‘Modernising’ data protection Convention 108: A safe basis for a global privacy treaty?

Proposals for the reform or ‘modernisation’ of Council of Europe Data Protection Convention 108 have now been forwarded from the Convention's Consultative Committee for consideration by the Council of Ministers. This article assesses the changes proposed, which strengthen the obligations of Parties to implement the Convention as a matter of effective practice, not just as a law on paper. It tightens most of the existing data protection principles, and adds new ones which better align the Convention with the EU Directive (and proposed Regulation). The Convention Committee will have explicit new functions including assessing candidates for accession, and periodically reviewing implementation by existing parties. However, the proposals concerning the required standard for data export limitations are in some respects ill-defined and dangerous for data subjects. The existing standard that personal data can only be exported if the recipient provides ‘adequate’ protection has been abandoned for an undefined requirement of ‘appropriate’ protection. The article situates the risk of abandoning meaningful data export restrictions in the context of the USA's push for ‘interoperability’ of very different data protection standards.     

Arbitration in financial dispute resolution: the final step to reconstructing the default(s) and exception(s)?

In this article, I argue for caution in embracing family arbitration as a new form of private ordering for resolving parties' financial disputes. I explain that family arbitration may be more successful than other forms of private ordering and final court hearings in enabling certain types of parties to resolve certain types of disputes. I consider why family arbitration may not become numerically significant despite its potential benefits, but may be much more important in normative terms. Lawyer-led negotiations remain the most common form of out-of-court resolution and constitute the de facto default form of bargaining in the shadow of the normative regime framed by ss 23–25 Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. Together with the transformation in approach to nuptial agreements, family arbitration may mark a normative shift towards autonomy and private ordering. I question whether this is a desirable step for family law, at least before we have resolved the underlying policy debate.     

论保险代位求偿权的法律性质

保险代位求偿权是财产保险的一项重要法律制度,源自赔偿合同原则。财产保险合同本质上是一种赔偿合同,如果被保险人所遭受的财产损失,已通过保险合同得到补偿,那么,被保险人因该损失而在法律上可获得的减轻或弥补损失的救济和利益便应归保险人,否则,被保险人就可能获得过量补偿而诱发道德风险。中国保险法在借鉴英国海上保险法保险代位求偿制度的基础上,将保险代位求偿权定性为法定债权转让,并考虑到中国的实际情况,通过最高人民法院的司法解释对保险代位求偿权作出了延伸保护。     

海南自由贸易港临时仲裁制度的建设研究

海南自贸港的仲裁机制应置于国际竞争中去考量。在海南自贸港中构建临时仲裁制度符合市场经济发展的规律和该制度自身发展的规律。尽管目前临时仲裁制度已在自贸区内有限开放,但临时仲裁制度在海南自贸港落地的障碍主要来自于我国仲裁机构的定位不合理,“三特定”的界限模糊,临时仲裁裁决的执行和认可缺乏规制,现有临时仲裁规则普适性的缺失。我国香港地区的临时仲裁的发展数据表明,成熟和强大的法律体系、临时仲裁的高度保密性、仲裁机构的有限介入和当事人的意思自治是该项制度迅速发展的重要原因,值得参考。海南自贸港在立法路径上可根据《立法法》对《仲裁法》第16条和第18条作出变通处理或者根据《立法法》对临时仲裁制度作出系统性的规定,并报全国人大常委会批准,应重新认识仲裁机构的促进性和服务性并高度尊重当事人的意思自治,还原临时仲裁的本质属性。     

论我国代理制度对仲裁条款的影响——以《合同法》第402、403条为切入点

我国合同法第402、403条分别规定了隐名代理、与英美法系不公开本人身份的代理相类似的代理形式,在这两种代理中,代理人以自己的名义订立合同,本人与第三人之间并不存在直接的仲裁合意,那么仲裁条款能否约束本人与第三人呢?我国仲裁法及相关司法解释并没有做出规定。从理论上分析,在第402条的情况下,仲裁条款可以直接约束本人与第三人。而在第403条的情况下,则需要进行具体分析,不能直接适用合同法的法条规定。     

试论我国香港地区与我国台湾地区之间仲裁裁决的相互执行制度

国际商事仲裁裁决相互执行,关系到当事人合法利益的最终实现,关系到国际商事仲裁价值的实现,是一个不容忽视的程序和环节。在我国台湾地区,1997年《香港澳门关系条例》第42条及其相关规定,是我国台湾地区执行我国香港地区仲裁裁决的法律依据。近年来,我国台湾地区在执行我国香港地区仲裁裁决的实务方面采取了积极的态度,并获得了很多宝贵的实务经验。在我国香港地区,依据《仲裁条例》第2GG条的规定,我国香港地区以外地方作出的仲裁裁决可以在我国香港地区获得执行,包括我国台湾地区作出的仲裁裁决。目前我国香港地区法院还没有执行我国台湾地区仲裁裁决的制度。     

论国际商事仲裁中的临时保全措施

随着国际商事争议的日益复杂,国际商事仲裁因其固有的优势成为解决涉外商事争议的重要方式.在国际商事仲裁中,临时保全措施对于保证仲裁程序的顺利进行和裁决的有效执行有着十分重要的意义.但是,目前在各国的实践中,国际商事仲裁中的临时保全措施在发布主体、发布时间和域外执行等问题上存在种种差异.我国有关临时保全措施的规定目前还很不...     

Low Power,First Offers,and Reservation Prices: Weak Negotiators are Self-anchored by Their Own Alternatives

Although most scholars recommend making the first offer in negotiations, recent research and practitioners' experience have uncovered a second-mover advantage in certain situations. In the current article, we explore this first- versus second-mover dynamic by investigating the circumstances under which negotiators would make less favorable first offers than they would receive were they to move second, focusing on the effects of negotiation power in the form of alternatives. Additionally, we examine the effects of low power on reservation prices and whether these effects could be mitigated using an anchor-debiasing technique. In Study 1, we manipulated negotiators' power in the form of the best alternative to the negotiated agreement and examined its effect on first offers and reservation prices. Our results showed that low-power negotiators would receive more favorable first offers than they would have made themselves when facing either low- or medium-power counterparts. Also, our results suggest that low-power negotiators had less favorable reservation prices than their medium- and high- power counterparts. In Study 2, we investigated whether this effect would persist in the face of anchor-debiasing techniques. Our results showed that while anchor-debiasing techniques did improve their first offers, low-power negotiators would still benefit from making the counteroffer rather than moving first. Our findings uncover the disadvantageous effects of low power on first-offer magnitude while offering practical advice to negotiators.