Macroeconomic Development and Civil Litigation

This paper contributes to the explanation of the tremendous rise in civil litigation activity in Austria over the last four decades by analysing the influence of macroeconomic conditions on civil litigation. We find that the number of transactions per individual—proxied by the level of real per capita GDP—positively influences the amount of litigation per capita. Inertia in litigious behavior reinforces effects. In the short run, however, we observe a countercyclical pattern of litigious activity. Cointegration analysis confirms the short run negative association, and a long run cointegrating relationship between GDP and civil litigation. Several robustness tests corroborate our results. Rent-seeking interpretations, and possible detrimental effects on the long run growth prospects cannot be excluded.     

民事审前准备程序研究

民事审前准备程序,是指法院正式开庭审理民事纠纷前,为充分辩论所做的一切准备活动及其过程。我国民事诉讼法虽然规定了开庭前的准备条款,但这些准备活动主要集中于法院(法官)之准备工作,缺乏当事人的参与,忽略了当事人作为诉讼主体的权利保护,建立和完善审前准备程序应是我国民事审判制度改革的关键环节。     

英美民事证据开示若干问题研析

作为实现司法正义的重要手段,英美的民事证据开示制度发挥了关键作用。从"形而上"的角度看,该制度背后最基本的理念是FairPlay精神。本文主要从微观角度对证据开示的一些具体制度,即开示的主体、对象、范围、时限要求、法定例外、有关专家证言是否开示、相关会议安排以及对滥用开示制度的法律制裁等进行研讨。证据开示制度内容丰富,程序严谨,有利于平等保护双方当事人的权益,值得我国学习和借鉴。     

略论举证责任的适用条件

本文认为 ,民事诉讼中举证责任的适用条件不甚明确 ,乃是困扰我国民事审判方式改革 ,影响“谁主张 ,谁举证”原则之实施的一个重要因素。文章通过对其他国家和地区相关规定的比较研究 ,结合我国的立法规定 ,探讨了待证事实真伪不明之认定标准等问题。     

Law and Violence in Richard Wright's ‘Native Son’

This paper seeks to intervene in the continuing debate around violence as a function of law and violence as a condition of justice. It examines a key literary work of the American civil rights movement as an instance of the establishment of an ethical community anchored by the literary text, and argues that, within such a community, the literary text is the counter-violence to which the law can yield. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

论限制民事行为能力人之缔约能力--兼论合同法第47条之不足

各国法律和学界对限制民事行为能力人的合法权益的保护问题都给予了充分的关注,而我国的现行法律对此无论在其概念的外延范围上还是缔约能力上均缺乏应有的规定。文章在结合比较法研究的基础上对我国现行法上限制民事行为能力人概念的外延范围和缔约能力进行分析,同时对我国合同法第47条之规定进行反思,希冀对我国限制民事行为能力人法律制度之完善有所裨益。     

非法证据排除规则与我国的民事诉讼

20 0 2年 4月 1日起施行的《最高人民法院关于民事诉讼证据的若干规定》标志着我国民事诉讼中的非法证据排除规则和判断标准得以正式确立。但对非法证据排除规则的规定不够明确 ,内容也不全面 ,需要作进一步完善 :明确民事诉讼中非法证据排除规则的适用对象 ;进一步明确和细化非法证据的判断标准 ;建立非法证据排除机制 ;明确民事诉讼中非法证据排除规则的例外 ,即“必然发现的例外”和“善意的例外”。     

Government Mapping of the Third Sector: A Government Innovation for Regulation and Coordination? Perspectives From the Third Sector

This article examines the policy tool of a registry of civil society organizations in a regulatory transparency framework. A registry serves as a government ‘mapping’ tool by collecting data on civil society and nonprofit organizations. Do government efforts to map the third sector hinder or foster nonprofit organizations’ capacity and their coordination? The balance between regulation and the strengthening of nonprofit organizations’ capacity and the coordination of goods and services through government innovations like the registries—i.e., third sector mappings—might indeed have the potential to foster a more effective and efficient third sector.     

概念界定在民事诉讼法修改和完善中的意义

国内法学界长期忽视了一个具有基础性意义的问题,即《民事诉讼法》中概念界定的问题。一部完善的《民事诉讼法》,不能没有属于自己的法律概念要素。"概念界定是完善民事诉讼法要素体系的关键",它对于完善民诉法体系具有重要意义。同时,在修改和完善我国《民事诉讼法》时,法国的《新民事诉讼法典》具有重要的借鉴价值。     

Auditing as a tool of government accountability? Exploring divergent causal mechanisms through three Honduran cases

Audits of government entities offer a potential tool to hold public officials to account and to improve the functioning of public administration; however, empirical studies of audit impacts show mixed results. This is largely due to the diversity of audit regimes with different goals and accountability mechanisms, which yield different causal chains. In this study, I compare three distinct audit regimes with distinct casual mechanisms in Honduras. I find that backward-looking audits, which aim to hold officials accountable for past behavior or performance, require effective horizontal accountability mechanisms to investigate and prosecute cases. Forward-looking audits, which aim to hold officials accountable for future behavior or performance, require independent accountability mechanisms, a systematic follow-up methodology, public dissemination, and pressure from the media and civil society. Complementary initiatives that build on audit recommended reforms are found to strengthen these weaknesses in the causal mechanism linking audits to outcomes.