Public Perceptions of the Legitimacy of the Law and Legal Authorities: Evidence from the Caribbean

Research on procedural justice and legitimacy has expanded greatly across the social sciences in recent years. The process‐based model of regulation, which links people's assessments of procedural justice and legitimacy to their compliance with the law and legal authorities, has become particularly influential in criminology and sociolegal studies. A review of the previous research on perceived legitimacy highlights two important features. First, legitimacy has been conceptualized and measured in many different ways. Second, most of the research on legitimacy has focused on only a handful of developed nations. Using survey data from Trinidad and Tobago, this article examines the conceptualization and measurement of the perceived legitimacy of the law and legal authorities. The findings indicate that some of the prominent conceptual and measurement models used in previous research are not empirically valid in the Trinidadian context. The implications of the results for conceptualization, theory, and future research are discussed.     

法制传媒要占领舆论阵地的制高点

时值新中国成立60周年之际,2009年度全国法制新闻研讨会于8月17日在美丽的冰城哈尔滨市隆重召开了。此次会议以＂法制传媒的创新与发展＂为主题。来自全国各地的法制新闻界和学术界的专家学者80余人齐聚冰城,就如何深入贯彻落实党的十七大关于加强法制宣传教育的指示精神,全面落实＂五五＂普法规划,探索法制传媒宣传报道规律,解析法制传媒运作模式,推动法制传媒在新形势下又好又快发展进行了广泛深入的交流。司法部副部长、中华全国法制新闻协会会长张苏军到会并作了重要讲话。张苏军强调,法制新闻宣传工作要坚持原则性,体现时代性,把握规律性,富有创造性,增强主动性,必须做好创新与发展这篇大文章。     

我国土地经营权信托模式的法律思考

我国目前典型的土地经营权信托模式有“草尾模式”“沙县模式”“绍兴模式”“中信模式”等.土地经营权信托实践中的法律问题有:频繁调整土地承包经营权及土地流转金、政府角色越位、信托财产权利属性不明、农户利益保护缺位、改变耕地农业用途以及土地经营权信托设立中的不合法或不规范问题等.这些问题产生的根源在于相关法律法规的滞后或缺位.要构建我国土地经营权信托模式,就要适时地制定或修改与土地经营权信托相关的法律法规,诸如:《农村土地承包法》中有关土地承包经营权调整、收回以及流转原则的法律条文;《农村土地承包经营权流转管理办法》第35条有关转包的法律条文.修改《物权法》,确立集体土地所有权、土地承包经营权、土地经营权相分离的农地产权制度.鉴于我国《信托法》规定得过于宏观以及土地经营权信托的独特性,应对土地经营权信托进行专门立法.     

美国对灾难救济信托的法律规制及其对我国的启示

灾难救济信托被美国联邦税务局定性为慈善信托,这致使美国信托法中关于慈善信托的特殊规则成为这种信托运作的基本法律依据,该机关依据该法为这种信托的受托人规定了特殊的资格条件并明确其依法负有的谨慎义务,该义务的履行在事实上将通过由其对“禁止运用慈善资产提供过度私人利益原则”的遵循来体现.美国立法同时规定,在作为灾难救济信托的受托人的慈善机构拒不履行相关信托义务的情况下,捐赠者与司法部长可以通过行使为法律授予的起诉权并借助于法院的力量强制该机构履行该义务.美国的这些做法对我国相关法律制度的完善具有相当的借鉴意义.     

信托的法律性质与基本理念

作者认为 ,法学界关于信托法律性质的诸学说均有合理之处也都不尽完善 ,应当从信托法作为特别法的角度来认识信托的法律性质。作者还对信托财产所有权与利益相分离、信托财产独立性、信托责任有限性、信托管理承继性等进行了探讨     

商业信托委托人的法律地位

商业信托与普通信托有重要区别,委托人的地位与角色大相径庭。中国《信托法》借鉴日本法模式,赋予信托委托人诸多权利,可称为委托人法定权利模式。委托人的此种法律地位,虽适合于普通信托,但不符商业信托的功能及需求。原因之一在于对商业信托的特殊情形考虑不周,误植入仅适合于普通信托之规则。委托人法定权利模式之弊端,无法以增设委托人义务等方案予以补救,较为彻底的解决之道应为:委托人不对商业信托及其受益人享有权利。     

评检察机关法律监督合理论

就检察机关法律监督权,本文提出了直接的批评,意在使控辩审诉讼模式中的控诉权成 为检察机关的核心。     

国际信托的法律冲突与法律适用

在各国法律制度存在差异的情况下,如何解决国际信托法律冲突的难题,已逐渐引起世界各国理论界和实务界的重视。对国际信托法律冲突问题进行探讨的目的在于,就国际信托法律适用的国际立法与国外立法作深入研究。随着我国加入WTO和改革开放的不断深入,国际信托业务在我国将取得进一步发展。我国目前的国际私法立法尚无信托冲突法,因此,完善我国的国际信托法律适用规则是当务之急。     

The Indirect Influence of Politics on Tort Liability of Public Authorities in English Law

The scope of negligence liability of public authorities in English law has undergone significant changes in the Post‐World War II period, first expanding and then, from the mid‐1980s, retracting. This article tries to explain why this happened not by focusing, as is common in most commentary on this area of law, on changing doctrinal “tests,” but rather by tying it to changes in the background political ideology. My main contention is that political change has brought about a change in the law, but that it did so by affecting the scope of the political domain, and by implication, also the scope of the legal one. More specifically, I argue that Britain's Post‐War consensus on the welfare state has enabled the courts to expand state liability in accordance with emerging notions of the welfare state without seeming to take the law into controversial territory. When Thatcher came to power, the welfare state was no longer in consensus, thus making further development of legal doctrines on welfarist lines appear politically contentious. The courts therefore reverted back to older doctrines that seemed less politically charged in the new political atmosphere of the 1980s.     

