船舶建造合同损害赔偿法律制度

在过去的几个月里,经济低迷,世界贸易增长放缓,很大程度上是由正在持续的金融危机导致的。各种造船订单正受到被取消或延期的威胁。因此,从英国法律的角度去理解适用于船舶建造合同的损害赔偿法律制度变得重要。如果造船厂以及船舶买家要违反船舶建造合同,则他们需要评估其相应的合法权利和义务。     

Bond Market Integration: the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong

This paper seeks to examine the integration of the evolving bond markets in the Chinese Mainland (CM) and Hong Kong (HK). To tap the international pool of capital, the CM government and CM enterprises have issued foreign currency bonds in HK and other developed markets. Since 1998 offshore CM bonds offered to the public have not been denominated in HK dollars probably because of concerns over the stability of HK's linked exchange rate and the differential credit ratings of the two economies. Even though HK has become increasingly well equipped to handle the clearing, settlement and custody of local and foreign currency bonds across its borders, it needs to continue to lobby for and attract CM government and corporate issues of foreign currency bonds (and Rmb bonds, if this were to be permitted) if it is to establish itself as a regional bond centre in Asia.     

When Loving Means Hurting: An Exploration of Attachment and Intimate Abuse In a Community Sample

Intimate relationship abuse can be understood by considering two critical tenets of attachment. First, attachment fulfills a basic need for survival. Thus, the tenacity of the attachment bond is independent of relationship quality. Second, individuals whose attachment needs have been frustrated may strike out violently to regain proximity to the perceived loss of an intimate partner. We examined how individual differences in attachment were associated with women's and men's relationship abuse. A telephone survey assessed levels of psychological and physical abuse in 1249 Vancouver residents. Of these, 128 completed an attachment interview exploring their interpersonal relationships. Hierarchical regressions revealed that attachment variables contributed significant variance to prediction of both receipt and perpetration of psychological and physical abuse, with preoccupied attachment acting as an independent predictor. There was no evidence that gender moderated these associations. The findings suggest that attachment preoccupation in either partner may increase likelihood of abuse in couples.     

Peer Relations and Chinese-Canadian Delinquency

The main and interactive effects of delinquent friends, peer attachment, and association with Chinese friends on delinquency are examined based on a sample of Chinese-Canadian youths. The results reveal that association with delinquent friends increases delinquency involvement, whereas attachment to peers has just the opposite effect. In terms of interactive effects, it is found that strong attachment to peers dampens the criminogenic effect of delinquent friends. There is also the unexpected finding that association with Chinese friends increases the likelihood of delinquency involvement. Further analyses have shown that association with Chinese friends may indicate the degree of balance between same-ethnic and cross-ethnic friendship ties that, in turn, affects delinquency. The results underscore the importance of both cultural adherence and friendship ties in the prevention of delinquency.     

Foreign banks in the People's Republic of China

Many foreign banks are attracted to the PRC economy, as a result of its continuing economic growth and financial liberalisations. This paper provides an empirical analysis of the factors contributing to this development and of the features of those foreign banks choosing to enter this market. In addition, a survey questionnaire permits an assessment of the attractions and weaknesses of the PRC banking market as perceived by foreign banks. It has been shown that large, financially sound foreign banks have helped to stimulate trade and investment in the PRC. However, China's restricted movement of capital and inadequate legal framework has reinforced the need for international banking services from Hong Kong.     

The regulatory style of environmental governance in China: the case of EIA regulation in Shanghai*

The body of literature that examines how institutional contexts affect environmental governance in advanced industrial countries finds that style of environmental regulation is country‐specific. In the pluralist form of democracy like the United States, environmental policy formulation involves bargaining and compromises among interest groups and regulation enforcement through relatively formal and legalistic means. In the corporatist form of democracy like Sweden and Great Britain, in contrast, environmental policies are more accommodating to divergent societal interests and tend to be less formal in their enforcement. These variations in regulatory style have been attributed to differences in basic constitutional structures, regime types and cultures. How do institutional contexts affect the style of environmental regulation in China, which is both a non‐democratic and developing country? This article examines China's regulatory style by focusing on environmental impact assessment (EIA) regulation in Shanghai. The Shanghai EIA system is analyzed in terms of policy ideology, policy content, regulatory process, public participation and policy consequences. It is shown that China's being a single‐party regime with a ‘rule of persons’ tradition has heavily shaped its environmental governance. Based on Shanghai experience, China's style can be characterized as formal in requirement, agency‐dominated in the regulatory process, legalistic in enforcement, and informal politics as the substance of regulation. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Political repression in a sub-national hybrid regime: the PRC’s governing strategies in Hong Kong

Existing literature has long recognised that the Beijing government has utilised different strategies to suppress the opposition in Hong Kong. However, with the rise of localism against the Chinese government, the implications of such political repression require new exploration and insight. This article adopts Hale’s analytical framework on political repression and argues that the Beijing government can comparatively tolerate an opposition fighting for democratisation, but the localists who advocate self-determination or separatism are harshly condemned and suppressed. In Beijing’s approach, this ‘red line’ was adopted to place national security, territory integration and sovereignty as the top considerations. Theoretically, this paper contributes to distinguishing between two types of opposition groups within sub-national hybrid regimes and analyzes different responses from the sovereign state. Empirically, the case of Hong Kong will help enrich the existing literature by comparing Beijing’s strategies of repression in regard to the democratic opposition and localists.     

The impact of license plate recognition technology (LPR) on trust in law enforcement: a survey-experiment

Objectives

We examine the extent to which individuals' knowledge of an advanced police technology (license plate recognition or "LPR") may impact perceptions of police. Technologies with the capacity to track individuals' movements are becoming increasingly common in police practice. Although these technologies may yield positive benefits, their use may also heighten community concerns about increased surveillance, data storage, and data security, thereby potentially negatively impacting community-police relationships.

Methods

We utilize a survey-based experiment with randomized assignment of participants (n=405) to investigate the impact of individuals' knowledge of LPR use on a variety of police perceptions, including trust in police, community approval, respect for citizens, and respect for individual rights.

Results

Most respondents were unaware of LPR use prior to the survey. When compared with a control group, respondents who encountered brief mentions of LPR functions on the survey expressed significantly lower levels of trust in police. Additionally, "strong agreement" with other positive statements about police also appears to have declined in this sample in response to LPR information. Notably, the sample contained high pre-existing levels of trust and support for police, factors which may have moderated the impacts of LPR information.

Conclusions

These results support the hypothesis that awareness of LPR use may negatively impact perceptions of police, including trust in police. More generally, although technologies like LPR represent technological innovations, they may also yield unintended consequences, including the potential to undermine police-community relations if adoption decisions are not accompanied by sufficient transparency or community support.