我国《企业破产法(试行)》存在的几个问题

<正> 随着我国经济体制改革向纵深发展,《企业破产法》有如下几个方面的不足和缺陷。 一、关于企业破产时间问题 《企业破产法》第3条规定,“企业因经营管理不善造成严重亏损,不能清偿到期债务的,依照本法规定,宣告破产。”也就是说,在我国,“不能清偿到期债务”即“清偿不能”是企业法定的破产原因,所谓“清偿不能”不是指债务人主观上不愿清偿或暂时因资金不足等原因未清偿,而是指债务人客观上没有能力清偿到期债务。对此,理伦界、立法及司法部门都有很明确的阐述,并基本上达成共识。但稍显不足的是《企业破产法》对企业破产的时间却没有明确的界定,即没有规定企业负债多少或负债多长时间后应强制申请破产。依据《企业破产     

具体行政行为研究的创新与突破——评方世荣的新著《论具体行政行为》

<正> 具体行政行为是我国行政法学理论研究的一个重要范畴。对具体行政行为性质、地位范围的界定和阐释不仅涉及到行政行为的一般理论,而且关联到行政法的基本原理。自1989年我国《行政诉讼法》对具体行政行为加以明文规定以来,其内涵和外延在行政执法和行政诉讼中更有“牵一发而动全身”之势。然而,对于这样一个重要理论范畴,无论是在行政法学学术界中,还是在行政执法、行政审判的实务界中,都尚未予以足够的重视和加以充分、系统的研究。因此,方世荣教授的新作《论具体行政行为》可以认为是行政法学这一领域内的一部开拓性的著作。 该书以具体行政行为作为思考行政法理论的全新视角,通过这一视角,作者关注和反思行政行为的基本理论以及行政执法与行政审判中诸多重大、疑难问题,提出了一系列独到的见解,新论纷呈。     

Thyreoglobulin and violent asphyxia

The concentration of thyreoglobulin (tg) was determined for death caused by hanging, strangulation by ligature, and throttling. Cases of sudden death (traumatic aortic rupture, penetrating wounds of the heart) were used for comparison. The mean values in cases of hanging (149.9±202.3 ng/ml), strangulation by ligature (193.1±173.3), manual strangulation (561.6±173.9) are distinguishable from violent acute deaths (23.3±27.6) and living healthy individuals (17.3±16.1). By means of statistical comparisons, significant differences were found between throttling and strangulation by ligature and between throttling and hanging (adjusted P<0.001). In connection with examination of the bodies high tg values can be regarded as a vital reaction in obstructive asphyxia.     

The distribution of ethanol in postmortem blood specimens.

Ethanol was determined by gas chromatography in a variety of tissues and body fluids secured at autopsy in 61 cases. The specimens tested included right and left heart blood, femoral blood, pericardial fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, vitreous humor, urine, stomach contents, and brain. Statistical analysis of the cases revealed no significant differences among the various blood sites tested. However, the variations in blood ethanol concentrations among the various sampling sites within each case were as follows: 40 cases showed differences of less than 25%; 16 cases revealed variability between 25% and 50%, 4 cases had differences exceeding 50%. In one case, satisfactory blood analyses could not be accomplished. The larger variances occurred especially in those instances in which stomach alcohol concentration was 0.50% or greater. In one case, the variability amongst the different blood sites exceeded 400% (femoral blood--0.043%, right atrium--0.070%, root of aorta--0.156%); the brain was 0.050%, and the stomach contents was 1.2%. For all 61 cases, variances in blood alcohol content among the different sampling sites in a single cadaver ranged from 1.8 to 428%.     

Ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene typing for species identification.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) typing of ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) genes was performed with a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for species identification. A variable region of the 28S ribosomal RNA gene was amplified with primers complementary to flanking sequences phylogenetically well conserved. The products of twelve animal DNAs (human, Japanese monkey, dog, cattle, pig, cat, rabbit, mouse, rat, chicken, frog, and fish) were separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, each revealing a few bands ranging from 150 to 100 base pairs. The band patterns obtained from each DNA sample differed in number and size, which indicates the applicability of the method to species identification. Samples containing either as little as 1 pg of DNA or degraded DNA of 0.2 to 0.5 kb in length were able to give detectable bands. Postmortem human tissue DNAs were tested as an example. They showed a pattern identical to the human control one, which was distinct from those of the other animals examined.     

