To lease or not to lease? The leasing of indigenous statutory lands in Australia: lessons from Canada

In Australia, land rights legislation provides statutory schemes for the transfer of land to Indigenous peoples. The first significant land rights legislation was passed by the Australian Commonwealth government in 1976. This was the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act (ALRA) 1976 (Cth). In 2006, the Australian Commonwealth government passed significant amendments to the ALRA. One of the key amendments introduced the leasing of Aboriginal ‘township lands’ held under that Act. It is these leasing amendments which are a focus of this article. A primary motivation behind the amendments was to decrease poverty in Indigenous communities and to allow for economic development on Aboriginal lands. This article critiques the township leasing scheme under the amended Act. It questions whether the new leasing arrangements are the most appropriate forms of leasing to achieve economic development on Aboriginal lands and to benefit the Aboriginal communities who hold these lands. In 2008, leasing amendments were passed to Queensland's statutory land scheme in the Aboriginal Land Act 1991 (Qld) and these amendments are subject to review in this article. Furthermore, the article examines alternative forms of leasing used for economic development on Indigenous reserve lands in Canada and whether there are lessons that Australia could learn from these tenures and their modes of leasing.     

综述历次刑法修正:内容、特点和原因——兼论和谐社会视野下的《刑法修正案》

自1997年《刑法》施行以来,全国人大常委会适应社会发展需要,先后通过了7个《刑法修正案》。这些刑法修正增设、修改了罪名和罪状,或罪名未变但修改了罪状和调整了某些犯罪的法定刑等。从历次修正的内容上可以反映出刑法修正上的及时性、广泛性、连贯性、国际化和罪刑相适应的特点,同时也揭示出历次刑法修正是基于社会现实、刑事政策、刑法理念、刑法研究、刑事司法和刑法与国际接轨需要的规律。建议今后强调在和谐社会的视野下来把握刑法修正的方向。     

Container and waste pile standards for owners and operators of hazardous waste facilities: consolidated permit regulations--Environmental Protection Agency. Amendments to interim final rule

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is today promulgating amendments to the hazardous waste management regulations regarding the management of hazardous waste in containers and piles and associated permit regulations (40 CFR Part 264, Subparts I and L, and Part 122, Subpart B). These amendments better tailor the standards to the particular type of hazard posed by specific situations. The standards for containers are amended to waive the containment system requirements for wastes that do not contain free liquids, provided that the wastes are protected from contact with accumulated liquid. The standards for waste piles are amended to waive the containment system requirements for wastes that do not contain free liquids, provided that the pile is protected from precipitation by a structure and from surface water run-on and wind dispersal of the waste by the structure or some other means. The Agency believes these amendments believes these amendments will not reduce the level of protection of human health and the environment.     

State certification of mammography facilities. Final rule

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending its regulations governing mammography. The amendments implement the "States as Certifiers" (SAC) provisions of the Mammography Quality Standards Act of 1992 (MQSA). These amendments permit FDA to authorize individual States to certify mammography facilities, conduct facility inspections, enforce the MQSA quality standards, and administer other related functions. The amendments establish the standards to be met by States receiving this authority. They also establish procedures for application, approval, evaluation, and withdrawal of approval of States as certification agencies. FDA retains oversight responsibility for the activities of the States to which this authority is given. Mammography facilities certified by those States must continue to meet the quality standards established by FDA for mammography facilities nationwide.     

浅谈我国第四次宪法修正案

我国第四次宪法修正案将“修宪为民”和“与时俱进”写进宪法,成为中国21世纪社会发展的指南,本文从修宪的理由全面探讨了修宪的主要内容,并提出了自己的观点。     

医院内SARS交叉感染的归责原则和风险分担

目前 ,全社会控制SARS疫情已取得重大成果 ,与此同时 ,由SARS引发的法律问题也开始引起人们的重视。在现实中 ,非SARS患者与SARS患者在医院接触的可能性、医院隔离条件的不完备性、提高收治率与降低院内感染率的矛盾 ,决定了在医院内发生SARS交叉感染的可能性客观存在。对此 ,为求得法律上的公正解决 ,必须首先确立以过错责任原则为主导、特殊情况下应用公平责任原则的民事责任归责原则。以此为指导 ,有过错者应承担相应责任及风险 ,各方都无过错时 ,一般将SARS作为不可抗力对待 ,特殊条件下按照公平责任原则给患者适当补偿。     

