Towards a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights

The political settlement resulting from the Belfast Agreement recognisedthe fundamental importance of the issue of rights to a stable peace inNorthern Ireland. Indeed, the agreement provided for a Human RightsCommission, one of whose tasks is the drafting of a Bill of Rights thatwill reflect the political reality of the province. This paper arguesthat the proposed document will have to reflect an understanding ofrights and their protection resulting from the particular history ofNorthern Ireland. This specific understanding of rights appeared firstin the Anglo-Irish Agreement and has been gradually developed andconsolidated in the political agreements since. The planned NorthernIreland Bill of Rights will have to reflect this rights thinking. Thearticle also chronicles the recent work of the Northern Ireland HumanRights Commission in drafting the Bill of Rights to be presented to theSecretary of State for Northern Ireland in February 2002. Thereciprocal, if belated, moves in the Republic to set up its own humanrights commission will also be addressed as part of the process to drawup a Charter of Rights for the whole people of Ireland.     

The Frontiers of Legal Analysis: Reframing the Transition in Northern Ireland

British constitutional legal discourse is structurally limited in its capacity to capture the complexity of the Good Friday Agreement. Rather than assessing the Agreement in narrow devolutionary terms, it should be seen as a hybrid domestic and international law instrument, making an important contribution to accepted international law norms in relation to self-determination. The Agreement transforms and partly transcends the Northern Ireland conflict by substituting political contestation for violent conflict, and by defining the modalities of conducting that contestation. This analysis complements classical international law perspectives, and opens up the application of legal discourses associated with 'transitional justice' to the legal and political transformation in Northern Ireland. These discourses focus on the problem of reconciling the demands of peace with the imperatives of justice. The Agreement sits squarely in this terrain with its provisions on 'dealing with the past' and 'institutional legacies'. The insights gained here challenge orthodox thinking about conflict-management and the ongoing political process.     

The Defeat of Shabina Begum in the House of Lords

The Court of Appeal last year delivered a well-publicised judgment declaring that now 17-year-old Shabina Begum had been unlawfully excluded from Denbigh High School when she insisted on wearing the Islamic ‘jilbab’ ([2005] EWCA Civ. 199; [2005] 1 W.L.R. 3372; [2005] 2 All E.R. 396 (Judgment of 2 March 2005); The Times, 4 March 2005, at p. 85. See also J. Gau, “Muslim Dress – School Exclusion – Human Rights”, Ecclesiastical Law Journal 8/37 (2005), pp. 239–240.). The dispute received huge national and international press coverage, but on Wednesday 22nd March 2006, in a remarkable u-turn, the House of Lords overturned the Court of Appeal’s decision on all counts (R (On the Application of Begum) v Headteacher and Governors of Denbigh High School [2006] UKHL 15 (Judgment of 22 March 2006); The Guardian, 23 March 2006, at p. 6; and The Independent, 23 March 2006, at p. 4. Members of the Appellate Committee were Lord Bingham of Cornhill; Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead; Lord Hoffmann; Lord Scott of Foscote and Baroness Hale of Richmond.). The reversal meant Shabina’s Article 9 right to manifest a belief had not been violated by the school. This analysis will briefly examine the reasoning behind their Lordship’s judgment and will provide a short commentary on the likely effect the decision will have on religious groups wishing to wear religious symbols in UK schools. LLB (Hons), LLM, Cert. Ed. Mohammad Idriss is Senior Lecturer in Public Law at Coventry University, United Kingdom and is a PhD Candidate at the University of Birmingham; M.Idriss@Coventry.ac.uk     

侵犯知识产权刑事案件法律适用问题研究

2004年12月,最高人民法院和最高人民检察院颁布了《关于办理侵犯知识产权刑事案件具体应用法律若干问题的解释》(以下简称《知识产权刑事司法解释》)。该《知识产权刑事司法解释》进一步完善了我国知识产权刑法保护的制度,但是从这一《知识产权刑事司法解释》出台之后的实践来看,这一解释在构成犯罪的情节认定等方面仍然存在一些不足之处。     

刑法目的解释的作用、边界及规制

刑法目的解释的存在根据包括理论与实践两个层面。在刑法解释体系中,目的解释不能简单定位为辅助作用或决定作用,应具体问题具体分析。目的解释边界的厘定与文义解释有关,也与历史解释、体系解释有关。目的解释主要局限在法律疑难情况下适用,且目的解释常与非规范因素相联系,所以应从实体规范、司法程序及司法技术等角度对该法律方法进行规制。     

