An experimental evaluation of teen courts

Teen Court (TC) is a juvenile diversion program designed to prevent the formal processing of first-time juvenile offenders within the juvenile justice system. TC instead utilizes informal processing and sanctions in order to prevent future offending. Despite its widespread popularity throughout the United States of America, little rigorous research has been conducted on the effectiveness of the TC model for reducing recidivism. Using an experimental design, this study examined the effectiveness of TC in reducing recidivism and improving the attitudes and opinions of juvenile offenders in comparison with a control group of youth who were formally processed. Self-reported delinquency was higher for those youth who participated in TC. TC youth were also found to have significantly lower scores on a scale of belief in conventional rules than had youth who were processed in the Department of Juveniles Services. Implications of these findings are discussed.

在我国建立宪法法院的必要性与可行性之分析

在我国建立什么样的违宪审查机制一直是理论界争议的难题,这直接关系着我国违宪审查体制的建构,本文从建立宪法法院的必要性和可行性两个方面论证了宪法法院的建构的益处以及宪法法院的建构与我国现行人民代表大会运行机制并无冲突。     

论政府公共危急管理能力之提升

公共危机管理是政府管理的重要组成部分。政府是公共危机管理的主体并在其中起主导作用,但它不是唯一的主体。构建完善的公共危机管理体系,提高公务员公共危机管理能力,疏通其他社会主体参与危机管理的渠道,加强国际合作是提升政府公共危机管理能力的重要环节。     

领土条约的界定标准、解释方法及其运行结构

领土主权属于一国的核心利益问题。国际法院基于《维也纳条约法公约》第31-32条之规定,在解决领土条约争端时采取了"实质优于形式"和"同意"等界定标准。同时,在适用该《公约》解释相关条款时采取了不同的解释方法,体现了一定的灵活性,但也出现过矛盾与反复。对此,应根据该《公约》第31-32条规定的内部要素及外部变量,优化领土条约的解释方法和运行结构。这种路径的设计不再拘泥于《条约法公约》本身,适当拓展、引入当事方提供的证明事实真相的关键证据,对领土条约的解释进行补充说明,并非游离于《条约法公约》之外,转而寻求保持占有法律、有效控制等法理基础及相应的事实主张和证据,而是将两者合而为一,以《条约法公约》解释规则为主,其他关键证据为辅的层级解释路径。另外,国际法院在解释相关领土条约时,除了适用"《条约法公约》+其他层级关键证据"模式外,还应借鉴学界的解释方法论,以使得两者交互影响,进一步完善条约解释方法的路径,实现对领土条约解释规则的再造。     

The PRC-Laos BIT is Applicable to the Macau SAR?

On29September2016,theCourtoftheAppealoftheRepublicofSingaporeissuedthejudgmentconcerningSanumInvestmentLimitedv.TheGovernmentoftheLaoPeople’sDemocraticRepublic.Inthisjudgment,theCourtdeclaredthatthePRC-LaosBITwasapplicabletoMacauSAR.However,thejudgmentmadebytheCourtiswrongandthustriggeredaseriesofridiculousconclusionsbecauseofthewrongfulinterpretationonArticle31ofthe1969ViennaConventionontheLawofTreaties,thewrongfulidentificationonthenatureofthecustomsinternationalruleforthe“movingtreatyfrontier”rule,andtheinappropriatestandardofproofontheissueof“otherwiseestablished”.     

The European Court of Justice and the Annulment of the Tobacco Advertisement Directive: Friend of National Sovereignty or Foe of Public Health?

In Case C-376/98 Germany v Council the European Court of Justice annulled a Directive which banned the advertisement and sponsorship of tobacco. The judgment sanctions regulatory policy-making at the national rather than the Community level. The paper examines the legal basis of the annulment, its effect on economic efficiency and the implied role of the Court in the formulation of public policy in Europe. Within the institutional limits of the judicial power to determine policy, the Court focused on whether or not disparate national laws restrict free movement and distort competition and affirmed the primacy of the nation state to regulate economic activity.     

论我国预重整之程序构建北大核心SSCI

预重整制度有利于企业债务重组与破产重整程序的高效衔接,我国近年相关政策性文件亦强调要积极探索建立预重整制度。从目前各地法院的司法实践来看,因缺少预重整的基本理论共识,各地法院在适用预重整程序方面做法各异,有必要总结我国各地法院的预重整经验,构建起统一且适合我国的预重整程序规范。预重整程序的构建需以预重整的内涵、性质及形式等理论问题为其逻辑前提,在此基础上本文提出我国预重整的形式应采取庭内预重整,明确预重整的强制性效力,同时构建起以法院为主导的预重整程序,包括预重整的启动、临时管理人的产生、预重整方案的制定和法院的审查受理等。预重整制度在我国确立与发展,不仅需要借鉴域外预重整的制度规范和先进理念,更需要根据我国的现实环境进行培育,需要我国立法、司法与理论界的积极推动以及政府、法院与当事人之间的有效互动。     

Regulation and its discontents: the Indian judiciary and higher education

The role of the judiciary in strengthening regulatory regimes is well regarded. In developing countries where regulatory bodies are captive to powerful interest groups, the judiciary is regarded for its activist role in providing participatory access to groups excluded from the policy process. In contrast, this paper draws attention to the limits of the judiciary as a gatekeeper of regulatory governance. Using the case of regulation in India’s tertiary education sector, it shows how the judiciary’s track record of enabling elite actors to influence policy, often at the cost of legislative mandates, can undermine regulation.     

Law clerks as an instrument of court–government accommodation under autocracy: the case of the Russian Constitutional Court

There is a normative expectation that constitutionalism does not co-exist well with autocracy. How do constitutional courts then uphold their integrity under authoritarianism? In this paper, I answer this question by taking the case of the Russian Constitutional Court (RCC) and showing how court–government accommodation in the new post-third wave autocracies can be achieved by limiting the amount of information the court receives from its secretariat. It follows from a detailed analysis of case selection in the RCC that the secretariat can function as an “insulator,” protecting the Court from political and reputational risks. The two features that make this possible are its invisibility to the judges and the clerks’ specific professional culture. The research is informed by an extensive series of in-depth interviews in the RCC, and benefits from the relocation of the RCC to St. Petersburg in 2008.     

In search of international criminal justice in Africa: What role for the United Nations?

The International Criminal Court (ICC) ran into considerable controversy almost immediately after its creation. More than 10 years later, the tension between the court and the AU is palpable. The court’s perceived political prosecutions as well as procedural flaws in light of the power bestowed on the UN Security Council under Article 13(b) of the Rome Statute are some of the areas of contention. However, despite the obvious flaws of the ICC, there is also widespread scepticism that the AU can be trusted to mobilise sufficient political will to deliver justice on the continent, more so in cases where the perpetrators are sitting heads of state or government. In lieu of cooperation with the ICC and the UN, can the AU deliver justice to victims of gross human rights abuses? Are extraordinary African Chambers such as the one created in Senegal to try the former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre an alternative to the ICC? This article argues that it is only through a partnership of convenience between the AU and the UN that victims of human rights abuses on the continent can access justice. Furthermore, the article opines that calls for African states to withdraw from the ICC en mass must be vigorously opposed.