Technical revisions to conform to the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010. Final rule

This final rule amends Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical regulations to incorporate statutory amendments. Certain statutes authorizing VA health care benefits were amended by the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010. The statutory amendments affect enrollment in certain health care priority categories and exempt catastrophically disabled veterans from copayment requirements.     

美国外资并购国家安全审查制度的新发展

＂9.11＂之后,伴随美国对国家安全的关注度加强,2007年和2008年美国相继出台了FINSA和《外国人合并、收购、接管条例》,对美国外资并购国家安全审查制度做出了重大修改,涉及到审查对象、审查标准、审查程序和审查机构等方面。对审查对象的修改,主要是对＂受管辖的并购交易＂的范围进行了明确,同时对＂不受管辖的并购交易＂做出了列举。对审查标准的修改,主要体现在对＂关键性基础设施＂做出了界定,增加了CFIUS在审查时所考虑的6项因素,明确了与＂国家安全＂相关的＂国家安全担忧＂。对审查程序的修改,增加了审查前磋商、交易方须提供的信息,规定了并购交易审查的重新提起程序。对审查机构的修改,主要体现在增加和变动了CFIUS的成员,引入了牵头部门,加强了国会监督。     

Reduction because of hospitalization--VA. Final rule

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has amended its adjudication regulations on reductions of pensions of certain veterans receiving institutional care. These amendments are based on recently enacted legislation and further consideration of previous legislation. The intended effect of these amendments is to minimize pension reductions when VA provides institutional care.     

Errors on death certificates requiring amendments: the Broward County experience

The medical examiner's office in Broward County is responsible for determining the cause and manner of death in cases falling under its jurisdiction and issuing death certificates on these decedents. Amendments are occasionally required to correct misinformation on death certificates or within the autopsy reports. The purpose of this study was to investigate the major causes for the amendments and to develop strategies to avoid future errors. We found 128 cases from 2006 to 2007 that required amendments; 103 contained sufficient data in the file for further analysis. Over this time period, 3790 death certificates were issued over that same period, resulting in a 3.37% amendment rate. In this study, the cohort included both males and females with a ratio of 2:1. Their ages ranged from newborn to 103 years, with a mean age of 49 years. Of the 103 amended cases, amendments were made to the cause (n = 30) and often the manner (n = 21) of death listed on the death certificate; the remaining changes were limited to the autopsy report. The most common reasons for amendments included reception of delayed laboratory findings (35%), acquisition of additional medical history (22.5%), and typographic errors (15.5%). Typographic errors mainly occurred because of inaccuracies in the names originally provided to our office, the use of aliases by decedents, incorrect personal/demographic history, or various misspellings by funeral homes or medical examiner staff. The most significant reclassifications involved changing certified natural deaths to accidental overdoses and vice versa, based on toxicological analysis. Because of delays in specimen turnaround, these amendments often were made months after the original death certificate was issued. STAT urine drug screening has been helpful in reducing the number of amendments made, but certain drugs of significance are missed by rapid screens. Given that our office performed complete toxicological analysis on all cases over this period, it seems likely that we detected several overdoses that would have been missed if natural deaths were not routinely screened for potential toxins.     

