Theorists of Agrarian Perestroika

Agrarian policy is an increasingly important concern for the success of perestroika. This article traces the careers and ideas of A. A. Nikonov, president of the Lenin Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VASKhNIL) and Gorbachev's most important academic advisor on agricultural economics, and VASKhNIL Academician V. A. Tikhonov, an outspoken advocate of radical economic reforms. Restoring incentives to the individual peasant through the lease contract (arendnyi podriad), establishing voluntary cooperatives in place of centralized bureaucratic management, and marketizing agriculture are the principal concerns of their work, and were the central issues discussed at the March 1989 CPSU Central Committee plenum on agrarian policy. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 027, 124.     

Evaluating the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa

Provides a review of Gibson’s (2004) evaluation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of South Africa. Offers a background to the TRC process then reckons with Gibson’s study in terms of his procedures, the context, the issue of “race”, the truth claims of the TRC, a digression on amnesty, and finally the link between truth and reconciliation. Concludes that this study offers substantial support for the TRC process. A review of James L. Gibson (2004) Overcoming Apartheid: Can Truth Reconcile a Divided Nation? New York: Russell Sage Foundation; Cape Town: HSRC Press, pp. 467.     

'Food for Thought': Reconciling European Risks and Traditional Ways of Life

The European Food Safety Authority marks a new stage in European Union governance. It has no direct regulatory powers, but is entrusted with developing norms of food safety, which are to inform the material content of EC food law. The hope is that its independence and expertise will restore popular confidence both in the EU and in the food we eat. The irreducible nature of lay-expert conflicts about hazard suggests that a more likely scenario is that such disputes become recast as opposition to EC law. Such conflict is most likely to manifest itself in national courts through challenges to or non-compliance with EC law. The current principles for resolution of such conflicts are hopelessly outmoded. The article, therefore, argues for a constitutional resettlement, which sets out principles germane to the nature of the EC regime, namely that of a multi-level regulatory State. It argues for a new defence of regulatory balance. Individuals could argue for the disapplication of EC norms where these violated a valued local regime which had given consideration to the issues raised in the EC legislation and whose positive value to its subjects exceeded its negative impact on the interests protected by the EC legislation.     

When Should a Retrial be Permitted After a Conviction is Quashed on Appeal?

The power to permit a retrial after a conviction has been quashed on appeal is an established part of criminal procedure, with over a third of successful appeals against conviction in England and Wales now resulting in a retrial being ordered. Despite this, relatively little attention has been paid to the circumstances in which it is appropriate for such permission to be granted. This article reviews the practice of the courts, offering a rational reconstruction of the reported cases. It argues that appeal courts have improperly entered into consideration of matters which should properly be reserved to prosecutorial discretion. While retrial after a quashed conviction should only be possible with the permission of the appeal court, such permission should – where sought – always be granted unless insufficient competent evidence was led at the first trial or a second prosecution would be an abuse of process.