The European Court of Justice and its political impact

This article reviews recent advances in the study of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and its political impact at the European and member state levels. New quantitative as well as qualitative analyses show with great empirical precision that member state preferences guide the Court. The article summarises these findings, but argues that greater attention needs to be given to the (over-)constitutionalisation of EU law in order to fully capture the political impact of ECJ jurisprudence. Even if European judges are less activist than is often assumed and individual decisions are more restrained in the face of member state opposition, incrementally, case law evolves in a highly expansive fashion. And, exercising caution regarding unrealistic expectations about quasi-deterministic judicial law-making, it is found that the Court’s constitutionalised jurisprudence impacts heavily on European and member state policy-making.     

How Expected Political and Legal Impact Drive Media Coverage of Supreme Court Cases

Media coverage of Supreme Court decisions is not well-understood, with studies typically focusing on features of decisions such as issue area and opinion authorship, and ignoring the political and legal importance of those decisions. Because the Court is both secretive and esoteric, and because it does not engage in traditional public relations activities, media must proxy importance by looking to available cues, such as interest group participation. Importantly, some indicators of importance are available before a decision is rendered; thus I examine both pre- and post-decision media coverage of cases. I show that expected legal and political impact drive media coverage of Court decisions, and that the decision-level features that prior studies have focused on are much less important in determining coverage than has been previously thought.     

安全抑或自由: 危机中的美国宪法简

危机时刻是验证法治国家体制适应性的真正时机，由于美国宪法没有紧急状态条款，在南北内战、一战二战、反恐战争等紧急时期美国总统往往行使“超宪法权限”侵犯公民基本权利。为保证危机中的宪法依然有效，处理好国会立法与总统紧急权力之间的重大分歧，作为制衡者的法院需要对宪法进行更加审慎的解释，但其所表现出来的实用主义政治立场变换和共和紧急法制观的转型，揭示了非常态下美国宪法解释的核心问题：要自由的宪法还是安全的宪法？这也正是当下危机频发背景下每个奉行法治和保障人权的国家面临的共同难题。     

雷经天新民主主义司法思想论

雷经天的司法思想是新民主主义司法思想的典型体现。苏维埃司法的政法传统、边区司法正规化改革思想及马克思主义理论的中国化潮流是其思想的主要来源。围绕新民主主义司法观，雷经天提出了在司法组织上贯彻民主集中制，在法官队伍建设中加强工农干部与知识分子干部的融合，在六法全书援用中将政治立场与司法实践适度分离，在司法程序中坚持司法民主、发展司法便利等系列观点。其思想贯穿着革命性和实践性思维的特点，是时代背景与个人经验综合作用的产物。     

香港毒品问题现状

香港是中国的特别行政区，具有高度自治权，有着自己独立的司法制度。目前香港特区政府高度重视禁毒工作，切实加大了对禁毒工作的领导和支持，禁毒工作已经具备比较完善的法律制度，建立了较为完善的工作体系。     

宪政民主还是民主宪政?——试论美国最高法院与民主

宪政和民主是现代政治体制中相辅相成的两个部分,如果说民主是河,宪政则是堤。为了限制民主的冲动性与盲目性,美国人制定了成文宪法,在代表制基础上实现了宪政民主。与国会、总统一样,美国最高法院也是民意代表,只不过更为间接和持久。通过解释宪法,美国最高法院不断修补宪政之堤,在尊重民意的基础上引导民意,将宪政民主转向民主宪政,维护了自身的地位与权威。     

控制死刑:程序法该做些什么

死刑作为最严厉的刑罚,必须受到严格控制.在控制死刑的问题上,程序法有四方面的问题需要解决:一是死刑案件审理中证明标准的确立和证据规则的完善,二是死刑复核程序的改革,三是死刑判决后的纠错路径的设置和死刑赦免制度的激活,四是相关配套措施的完善.解决此四方面问题后,刑事程序法当能在控制死刑方面发挥其自身独特的作用.     

高校实施通识教育的改进策略与措施

我国高校实施通识教育应从推广和普及通识教育理念、精心构建通识教育课程以及构建通识教育人才培养模式方面进行改进。具体措施包括成立专门机构协调安排通识课程;改革通识教育教学方法,推进学制、学分制改革;加强通识教育师资队伍建设,整合校内通识教育教学资源,利用校外资源,提高教学质量与效益;营造良好的校园文化氛围。     

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。     

U.S. CLS

This essay offers a brief account of the rise of cls thought in the United States and of its development within a largely hostile legal academy. As the essay suggests, cls thought has been variously deformed, arrested, normalized, and diffused – leaving the contemporary American legal academy in a state of suspended animation. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.