The fraying of the socio‐economic fabric of Hong Kong

Abstract

Since the 1980s, Hong Kong has undergone momentous socio‐economic changes, which in turn have greatly affected public attitudes toward society and the economy. Interpersonal trust and the sense of community have weakened. Hong Kong as a society is increasingly seen as unfair in the sense that it is not perceived as a land of opportunities for the hardworking. The capitalist rules of the game are increasingly considered by the people to be unacceptable. Public demands for more governmental intervention in the economy, particularly in the area of income redistribution, are increasingly raised. Nascent feelings of class antagonism are palpable as economic inequalities are getting worse. As social conflicts of various kinds proliferate, public anxieties about Hong Kong's fraying socio‐economic fabric have come to the fore. People expect the government and the legal institutions to strengthen social order. At the same time, however, public trust of all social, economic and social authorities is declining. Accordingly, as social discontent and anxieties accumulate, the socio‐economic system of Hong Kong will face serious challenge in the years ahead.     

Correct Voting in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Nominating Elections

Criticisms of the system by which the American political parties select their candidates focus on issues of representativeness—how choices are dominated by relatively small numbers of ideologically extreme primary voters, or how residents of small states voting early in the process have disproportionate influence. This paper adds a different concern, albeit one that still addresses representativeness. How well do primary and caucus voters represent their own values and interests with their vote choices? Lau and Redlawsk’s notion of “correct voting” is applied to the 2008 U.S. nominating contests. Four reasons to expect levels of correct voting to be lower in caucus and primary elections than in general election campaigns are discussed. Results suggest that voters in U.S. nominating contests do much worse than voters in general election campaigns, often barely doing better than chance in selecting the candidate who best represents their own values and priorities. Discussion focuses on institutional reforms that should improve citizens’ ability to make correct voting choices in caucuses and primaries.     

Public support for democracy in hong kong

Hong Kong witnessed a large-scale public rally and extensive support for democracy in mid-2003. This article explains the support by means of variables extracted from cultural, instrumental and sociological approaches. Drawn from the cultural approach, ‘post-materialistic activism’ and low levels of ‘respect for authority’ are found to be most powerful in explaining mass support, among all explanatory variables. Since culture seldom changes overnight, popular support for democracy may be sustained in the short and medium term. The calculation of the economic consequences for democracy, a variable drawn from the instrumental approach, has no effect on mass support. Thus, any attempt to suppress popular demand for democracy by offering economic sweeteners alone may prove futile. The most important instrumental factor among the public is ‘their confidence in political parties’. Whether pan-democratic parties can elevate such confidence becomes pivotal to boosting and sustaining this support. The lack of relatively stronger support among the younger and more educated stratum of people in Hong Kong does not bode well for prospects of increased mass support in the future. Finally, the article offers a small footnote on the implications for the ‘Asian values’ debate.     

Deduction of paternity index from DNA mixture

Determination of individual genotypes in DNA mixture remains a challenge in forensic science. Using an approach of mixture of distributions, this article provides formula for calculation of paternity index (PI) in cases where only tissue mixture of the mother and alleged father, the genotypes of the mother and child, but not that of the alleged father are available. The formula has been used to solve a real case using mother's vaginal tissue contaminated with semen from alleged father.     

Die systematische Verankerung des Artenschutzrechts im Ordnungsrecht

Zusammenfassung  Die europarechtlichen Normen des sog. individuenbezogenen Artenschutzes (insbesondere Art. 5 lit. a Vogelschutz- und Art. 12 Abs. 1 lit. a FFH-Richtlinie) sowie die innerstaatlichen Umsetzungsnormen in § 42 Abs. 1 BNatSchG sind entgegen einer weit verbreiteten Tendenz als Verbote bestimmter gezielt auf individuelle Exemplare der geschützten Arten gerichtete Zugriffshandlungen ernst zu nehmen. Der Beitrag zeigt auf, wie auf dieser Basis der ausufernden Anwendung der genannten Normen vorgebaut werden kann. Die abgestufte Handlungsverantwortlichkeit von Verkehrsteilnehmern, Beh?rden zur ordnungsbeh?rdlichen Regelung des Verkehrsgeschehens sowie zur Zulassung von Verkehrsanlagen und -wegen wird verdeutlicht, zugleich ein praktikabler Weg zum ma?vollen und differenzierten Umgang mit dem besonderen Artenschutzrecht aufgezeigt.     

香港法律下对中国内地“船舶挂靠”现象中船舶所有人的识别

考察了中国"船舶挂靠"现象所导致的船舶的登记船东与实际船东不一致的问题,以及这样的登记船东和实际船东在香港的对物诉讼中会遇到的法律问题,结合2000年至2006年分别涉及香港的高等法院海事庭、上诉法院及终审法院的几个判例,分析香港不同等级的法院及不同的法官如何认定"船东"一词所指为谁及他们有否及如何考虑在涉及"船舶挂靠"关系时登记船东与实际船东究竟谁是香港法律中所称的船东,并提出香港的法院应根据事实而非登记册认定真正船舶所有人的观点。     

香港法律下对中国内地"船舶挂靠"现象中船舶所有人的识别

考察了中国"船舶挂靠"现象所导致的船舶的登记船东与实际船东不一致的问题,以及这样的登记船东和实际船东在香港的对物诉讼中会遇到的法律问题,结合2000年至2006年分别涉及香港的高等法院海事庭、上诉法院及终审法院的几个判例,分析香港不同等级的法院及不同的法官如何认定"船东"一词所指为谁及他们有否及如何考虑在涉及"船舶挂靠"关系时登记船东与实际船东究竟谁是香港法律中所称的船东,并提出香港的法院应根据事实而非登记册认定真正船舶所有人的观点.