Abolishing Some More Obsolete Crown Prerogatives: Part 2

The Crown had many prerogatives (privileges) which other legal and natural persons did not have, due to the pre-eminent role of the sovereign. Some of these the Crown franchised to its subjects for money. In modern times the continued retention of these prerogatives needs to be considered. Also, whether any of these worth retaining should pass to the control of Parliament. Previous articles have looked at various Crown prerogatives relating to the military, as well as those relating to: tolls for pontage and murage, waifs and estrays, swans, the counties palatine and the cinque ports. This article argues that: (a) the prerogatives to franchise markets and fairs should be abolished; (b) the judicial powers of the verderers of the New Forest and the Forest of Dean should be transferred to the magistrates and county courts; (c) the prerogative to create a ‘county corporate’—or to confer by charter the status of a borough, royal borough, royal county, royal town or city—should be abolished; (d) the prerogative to franchise ferries should be abolished without affecting any prior grants of the same (in case some still exist); and (e) the prerogative to franchise wreck, flotsam, jetsam and ligan should be abolished, as well as any prior grants of the same.     

Agent-Relative Prerogatives to Do Harm

In this paper, I offer two arguments in support of the proposition that there are sometimes agent-relative prerogatives to impose harm on nonliable persons. The first argument begins with a famous case where most people intuitively agree it is permissible to perform an act that results in an innocent person’s death, and where there is no liability-based or consequentialist justification for acting. I show that this case is relevantly analogous to a case involving the intentional imposition of lethal defensive harm on a nonliable person. In the final part of the paper, I provide a second, independent, argument in support of the proposition that there are agent-relative permissions to foreseeably harm or kill nonliable people under certain conditions.     

International Patent Law is Obsolete and Copyright is Obsolete

‘A book may be good for nothing; or there may be onlyone thing in it worth knowing; are we to read it all through?’(Samuel Johnson) This section is dedicated to the review ofideas, articles, books, films and other media. It will includereplies (and rejoinders) to articles, the evaluation of newideas or proposals, and reviews of books and articles both directlyand indirectly related to intellectual property law.

International Patent Law is Obsolete By Anna Mancini, 2006,New York: Buenos Books Price: US$35, Paperback, ISBN: 1-932848-17-7E-book Price: US$7, ISBN: 1-932848-16-9 Copyright is ObsoleteBy Anna Mancini, 2006, New York: Buenos Books Price: US$35,Paperback, ISBN: 1-932848-17-7 E-book Price: US$5, ISBN: 1-932848-19-3   In International Patent Law is Obsolete Dr Mancini's openingpremise is     

人民法庭存废之争

针对人民法庭存在的问题 ,本文从人民法庭制度的起源、发展和变迁 ,结合学界的争论和我国法院的司法现状 ,通过对司法制度体系的理论分析和价值比较 ,提出人民法庭应予取消的看法。     

论“废除死刑”应该缓行

自贝卡利亚1764年在其著名的《论犯罪与刑罚》一书中首倡废除死刑至今二百多年以来,对该问题的争论一直历久不息。随着人类文明和刑法理论的发展,二战后对人权状况重新审视的热潮再一次唤起国际社会对以剥夺生命为内容的死刑的广泛关注。年初,湘潭大学法学院院长邱兴隆又首倡中国应全面废除死刑。一石激起千层浪,国内法学界应者如云,纷纷从法理上、情感上,国际局势上,甚至人类发展史、哲学思想史乃至名人名言中寻章摘句,企图构建“全面废除死刑”的理论大厦。针对主张“废除死刑”者的诸多立论元素,本文从我国具体国情出发,从七个方面阐明了…     

Abolishing the Death Penalty: An Untested Legal Argument

This paper supplies the logical and substantive framework for an untested challenge to the legality of the death penalty in the United States. As such, it yields a novel strategy for appellants and supporting amici seeking review of capital cases in the United States Supreme Court. With twin reliance on the right of the people to reparation for harm wrongly inflicted by others and their constitutional right to Due Process of Law under the Fourteenth Amendment, this paper advances the argument that the mere possibility of a wrongful execution yields an imperative for abolishment of capital punishment by the Court.     

从法律上废除农业税的重大意义

据报载:2005年12月24日,《关于废止农业税条例的决定草案》提请第十届全国人大常委会第十九次会议审议,并如期通过。这一直接关系9亿农民的切身利益的草案建议,将从法律上彻底废止1958年通过的《农业税条例》,自2006年1月1日施行。2006年春节,在湖北省监利县,有一个农民贴了两副春联,一个是“千年等一回,免征农业税”,另一个是“开天辟地头一回,农民种地不交税”。最近笔者到一些农村调查,广大农民对取消农业税表现出极大的感激之情。湖北省麻城市张家洲村年过70岁的村民张金书说:取消农业税,国家给补贴,这是开天辟地以来没有过的事。过去国…     

税收犯罪死刑废止的可行性分析

我国刑法废止税收犯罪死刑,既符合国外刑法对税收犯罪不适用死刑的通行做法,又会使我国刑法中失衡的税收犯罪罪刑关系走向均衡;它既不会破坏整个刑法分则罪刑关系的总体协调,也不会在民众中引起不良的社会反响。     

