环境法学理论的要点和意义

文章分析了关于调整人与自然关系的环境法学理论的意义和作用 ,认为该理论是说明环境法的本质、特点和规律的理论 ,是对环境法的长远发展、总体发展起指导作用的理论 ,是将环境道德与环境法制建设结合起来以实现环境法治的理论。     

Institutional interplay and effectiveness: assessing efforts to conserve western hemisphere shorebirds

Bird conservation agencies and organizations can take credit for a long list of transnational policy accomplishments. This article examines one set, a constellation of arrangements developed over the past three decades by those seeking to conserve western hemisphere shorebirds. At the center of this constellation are the US and Canadian national shorebird conservation plans and a cross-border initiative, the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Conservation Reserve Network. We treat these and associated plans, programs, and initiatives as a nested set of institutions, noting that these are operated by a wide assortment of state and societal actors. Exploring the potential of a framework based on Oran Young’s concept of interplay, we analyze the construction of these institutions and efforts to establish effectiveness. Examining activity in three zones of issue proximity, we conclude that shorebird conservationists have responded well to formative interplay challenges. They have made least progress in engaging remote institutions responsible for threats to shorebird habitat. We note, though, that it is important to distinguish between scientific and political levels of interplay work. On a substantive level we conclude that the shorebird community is well-positioned to move beyond generative and programmatic tasks to focus on establishing policy capability. On a theoretical level, we conclude that a framework based on interplay provides a strong foundation for analysis of the forces shaping the effectiveness of informal conservation institutions such as the ones examined.

关于后奥运时期中国经济转型与建立中日环境合作机制的思考

后奥运时期中国将面临经济可持续增长与环境治理两大难题。在保持经济可持续增长的前提下兼顾环境治理,必须改变传统的经济增长模式。日本在东京奥运会后,通过产业结构调整,顺利地渡过了70年代的两次石油危机,在保持外需稳定增长的同时,实现了向节能环保型社会的转型。在ODA对华贷款项目中止后,中日之间可以尝试建立环境治理的双边合作机制以推动中国的环境治理。通过设立共同基金的方式,以市场为中心加强节能环保产业和双边贸易的发展,实现互惠共赢。     

环境犯罪概念的刑法展开

作为新兴的犯罪现象———环境犯罪是文明社会的必然产物,这已是法律人的共识,然而如何从学理上和法律上予以较为准确的定义,则有较大的空间进行理论研析。本文试图通过对环境犯罪的刑法概念的学理界定,进而对影响其定义的相关因素也作一延伸性探讨,即是本文的目的。     

生态政治视角下的政府环境管理初探

全球环境问题和生态危机,引发了全人类的思考,引起了世界各国政府的普遍关注,由此政治进入生态领域,产生了生态政治理论,政府在生态环境管理中居于主导和核心的地位。本文从分析我国环境面临的危机和问题出发,阐述了政府在环境管理中的职责和必要性,提出了相应的对策和措施。     

论多边贸易体制中的环境保护问题及其发展趋势

在多边贸易体制中如何实现环境保护与贸易自由的协调发展 ,这是一个“国际贸易新问题” ,GATT规则及其争端解决实践对此问题基本上持回避、谨慎的态度。随着WTO的建立 ,多边贸易体制对环境保护问题的关注度则明显加强 ,特别是WTO上诉机构的争端解决实践 ,表明WTO的价值天平向环境保护倾斜的趋势似乎在逐步明显。多哈会谈及坎昆部长会议则再次显示多边贸易体制对环境问题的妥协。环境问题在多边贸易体制中的这种发展趋势将会对发展中国家的贸易安全提出严峻挑战。     

关于环境扰民问题的新制度经济学分析

环境扰民是法律问题、制度问题,同时也是经济问题。长期以来,由于观念上的原因和制度上的缺陷,使这一问题没有得到有效解决。随着新制度经济学在我国的兴起,为我国政治、经济等领域提供了一个分析和解决问题的新视角。新制度经济学中的产权理论、外部性问题、制度成本问题、寻租问题及制度变迁理论,在立法和制度建设上,在相关行政管理机关的观念上,对于分析和解决环境扰民问题有着重要的启发和借鉴意义。     

论共同侵权行为的本质

共同侵权行为是民事侵权领域一种常见的行为,对其本质的认定在国内学者间众说纷纭,见仁见智,而对其本质的认定又将最终影响到共同侵权行为的构成(或认定)以及侵权责任的划分等重要问题。因此,对其本质问题的分析殊为重要。本文拟从对比分析入手,先对国内诸多观点进行评析,进而提出共同侵权行为的本质是各个侵权行为中的某种共性,而这种共性既包括在共同行为之中,也包括在共同结果之中。     

Why Do Regulatory Agencies Punish? The Impact of Political Principals,Agency Culture,and Transaction Costs in Predicting Environmental Criminal Prosecution Outcomes in the United States

Studies of administrative behavior are keen to examine the internal dynamics of agency decision making, as well the impact of external political actors on agency actions. Yet few studies apply these findings to the question of why agencies use their most punitive enforcement powers. Contrasting principal–agent, transaction costs, and organizational culture models of agency behavior, this study examines why regulatory agencies punish. Through content analysis of nearly one thousand of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's criminal investigations and subsequent prosecutions, 2001–11, findings suggest that punishment severity in environmental criminal cases is based less on transaction costs and political pressure and more on professional norms that value strong enforcement. These findings have important implications for explaining regulatory outcomes and administrative behavior.     

Can whale-fall studies inform human forensics?

Experimental knowledge of human body decomposition in the deep ocean is very limited, partly due to the logistical challenges of deep-sea research. The literature on ecological responses to the arrival of naturally sunk and implanted whale carcasses on the seafloor represents a potential source of information relevant to questions of human body survival and recovery in the deep ocean. Whale falls trigger the formation of complex, localized, and dense biological communities that have become a point of interest for marine biologists for the past 2–3 decades. Researchers have documented whale falls by whale type, size, geographic location, water depth and water chemistry, and there have been some comparative analyses of decomposition rates and faunal presence on carcasses. We undertook a review and meta-analysis of the whale-fall literature to identify and statistically model trends relevant to human forensics. Results from studies using deep-sea cameras baited with pig carcasses and simulated carrion provided further validation of noted trends. The stages of whale carcass decomposition most relevant to human forensics are those characterised by mobile scavengers that strip the soft tissues from carcasses, and to a lesser degree, other biota that degrade skeletal material. Our statistical models used the number of faunal taxa attracted to the whale carcasses as a measure of the ecological response and the potential rate of decomposition. Negative binomial models identified significant influences of carcass age and dissolved oxygen concentration on the ecological response (taxon numbers). The strongest environmental effects were identified in data from experimental studies that implanted whale carcasses across a broad range of dissolved-oxygen conditions. We propose directions for further experimental research to refine models of environmental controls on decomposition in the deep sea. Our results also highlight the potential use of publicly available global databases on environmental conditions in the deep ocean for informing body scavenging activity and thus body survival. Applying a forensic lens to whale-fall studies provides a window into an otherwise unseen world from the standpoint of human forensic taphonomy.