UK Abortion Law: Reform Proposals,Private Members’ Bills,Devolution and the Role of the Courts

UK abortion law remains unsettled, and subject to on‐going controversy and reform. This article offers a comprehensive critique of all reforms implemented or proposed since 2016. It examines reforms proposed in both Houses of Parliament and contextualises them within a public law analysis, showing both that the complex parliamentary processes relating to Private Members’ Bills have frustrated reform attempts, and that these attempts have been contradictory in their aims between the two Houses. Secondly, it examines the unique positions of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to show the extent to which devolutionary settlements have influenced both reforms and executive involvement. Finally, it examines the potential impact of the courts on abortion law following Re Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission's Application for Judicial Review, showing that the Supreme Court's reframing of the debate in human rights terms is likely to affect abortion law, not only in Northern Ireland, but in the whole of the UK.     

Robots,standards and the law: Rivalries between private standards and public policymaking for robot governance

This article explains the complex intertwinement between public and private regulators in the case of robot technology. Public policymaking ensures broad multi-stakeholder protected scope, but its abstractness often fails in intelligibility and applicability. Private standards, on the contrary, are more concrete and applicable, but most of the times they are voluntary and reflect industry interests. The ‘better regulation’ approach of the EU may increase the use of evidence to inform policy and lawmaking, and the involvement of different stakeholders. Current hard-lawmaking instruments do not appear to take advantage of the knowledge produced by standard-based regulations, virtually wasting their potential benefits. This fact affects the legal certainty with regards to a fast-paced changing environment like robotics. In this paper, we investigate the challenges of overlapping public/private regulatory initiatives that govern robot technologies in general, and in the concrete of healthcare robot technologies. We wonder until what extent robotics should be governed only by standards. We also reflect on how public policymaking could increase their technical understanding of robot technology to devise an applicable and comprehensive framework for this technology. In this respect, we propose different ways to integrate the technical know-how into policymaking (e.g., collecting the data/knowledge generated from the impact assessments in shared data repositories, and using it for evidence-based policies) and to strengthen the legitimacy of standards.     

论我国民法典应当采纳反致和转致制度

反致是国际私法上一项特有的制度。一个多世纪以来 ,各国学者对它争论不休 ,莫衷一是 ,但这并不妨碍各国实践普遍采纳这一制度。究其原因 ,乃是反致制度有利于公正合理地解决国际民事纠纷 ,符合国家的利益 ,符合国际私法的宗旨和本质。虽然其也受到现代冲突法革命的冲击和挑战 ,但在各国国际私法趋于一致之前 ,仍然有其存在的价值。我国未来的民法典 (涉外篇 )应该采纳反致和转致制度 ,并适当扩大反致制度的适用范围 ,但应以必要和不造成无限循环为限。     

战后菲律宾农业发展困境的深层根源——基于技术和制度的视角

本文详细地描述了战后菲律宾农业技术变革及相应制度建设的情况,以及它们之间的动态作用过程。本研究发现,菲律宾在20世纪60、70年代所取得的农业成就很大程度上得益于早期政府对基础设施的投资和技术研发的支持。然而,从长期看,菲律宾政府支持农业技术研发的政治意愿并不高,导致相应的制度建设扭曲,从而造成了长期农业发展的不乐观。     

进步还是倒退?——政治发展视野下的缅甸2010年选举

从政治发展角度讲,缅甸2010的选举更多地意味着一种倒退。该选举赋予了军人集团的政治垄断以正当性。这样的结果之所以会出现,全国民主联盟的错误选择是其中一个重要的原因。选举后的缅甸新政权,虽然依然会面临来自西方国家的强大压力,但来自亚洲一些国家的支持,则会给缅甸的新政权提供有力的支撑。展望未来,缅甸的政治发展之路将十分艰难。     

Monitoring gendered outcomes of environmental and development policies

Environmental and development policies used to be considered gender-neutral. Women's needs and interests were perceived to be identical to those of men. Empirical research has more recently asserted that policies that were thought to be gender-neutral were actually gender-blind and, therefore, either inadequate or inappropriate to capture the impacts upon women of environmental and development policies. This article presents a range of practical tools and mechanisms that may be used to monitor environmental and development issues from a gender perspective. It also outlines key strategies through which governments, NGOs, and donor agencies may assess the impact of such policies on women.     

东南亚的印度人及其历史变迁

在东南亚,印度人是一个人口数量仅次于华人的第二大外来移民群体,遍及东南亚的每一个国家。东南亚的印度人是在不同历史时期从印度次大陆迁入东南亚的,在人种和语言等方面都有不少的差异,因此,广义的印度人实际上包涵了众多的种族和民族。虽然如此,这些来自印度次大陆的不同种族和民族,都或多或少地经受过印度文化的熏陶,他们在来到东南亚之后有着某种程度的文化认同,东南亚各国的本地居民也都把他们视为一个大的群体。     

政府主导型展会发展路径初探——以中国—东盟博览会为例

近年来,中国会展业发展迅速,政府主导型展会占据主导地位是现阶段中国会展业的突出特征。但有些政府主导型展会由于不了解展会发展的内在市场规律,造成一些展会经贸成效不显著、政府资源浪费严重的现象。本文以我国发展较成功的政府主导型展会中国—东盟博览会为例,分析其取得成功的优势,并以其为借鉴对政府主导型展会的发展提供初步建议。     

对后结构调整时期非洲主流经济发展战略与政策的批判性思考

多方面证据表明,非洲现行经济发展战略与政策基本上仍是过去经济结构调整计划的延续或翻版。经济结构调整计划曾因广受争议和反对而被弃之不用,但该计划的主导思想和主要政策框架在换上减债计划、减贫战略等新的外包装后继续掌控非洲经济发展进程,根源在于非洲国家长期以来在物质层面严重依赖外部世界,它们在精神层面所追求的独立自主理想缺少实现空间。短期内非洲国家真正自主选择和决定其经济发展战略与政策的空间还不是很大。但无论如何,非洲国家在依赖外部世界求发展的进程中必须树立自力更生、自主发展的观念,要力争使所获外援为内生发展创造条件、为摆脱外援创造条件。     

东南亚国家文化资源产业开发探讨

本文分析东南亚国家文化资源的特色与优势,探讨东南亚国家文化资源产业开发路径相关问题。