Audit for Whom? Time to Review Roles of Independent Auditors in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong government has been reforming its laws regarding accounting practices in recent years, to pre-empt problems similar to that of Enron. It correctly recognizes an opportunity to enhance and distinguish the financial system in Hong Kong and create a competitive advantage for Hong Kong. The sixty-five billion dollar question is: what is the right approach for accounting practice reform? One obvious approach is to model reform after the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX). The SOX increases personal liabilities of senior management and introduces extremely cumbersome compliance processes (s 3 (b)(ix) of Minutes of Bills Committee of Financial Reporting Council Bill. (19 July 2005)). While this approach may be the right move for the United States, because rescuing investor confidence is paramount, a similar approach may not be optimal for Hong Kong. Hong Kong relies, to a great degree, on foreign investments and a heavy-handed approach may scare investments away (Charles E. Schumer &; Michael R. Bloomberg To Save New York, Learn from London, Wall Street Journal 1 Nov 2006). This paper, argues that failure of independent auditors was mainly caused by bad incentives. In particular, auditors were hired by and responsible to the management of companies. Thus, there is no surprise that auditors were less diligent in finding problems caused by management. Furthermore, proposing of an alternate to the SOA’s approach. Specifically, a new legal approach should be enforced that allows shareholders to sue auditors when failure to uncover accounting issues causes loss of shareholders’ values.     

劳动关系研究英美模式比较——形成的回顾与20世纪80年代后的变化

美国和英国是劳动关系理论发源地,也是对劳动关系理论发展做出重大贡献的国家。他们为劳动关系研究提供了最基本的研究范式。由于两个国家工业化的道路不同,工会运动发展的路径不同,两国劳动关系的研究在研究范围、研究方法、学者和学科来源以及构成上都存在一定差异。     

Divergent fates: company unions and employee involvement committees under the railway labor and national labor relations acts

Well known is that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA, 1935) in the United States places a largely per se ban on nonunion employee representation (ER) groups which deal with employers over a term or condition of employment. Much less well known is that America’s other labor law, the Railway Labor Act (RLA, 1926), takes a different approach and permits employers to operate such councils and committees as long as they do not perform a collective bargaining function or interfere with workers’ free choice of a bargaining agent. Thus, under the RLA Delta Air Lines is able to operate what is today the closest living approximation to a 1920s-style ER plan while hundreds of other companies (e.g. Polaroid) under the jurisdiction of the NLRA have been forced over the years to disband similar groups on grounds they are a proscribed company union. No study to date has explored the history behind the RLA and NLRA’s divergent treatment of nonunion ER groups so this article takes a first look. The main part of the story covers the 1920–1935 period and examines the events, people, and experiences associated with company unions and ER in, respectively, the rail and manufacturing industries and why the legislative outcome in the former was a permissive stance on nonunion committees but prohibitive in the latter. The last part of the paper fast-forwards the RLA-NLRA story from the 1930s to contemporary law and practice in order to demonstrate how “history matters” when it comes to what employers can and cannot do with nonunion representation groups, such as works councils, participation and involvement committees, and dispute resolution forums.     

民国时期集体劳动合同立法述论 —— 以 1930 年《团体协约法》为中心

民国时期,通常将个别劳动合同称为劳动契约,而将集体劳动合同称为团体协约。中国劳工立 法较迟,团体协约立法则更晚。国民政府有关团体协约的立法最早可以追溯至 1929 年《劳动法典草案》的编纂, 其后在《工会法》起草过程中也有团体契约权的规定。延至 1930 年,国民政府正式颁行《团体协约法》,这是 中国历史上第一部有关集体劳动合同的专门法律。《团体协约法》的出台因应了当时中国工业化过程中劳资冲 突的实际需求,但也不可避免地存在历史局限。     

Kantei diplomacy? Japan's hybrid leadership in foreign and security policy

This article operationalizes Japanese leadership in foreign and security policy, specifically the Abe administrations’ consistent China balancing. It will do so to dispel instances of Premier-centered diplomacy and posit that Abe's diplomatic agenda has rested on a ‘hybrid’ policy-making authority, where the leverage enjoyed by the Prime Minister's office (the Kantei) rested on little-appreciated politicized personnel appointments and demotions within the bureaucratic apparatus, specifically the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Moreover, successful Japanese leadership has functioned especially when operating within the scope of the US strategic framework towards East Asia. While structural constraints, such as the ever-present influence of the USA and bureaucratic coordination, may constrain options, effective leadership in foreign policy-making can indeed make a difference within those boundaries.     

