美国《涉外情报监视法》评介

爱德华·斯诺登将美国国家安全局庞大的监控计划曝光,引发世界多国对美国表示抗议。美国政府声称其监控行为是基于《外国情报监视法》的授权而实施。在美国复杂的监控法律体系中,该法有着独特的生成背景、功能定位以及价值选择,自1978年颁行以来历经多次修正,在国家安全领域依然发挥着举足轻重的作用。     

遏制专利蟑螂——评美国专利新政及其对中国的启示

2013年6月4日,美国奥巴马政府宣布了旨在打击专利蟑螂、提高专利质量、促进专利创新的5项行政措施和7项立法意见。同一天,总统行政办公室发布报告《专利主张与美国创新》,描述并分析了采取立法及行政措施的必要性。美国国会2012年和2013年两度提出旨在遏制专利蟑螂恶意诉讼的《保护高技术创新者免遭恶意诉讼法案》。这些举措,意味着美国正在推行专利新政。结合中国国情,提出以下6项建议:(1)建立知识产权危机预警机制;(2)提高专利审查质量;(3)跟踪专利实施情况;(4)健全专利服务体系;(5)加强知识产权领域反垄断规制;(6)限定专利诉讼主体资格。     

US voter registration reform

Voter registration in the United States changed after the 2000 election with a requirement that states adopt statewide voter registries. However, these registries vary in design in practice, with some states having state managed “top–down” registries and other states having more decentralized “bottom–up” registries. I compare the effect of moving to a top–down registry with the adoption of Election Day registration – where voters can register to vote the day of the election – on voters saying that they are not registered because of election management problems or not voting because of a voter registration issue. EDR had a pronounced effect on reducing voter registration problems but the adoption of new voter registries had minimal effect on the same problems.     

论我国防灾减灾法的基本原则

任何法都有自己的基本原则,我国防灾减灾法也不例外。我国防灾减灾的基本原则是贯穿于防灾减灾法的制定与实施全过程,对防灾减灾法的制定与实施有着重要指导意义的基本准则。我国防灾减灾法的基本原则是:"预防为主、防抗救相结合"、"防灾减灾与经济社会科技发展相协调"、"政府主体、公众参与与灾民自救相结合"。     

A comparison of proposed legislative data privacy protections in the United States

The use of online consumer tracking methods has raised significant privacy concerns for consumers and policymakers for decades. Advertisers using these methods analyze web-viewing habits to predict consumer preferences and actions. The advertising industry in the United States has promoted self-regulatory principles to respond to these concerns. However, in December 2010, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission reported that these efforts “have been too slow and up to now have failed to provide adequate and meaningful protection.” President Barack Obama's administration has supported broader legislation for comprehensive protection of individuals' private data. The leading model for data privacy protection is the 1980 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data. This article examines two leading legislative privacy proposals in the context of the OECD principles. This examination concludes that, although the proposals do not provide sufficient comprehensive privacy protections, they do fill significant gaps in current U.S. privacy laws.     

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.     

新加坡宗教事务的法律治理

新加坡是东西方文明的交汇之地,妥善处理不同种族、宗教之间的关系至关重要。在对本国多元宗教、多元民族的基本国情充分认知的基础上,新加坡政府采取了务实的宗教政策。通过宪法和宗教自由法确立了政教分离、宗教自由和平等保护原则,制定了维护宗教和谐法,实现了宗教间的和谐与容忍,为世界各国宗教事务的法律治理树立了典范。     

论《精神卫生法》的自愿原则

为了防止正常人"被精神病",更好地保护精神障碍患者的合法权益,《精神卫生法》确立了自愿原则。该原则渊源于私法领域的自愿原则而又与其不同,是在知情的条件下对精神卫生服务的单方接受自愿。它回应了要像人一样保护精神障碍患者,彰显了精神卫生法的福利法本质。它包涵自愿诊断、自愿治疗和自愿出院三个既相互区别又相互联系子原则。非自愿诊断、非自愿治疗、非自愿继续住院治疗只是自愿原则的补充,此种例外旨在寻求患者精神健康权与社会公众安全保护的平衡。     

What judges know about eyewitness testimony: A comparison of Norwegian and US judges

Abstract

We surveyed 157 Norwegian judges about their knowledge and beliefs about eyewitness testimony, and compared their answers to a prior survey of 160 US judges. Although the Norwegian judges were somewhat more knowledgeable than the US judges, both groups had limited knowledge of eyewitness testimony. The Norwegian judges, like the US judges, frequently differed from eyewitness experts in their responses to such important issues as whether eyewitness confidence is related to identification accuracy at trial and what is the best method for conducting identification procedures. As was true for the US judges, more knowledgeable Norwegian judges had many of the beliefs that may be necessary for reducing and mitigating the effects of eyewitness error. The results suggest that increasing judges’ knowledge of eyewitness testimony may be an important component of the solution to eyewitness error.     

美国《1930年关税法》修改的法律观察

美国近日修改《1930年关税法》授权美国商务部对以中国为代表的所谓"非市场经济国家"征收反补贴税,是对来自中国的进口产品新一轮贸易保护主义的表现。WTO规则并未禁止对"非市场经济国家"反补贴,因此美国此次修法并不违反其在WTO项下的义务,但美国如果对来自中国的产品按照"非市场经济国家"使用替代国方法进行"双反"救济,依据WTO争端解决上诉机构"对来自中国的产品的反补贴和反倾销措施"报告,将很可能违反WTO协定的"适当金额"要求,构成双重救济。中国当前最重要的是积极应对现实的"双反"调查,而长远的目标则是争取美国对中国完全市场经济地位的承认。