最密切联系原则的地位思辨

对于最密切联系原则的地位,将其作为国际私法的基本原则或法律选择的基本原则或法律适用的补充原则都是值得商榷的。最密切联系原则作为一个系统,是有层次的,既是法律选择的指导原则又是法律选择的方法。最密切联系原则的客体应表述为既包括“法域”也包括“法律”,二者不可割裂,它是在立法和司法层面的综合表征,诠释了在不同阶段立法选择权与司法选择权的相互结合、相互补充。最密切联系原则指向国际条约或国际惯例容易为当事人所接受,也为法院提供了便利,且可以满足国际商业活动追求便利和效率的需要,因此有一定的可行性。     

International Integration and Democratization: An Event History Analysis

This article examines the relationships between transitions to and from democracy and membership in major intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), ratification of key human-rights treaties, and integration into the global economy while controlling for a variety of domestic factors. The findings show that for the most part, participation in the major IGOs and the United Nations' human-rights regime has made little difference to the chances that countries would attempt or sustain democracy. Participation in regional human-rights treaties in Africa and the Americas is linked to better prospects for democracy, but this association appears to stem from regional trends of which those pacts are emblematic, rather than mechanisms specific to the pacts themselves. Finally, entanglement in the global economy – as indicated by thicker trade flows and membership in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and then World Trade Organization (WTO) – seems to have had a stronger effect on the prospects for democracy than these other forms of international integration, but not always in the beneficent direction posited by liberal theorists. While participation in the GATT/WTO is associated with better prospects for the establishment and persistence of democracy, foreign trade itself is linked to the persistence of domestic political regimes of either stripe, democratic and non-democratic.     

浅析由WTO贸易与环境争端所引发的理论争议

有关贸易与环境争端在GATT法律体系内很难找到具体适用的规则,因此GATT曾被环保主义者称作没有规则的天堂。WTO成立后,为解决贸易与环境争端,出现了对WTO协定作普通法式解释的现象。本文认为这种解释方法符合客观要求,我国政府应顺应国际环保形势发展的总体需要,支持用普通法的方式解释WTO贸易与环境的相关法律规定。     

中外新约与民国涉外司法审判制度的变革

1840年鸦片战争以后,列强通过不平等条约攫取在华领事裁判权,严重破坏了中国独立的的司法主权。自清末以降,政府和民众为争取国家司法主权的完整进行了不懈的努力。南京国民政府时期,尤其是在第二次世界大战中,中国加大了维护司法主权的外交斗争力度。以1943年与美英两国订立新约为标志,最终实现了百年来废除中外不平等条约的愿望,终结了外国人在华领事裁判权及相关特权。以此为契机,我国涉外司法审判制度也发生了重大变革。对于中国而言,这无疑是分享世界反法西斯战争胜利成果,融入战后国际新秩序的开端。     

德国国际私法渊源的新发展

在传统上,德国国际私法的渊源包括制定法、德国缔结或者参加的各种国际私法条约、习惯法和判例法,但是随着欧盟国际私法统一化的深入发展,尤其是欧洲共同体在公司法、合同法、物权法、知识产权法、破产法和国际民事诉讼程序法等领域的立法不断加强,欧盟法中的国际私法规范逐渐渗入德国国际私法,从而使德国国际私法的渊源突破了传统的范围,越来越多地打上了欧盟法的烙印,呈现出“欧盟化”倾向。     

谈中国关于空间碎片的立法不足

空间碎片现在已经成为外太空的主要污染源,各国航天事业需要共同攻破的课题。鉴于空间事故的屡次发生,对于空间碎片的探讨已提上日程。通过对中国参加的相关国际条约和中国国内空间的立法研究,发现国际条约中并没有具体的界定空间碎片的概念,更没有具体的条款来规范空间碎片,而国内关于空间的立法里亦没有提及到空间碎片。为了更好的发展我国航天事业,应该进一步完善我国国内空间立法,使航天事业的发展有法可依,有法可循。     

Learning and the Precision of International Investment Agreements

The international regime for the promotion and protection of foreign investment consists of a multitude of close to 3,000 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and related international investment agreements (IIAs). Yet, despite a growing body of research on IIAs, scholars in political economy have paid little attention to the legal language in the treaties themselves. In this research note, we draw on the conceptual apparatus of the legalization literature and focus on legal precision in BITs. We use a new data set created through quantitative text analysis to develop an index measuring legal precision. We then investigate the causes of the pronounced increase in precision in BITs and the considerable variation across treaties. We argue that capital-exporting countries are the primary drivers of change, and that they are motivated because they learn the implications of existing legal language from two sources: First, from the growing number of arbitration proceedings, and second, when they themselves are targeted by such claims. We provide statistical tests of our hypotheses and find ample support.     

公平与公正待遇标准:国际投资法中的“帝王条款”?

在国际投资仲裁实践中,公平与公正待遇标准得到了最广泛的运用,并显现了极度扩张解释之势;同时,一些西方学者也将之与民商法中的诚实信用原则相提并论,实际上是尊奉该待遇标准为国际投资法中的"帝王条款"。但倘若如此,不仅将严重损害东道国管理外资的主权,而且,法理上也存在诸多疑点。公平与公正待遇标准对于国际投资条约的具体规定,并无"帝王条款"意义上的补缺、修正及解释之功能;同时,该标准应是"国家造法",而非"法官造法"的产物,其与"帝王条款"的实质也不相符。我国应转而支持以国际习惯法的具体规则来诠解该项外资待遇的内容。     

《公民权利和政治权利国际公约》适用于香港的法理依据

《香港特别行政区基本法》第39条规定,《公民权利和政治权利国际公约》适用于香港的规定继续有效。《公约》在香港继续适用的理论基础不是传统意义上的条约继承,也不是国际法上的禁止反言原则,而是"一国两制"理论在条约继承上的一种制度创新。《香港特别行政区基本法》在处理人权条约的继承方面既体现了国家主权、高度自治这一根本原则,又特别重视连续性原则和人权保护原则。