Divergent fates: company unions and employee involvement committees under the railway labor and national labor relations acts

Well known is that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA, 1935) in the United States places a largely per se ban on nonunion employee representation (ER) groups which deal with employers over a term or condition of employment. Much less well known is that America’s other labor law, the Railway Labor Act (RLA, 1926), takes a different approach and permits employers to operate such councils and committees as long as they do not perform a collective bargaining function or interfere with workers’ free choice of a bargaining agent. Thus, under the RLA Delta Air Lines is able to operate what is today the closest living approximation to a 1920s-style ER plan while hundreds of other companies (e.g. Polaroid) under the jurisdiction of the NLRA have been forced over the years to disband similar groups on grounds they are a proscribed company union. No study to date has explored the history behind the RLA and NLRA’s divergent treatment of nonunion ER groups so this article takes a first look. The main part of the story covers the 1920–1935 period and examines the events, people, and experiences associated with company unions and ER in, respectively, the rail and manufacturing industries and why the legislative outcome in the former was a permissive stance on nonunion committees but prohibitive in the latter. The last part of the paper fast-forwards the RLA-NLRA story from the 1930s to contemporary law and practice in order to demonstrate how “history matters” when it comes to what employers can and cannot do with nonunion representation groups, such as works councils, participation and involvement committees, and dispute resolution forums.     

民事责任能力范畴分析

民事责任能力是民法中的基础性概念.任何法律关系的主体只要具备民事主体资格,该主体即拥有民事责任能力.民事责任能力隐含在民事权利能力之中,享有民事权利、承担民事义务和民事责任的资格三位一体,构成民事权利能力不可分割的要素.民事主体的民事责任能力状况,与该主体的民事行为能力和认识能力无关.民事责任能力制度贯穿于合同法、侵权法等民法分则的各个组成部分,将其局限于民法分则的任何一部分都是对民事责任能力的不当割裂.     

卧底侦查特征性分析

任意侦查与强制侦查的划分标准、卧底侦查遵循的比例原则及卧底侦查的立法与实践都显示出卧底侦查的强制性特点。而卧底侦查人员身份的隐秘与卧底侦查方式的非公开性决定了卧底侦查的隐秘性特征。从卧底侦查启动与犯罪的同步性上看，卧底侦查具有主动性特征。而卧底侦查过程中对其他侦查手段的综合性运用则彰显出卧底侦查手段的融合性特点。卧底侦查客观环境的复杂性与卧底警察在卧底过程中的被动性决定了卧底侦查行动终止的不可预期性，即终止具有随机性特点。     

台湾“行政程序法”制定公布十年之实施经验——为大陆行政程序法起草工作提供借鉴

台湾“行政程序法”于1999年2月3日公布，2001年1月1日起施行。依据台湾“行政程序法”第l条规定：“为使行政行为遵循公正、公开与民主之程序，确保依法行政之原则，以保障人民权益，提高行政效能，增进人民对行政之信赖，特制定本法”。台湾“行政程序法”之内容分为“总则”、“行政处分”、“行政契约”、“法规命令及行政规则”、“行政计画”、“行政指导”、“陈情”与“附则”等八章，共175条。自1999年2月3日公布至今，除于2000年12月27日及2001年6月20日两度修正公布第174条之1有关职权命令失效日期之规定，2005年12月28日配合政府资讯公开法之公布施行删除第44条、第45条之规定外，其余条文均未变动。台湾“行政程序法”实施之成效，包括强化民权保障、深化民主原则、贯彻依法行政、提高行政效能、增进人民对行政之信赖、行政法总论之法典化等。晚近，大陆倡议制定行政程序法之呼声不断。本文拟略述台湾“行政程序法”之立法沿革、主要内容、实施成效、所遏问题，期能为大陆行政程序法起草工作提供借鉴。     

论间接正犯实行着手

间接正犯实行的着手是实行行为着手的一种特殊形态，故对此问题的研究既应以实行行为着手的一般理论为依据，还必须充分考虑其特殊性。以实行行为着手的一般特征为依据，同时对间接正犯的特殊性进行深入分析，结合刑法的谦抑主义精神，可以得出间接正犯的着手应采纳“被利用者说”的结论。     

雇主不当劳动行为的民事救济——基于我国和美国不当劳动行为救济制度之比较

我国《工会法》第52条规定的责令雇主承担不当劳动行为的民事责任,与美国《国家劳资关系法》第10(c)条的规定看起来很相似,相比之下,这一规范在美国劳动法的实践中很有效,在我国却极少被适用,解释方面也存在较大的分歧。美国是世界上最早创设不当劳动行为救济制度的国家,从《瓦格纳法》规定的雇主不当劳动行为的禁止规范及救济措施,到《塔夫托—哈特莱法》将适用对象扩大到工会和雇员,在雇用自由原则和劳资自治模式的背景下,其演变始终以保护雇员团结权的松紧程度和收放态度为线索。我国《工会法》现正处于第三次修改阶段,适时检讨第52条的解释和适用的障碍,还可以解决其与《劳动合同法》规范的竞合问题。     

The Research On the Juristic Acts System of The General Principles of Civil Law

The theory of juristic acts is the core content of the General Principles of Civil Code, and the perfection of the legal norms is one of the main tasks of the General Principles of Civil Code of PRC. Based on the theory of juristic acts, this paper gave a detailed review of all the legal norms about juristic acts in the new General Principles of Civil Code of PRC. The author believes that the General Principles of Civil law of PRC have made great progress in the definition of juristic act, the basic values behind it, the implementation and effectiveness of the declaration of intention, and the validity system of juristic acts. At the same time, the article also pointed out that this General Principles of Civil Code still needs second consideration or perfection in this field, including the selection of terminology, the effect of persons with limited capacity of juristic acts, the rules about the error in the declaration of intention, the adoption of rules aboutunilateral false declaration of intention, the optimization of the validity system of invalid juristic acts etc. This paper put forward a series of concrete and practical perfection plans, looking forward to be useful for further improvement of the General Principles and the codification of other parts of the civil law.     

Autonomy, guardianship and mental disorder: one problem, two solutions

The law in England and Wales governing both the provision of medical care in the case of adults with incapacity and the provision of care and treatment for mental disorder presents serious problems for the principle of patient autonomy. The adult with incapacity has no competence either to consent to or refuse medical treatment but the law provides no statutory structure for substitute decision making on that adult's behalf. On the other hand the law does allow a person with mental disorder to be treated for that disorder despite his or her competent refusal. The nature of these inconsistencies is considered and the implications which flow from the singling out of mental disorder are examined with reference to experience in two Australian jurisdictions. The current proposals for reform of the Mental Health Act are then considered in the light of the conclusions drawn.     

对《公务员法》“违法命令不执行”条款的思考

《中华人民共和国公务员法》“违法命令不执行”条款规定的“违法命令”应该既包括具体行政命令,也包括抽象行政命令。但是该条款表述模糊,有可能导致执行中的混乱,可借鉴有关国家的规定予以改进。对于抽象违法命令不执行的情况在实践中可能存在潜在的困境,可以在适当的时候考虑扩大“违法命令”的范围,把规章纳入其中,从而赋予行政机关对于规章规范直接的选择适用权。     

善意取得与无权处分的冲突协调——兼评《物权法草案》善意取得之规定

善意取得与无权处分是相互区别与联系的两种法律制度。《民法通则》未规定善意取得及其与无权处分的关系。《合同法》关于无权处分的规定存在疏漏并与善意取得的适用有冲突,应通过合理的制度设计予以理顺。物权法草案中善意取得之规定有待进一步检讨和完善。