从规范结构和语言看我国民族法律的运行——以我国涉环境保护的民族法律纵向维度为样本

法律实施是法律运行的关键一环,法律具备或良好抑或较差的可操作性是法律目的实现的关键。民族自治地方具有民族立法权,这些地区在宪法、民族区域自治法的指导下可以制定自治条例和单行条例,这些条文的运行状态是否良好直接关系到我国民族区域自治制度的落实质量。本文以我国涉环境保护的民族法律纵向维度为样本,以法律语言学、法律逻辑结构为视角,考察我国民族法律规范的现实可操作性。     

从“三鹿事件”看我国行政不作为赔偿的法律空间——兼论《国家赔偿法(修正案草案)》的相关规定

现行法律未明文规定的行政不作为,但通过一定的法律解释方法,可以将其纳入我国现有的行政诉讼受案范围和行政赔偿范围。在行政行为是否构成实定法下的行政不作为这个前提性问题上,是无法同样运用法律解释的方法"推而衍之"的,即无法通过法律解释的方法释放出空间,这样,在修改《国家赔偿法》的时候,引入保护规范理论就是一个可行的解决方案。     

社会保障普通法权利初探

社会保障普通法权利是指宪法以外的其他普通法所规范的具体的社会保障权.从世界社会保障立法的历史溯源来看,社会保障普通法权利的种类趋于全面、综合,覆盖范围逐渐扩展到全体社会成员.社会保障普通法权利具有自身的特征与规范效力,因此,有必要加强和完善社会保障普通法的制度建设.然而,我国社会保障普通法权利在法律渊源、权利范围、资金来源、规范效力等方面存在着城乡不公,确立社会保障普通法权利制度的城乡一体化目标与方向将是我国构建和谐社会,发挥社会保障民生保障作用的必然要求.     

“不得”的逻辑——“规范性下降”命题的规范分析

法律用语中的规范词“不得”有其自身的逻辑。从“不得”出发,探究禁止性法律规范的内在结构,可以展现法律秩序的运作逻辑,揭示出隐藏在人类法律秩序变迁中规范性下降的历史规律。如果把秩序的实效与秩序的效力之间对比视为一个系数,那么这个系数在历史进程中是呈下降曲线的。早期法律制度的主要规范是禁止性规范,因此,与古代社会的理想追求相伴的是残酷的刑罚;而现代社会中,禁止性规范退居次席,权利和义务成为核心的规范纽带,与古代将违规者清除的制裁相比,现代法律秩序的规范性大大降低。这是历史进步的代价,也是历史发展的必然。     

Using the State for Change: Towards an Effective Labour Government

The capacity of the state to deliver transformative social and economic change appears more limited today than since Labour was last in government. A future Labour government will therefore need to reckon with the challenges this presents when it comes to harnessing the power of the state to distribute power, wealth, and opportunity, effectively. This article considers two aspects of state power. The first is the ability of the state to enforce laws, and in doing so shape social and economic norms. With reference to past successes and failures, there is discussion of how laws and regulations could be made more effective. The second aspect is state intervention in the economy, and the circumstances in which it is possible and desirable to nationalise key industries. The case is made for a thorough assessment of the efficiency and efficacy of such interventions in the economy, especially when weighed against other policy priorities.     

We do negotiate with terrorists: navigating liberal and illiberal norms in peace mediation

The normative framework in mediation processes is growing. Mediators are increasingly expected by their mandate-givers to incorporate liberal norms such as inclusivity into their overall strategy. However, in the wake of the terrorist attacks that took place on 11 September 2001, and the policy shifts that accompanied the “Global War on Terror”, mediators find themselves simultaneously pressured to design mediation processes actively excluding armed groups proscribed as terrorists and consequently incorporating this illiberal norm of “exclusivity”, barring proscribed groups’ access to negotiations. This article asks what consequences this development has on the normative agency of mediators, based on if and how they incorporate proscribed armed groups into their mediation strategies. It argues that the dichotomy between liberal and illiberal norms has important consequences on a mediator’s normative agency. First, the dichotomy constrains mediators to a single normative standard, rendering only liberal and illiberal views possible. Second, the assumption that liberal norms are “good” and illiberal norms are “bad” engenders a double dichotomy that greatly constrains a mediator’s normative agency. Third, these constraints on a mediator engender new mediation practices such as outsourcing and risk-sharing in an attempt to salvage normative agency. The article contributes to scholarship on norms, terrorism and mediation through providing a more nuanced view of normative parameters in mediation practice.     

Contesting the international order by integrating it: the case of China’s Belt and Road initiative

What does the Belt and Road initiative (BRI) tell us about China’s perceptions of the international order? This paper takes an inductive approach by examining the BRI for a two-pronged purpose: first, to understand China’s perception of the international order by examining Beijing’s official discourse around its intentions and vision for the initiative; and, second, to examine the mechanisms through which Chinese norms are diffused and normalised in Global South states. I find that Chinese policy navigates a dialectical interchange between upholding the existing international order while simultaneously promoting alternative norms and practices to reform parts of the order that are unsatisfactory to Chinese interests. To answer the second part of the puzzle, the paper finds that a central socialisation mechanism in China’s foreign policy for Global South states occurs through professionalisation training programmes. These programmes allow for Chinese expert knowledge and technical know-how to be shared with and mimicked by elites and civil servants across many Global South states.     

Bin Laden’s targeted killing and emerging norms

This article illustrates how the well-known norm life cycle model has been under-utilised for understanding global political behaviour. The model has generally been applied to norms advancing human rights or prohibiting certain behaviour. This article uses the norm life cycle, modified to account for norm fluidity, to examine a practice which enables the state to pursue its security interests, at times by violating human rights. Specifically, this study explores variation in global responses to targeted killings, with Osama bin Laden’s death serving as a focal point. These reactions generally range from condemnation of targeted killings occurring before his death, to widespread acceptance of his death, to subsequent efforts to regulate the practice. This article concludes that this variation could be understood as consistent with the initial stages of the norm life cycle. Through this analysis, the article demonstrates how the norm life cycle model can helpfully shed light on very diverse political behaviour.     

International peace building and the emerging inclusivity norm

This paper draws on constructivist theory to assess the contemporary debate around inclusion within peace-building and state-building processes and on inclusivity as an emerging norm within international policy processes. Within the wider context of an ongoing but still incomplete normative shift in terms of how peace building is both understood and practised, it focuses on the case of the New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States, and makes the case that the inclusivity agenda marks a significant shift towards fulfilling a longstanding commitment to respecting national ownership of peace-building processes.     

Global Reordering and China’s Rise: Adoption,Adaptation and Reform

Abstract

While much of the debate over the implications of China’s rise tends to dichotomise around either status quo or revisionist predictions, the reality seems to lie somewhere in between. In broad terms, China has embraced multilateral forms of cooperation and governance. This does not mean, however, that it is satisfied with the distribution of power in many international institutions, or some of the norms and principles that underpin them. This has resulted in a reformist position, with China increasingly willing to offer its own supplementary alternatives. China’s rise has also provided an important economic alternative to dealing with the West, and considerably undermined the ability of others to establish their preferences and world views. China’s lack of commitment to democracy and the external promotion of human rights remains a key reason why some analysts remain unconvinced about the long-term ambitions of an illiberal actor in a global liberal order.