Rethinking the New ENP: A Vision for an Enhanced European Role in the Arab Revolutions

This article assesses European responses to the Arab uprisings and, in particular, the introduced change in the European Union policy toward its southern neighborhood. The presented analyses provide a profound scrutiny and assessment of the new version of the European Neighbourhood Policy, empirical evidence of persisting security considerations post-2011 in Euro–Arab relations, and a more elaborated vision of future Euro–Arab relations, attempting to balance between three considerations: security, democracy, and governance.     

EU Democracy Assistance Discourse in Its New Response to a Changing Neighbourhood

Drawing on Critical Discourse Analysis, this article compares the structure of key policy documents on European Union (EU) democracy promotion in the Southern Neighborhood before and after the “Arab Uprisings.” With reference to the key document presenting the EU's revised conception of democracy and strategic vision in the Southern Neighborhood, this article argues that, despite assertions of a paradigmatic shift in the EU's approach to democracy, the conceptual structure of these documents maintains unaltered the substantively liberal model for both development and democratization. This is likely to leave the EU's pre-Uprisings reputational deficit concerning democracy promotion unaltered.     

EU Democracy Assistance in the Mediterranean: What Relationship with the Arab Uprisings?

This article analyzes the European Union (EU) policy for democracy assistance toward the Southern Mediterranean countries and tracks changes in the last decade, with a special emphasis on the most recent period. It shows that the EU policy, which goes under the acronym of EIDHR, has evolved, but predominantly in response to internal dynamics rather than to developments in Arab countries. The EU has increasingly provided assistance to local actors on the ground in non-member countries and has differentiated its action in authoritarian countries from countries in transition. When it comes to implementing its own policy, however, the EU is less able to promote democracy than human rights, and most of the funds go to support projects centered on relatively uncontroversial rights such as women's and children's.     

The Democratization of Welfare Between Rhetoric and Reality: Local Planning,Participation, and Third Sector in Italy

The third sector, traditionally considered in the Italian welfare state as a residual actor of social policies, has increasingly engaged itself in various types of partnerships and collaborative planning processes with the local authority in recent years. In the rhetoric of welfare reform, third sector organizations play an important role, for they contribute to regenerating local democracy, stimulating communities, and fighting social exclusion. The article examines 12 local area plans, which have been realized in eight regions of Italy since 2000, by relying on empirical data and interviews. The article concludes that the so-called co-governance of local welfare can produce very different levels of democratization and improvement of social programs. In some areas, it may be that valorizing the third sector can effectively renew social policies, while in others the exact reverse may happen. The article offers an analysis of the main factors that influenced this result.     

The Planning and Implementation of the Rule of Law Mission of the European Union in Kosovo

Abstract

This article evaluates the planning process and initial implementation of the Rule of Law Mission of the European Union in Kosovo (EULEX). It shows that the original intention was to have a smaller presence than the predecessor United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Yet as a result of a lack of settlement on the international status of Kosovo, the European Union ended up with a robust mandate and it was unable to make a fresh start in order to distinguish itself from the United Nations. EULEX has, nonetheless, successfully established itself, but it remains too early for a final judgment.     

Editors’ Introduction

Abstract

The police restructuring efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina driven by the international community, using in particular the leverage of European integration, attempted to achieve a reform that would transform a very fragmented police system into a de-politicized single structure and ended in the signing of a rather weak political agreement. The main reason why the process proved to be so difficult was that police restructuring touched upon the fundamentals of a delicate ethno-political power-sharing model in a post-conflict situation. But also, the approach chosen by the international community had serious deficiencies as the international community was far from speaking with one voice, thereby limiting its leverage.     

人民检察院适用非法证据排除规则的程序化构建

2012《刑事诉讼法》及《人民检察院刑事诉讼规则（试行）》继《关于办理刑事案件排除非法证据若干问题的规定》之后对人民检察院在审前程序中适用非法证据排除规则作了相关的规定,这对于强化对侦查行为合法性的监督、保障犯罪嫌疑人的人权具有重要作用,但是当前的规定还是存在一些不足之处,这将制约其作用的发挥。因此,有必要对其进行“程序化”,构建专门的听证程序,明确相关的程序性规定,增强其可操作性。     

对尸骸犯罪问题研究——从全国首例“非法经营人类头骨案”说起

公共秩序与善良风俗是刑法所保护的社会法益的重要内容。2009年发生的"美籍华裔博士在中国收购人头骨倒卖"一案引发了众多争议,以何罪名定罪成为争议的焦点。法院判决确定的罪名为非法经营罪,属于破坏社会主义市场经济秩序罪大类中,该罪名强调违反行政手续或经营方式非法,而人类头骨本身属于禁止性的交易内容,因此以刑法分则第六章妨害社会管理秩序罪中的罪名来认定本案更为适当。人类骨骸是尸体蜕化后的另一种存在形式,保护骨骸的尊严在维护社会公序良俗的意义上与尸体有着同等的价值,因此应将倒卖人类头骨的行为认定为盗窃、侮辱尸体行为。     

胡锦涛的团结观论析

胡锦涛的团结观建构在马克思主义团结观的基础之上,是对毛泽东、邓小平、江泽民团结思想的继承和发展,是凝聚人心、完成执政使命的必然。从"斗争思维"向"合作思维"的转变是胡锦涛团结观的逻辑前提,胡锦涛重视团结意识的强化,主张"建设和谐社会",用中国特色社会主义伟大事业凝聚人心、增进共识、促进团结。当下,胡锦涛的团结观有着重要的启示。     

民事调解检察监督的若干问题思考

民事调解检察监督制度的确立是我国司法体制以及检察监督体制逐步完善迈开的重一步,如何正确有效行使检察监督职能,成为当前不容忽视的课题。文章从民事调解检察监督必性、原则、范围、方式、困境五个方面探讨调解检察监督,以期进一步落实和完善相关法律制度。