Moderate Caucuses in a Polarised US Congress

Despite putting themselves in a thorny relationship with heavy-handed party leaders, some US legislators continue to join moderate coalitions. To understand why, this article derives seven explicit hypotheses concerning electoral, institutional, and strategic dimensions and tests them on two moderate coalitions from the 107th to the 110th Congress (2001–8): the Republican Main Street Partnership and the New Democrat Coalition, along with the Senate's ‘Gang of 14’ during the 109th Congress (2005–6). The article finds that, as expected, a member's ideology and previous affiliation strongly predict who joins these caucuses. What is surprising from the findings is that the constituencies' partisanship does not always predict the legislators' decision to be a moderate caucus member. There is little evidence that more electorally vulnerable members join these caucuses; on the contrary, when it does matter, members from competitive districts appear to stay away from moderate coalitions. Therefore, the findings call into question the prevailing ‘constituency-based’ understanding of moderate coalition membership in a polarised Congress and call for a new examination of electoral connection between moderate members and moderate caucuses.     

Exercising control and gathering information: the functions of interpellations in Hungary (1990–2014)

The article investigates the factors shaping the number and content of interpellations, a form of parliamentary questions by members of parliament (MPs) in post-regime change Hungary. Four theoretical propositions regarding the functions of interpellations are examined in this context: political control; policy-oriented information seeking; parliamentary group leadership; and constituency service. A new database of 4096 observations for the period between 1990 and 2014 is compiled in order to analyse these hypotheses. Computer-assisted content analysis techniques and count data regressions are used to describe the text of interpellations in terms of their geographical and policy content. Results show that opposition MPs interpellate more, whereas representatives of single-member districts and regional lists interpellate less than their peers. Representatives from single-member districts and regional lists make more reference to local issues in general, but not to their own district or county. Finally, policy specialisation increases the likelihood of submitting pertinent parliamentary questions.     

船舶优先权法律适用规则之比较研究

国际社会有关船舶优先权的法律适用规则主要有适用法院地法、适用船旗国法、适用最密切联系原则等几种立法司法实践。本文对这几种立法与司法实践进行了理论评析,建议中国《海商法》做出相应的修改。     

对冲突法上识别对象和识别依据的探讨

冲突法上识别的对象不应包括对冲突规范的解释 ,另外 ,识别对象可进一步分为法律事实和抽象的法律规定两类。确定识别依据是为了最终找到案件适用的准据法 ,因而可以先不考虑识别依据 ,而分别依和案件有联系的各国法律识别 ,然后根据不同的识别结果 ,援用相应的冲突规范来确定准据法 ,最后根据最密切联系原则从这些准据法中选择最适合的法律作为案件的准据法     

论我国环境刑法与环境行政法之间的协调与衔接

环境刑法与环境行政法作为治理环境违法犯罪的两种法制手段,均发挥着重要的作用。应重视环境刑法与环境行政法调整范围之间的协调与平衡及环境行政执法与环境刑事司法之间的协调与平衡,以期实现共同保护环境法益、预防环境违法与犯罪功能最大化的目的。     

船舶物权法律适用的反思

船舶是一种特殊的物,有必要对其物权的法律适用问题作专门研究。从物权的四项权能出发,船舶物权的概念及船舶物权冲突的具体表现有必要进行重新阐释;“方便旗”问题影响了船旗国法的适用,最密切联系理论有了适用的空间。我国民法典草案第九编第37条应作出相应的修改。     

Reform of International Monetary System andConstruction of Global Monetary SecurityMechanism: Connections and Problems

The international monetary system is the basis to establishing acomprehensive global financial safety mechanism. To understand the internalconnections between the reform of the international monetary system and the globalsafety mechanism has important policy implications. The reform of the internationalmonetary system and the construction of the global safety network are inherentlyrelated to each other. Risk management and crisis response are the functions ofthe international monetary system and serve to ensure the safety of the globalfi nancial system; liquidity management and international exchange rate coordinationare conducive to the maintenance of the stability of the global financial system.International exchange rate coordination, the control of spillover effect of US monetarypolicies and the reform of governance structures of the international monetary systemcontribute to global fi nancial safety. However, the reform of the international monetarysystem and the establishment of the global fi nancial safety mechanism are faced withproblems such as Triffin Dilemma, the technical shortcomings of global financialsystem, the ill coordination of global and regional fi nancial security network and thegrowing number of political issues involved. In order to build a sound global fi nancialsafety system, cooperation should be enhanced in the following fi ve aspects: to promotethe reform of the Bretton Woods institutions; to build the global financial safetynetwork; to establish the liquidity management system; to facilitate the construction ofthe super sovereign currency; and to deepen regional monetary cooperation.     

行政执法与刑事司法衔接机制的立法问题研究——以公安机关的经济犯罪侦查为中心

行政执法与刑事司法因属于不同法域,由于部门保护主义与行政执法遮蔽而使得以罚代刑成为常态。建立的衔接机制存在问题导致行政执法机关移送案件的数量呈下降趋势。有关此问题的立法应当在报案线索与案件移送、受理与处理以及证据的转化等方面作出修改,使“脱节”的环节得到衔接。     

涉外民事关系法律适用法若干争议问题

不宜在涉外民事关系法律适用法中就什么是"涉外"作出规定。最密切联系原则的第二层含义,即确定适用的法律与该涉外民事关系不具有密切联系的,则适用与该涉外民事关系具有最密切联系的法律,有可能妨碍涉外民事关系法律适用法的正确适用。涉外民事关系法律适用法第4条中的强制性规定主要是指我国刑法和行政法、经济法中的强制性规定。涉外民事关系法律适用法对规避未作明确规定,但明确规定不适用反致。涉外民事关系法律适用法允许当事人协议选择动产物权的法律适用,有一定的考虑。鉴于国际条约的复杂性,涉外民事关系法律适用法未规定国际条约的适用问题。     

共同侵权行为及其责任的侵权责任法立法抉择

最高人民法院《关于审理人身损害赔偿案件适用法律若干问题的解释》对共同侵权行为及其连带责任作出了新的规定,其中主要涉及的是共同侵权行为本质特征究竟是主观说还是客观说问题,以及连带责任应当遵循何种规则的问题。这些规定都与传统的规则有所不同,在制定侵权责任法的时候,应当如何抉择?本文的意见是:可以选择共同侵权行为的本质特征的关连共同主张,但是不能采用新的连带责任规则。