着力保障民生大力推进法律援助制度建设

为贫困者提供法律援助是一项公认的国家责任。我国法律援助制度是保障人权,维护公民合法权益,促进司法公正的一项重要制度。但由于我国法律援助制度起步较晚,在立法、经费保障等方面都存在着严重不足,需要大力推进和完善,进而为构建和谐社会发挥更大的作用。     

法院调解优先的冷思考

近年来,法院调解作为维护和谐社会的一项司法政策被强化,并被推至优先地位。但是,强化调解可能形成义务人无需充分履行义务的期待,导致久调不决的现象发生,降低了诉讼效率;强化调解所营造的使权利人让步的＂囚徒困境＂会折损诉讼公正,会使人们的法律虚无主义意识蔓延。与此同时,调解优先使法院在司法实践中也陷入困境,即法院调解优先与民事诉讼以审判为中心的程序构造相背离,使法官在民事诉讼程序中无所适从;而且加剧法院调解能力下降与追求高调解率之间的矛盾,并使＂强制调解＂再次成为司法垢病。为使调解回归应有状态,我们必须尊重调解和审判的特点,消除二者非此即彼的对立状态,寻求二者共同发展的契机。唯有如此,才能完善民事诉讼纠纷解决机制,发挥调解和审判的优势。     

论私文书证明力的推定规则

私文书形式证明力的有无可以从书证的名义人真实、形式真实两个层面来判断，名义人真实可以从名义人的签章真实来推定，形式真实可以通过名义入真实来推定。在确定实质证明力方面，司法推定具有一定作用。举证人对私文书的真实负证明责任，适用推定规则时，当事人对基础事实和推定事实的证明主题和证明标准均有所区别。     

China and global development: towards a Global-Asian Era?

The rise of China as an economic and political ‘driver’ of the global economy may presage a new phase of globalization. This paper postulates the emergence of this new phase – a ‘Global-Asian Era’ (GAE) – as a ‘working hypothesis’. It suggests that such an era is likely to be distinct from any of the earlier phases of globalization, and China's global footprint, in terms of its business, economic and political actions and their geopolitical implications, is likely to be markedly different from what has gone before. The paper sketches the reasons for these differences before turning to a discussion of the nature and dynamics of a possible future GAE. Paying particular attention to the developing world, the paper then explores some of the evidence that could be marshalled in support of the hypothesis. It outlines a series of vectors (trade, aid and energy security) along which it is possible to discern some of the ways in which an emergent GAE could be seen as impacting on the developing world. The paper argues that, at least for these vectors, a China-driven GAE is likely to provide dangers as well as opportunities for national development projects.     

政府公共服务效能提升的对策研究

在全球化的城市体系下,世界国与国之间、城市与城市之间的竞争变得异常激烈,政府公共服务效能和质量的高低将成为影响国家和城市竞争力的重要因素,因此提升政府的公共服务效能是提升城市竞争力和政府形象的有效途径。虽然我国政府公共服务效能提升已取得一定的成效,但是与发达国家和政府的公共服务效能相比还存在不小的差距,因此应通过政府公共服务均等化、加大政府公共服务投入、建立政府公共服务绩效排行制度等措施提升政府的公共服务效能,建设真正的"服务型政府"。     

Do multilingual androids dream of a better life in Australia? Effectiveness of information technology for government translation to support refugees and migrants in Australia

Without high‐quality translation of online information about government support and services, refugees and migrants from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in Australia experience a major barrier to improved health, employment, education and social outcomes. Recent advances in the ability of Google Translate, Skype Translator and other forms of machine translation that use artificial intelligence can help translate government information to better support refugees and migrants but they bring the risk of ineffective communication, and exclusion from services that could positively impact on settlement experiences and daily life. Evidence suggests that government agencies are likely to be using human translators for most translation work, but the degree to which any form of information technology is used, how it may be best applied and the associated effects are not known. This study systematically reviewed the peer‐reviewed and grey literature to determine effective ways of using information technology for translating government information to refugees and migrants from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in Australia. Included studies were analysed to identify techniques and other characteristics of translation, information technology and language support more broadly, and outcomes on education, health, social and other refugee and migrant experiences relating to translated information. Our review found a small evidence base featuring studies with strong evaluation demonstrating effective forms of ‘language support’ for refugees and migrants from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in Australia in a broad sense. However, there is a major gap in knowledge that is contributing to barriers in the use of online government information in Australia. In particular, there is an absence of evidence demonstrating what is effective in the use of machine translation with artificial intelligence, websites and other kinds of information technology for translating government information with refugees and migrants from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The oversight risks further excluding already marginalised groups from services and support. This paper makes a number of suggestions practitioners can take to address the issue and guidelines for future research.     

Cost‐Effectiveness of Early Childhood Interventions to Enhance Preschool: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Head Start Centers Enrolling Historically Underserved Populations

We evaluate the cost‐effectiveness of two early childhood interventions that use instructional coaching and parent coaching as levers for improvement. The study design allows us to compare the individual effects of each intervention as well as their combined effect on student outcomes. We find that teachers receiving instructional coaching improve their use of evidence‐based instructional practices, while families receiving parent coaching show increases in numerous responsive parenting behaviors associated with positive child outcomes. Both interventions demonstrate positive impacts on students, but only parent coaching shows statistically significant effects across a range of student outcomes. Instructional coaching alone is substantially less costly and may therefore be the most cost‐effective of the three treatment conditions; however, small sample sizes limit our ability to reach definitive conclusions. Policy simulations suggest that implementing these interventions could raise the overall cost‐effectiveness of Head Start by at least 16 percent.     

新时期立法借鉴:成就与展望

积极而不盲目地汲取西方发达国家的立法成果,是改革开放２０ 年来中国法制建设取得丰硕成果的一条重要经验。建设社会主义法治国家对立法借鉴提出了更高的要求,必须把借鉴的重点放在公共权力制约和公民权利保障方面的法律上来,同时,必须充分研究我国法制发展的历史和现状,注重立法借鉴的有效性。     

Dealing with uncertainty: the illusion of knowledge in the study of counterterrorism effectiveness

Efforts to combat terrorism have become a priority in the security agenda of most countries around the world, while the respective policies, tools and instruments have amounted to significant costs. In this article, we review the literature on counterterrorism (CT) effectiveness and draw a series of rather negative conclusions with regard to the reliability of our knowledge in this area. We find that the literature displays case and data selection biases, and the results produced are oftentimes contradictory, mostly due to the use of different indicators. We then propose a conceptualisation of CT effectiveness, which should help to resolve some of the issues outlined. The article concludes by outlining some future research directions that should improve our methodological grasp in the field.     

Effective but inefficient: understanding the costs of counterterrorism

This article analyses state counterterrorism (CT) policy on two dimensions: its effectiveness and its efficiency. It points out that CT is likely to be effective but inefficient. The material weakness of terrorist groups in relation to their state opponents, and different organisational dilemmas, increases the probability of an effective CT policy. However, states frequently overreact to terrorist attacks, which are valued in normative instead of strategic terms. Hence, they spend more resources on CT than justified by the threat posed by the terrorist groups. The article concludes that CT should be framed as an allocation of scarce resources that could be used in other important contexts.