西方国家的证券立法

<正> 以1640年英国资产阶级革命为开端,西方各国先后步入了资本主义时代。伴随着西方资本主义经济的发展,各国的证券市场随之发展起来。各国对证券市场管理采用了不同的体制,有的偏重于立法管理,有的偏重于自律管理,但从各国证券市场管理的实践来看,都有着大致相同的发展过程。     

Threatening and otherwise inappropriate letters to members of the United States Congress

The authors examine the characteristics of threatening and otherwise inappropriate communications sent to members of the U.S. Congress by a sample of 86 subjects, 20 of whom threatened assassination. We quote excerpts from these letters and provide quantitative data on such variables as the volume, duration, form, and appearance of such communications; the enclosures; the subjects' perceived relationships to the recipients; the thematic content of the communications; and the messages and threats communicated. Comparisons between 43 subjects who pursued encounters with members of Congress and 43 who did not revealed 17 factors associated with such pursuit. In this population, threateners were significantly less likely to pursue an encounter than inappropriate letter writers who did not threaten, regardless of the type of threat or the harm threatened. Inappropriate letters to members of Congress are compared with those directed to Hollywood celebrities. Mentally disordered persons writing to public figures often mention and sometimes threaten public figures other than those to whom the letters are addressed, which raises important issues regarding notification of endangered third parties and the sharing of information among protective agencies.     

The age of death: Appraising public opinion of juvenile capital punishment

Despite its original purpose to protect and rehabilitate wayward children, the juvenile system has grown more punitive and has embraced the use of harsher punishments, including execution, for juvenile offenders. Relatively little is known, however, about public attitudes toward the use of capital punishment for juveniles. This research explored the determinants of death penalty opinion, identified the minimum age at which respondents were willing to allow a juvenile to be put to death and examined the willingness of respondents to support an alternative sentence of life without the possibility of parole (LWOP). The results suggested that, while one-quarter of the sample was willing to execute juveniles who were fifteen and under at the time of the crime, there was less support for the execution of juveniles than of adults. In addition, of those who supported the use of the death penalty for juveniles, almost one-half would support LWOP as an alternative to the death penalty.     

DOES CRIME JUST MOVE AROUND THE CORNER? A CONTROLLED STUDY OF SPATIAL DISPLACEMENT AND DIFFUSION OF CRIME CONTROL BENEFITS*

Recent studies point to the potential theoretical and practical benefits of focusing police resources on crime hot spots. However, many scholars have noted that such approaches risk displacing crime or disorder to other places where programs are not in place. Although much attention has been paid to the idea of displacement, methodological problems associated with measuring it have often been overlooked. We try to fill these gaps in measurement and understanding of displacement and the related phenomenon of diffusion of crime control benefits. Our main focus is on immediate spatial displacement or diffusion of crime to areas near the targeted sites of an intervention. Do focused crime prevention efforts at places simply result in a movement of offenders to areas nearby targeted sites—“do they simply move crime around the corner”? Or, conversely, will a crime prevention effort focusing on specific places lead to improvement in areas nearby—what has come to be termed a diffusion of crime control benefits? Our data are drawn from a controlled study of displacement and diffusion in Jersey City, New Jersey. Two sites with substantial street‐level crime and disorder were targeted and carefully monitored during an experimental period. Two neighboring areas were selected as “catchment areas” from which to assess immediate spatial displacement or diffusion. Intensive police interventions were applied to each target site but not to the catchment areas. More than 6,000 20‐minute social observations were conducted in the target and catchment areas. They were supplemented by interviews and ethnographic field observations. Our findings indicate that, at least for crime markets involving drugs and prostitution, crime does not simply move around the corner. Indeed, this study supports the position that the most likely outcome of such focused crime prevention efforts is a diffusion of crime control benefits to nearby areas.