司法专业化与社会化的适度平衡:台湾观审制改革及其启示

观审制改革是目前台湾讨论最热烈的"司法改革"议题。所谓观审制,是让经由一定程序选出的普通民众担任"观审员",针对一些重罪案件,全程参与第一审法院的审判程序。评议时,观审员虽不能参与表决,但可以表示意见,为法官下判作参考。观审制改革是台湾民众对司法的不信任与日韩的国民参与审判立法共同作用的结果。观审制主要包括观审员及其选任程序、观审法庭组成及适用案件类型、审判程序、评议程序四部分内容。观审制对目前河南省正在进行的人民观审团机制改革具有重要借鉴意义。     

The Indian states and the new Constitution

Ben Affleck's film ARGO is a good film, but not all the details are accurate. This article is by Martin Williams, the British diplomat who, contrary to the picture painted in the film, personally escorted to safety the Americans who had escaped when the Iranian Revolutionary guards took over the US Embassy. He sets that episode in the broader context of his personal experience of working during a complicated period during which initially there were major commercial opportunities for British firms, and then the power of the Shah started to wane, and finally he was overthrown. The installation of a very different regime entirely changed the approach which diplomats needed to adopt in Tehran.