All Citizens are Created Equal,but Some are More Equal Than Others

Nationality is the legal bond between a person and a state that connotes full and equal membership of the political community. Yet, in the practice of states, not everyone who is admitted as a national enjoys the full package of rights attached, nor the same security of status. The phenomenon of inequality among citizens is particularly apparent when examining the question of how protected the legal bond itself is: citizenship by birth is more secure than citizenship acquired otherwise—such as by naturalisation—and mono citizens are less prone to withdrawal of nationality than persons with dual or multiple nationality. As nationality revocation gains new attention from states as a tool to counter terrorism, prompting much political, public and academic debate, the reality that this measure often applies only to particular sub-groups of citizens demands closer scrutiny. This article explores how law and practice on citizenship deprivation is to be evaluated against contemporary standards of international law. While states justify unequal application of citizenship deprivation measures by invoking the duty to avoid statelessness, this article shows that the application of other international standards such as non-discrimination and the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality calls into question the legitimacy of citizenship stripping as a security instrument. Finally, the article reflects on the broader implications of the current trend towards greater inequality of citizenship status as a reaction to the perceived threat that terrorism poses to the integrity of the state, discussing how the creation of different classes of citizen is in fact likely to have a deeper and more lasting impact on the foundations of liberal democracies.

     

死刑存废论评析——以《中华人民共和国刑法修正案（八）》为视角

从废除死刑的观点被提出来到现在，死刑的存废论争已经持续了200多年。我国关于这个问题的讨论也持续了20年左右。死刑的存与废各有利弊，而我们的目的，则是平衡二者的优缺点，形成一个最适合我国国情的死刑制度，以实现惩罚犯罪与保护人权的统一。在此方面。《中华人民共和国刑法修正案（八）》的通过是一次历史性的变革和进步，具有里程碑的意义。这次修正，通过多个条文来修改和完善我国现行《刑法》所规定的死刑，它对死刑适用消极条件、死刑缓期两年执行的法律后果进行了修改完善，首次对刑法分则规定的死刑罪名进行了较大幅度的削减，标志着理论界呼吁已久的死刑制度改革的主张已经正式获得了我国立法机关的认可。     

析贝卡利亚废除死刑的理由

贝卡利亚于1764年首先对死刑进行抨击,并倡导废除死刑,从而为死刑废除事业立下了不朽功勋.但贝卡利亚于当年提出的废除死刑的理由,在今天看来并不十分充分,难以应对死刑保留论者提出的质疑.因此,今后再为废除死刑辩解,可从其他方面阐述理由.     

坚持科学唯物论匡正宗教破除迷信

只有坚持科学唯物论 ,反对唯心论 ,主张无神论 ,拒斥有神论 ,才能驱逐上帝 ,战胜魂灵 ,革除各种迷信。只有振兴科学 ,弘扬真理 ,完善宗教内容 ,匡正宗教本质 ,才能清除宗教中的迷信成分 ,彻底与魔鬼决裂 ;才能使宗教真正成为净化人心 ,推进文明 ,维护安定 ,保障社会秩序的积极因素。     

论居民身份证收费的存与废——兼评我国行政收费制度

政府以提供公共服务为职能，并且在其所提供的公共产品中唯有其提供准公共产品时才允许向消费该类公共产品的居民适当收取费用。而身份证属于政府部门根据自身的行政管理需要而向全体社会成员提供的纯公共产品，因此政府首次发放和更换身份证应该实行免费制度。随着政府服务职能的提高和公民权利意识的增强，类似的证件收费以及其他不合理的行政收费也应该得到清理和废止，从而最终实现行政收费领域法治化目标。     

受贿罪“为他人谋取利益”要件取消论

在我国 ,刑法规定非索取性受贿罪的成立要求有“为他人谋取利益”这一要素 ,而刑法理论上对这一要素在犯罪构成中的地位存在着种种不同的主张 ,文章在对这种种主张进行分析后认为 ,无论采用那一种主张 ,都会造成一些利用职务上的便利非法收受他人财物者逃脱受贿罪的刑事责任 ,应从刑法的规定中去除这一要素。     

"废统论"可以休矣

台湾当局在历史上从未要求独立建国,而坚持主张其是中国的合法代表,因此并不存在"国家承认"问题.即使台湾当局宣布"废统",也由于不符合国际法的要求而无法有效建立新国家.历史和现实都表明,台湾地区因不具备国际上曾经发生的国家分离实践的客观条件而不可能真正从祖国分离出去.台湾地区和大陆的和平统一既是两岸人民的意愿,也符合国际法的要求.     

废除税务行政救济前置条件的必要性与可行性

通过汇林置业公司案可以看出,《税收征收管理法》第88条严重阻碍了纳税人税收行政救济权的行使,是对纳税人人权的严重侵犯,也与《宪法》及《行政诉讼法》的立法精神相违背。在目前的法制环境下,即使将税务行政救济前置条件从税务行政复议前后移至税务行政诉讼前,对保护纳税人权益的意义也不大,故建议彻底废除该条款。