International Norm Diffusion and Organised Crime Policy: The Case of Greece

The premise of this paper is that a section of the Greek policy-making elite responsible for formulating policy against organised crime has taken advantage of an internationally-developed programme of action on this issue to strengthen perceptions of the Greek state's legitimacy amongst both domestic and foreign audiences. Although positive reaction to foreign pressure for policy change has tended to be made at the risk of losing further legitimacy in the eyes of domestic public opinion, in this case the issue of organised crime has presented an opportunity to the policy-making elite to develop policy that also aims to bolster the domestic legitimacy of the state by dealing with criminality and presenting the state as a clean and neutral body acting for the common public good.     

Strategic Standardization in Europe: A Public Choice Perspective

In October 1990, the EC Commission presented a Green Paper in which it outlined a New Approach to European standardization. In particular, standardization was interpreted as a means of furthering the completion of the Internal Market. This paper discusses the impact of the modifications to the process of standard setting, as they have been proposed by the Commission, with respect to the incentives and goals of the major players in the European standardization game, i.e., national and European standardization bodies, industry and the EC Commission. Selected economic models of standardization are applied to investigate the policy impact of the New Approach.     

Meeting the Offender Re-integration Challenge

In this article the author – member of the European Offender Employment Forum – gives his view on the problems of re-integrating ex-offenders. He describes the pan-European growth of the prison population, the vocational training offered in prisons and the demands of the labour market. He also discusses promising programmes and initiatives to counter the problems faced by ex-offenders. The 'solution' should be multi-dimensional, provide for continuity between pre-release and after-care and counter problems like employment, housing and finances. Governments must make it their business to ensure that the programmes they support are meeting the range of offenders' needs, are linking properly with the labour market and are providing continuity from sentence to community.     

反思欧盟制宪实践——哈贝马斯式的视角

在质料意义上而言,欧盟已经存在有宪政雏形。哈贝马斯认为,制宪将会促成欧洲范围内全方位、多层次的大辩论,为各国协商对话和沟通创造契机,产生政治公共领域,培育共同政治文化。文章指出,一部形式和规范意义上的欧盟宪法是社会治理系统工程的开端和象征,代表着一种新秩序,无论是在欧盟内部还是在世界舞台上。     

CHILDREN'S RIGHTS IN EUROPEAN LEGAL PROCEEDINGS: WHY ARE FAMILY PRACTICES SO DIFFERENT FROM LEGAL THEORIES?

Debates about child custody following parental separation often have been framed in terms of a battle between the competing rights of different family members. In the United States, advocates of mothers’ rights square off against proponents of fathers’ rights, with each side claiming to truly represent children's rights. Of course, not all advocates lay claim to children's rights in contact and custody disputes merely as a tactical maneuver. Some experts believe that children are entitled to (and benefit from) their own, independent legal advocate in custody cases. In theory, at least, the position that children lay claim to a third set of independent rights is strongly held in Europe, more strongly than in many U.S. states, because of the adoption of United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in Europe, but not in the United States. In this article, we examine children's rights in custody disputes from a European perspective, particularly children's legal right to contact with their parents, as well as the children's right to be heard in custody and contact disputes. We find that, despite differences in legal theory, tradition, and family demographics, European countries ultimately face a familiar reality: Custody and contact disputes are, in reality, more about renegotiating family relationships than they are a matter of a mother's, father's, or child's rights.     

论集资诈骗罪死刑的生命空间

我国刑法对集资诈骗罪设置了死刑。本文从报应论和功利论的视角出发,探讨集资诈骗罪死刑的生命空间,认为基于刑罚的正当性要求,不宜对集资诈骗罪保留死刑。     

关于人性中美与丑的辩证思考

本文从《人性论》中美与丑的理论出发,以独特的审美视角和辩证的态度,联系文学作品中形态各异的美与丑作为例子,在上升至精神与信仰的高度阐述对美的诠释。     

论法治视野下行政决策的界定

行政决策的内涵随着时代的发展而不断发展。作为法治政府的重要活动,现代行政决策应当是正当的行政决策。一个正当的行政决策,要兼具合法性、科学性和民主性等要求,在内涵上包括决策目标、决策手段、事实基础、法律依据等四个要素,在外延上包括一系列行为。法治视野下的行政决策主要是重大行政决策,重大的标准可以通过实体和程序两方面确认。重大行政决策需要根据其价值目标和内在要求的不同进行类型化研究。     

欧洲宪法法院给我国违宪审查制度建构的启示

违宪审查制度是人类政治与法治史上最重要的制度之一,也是现代国家限制国家权力、保护公民权利最有效的手段。我国应借鉴欧洲宪法法院违宪审查的经验,逐步建构我国的违宪审查制度,设立专门的宪法救济机构,规定公民个人作为启动宪法救济的主体,规定具体的宪法救济方法与程序,并在时机成熟时将那些侵害公民宪法权利的案件逐步交给普通法院解决。     

Fiscal Decentralization Policies in the EU: A Comparative Analysis through a Club Convergence Analysis

Abstract

We study the degree of convergence or divergence in fiscal decentralization in the European Union over the period 1995–2015 using a club convergence approach. First, we analyze non-central expenditure and revenue as percentages of GDP, of total expenditure and of total revenue. The results for the EU-15 countries indicate some clustering, with three clubs formed when using GDP and four to five when using total revenue or expenditure. Second, we study the gap between expenditure and revenue as a proxy of fiscal responsibility. This results in three and two clubs respectively, with Denmark as the divergent country with the highest gap. Finally, we analyze potential unions of clubs and transitions. We also interpret our results taking into account variables found in the literature as determinants of fiscal decentralization. These results show how European countries are quite heterogeneous in terms of fiscal federalism and decentralization, with greater convergence in fiscal responsibility than in the other magnitudes.