Having Your Cake and Eating It,Too: Can Regulatory Agencies Be Both Independent and Accountable?

Independent regulatory agencies (IRAs) were created in various sectors and on different governmental levels to implement liberalization policies. This paper investigates the link between IRAs' independence, which is said to promote regulatory credibility and the use of technical expertise, and their accountability, which is related to the need for controlling and legitimizing independent regulators. The literature on the regulatory state anticipates a positive relation between the independence and accountability of IRAs, but systematic empirical evidence is still lacking. To tackle this question, this paper measures and compares the independence and the accountability of IRAs in three differentially liberalized sectors in Switzerland (telecommunications, electricity and railways). With the application of Social Network Analysis, this piece of research shows that IRAs can be de facto independent and accountable at the same time, but the two features do not necessarily co‐evolve in the same direction.     

早期普通法中的司法与王权——英国司法独立的“中世纪起源”的再思考

司法独立的起源,往往被追溯到中世纪英格兰的普通法法院.但对于普通法法院形成之初的诉讼个案的考察却表明,尽管这一时期的法院已脱离于国王的人身而“自主运行”,但并没有完全摆脱国王的干预.在涉及法律疑难与王室利益的重大案件中,国王仍然直接或间接地左右着判决的结果;即便是那些表面上看来不利于国王的判决,背后依然可能隐藏了更深层的政治利益的考量.这一时期的法官自主性仍然是非制度化的,也无法等同于现代意义的司法独立的起源。     

交通肇事罪“因逃逸致人死亡”情节新论

虽然交通肇事后因"逃逸致人死亡"情节规定于交通肇事罪,但其本身仍具有独立性,认为该情节属于结果加重犯、情节加重犯或者复杂的情节加重犯的观点均不能合理解释相关立法规定。"因逃逸致人死亡"情节的主观罪过形式不是过失,而是间接故意。同时,刑法之所以对"因逃逸致人死亡"情节规定了七年到十五年有期徒刑,实际上是因为该情节的法律评价范围包含了对不作为形式间接故意杀人罪的法律评价。