The legal possibilities of Antwerp widows in the late sixteenth century

This article assesses the ability of widows and other women in Antwerp to act independently of men to defend their economic interests and those of their children. Consideration is given to both legal norms and actual practice in a number of different areas including writing wills, making marriage contracts, managing financial assets and pursuing claims and defending themselves in the civil courts. Analyses of these issues indicate that widows in Antwerp enjoyed in practice a greater degree of independence than was available to widows in many other parts of Europe, despite their weaker position in law.

Particular attention is given to the role in Antwerp of women merchants whose position freed them from male control and supervision. It is argued that their favored status did not derive from the desire of the authorities to protect the interests of their male relatives or to advance the economic interests of these women. Rather their legal freedom is seen as reflecting acknowledgement of the importance of their business activities and the wish to safeguard the interests of their customers who could pursue claims against the woman merchant in the event of a dispute.     

The cost of educating children: The accounts of a nineteenth century girls' boarding school in Orléans,France

Using a collection of 73 bills of a boarding school in Orléans (France), the article examines the cost of educating a child at the end of the nineteenth century. These bills concern the four daughters of a family from the Brittany nobility who each spent about 12 years at boarding school. Items on the bills reveal details of the daily life of the young girls through general boarding expenses, education costs, private lessons, clothing, medicine, and trips home for the holidays. Aspects of the family life of the girls and the boarding school (meals, religious instruction, health, and welfare) are described.     

The Impact Imprisonment has on Women's Health and Health Care from the Perspective of Female Inmates in Kansas

This multimethod study, conducted at the Topeka Correctional Facility during the summers of 2001, 2002, and 2003, investigated the impact of imprisonment on women's health and health care. The researcher hypothesized that 3 independent constructs—(a) extended strain, (b) level of health care received either before or during incarceration, and (c) detrimental social structural influences—could predict the health status of female inmates prior to and during incarceration. Multiple regression analyses conducted on 1 survey sample of 120 inmates revealed that only health care prior to incarceration and extended strain contributed significantly to explaining the inmates' self-perceived health status prior to and during incarceration. When life history interviews with 22 inmates were examined to determine inmates' perceptions of their health status and the health care they had received, prior to and during their imprisonment, qualitative results revealed inmates expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of health care received in prison, as well as the manner in which it was administered.     

重特大生产安全事故赔偿过程中的政府职能

近年来,有些地方人民政府在处理重特大生产安全事故的过程中,就受害人的民事赔偿事宜采取了诸多举措,如决定赔偿金额、支付赔偿金或综合帮扶资金等。这些举措虽可使受害人获得及时、适当甚至高额的赔偿,但同时也会影响我国基本的法律秩序、限制当事人的民事处分权利、导致社会不公,有时还可能成为地方有些官员平息民怨、为自己开脱政治责任的方式。尽管如此,地方人民政府适当介入重特大事故民事赔偿事宜有其必要,只是应在法制的框架内运作,主要发挥督促、协调和配合三大功能。     

Casting Aside Clanking Medieval Chains: Prerogative,Statute and Article 50 after the EU Referendum

This article confronts the controversies surrounding Article 50 by analysing the relationship between statute and prerogative in the UK. The piece focuses on domestic constitutional issues and suggests a new way of classifying the relationship between statute and prerogative into two types falling under ‘the abeyance principle’ or ‘the frustration principle’. The abeyance principle means that where statute and prerogative overlap, the prerogative goes into abeyance. The frustration principle means that where statute and prerogative give rise to potential inconsistencies, but do not overlap, the prerogative cannot be used inconsistently with the intention of parliament as expressed in the relevant legislation. It then argues that Article 50 has the status of primary or ‘primary‐equivalent’ legislation which could justify applying the abeyance principle. This would mean that the trigger power would be exercised on statutory authority rather than through prerogative powers. If the courts are unable thus to construe the relevant legislation it argues EU law requires the courts to bridge the gap. Alternatively, if the abeyance principle is not applicable, it argues the frustration principle could apply but the circumstances in this litigation fall outside it. In the further alternative, EU law could require the frustration principle itself to be set aside in this case.     

A Dive into Deep Constitutional Waters: Article 50, the Prerogative and Parliament

This article analyses the Article 50 TEU debate and the argument that for the UK Government to trigger the formal withdrawal process without explicit parliamentary authorisation would be unlawful, because it would inevitably result in the removal of rights enjoyed under EU law and the frustration of the purpose of the statutes giving those rights domestic effect. After a brief survey of Article 50, this article argues first of all that the power to trigger Article 50 remains within the prerogative, contesting Robert Craig's argument in this issue that it is now a statutory power. It then suggests a number of arguments as to why the frustration principle may be of only doubtful application in this case, and in doing so it re‐examines one of the key authorities prayed in aid of it ‐ the Fire Brigades Union case.     

The institutionalisation of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the institutional development of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies (BCD) from 1826 to the present. Legislature careers, the internal organisation of the BCD, the current system for filling positions within the committees and electoral rules are the objects of this study. The process of development of the BCD should be understood in light of the dynamics of the Brazilian political system, which has undergone significant ruptures of regime, and also in light of the nearly permanent fragility of the democracy, especially of its representative components. It is an institution with legislature career patterns that vary through time, but always point towards opportunities out of the BCD, a stable, hierarchical and complex mode of organisation that currently values parties as distributors of opportunities. It is, above all, an institution that is subject to external influences from other parts of the political system, which diminish its autonomy and self-determination, as shown by the example of the rule for the adjudication of terms. With its 190 years, the BCD has evolved along with Brazilian democracy and today, although boasting a great structure and large resources, it still needs to establish itself as a decisive and permanent actor in driving public policies and communication (parties and government projects) with voters.     

劳动权的防御权功能与国家的尊重义务

防御权功能是劳动权的首要功能,以防止国家权力的干预、为公民创设"自由空间"为旨趣。公民劳动权的起始之处,即国家权力的终止之所。防御权功能属于"主观权利"范畴,公民享有"不作为请求权"、"停止侵害请求权"。尽管我国《宪法》未规定劳动自由,然而,从"事实"与"规范"二维度看,防御权功能亦是我国劳动权的题中之义。劳动权的防御权功能之实现仰赖国家履行"消极不作为"的"尊重义务"。尊重义务是劳动权保障的根本义务,立法机关和司法机关是尊重义务的主体,行政机关在一定程度上具有尊重义务的主体资格。     

泰国：20世纪二三十年代海外潮剧的中心

泰国潮剧源于中国。20世纪二三十年代,伴随着现代化的进程,泰国潮剧逐渐本土化,并对中国潮剧产生一定的影响,成为海外潮剧的中心,对潮剧艺术的发展做出了巨大的贡献。同时,潮剧在泰国与中国之间的地理位移意味着这一特殊戏曲艺术在整体格局中的边缘与中心地位的互换,其后隐藏着特定的社会背景和历史渊源,给予人们深刻而独特的文化启示。     

International Disorder and China's Strategic Thoughts

Since the 2008 international financial crisis,international political and economic disorder has become obvious.Major reasons are the decline of US-led Western developed economies' global influence;US and other Western countries inaction or ineffective actions;power diffusion allowing non-state actors to intervene;a global governance short of needed rules;and mainstream economic theory's overemphasis on market roles.International disorder is a long-term process posing a potential threat to China' s national interests.The situation challenges China to create an international economic and trade order,thereby shaping itself as prophet of global free trade,shaper of international economic and trade rules,and trendsetter for globalization.