冲突与协调:安理会与国际法院的关系新论

《联合国宪章》对安理会与国际法院的职责作出了明确规定,由于两个机构在组成与性质方面的差异,在处理共同管辖的国际争端时,两个机构的解决方式有时存在分歧,而且安理会决议与国际法院裁判对《联合国宪章》条文的解释也存在矛盾。因此,在《联合国宪章》的框架内重新构建安理会与国际法院的关系,有迫切的需要。在产生共同管辖时,国际法院应当适当照顾安理会决议的意见,同时,为制约安理会日益扩大的权力,应当肯定国际法院对安理会决议的司法审查权。     

Don't Mention the War: The Court of Appeal,the Criminal Cases Review Commission and Dealing with the Past in Northern Ireland

Despite the vast transitional justice scholarship relating to prisoner release, amnesties and prosecutions when conflicts end, there is a significant gap in practice and academic literature regarding wrongful convictions. Uniquely amongst post‐conflict societies, Northern Ireland has a body for investigating miscarriages of justice, albeit one designed for ‘ordinary’ appeals. In the absence of a formal truth‐recovery process, criminal appeals are becoming a proxy for addressing the role of the state during ‘The Troubles,’ as well as remedying individual injustices. This article examines the approach of the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal during the conflict. It charts the developments in its decision‐making following the cease‐fires and the establishment of the Criminal Cases Review Commission. It concludes that the current system is unsatisfactory as it ignores the effects of the conflict on the appeal process and offers no insights into the role of the Court during the conflict. Alternative models are suggested.     

适用与限制：法律解释中的目的解释方法

作为一种重要的法律解释方法,目的解释的基本含义是按照法律规范的目的阐释法律疑义。按照公、私法不同的划分,目的解释有着不同的适用方式,进而决定了其适用范围。由于目的解释有着主观性和任意性的特征,需要运用法律制度内外的各种因素对其适用进行限制。     

指导性案例的法源意义与确认路径——以最高人民法院公布的私法性指导性案例为研究对象

《最高人民法院关于案例指导工作的规定》确立了我国案例指导制度,由于该规定相关内容的模糊性,产生了两个需要回答的问题,一是指导性案例与英美法系判例法是否存在相同的裁判逻辑与法律效力,进而指导性案例是否具有法源意义;二是指导性案例的功能是对法官自由裁量权的控制,还是应该重视从法解释学层面去理解。建议以民法解释学为视角对最高人民法院公布的私法性指导性案例进行梳理和剖析,明确私法性指导性案例具有确认和发现法规则的功能和价值。从"法与法律区别"的自然法观视角,认为私法性指导性案例所确认和发现的法规则在我国当代具有私法法源意义。最后,从解释论和立法论两个方面,提出私法性指导性案例确认和发现的法规则的法源地位确认路径和具体建议。     

论刑法立法解释权与立法权和司法权的纠葛

刑法立法解释权的产生和发展,导致这一权力同立法权和司法(解释)权产生了冲突,使得刑法解释权力体制产生了新变化。现实中,刑法立法解释权同立法权之间产生了混淆,进而因为这一权力的混淆,类推性立法解释的溯及既往造成了对被告人权利的侵犯。同时,由于解释对象和方式的混同,刑法立法解释权又同司法解释权发生运用的重合,深刻地影响了最高人民法院、最高人民检察院的刑事司法解释权的格局。     

侵权责任法与特别法及司法解释关系的法解释学思考

在制定侵权责任法的过程中,应考虑到法解释的地位和作用,处理好侵权责任法与特别法及司法解释的关系。制定侵权责任法必须遵循一般法与特别法关系的法理,对侵权责任的一般问题和侵权责任的基本类型做出一般性规定,无特别法规定的,应做出比较全面的规定;正确处理与协调一般类型规定与特别法规定的关系。处理好与司法解释的关系,一是处理好侵权责任法与现有有效适用的司法解释的关系,二是处理好侵权责任法出台之后通过司法解释贯彻实施的问题。     

我国司法解释规则的新发展及其再完善——《07规定》与《97规定》的比较分析

与最高人民法院1997年出台的《关于司法解释工作的若干规定》相比,于2007年4月1日起施行的新规则无论在形式体例上还是在具体内容方面均有新的发展:新规则的制定依据有所扩充,从而凸显了依法行使司法解释权的应有宗旨;突出强调了协商一致,为"两高"共同制定司法解释的工作提供了制度雏形;扩大了司法解释的立项来源,拓展了司法解释正当化的社会基础;但新规则也仍然存在一些问题:最高人民法院自己规定其司法解释"具有法律效力"显然是一种"过于自大"的失当宣示;对于司法解释工作的监督机制似乎仅具形式意义。     

