——“超标”或“这标”的依据，但不能单独作为环境行为是否违法的判断准则，违法与否还必须结合相关法律规范的具体规定才能做出正确判断，即达标不一定合法,超标也并不必然违法。     

基本权利限制的合宪性基准

尽管美、德两国违宪审查基准因各自的法律价值取向、权利保护政策和法律传统不同而有所区别,表述方式也存在差异,但各国从形式和实质上的考量因素是基本一致的。这些因素包括确立基本权利限制之合宪性基准的本体论因素,如基本权利的类型、构成;关联论因素,如法治传统、司法政策;以及方法论因素,如基本权利限制的目的、手段和结果等。希望所整合出的基本权利限制之合宪性的基准体系,对我国的立法合宪性审查有所助益。     

On The Interpretation Of Laws

Abstract. The essay is an attempt to examine aspects of legal interpretation from an external, sociological point of view. "Interpretation", in its normal juristic sense, is primarily a process in which decision-makers with secondary legitimacy link their decisions to authority of primary legitimacy. The type of legitimacy which is dominant within the legal system greatly influences the style of interpretation - in "closed" systems, where the stock of premises is fixed, "legalism" will abound. Legal interpretation is not concerned with what a text really means, in any literal sense; and standards for judging legal interpretation are different from the standards of judging other forms of communication, for example, literature. Indeed, a judge can be considered great precisely because of his creative acts of mis interpretation.     

法律行为的法技术意义

法律行为是大陆法系民法中的一个重要概念,作为法技术的拟制物,它在法技术上具有特别的意义。它是法律概念体系的一环,它是法律价值的载体,它还是法律规范的中介。此外,它通过意思表示为确定私法自治的行为提供了分析工具。     

The Fight to Globalize Labor: Understanding the Role of Activists in the Spread of International Norms

International relations scholars have traditionally focused on state-centered accounts of international legal norm development between nations while sociolegal scholars have focused on Weberian notions of occupational authority. This study advances a constructivist sociolegal approach emphasizing activist action as playing a unique role in shaping international norms. Specifically, this study investigates labor activists' intervention in U.S. bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) to examine why labor activists chose to initiate FTA disputes as a social movement tactic and how strategic interaction with international legal systems has helped them institutionalize and proliferate the International Labor Organizations' core labor standards. Through semi-structured interviews with legal, union, and government officials, alongside a content analysis of cases filed under the U.S. FTA system, this study shows the role activists played in advancing “globalized” standards in international law. This study finds that activists spread norms through a gradual mechanism of accretion, which focuses on the creation of standards and international legal standing over the individual outcomes of any given case.     

Plea bargaining: Its pervasiveness on the judicial system

The proposed standards of the American Bar Association and the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals are expressed in an ideal perspective, compared with the reality of plea bargaining use by prosecutors. Fifty-five prosecutors were randomly selected from four countries in two states, and a standardized questionnaire was administered to the subjects. The majority of the sample indicated an essential need for plea bargaining to administratively ensure justice in the criminal courts. The American Bar Association maintains that administrative efficaciousness is a minute consideration in justifying plea bargaining as a legal institution. Standards proposed by the federal Task Force on Courts contend that plea bargaining is an unnecessary adjunct to the formal legal process. Either of the proposed standards would, if adopted, definitely activate participant roles in a formally operated legal environment.     

“不合规”规划许可合法性审查的检视与司法空间政策的形成

“不合规”是不符合国家强制性标准的简约表达,我国各地法院对于“不合规”规划许可是否合法的裁决并不一致。国家强制性标准具有法律约束力,把公法意义上对“不合规”规划许可的合法性审查转化为私法意义上对居民是否获得侵权补偿的审查是不妥的,认定“有补偿则合法”实际进行了“超越法律的法的续造”,会产生负外部性效果,因而在公法层面上“不合规”则不合法的判断模式是成立的。为适度发挥司法空间政策形成功能,可确认经补偿之“不合规”许可违法而不予撤销,并制度性激活反向征收作为补救措施,为城市持续发展服务。     

指导性案例与抽象司法解释的互动及其完善

指导性案例与抽象司法解释的互动,主要体现在制度、规则和法律方法三个层面。在制度层面,两者的制度成熟度差距较大,且相互衔接不足;在规则层面,两者的裁判规则供给能力之差距过于悬殊,具体的互动方式也存在一些瑕疵;在法律方法层面,两者在互动时对法律方法的运用还不够充分,相关标准亦有待明确。可以通过明确指导性案例的制度地位,并加强其与抽象司法解释的制度衔接、调整最高人民法院裁判规则供给结构并规范其具体方式、加强法律方法在两者互动中的运用并明确相关标准等路径,实现对指导性案例与抽象司法解释之互动模式的完善。     

The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple

More than 20 years after the establishment of legal aid services in Ghana, many accused persons still go through trials without being represented by a lawyer. Behind the backdrop of international standards on the provision of legal aid, and the constitutional history of legal aid in Ghana, this article looks at challenges facing lawyers in the provision of legal aid services in Ghana. The article is an addition to the global debate on the provision of better legal aid services for the indigent in society.