Statehood without an army: the question of the Kosovo Armed Force

ABSTRACT

Almost a decade after its declaration of independence, Kosovo continues to depend on NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR) for its protection. This article explores why Kosovo has not developed its own armed forces and how it could complete the process of security institution building through the establishment of a Kosovo Armed Force (KAF) in the future. Conceptually, the article highlights the role of different agents with diverging positions on the development of a KAF and the unfolding politicization of the issue, under conditions of legal uncertainty. The empirical analysis traces the stalemate regarding the creation of a KAF to legal restraints and the diverging positions of different parties on the issue. More specifically, the government’s inability to balance between the high expectations of Kosovo Albanians and the adamant objections of Kosovo Serbs has exacerbated the politicization of the debate.     

论律师法的修改及对刑事诉讼理念的影响

修改后的律师法,扩大了执业律师在刑事诉讼活动中的权利,从理论上解决了律师执业中"会见难"、"阅卷难"和"调查取证难"的三大难题.从立法机关的立法理念上来讲,这次律师法修改,是一种刑事诉讼理念上的进步,赋予了律师与司法机关在刑事诉讼中更加平等的权利,给予了律师以充分的法律信任,表明律师的政治地位和法律待遇在不断提高,他们将在刑事诉讼中发挥越来越大的作用.     

《刑法》罪名确定机制的演进与革新——由全国人大常委会确定《刑法》罪名的建议

目前,《刑法》或《刑法修正案》出台后由最高人民法院、最高人民检察院以司法解释形式确定新规定犯罪之称谓的传统罪名确定机制存在诸多弊端．如易背离立法本意、效率低下等。以与时俱进之理念革新现行《刑法》罪名确定机制势在必行,考虑我国刑事司法的实际状况,在经过与《刑法修正案》同步出台立法解释和在《刑法修正案》中直接规定罪名两个阶段的过渡后,最终将实现由最高立法机关在刑法典中直接规定罪名的理想目标。     

Power of the law or power of the sword: the conflictive relationship between the executive and the legislative in nineteenth-century Peru

ABSTRACT

The Peruvian parliament was a central institution in the early republic, but so far very little has been written on its history. This is due to the fact that military leaders took control of power for most of the nineteenth century. This article reflects on three main questions: what was the role of the legislative in nineteenth-century Peru? What was its relationship with the executive power? And what part did conflict play in these relationships? Most initial congresses were tasked with writing up constitutions, because institutions had to be created, and there was a strong belief that having a written charter mattered. The strongmen who took power felt the need to obtain legitimacy from both constitutions, and elections, but often did not see eye to eye with congress. This led congress to be closed, particularly when legislators refused to bow down to presidential power.     

从偷税罪到逃税罪的立法演变分析

偷税罪在我国的刑事立法中经历了一个从无到有,由抽象、笼统、单一、欠缺到具体、明确、科学、完善的历史发展过程。《刑法修正案(七)》对刑法典第201条规定的偷税罪从行为方式、构罪标准、法定刑等多方面进行了重大修改,并实行有条件的初犯补税免罪机制。同时,罪名也被修改为逃税罪。     

Ideas in Politics in International Context

This article asks how we might rethink the study of ‘ideas in politics’ in modern Britain. It suggests that historians need to set the problem in its international contexts in a more structured way. Focussing on the nineteenth century, the article reflects on conceptual angles opened up by ‘global intellectual’ and ‘entangled’ approaches to political ideas and behaviour. While stressing that these methods have their pitfalls, the article argues that a reconsideration of the seams where international and intellectual contexts meet can help to reconnect modern British political history with wider historical debates.     

