对《中华人民共和国法律汇编:1979—1986》的反思

<正> 在1987年8月24日的《北京周报》上,我第一次谈到的有关中国立法文选的一个短评。几个月后,在中国首都,我起初拟买两卷中国法律汇编。遗憾的是,在我所光顾的书店里,所有能买到的只有英译的刑法和刑事诉讼法,以及若干有关国家外资经济之立法的译本。据悉,我所要买的那两个版本,很快便销售一空。只是到了后来,通过一位在人大常委会秘书处工作的好心年青人,我才终于搞到那套书。这个两卷本的法律汇编共有约800页,外国人对之有兴趣是可以理解的。它提供了120多个当今中国有效的法规英译名。这个版本是"法制委员会     

Cities and oil. Historical and prospective aspects of the urban population of Venezuela

The authors present a historical overview of urbanization in Venezuela. The impact of the oil economy on population change and spatial distribution is emphasized. A typology of cities based on socioeconomic function and on a demographic classification of urban centers is devised. Future trends in urbanization are also considered. (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

The patient who refuses medical treatment: a dilemma for hospitals and physicians

This article reviews recent case and statutory law concerning patients who refuse medical treatment. Among the special cases considered are: the competent adult patient who refuses treatment on religious or privacy grounds; the incompetent patient whose own wishes were never expressed, but whose family refuses treatment; the incompetent patient who expressed the wish not to be treated before becoming incompetent; and parents who refuse treatment on behalf of their child. It is pointed out that recent court decisions have blurred the distinctions between "extraordinary" care and "ordinary" care and between withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment. Reference is made to the recent trend toward allowing the family of an incompetent patient to assert the patient's rights without court intervention either in the form of direct court order or through guardianship proceedings. Finally, the implications of these legal developments for health care institutions are discussed. A protocol pertaining to incompetent patients is proposed. Health care institutions are encouraged to develop formal policies for dealing with patients who refuse treatment, and to work with their professional associations in lobbying for legislation which will clarify the law in this area.     

New voices from the ship of fools

Conventional left accounts of Thatcherism have stressed the authoritarian nature of its political rhetoric. This paper suggests that convergences between the new conservatism and more fundamentalist moral positions, meeting on the ground of obscenity and violence in the media, are a relatively recent development, associated with renewed strategic concentration on the question of law and order. Indeed, the libertarian right, in adhering to a utilitarian laissez-faire understanding of private pleasures, has presided over a positive proliferation of erotic and other gratifications. We argue that in the United Kingdom the authentic constituency of the moral right is an increasingly socially marginal one, rendered progressively more so by the rapid development of technologies of communication and entertainment.     

Book reviews

Transborder Data Flows (Proceedings of an OECD Conference) Edited by Hans‐Peter Gassmann North Holland (Elsevier Science Publishers) 1985, US$74.00

Plastic and Electronic Money: New Payment Systems and Their Implications Patrick Frazer Woodhead Faulkner Limited 1985 £35

A User's Guide To Computer Contracting: Forms, Techniques and Strategies Davis, Allen, Bowman and Armstrong Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1985, $75

Legal Protection of Computer Programs and Data C. Millard Sweet & Maxwell/Stevens 1985, £24

Piracy of Phonograms Gillian Davies ESC Publishing Ltd. 1986. 2nd edition. £17.95.

Biotechnology and Patent Protection—An International Review F. K. Beier, R. S. Crespi and J. Straus O.E.C.D. 1985, £5

Protecting Privacy in Two‐Way Electronic Services David H. Flaherty Mansell Publishing Company 1985, £23.50

High‐Tech Espionage Jay Tuck Sidgwick and Jackson Ltd 1980, £10.95