美国《2018年出口管制法》评析与启示

美国《2018年出口管制法》在术语定义和政策声明、出口管制的权限和管理、许可证、确定和控制"新兴和基础技术"出口的要求、涉及与美国全面禁运的国家有关的审查、惩罚和强制执行等方面作出了许多新规定。该法使美国出口管制体系走向法典化、系统化和多边化,建立跨部门许可审查机制,确立"合规协助"条款,扩大了"新兴和基础技术"这一出口管制范围,并扩张出口管制域外管辖权,同时加强了惩罚和执行力度。我国应注重"新兴与基础技术"的管制,完善出口管制系列清单,扩大出口管制管理机构的执法权限,为出口经营者出口合规提供具体指导,严格执行阻断法,推进双边与多边出口管制标准的设立以应对该法的实施。     

环境责任"原罪"说--关于环境无过错归责原则合理性的再思考

关于环境侵权无过错归责原则合理性的解释,学术界作过反复探讨,但都没有给出无懈可击的论证.我们主张环境责任"原罪"说,即任何环境行为都负有妨碍环境的"原罪",环境侵权是由环境行为引发的对有归属利益的危害.环境侵权行为人只是环境行为人中的一部分,只有他们才成为环境侵权的受控者.     

卧底侦查特征性分析

任意侦查与强制侦查的划分标准、卧底侦查遵循的比例原则及卧底侦查的立法与实践都显示出卧底侦查的强制性特点。而卧底侦查人员身份的隐秘与卧底侦查方式的非公开性决定了卧底侦查的隐秘性特征。从卧底侦查启动与犯罪的同步性上看，卧底侦查具有主动性特征。而卧底侦查过程中对其他侦查手段的综合性运用则彰显出卧底侦查手段的融合性特点。卧底侦查客观环境的复杂性与卧底警察在卧底过程中的被动性决定了卧底侦查行动终止的不可预期性，即终止具有随机性特点。     

美国1787年宪法背景探析

美国1787年宪法是在特殊的历史条件下形成的,文章从人的特定性与发展历程的特定性两个方面分析了该宪法产生的独特背景.从人的特定性上看,它反映了清教徒的现实主义精神,又体现了制宪者的阶级属性,即从理想主义到现实主义的蜕变;从《独立宣言》制定者到《宪法》制定者历史地位的迁移;实现自由的向往者向自由的实践者飞跃等几个方面进行分析.同时也对发展历程的特定性从中央与地方及中央政府各部分之间的关系方面进行了探讨.     

台湾“行政程序法”制定公布十年之实施经验——为大陆行政程序法起草工作提供借鉴

台湾“行政程序法”于1999年2月3日公布，2001年1月1日起施行。依据台湾“行政程序法”第l条规定：“为使行政行为遵循公正、公开与民主之程序，确保依法行政之原则，以保障人民权益，提高行政效能，增进人民对行政之信赖，特制定本法”。台湾“行政程序法”之内容分为“总则”、“行政处分”、“行政契约”、“法规命令及行政规则”、“行政计画”、“行政指导”、“陈情”与“附则”等八章，共175条。自1999年2月3日公布至今，除于2000年12月27日及2001年6月20日两度修正公布第174条之1有关职权命令失效日期之规定，2005年12月28日配合政府资讯公开法之公布施行删除第44条、第45条之规定外，其余条文均未变动。台湾“行政程序法”实施之成效，包括强化民权保障、深化民主原则、贯彻依法行政、提高行政效能、增进人民对行政之信赖、行政法总论之法典化等。晚近，大陆倡议制定行政程序法之呼声不断。本文拟略述台湾“行政程序法”之立法沿革、主要内容、实施成效、所遏问题，期能为大陆行政程序法起草工作提供借鉴。