Introducing the Open Clause to improve copyright flexibility in cyberspace? Analysis and commentary on the proposed “two-step test” in the Third Amendment to the Copyright Law of the PRC,in comparison with the EU and the US

The so called “three-step test”, that the limitations and exceptions of copyright shall be allowed in certain special cases, provided that they do not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author, grants copyright flexibilities to balance the interests of all stakeholders, especially within the European system of circumscribed limitations and exceptions. This is essential for the domain of computer law, confronted by rapid and unpredictable global technological developments, and is, thus, enshrined in the most important international intellectual property (IP) treaties. Through the proposed third amendment to the Copyright Law of the PRC, the legislature intends to adopt this test while also introducing an open-ended list of limitations and exceptions that constitutes a China-specific “two-step test.” This contravenes prima facie the thesis endorsed by the WTO Panel in the case concerning Section 110(5) of the US Copyright Act in 2000. In contrast, court decisions in China frequently apply the fair use doctrine of US copyright law, neglecting to consider its peculiar context of the US common law tradition and, thus, unduly expanding the Chinese courts' discretionary power.This paper summarizes the case law in China and takes a comparative approach to address the divergence between the judicial application of cyber copyright law and the existing legislation. It suggests revising the proposed Article 43 of the Copyright Law of the PRC to capture the due interpretation of the three-step test, thereby finessing the delineation between rights protection and free use with the compensation of remuneration under the principle of proportionality. It argues that transplanting the US fair use doctrine into Chinese copyright law is feasible, but with the preconditions of endeavouring to strengthen judicial reform to integrate the IP adjudication systems, enhancing the coherence and efficiency of copyright enforcement, and facilitating consistent dialogues between scholars, practitioners, and lawmakers.     

观往知来：美国第四修正案非法证据排除规则的新发展对中国的启示

美国联邦宪法第四修正案的证据排除规则是一项饱受争议的排除规则,曾经历过从严格适用到不断受限的发展过程,赫灵案的判决进一步削弱了该规则的基础。在未来,对该规则进行限制在相当长的时期内仍是一种主流趋势,其例外规则的适用范围将进一步得到扩张,而该规则本身的适用范围也将被进一步缩小。中国目前初步建立起了非法证据排除规则．在具体...     

Precariousness or prosperity? The diverse faces of widowhood in rural Buenos Aires during the nineteenth century

In this article, I will explore the resources and capacities women could mobilize in the countryside of Buenos Aires at the beginning of the nineteenth century when they had to confront the domestic crisis triggered by their husbands’ death. It is of course essential to study the foreseeable options (taking over the helm of the family farm, seeking refuge with relatives, or quickly remarrying) they had and the role played by what are commonly considered as crucial resources (family composition, patrimony, and networks). This study nevertheless seeks to identify other factors (notably the legal framework, patterns of colonization, and widows’ own know-how and experiences as farmers and settlers) that bring to light the specificity of widowhood in rural Buenos Aires during this period. As a consequence, the juridical aspects of inheritance proceedings and the concrete practices they reveal will be analyzed before I examine the wide social spectrum (namely the inhabitants of San Antonio de Areco, La Matanza, Quilmes, and San Vicente, four areas of rural Buenos Aires) registered by the censuses of 1813 and 1815.     

论我国《继承法》遗产范围的重构——兼评杨立新、杨震教授版《〈继承法〉修正草案建议稿》遗产范围规制

《继承法》以列举的方式具体规定了遗产范围,这种方式已经无法满足现今经济社会对《继承法》的客观要求。对遗产范围制度的修正,主要应通过采纳遗产概括承受主义,从而将消极财产纳入遗产范围中;采纳不完全遗产制度,以防止继承人恶意逃债;对新型财产性权益、具有人格要素的物、特定法律资格与行为的继承,则应不局限于其法学属性的理论争议,通过立法技术实现对其继承方式的法律规制。这种对《继承法》现代化修正的立法精神本质,是法律主体对因经济基础发生变革而导致的遗产种类多元化、遗产权利义务关系复杂化的法价值需求的实践活动,是对继承权客体制度本土化移植的体系化修正,从而实现法律上层建筑与社会经济基础相适应的法价值选择。