我国“公物”正当利用的法律保障

在我国，公共用物与行政用物都应纳入法治视野下的公物。在公物利用过程中，存在涉及公物设置、公物管理以及公物直接利用等问题，主要原因是公物理论的匮乏，制度缺失及意识形态上的偏误所造成。基于此，必需明确公物正当利用的一般要求，并在公物利用的机制和措施上予以健全和创新。     

公益信托的法律特征及我国模式的探索

公益信托主要是一种以公益为目的而设立的信托,其具有目的公益性、一律实行要式主义、适用力求近似原则解决其信托财产或其他剩余部分的有效利用问题、实行税收优惠的特征。我国公益信托的发展尚处于起步阶段,需要积极探索公益信托的中国模式。     

Enhancing Tax Compliance through Coercive and Legitimate Power of Tax Authorities by Concurrently Diminishing or Facilitating Trust in Tax Authorities

Both coercion, such as strict auditing and the use of fines, and legitimate procedures, such as assistance by tax authorities, are often discussed as means of enhancing tax compliance. However, the psychological mechanisms that determine the effectiveness of each strategy are not clear. Although highly relevant, there is rare empirical literature examining the effects of both strategies applied in combination. It is assumed that coercion decreases implicit trust in tax authorities, leading to the perception of a hostile antagonistic tax climate and enforced tax compliance. Conversely, it is suggested that legitimate power increases reason‐based trust in the tax authorities, leading to the perception of a service climate and eventually to voluntary cooperation. The combination of both strategies is assumed to cause greater levels of intended compliance than each strategy alone. We conducted two experimental studies with convenience samples of 261 taxpayers overall. The studies describe tax authorities as having low or high coercive power (e.g., imposing lenient or severe sanctions) and/or low or high legitimate power (e.g., having nontransparent or transparent procedures). Data analyses provide supportive evidence for the assumptions regarding the impact on intended tax compliance. Coercive power did not reduce implicit trust in tax authorities; however, it had an effect on reason‐based trust, interaction climate, and intended tax compliance if applied solely. When wielded in combination with legitimate power, it had no effect.     

农村土地经营权信托流转的法律构造

农村土地以信托方式流转时,信托的委托人和受益人都是农户,因而农村土地流转信托属于自益型信托.依“三权分置”的农村土地制度改革设计,具有身份属性的农地承包权保留在农民手中,土地经营权作为用益物权进行流转,因而农村土地流转信托的客体是土地经营权而非土地承包经营权.信托设立后,土地经营权要移转给作为受托人的土地信托公司,由其以自己名义进行控制和处分.为保护农户的利益、并兼顾信托公司和农业生产经营者等第三人的利益,应通过信托登记公示信托财产.同时,信托公司有义务依信托之目的而管理信托事务.     

台湾地区证券交易法不法交易之法律实务运作——以台湾实际发生案件为例

我国台湾地区证券交易市场存在不少的不法交易，对于整体金融市场的健全以及投资大众的财产均构成威胁。在台湾地区成立的投资人保护中心主要以受理投资人保护为主，根据所接受的案件而分类，较常见的证券不法案件分为四种型态，第一类为财报不实型态，第二类为内线交易，第三类为操纵股价，第四类则为公开说明书不英[1]。     

论台湾的法律地位兼驳台独理论

根据国际法理论和实践 ,结合台湾问题的历史和现实 ,可以得出结论 :台湾是中国领土的一部分 ;自 1949年新中国成立以来 ,中央政府对于台湾领土享有国家主权 ;台湾当局早已不是中国的合法代表 ,而是一个类似于交战团体的中国地方叛乱政府 ,无权从中国分离而宣布独立 ,中央政府对于台湾当局的交战权是国际法所认可的 ,中央政府有权保留最终以武力手段解决台湾问题 ;任何国家对于台湾的承认只能限于对一国内战中“交战团体”的承认 ,或者根本否认其国际地位 ,并负有不支持台湾当局对抗中国政府的义务 ,严禁干涉中国内政     

信托财产与中国信托法

我国信托法比较简约 ,多原则性规定。因此 ,对于信托制度的许多问题 ,有待深入的理论研究 ;对信托法的具体规定 ,也有可质疑之处。我国信托法应坚持信托财产独立性原则 ,并完善公示制度 ,妥善平衡信托关系各方当事人的利益。     

环境管理机关公益诉讼原告资格理论与实践之辨

环境公益诉讼是保护环境的利器,它对于改善环境起到的积极作用是毋庸置疑的.但是学界以及司法实践对于何为环境公益诉讼的适格原告一直存在争议,随着新《民事诉讼法》的颁布施行,关于公益诉讼原告资格的争论更是甚嚣尘上,其中,对环境行政管理机关原告资格的分歧尤甚.笔者认为,质疑的根本原因在于没有厘清环境行政执法与环境公益诉讼的关系,再加之对环境行政管理部门的单一功能定位,使得对环境管理机关作为适格原告有诸多误解.本文沿此思路,通过理论与实践的辨析,试图解决此问题.