我国宪法原文与修正案的组合问题

我国自“82”宪法第一次修正案时起 ,1 5年来事实上一直没有确定原文与修正案的正式组合方式。组合方式无定制对现实生活的负面影响反映在宪法文本杂乱造成的结果中。应以下次修宪为契机 ,选定一种组合方式 ,决定和公布宪法正式文本 ;可以现有的宪法修订文本为基础 ,做必要加工、修饰 ,形成宪法正式文本 ;若将来出现需要废除宪法某条、某节的情况时 ,为保持宪法其他条和节的稳定 ,在删除全部过时文字的同时 ,可用保留所欲废除的条或节的顺序号及其相对位置的办法来处置 ;宪法若增加条或节 ,应当用增加副条、副节或副章的办法保持宪法原有的基本格局条文原有的顺序号不变     

The Economics of the Bill of Rights

We elucidate, connect, and synthesize the literature that employseconomics to study the individual rights and freedoms protectedby the constitutional amendments comprising the Bill of Rights,especially as they relate to crime. Economics is uniquely suitedto studying decisions involving tradeoffs, and each of the amendmentsrequires tradeoffs. Emphasizing these tradeoffs allows us todiscuss the constitutional rights in terms of "more or less,"as opposed to taking an absolutist approach. We find that theeconomic literature on the amendments of the Bill of Rightsis vibrant and growing, and that viewing the amendments withinthe framework of economics is highly useful.     

State Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Department of Education. Final regulations

The Secretary amends the regulations governing the State Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program. These amendments implement changes to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 made by the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 that were contained in Title IV of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), enacted on August 7, 1998, and as further amended in 1998 by technical amendments in the Reading Excellence Act and the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act Amendments of 1998 (hereinafter collectively referred to as the 1998 Amendments).     

尸检中危险因子防护的研究进展

近来的SARS防治工作中,因该病毒的特殊生物性及疾病特性,因而使人们在仪器设备、防治策略、其生物实验的操作上都采取了各种防护措施。尸体检验可使操作者及其他人遭受到多种危险因子的侵害,包括血源性、气溶胶性和其它的致病原(例如SARS病毒)。法医病理人员和其它尸检参与者需要加强个人防护措施,同时实验室操作程序和有关设备安装设计也都要以保护所有人员的安全为其根本原则。     

刑法修正案立法功能及其矫正

全国人大常委会制订并颁布刑法修正案,是符合我国《宪法》和《立法法》规定的,但全国人民代表大会也应成为刑法修正案的立法权主体,且拥有主要的、基本的立法权限,而全国人大常委会的立法权限则应当是次要的、部分的,由此决定两者的立法功能有着主次之分。刑法修正案应与其他刑法体例相互结合,发挥其系统性功能。因此,国家立法机关应针对呈现立法扩张态势的刑法修正案（八）草案进行功能矫正,由全国人大依法行使刑法修正案的立法权,由全体人大代表半数通过,并将现行刑法典重新公布。     

A Secret Police: The Lasting Impact of the 1986 FOIA Amendments

The 1986 Freedom of Information Act amendments were passed as a last-minute rider to Reagan-era War on Drugs legislation. The three pieces – a broad restructuring of Exemption 7, the law enforcement exemption; the addition of exclusions for law enforcement and intelligence requests; and introduction of a new fee structure – have had a lasting impact on FOIA implementation and contribute to the contemporary inability to affect police transparency. Review of the 1986 FOIA amendments’ legislative history documents the White House’s determination to loosen law enforcement oversight and congressional appeals to exaggerated fears of illicit drug users. The study considers the effect on judicial interpretation of Exemption 7, exploring decisions before and after the amendments, while also analyzing FOIA use and implementation patterns through a dataset of annual reports from 1975 until present. The analysis reveals a sharp increase in Exemption 7 claims and “no records” responses, both attributable to the 1986 FOIA amendments.     

In Search of Killer Amendments In the Modern U.S. House

Numerous studies have examined the incidence of killer amendments in Congress, but most of these studies have been either case specific, focusing on the legislative maneuverings around a single issue or bill, or temporally limited, focusing on strategic activity in only one or two Congresses. In this article, we present the beginning of a comprehensive research agenda for the systematic study of killer amendments. Using roll‐call data from the 83d through the 108th U.S. House (1953–2004), we identified those bills that (a) were successfully amended and (b) subsequently went down to defeat, a necessary condition for the existence of a killer amendment. We then examined these cases in greater detail, using both spatial analyses and case studies. Our analysis uncovered five cases, four of which are new, that appear to have the characteristics of true killer amendments, thus setting the stage for future analyses across time and legislative chambers and bodies.