刑法中的国家工作人员之立法与司法解释评析

刑法中的国家工作人员的界定是长期困扰刑法理论界和司法部门的一个难题。国家立法机关和最高司法机关虽对其作过多次立法解释和司法解释,但却仍然存在内涵不清、外延不明,难予认定的问题。为此,本文对历次刑事立法和司法解释中关于国家工作人员的解释之得失进行了回顾、比较与评析,旨在为准确理解和把握本概念提供有益的思路。     

齐玉苓案批复之死——从该批复被忽视的解读文本谈起

长期以来,"齐玉苓案批复"被认为是我国"宪法司法化"的重要标志。其实,与该批复同日登载的两篇文章对批复中的"宪法"解读出不同的含义,前者意指宪法典,而后者为"教育法"。这足以表明"齐玉苓案批复"形成之初就存在重大缺陷,该批复既不应成为宪法司法化的突破口,也不应成为合宪性解释的样本。在该批复废止后,需要正确处理两方面问题:不能将有条件适用的合宪性解释方法彻底否定;不能将围绕批复所做的完善我国侵权法体系的努力全面否定。     

刑事司法国际准则对我国法治建设的价值思考

刑事司法国际准则是联合国及其下属机构为各国刑事诉讼程序所建立的基本权利保障标准,准则产生的理论基础是自然法思想,现实动因是人们对二战的反思以及人权保障运动的国际化。学习、借鉴准则对于我国法治建设具有重大的意义,从宏观层面而言,准则有助于促进我国司法制度的法治化建构;从微观层面而言,准则有助于实现个案的审判正义。     

诉讼法学硕士研究生培养质量保障机制研究

诉讼法学专业硕士研究生培养是一个系统工程。在招生环节,应当注意适度压缩招生规模、扩大推免比例,保证生源质量。在课程设置和教学计划环节,应当注意增设相应的实体法课程,强化实习,为培养学生解决实际问题的能力打下基础。在教学环节,课堂教学可以采用师生同堂授课的方法,以调动学生的主动性、积极性;同时通过举办学术沙龙、学术讲座的方式,开辟第二课堂。强化导师责任,对学位论文进行集中开题,严格学位论文答辩,也有助于提高硕士研究生培养质量。     

知识产权刑事保护的贡献与立法完善--解读《关于办理侵犯知识产权刑事案件具体应用法律若干问题的解释》

最高人民检察院、最高人民法院于2004年11月11日联合颁行的<关于办理侵犯知识产权刑事案件具体应用法律若干问题的解释>(以下简称解释),针对我国知识产权刑事司法保护严重滞后的实际,作出若干具体界定,增强了司法实践的可操作性,是一个贡献.但侵犯知识产权犯罪中还有若干问题,远非一个司法解释所能解决,还需要立法的不断完善.     

人权保护对冲突法发展的影响

人权保护思想对现代欧美国家冲突法的发展起到了积极的促进作用。美国现代侵权领域各种法律适用理论在追求案件处理结果公正的目标背后,隐含着人权保护的价值诉求;欧洲以法德等国为代表,在不改变“以规则为中心”的前提下,通过发挥宪法的直接效力作用,将人权精神体现到冲突规范的变化和外国判决的承认与执行中。人权保护成为现代冲突法发展的重要推动力。我国在进行新的冲突法立法时,也应考虑体现人权保护的理念。     

Law-making functions of the Chinese courts: Judicial activism in a country of rapid social changes

The judicial production of law and the legislative production of law make a striking distinction between the two legal traditions. Despite of these differences, judges in both legal traditions in adjudicating cases have a common task, which is the application of legal rules to the facts of cases pending for judgments. The tension between the certainty and the “discretion” is universal for any legal system and, to a certain extent, it poses a hard dilemma for the rhetoric of rule of law. In the transitional countries such as China where rapid social changes and transformations take place, the judiciary and judges can not escape from taking more active roles in interpreting or even law making process. It arouses much controversy, particularly in continental legal traditions, for the judiciary is deemed to perform a mechanical role in adjudicating cases. This article intends to analyze the needs for judicial law-making function in China and its reasons. It reveals that judicial interpretation constitutes an important source of law despite its ambiguous legislative position. The article argues that judicial activism is inevitable against the transitional nature of current Chinese society.