刑讯逼供举证责任探讨

刑讯逼供是指司法人员对犯罪嫌疑人或被告人,采用肉刑或者变相肉刑逼取口供的行为,它对一国之司法损害极大。如何遏制刑讯逼供已经成为众多学者讨论的一个热点问题,从刑讯逼供举证责任倒置的角度设置相对符合当前中国司法现状的举证责任倒置程序对于遏制刑讯逼供将起到重要作用。     

Contested Institutionalisation: Women's Policy Agencies and Challenges to Gender Equality in Germany

Germany has created one of the world's largest women's policy infrastructures. But the scope as well as the effect of institutionalising women's policy agencies is contested. Even committed proponents of gender equality note the agencies’ limited influence in important policy arenas. Critics of institutionalisation have used the fiscal crisis of the past decade to push efforts to downsize or diversify the mission of women's policy agencies. Building on theories of new institutionalism, this article attributes recent challenges to the institutionalisation of gender politics in Germany to three sets of factors: First, to tensions between strong formal gender equality rules and weak informal equality norms; second, to powerful internal and external veto players who use their leverage to prevent gender equality legislation; and, third, to a shifting policy discourse that has reframed gender equality language in gender mainstreaming terms and might lead to significant changes in the institutional gender equality architecture.     

从2012“北约峰会”看芝加哥模式的安保培训

芝加哥警察局为2012＂北约峰会＂组织的安保培训被国际警察界誉为芝加哥模式,其主要有以下特点：将警员分成不同的等级来开展分专题培训;通过演练与模拟训练提高警察对人群管控的能力;有效地利用远程教育形式;警务指挥员学习了解一线队伍的能力;培训其他机构以获得他们的帮助与合作。     

China's impact on forests in Southeast Asia

Many developed countries have gained control of their forest-exploiting industries through advanced regulatory regimes. But stricter regulation usually displaces forest exploitation into developing countries with weaker regulatory regimes. The most important current example is the shift of forest exploitation for the Chinese market from China into Southeast Asia following the logging ban in China in 1998. In this article we describe and document the impact in Southeast Asia: rapidly increasing, unsustainable, and often illegal production and export for the Chinese market. We also note the growth in exports of furniture and plywood from China to the EU, UK, and elsewhere using imported and often illegally harvested timber from Southeast Asia. It is argued that it will be very difficult to interrupt the continuing deforestation in Southeast Asia because: (i) the profits from exporting forest products from Southeast Asia to the China market and the profits for Chinese firms which use these forest products to produce plywood and furniture for export to developed countries are substantial; and (ii) there is a lack of political will at all levels to interrupt these chains of trade and flows of profit.     

Retracting suburbia: Smart growth and the future of housing

Abstract

Metropolitan areas throughout the United States increasingly experience sprawl development. States such as Oregon and Maryland have enacted land use legislation that curbs sprawl by promoting denser urban growth. Smart growth, a new method of metropolitan development leading to more compact regions, offers an alternative to sprawl. Given that housing comprises a major share of the built environment, policies that promote denser residential development form a key component of smart growth.

This article provides an analytic review of the ways housing can be used to support successful smart growth policies. It focuses on three areas: the market for higher density housing, land use issues associated with denser housing development, and methods for financing higher density and mixed‐use housing. The literature on the link between smart growth and housing remains underdeveloped. We offer this synthesis as a way to advance the state of knowledge on smart growth's housing dimension.     

Edgeless cities: Examining the Noncentered metropolis

Abstract

Edgeless Cities, a form of sprawling office development that never reaches the scale, density, or cohesiveness of Edge Cities, now account for the bulk of office space found outside of downtowns. The term draws on Garreau's Edge City, yet it is a new, albeit elusive, category. It captures the fact that most suburban office areas lack a physical edge. In contrast to Edge Cities, which combine large‐scale office development with major retail, Edgeless Cities feature mostly isolated office buildings spread across vast swaths of urban space.

This article looks at the evolving geography of office space in 13 of the nation's largest office markets, which together contain more than 2.6 billion square feet of office space and 26,000 buildings. The data provide an empirical framework for examining competing theories of metropolitan form. The article concludes with a discussion of the policy implications resulting from the emergence of Edgeless Cities.     

Punitive Justifications or Just Punishment? An Ethical Reading of Coercive Diplomacy

Can the use of military force in response to violations of human rights norms be meaningfully described as ‘punishment’? If so, does this form of punishment help to constitute a just and peaceful international order? This paper investigates these two questions by examining the use of strategic bombing in campaigns of coercive diplomacy as a means to punish states. The paper explores the concept of punishment and its relevance for international affairs as a theoretical basis. It then turns to two cases of punitive uses of force—US and UK strikes against Iraq in 1998 and NATO strikes against Serbia in 1999. These two military campaigns are assessed as punitive but not necessarily just in that they fail to fit within a clear, legal institutional order and confuse the agent that deserves punishment. The paper concludes by suggesting that while punishment may be necessary for a legitimate international order, current punitive actions do not support such an order.     

Symptom Patterns among Youth Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence

Children and adolescents exposed to intimate partner violence display a broad range of symptoms. We sought to differentiate symptom patterns and predictors of these patterns using a person-oriented approach. Previous cluster analysis research of exposed youth was extended to include youth PTSD symptoms and trauma history. Participants were 74 mothers who had received a police call for domestic violence, and who had a child between 2 and 17 years old. Cluster analysis was used to identify four symptom patterns among exposed youth: Typical, Asymptomatic, General Distress, and Acute PTSD. These patterns were replicated in separate cluster analyses with younger and older participants. Symptom patterns were differentiated by maternal distress, maternal aggression, and youth trauma history, but not by male partner aggression. Implications for assessment and treatment of youth exposed to intimate partner violence, and suggestions for further research, are discussed.     

我国水权流转主、客体范围的厘定

水是基础性的自然资源和战略性的经济资源.水权流转制度是在当前全球淡水资源匮乏,水污染严重,供需严重不对称的情势下应运而生的.我国水权流转制度理论及相关的制度建设比实践起步较晚,而且发展缓慢,因此,水权流转实践面临着不少的法律困境.本文试图以水权流转主、客体范围的厘定为突破口,展望我国水权流转制度的发展愿景.     

道德基础与经济发展

本文探讨了在经济发展中道德的价值,同时也力图探求在市场经济条件下应该构建和如何构建一个适应当前形势发展的道德体系--道德基础.