Differing patterns of marriage between a city and villages in 18th century Korea: The case of Taegu Area

While the urban area was increasingly filled with middle- and low-status residents, the rural area was dominated by high-status settlers whose number increased because of migration from the city and natural growth. Remarkable differences existed between urban and rural marriage features such as marriage age and rate of remarriage. The more sincere adoption of the high-status marriage culture in the rural area may be attributed to its occupational homogeneity. In the rural agrarian settings, landlords, self-cultivators and tenants shared a similar living pattern and value system based on the agricultural cycle. The urban area, however, exhibited a variety of work patterns of local functionaries, artisans and merchants. Many middle- and low-status people might well have found the high-status culture of the rural area incompatible with their own.     

Africa and its Diaspora: The principal reciprocal benefits to be derived from the amended Constitutive Act of the African Union

Abstract

Under article 3(q) (Objectives) of the Protocol on Amendments to the Constitutive Act of the African Union, we read the following: ‘invite and encourage the full participation of the African Diaspora as an important part of our continent, in building the African Union (AU)’. According to the AU, ‘The African Diaspora are peoples of African descent and heritage outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and who remain committed to contribute to the development of the continent and the building of the African Union’. Not only is this posture entirely consistent with the African development agenda and Renaissance, but it is also congruent with the recent and first-ever AU African Diaspora Summit which was convened on Friday, 25 May 2012, at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg. This is so because the Summit provided us with an excellent opportunity to continue to reflect on, and engage with, issues relevant to the development of the continent and, by extension, its multilingual and globally dispersed Diaspora. In this public lecture, it is argued that the current Amendment to the Constitutive Act of the AU in which the African Diaspora is now considered the sixth Region of the AU – an Amendment which has not yet been ratified by the requisite number of African states and one which might still be in need of some degree of disambiguation – provides the framework within which some fundamental and reciprocal benefits can be derived from an ongoing interaction between Africa and its Diaspora – especially its Older or Historic Diaspora. In essence, it is my contention that the principal reciprocal benefits that can accrue from this interaction between Africa and its Diaspora might best be captured in the language of pan-Africanisation and re-Africanisation respectively.     

Wiping the Slate Clean: Reforming Scots Law's Approach to Evidence of the Accused's Bad Character

This paper discusses the Scottish Law Commission (SLC)'s Report on Similar Fact Evidence and the Moorov Doctrine, which proposes revolutionary changes to the way in which Scots law deals with evidence of the accused's bad character, including his previous convictions. The article sets these proposals in context by explaining the existing Scots law, and comparing it to the English provisions on bad character evidence contained in the Criminal Justice Act 2003. This comparison reveals similarities between the responses of the two jurisdictions. It is remarkable that the SLC did not consider English law to be a viable model for reform, choosing instead to propose legislation which would simply deem certain pieces of bad character evidence relevant in criminal trials. The second part of the paper explains why these proposals should not be implemented.     

Community Participation in Spatial Planning: Exploring Relationships between Professional and Lay Stakeholders

The literature that explores relationships between lay and professional stakeholders in community participation generally suggests that professionals perceive five main difficulties in working with lay people: it is unnecessary within democracies; lay people lack expertise; they are not representative; there is commonly a lack of trust, and decision-making is made more complex. In respect of spatial planning in South West England, from survey evidence these difficulties are not so apparent except in respect of complex decision-making. It is likely that the variation between the literature and the survey is influenced by the longer heritage of community participation in the spatial planning process in England, than in most other local authority services.     

Examining the Scope for National Lesson‐drawing on Climate Governance

The need to understand the scope for comparative lesson‐drawing on national‐level climate mitigation policy has acquired added significance due to the current impasse in international‐level governance. Greater policy learning or lesson‐drawing among peers at the national level could, to an extent, foster meaningful developments by overcoming generalised international apathy and inaction. In this respect, we analyse the features of one significant example of national climate policy in order to examine the scope for lesson‐drawing, thereby setting out a normative research agenda. The UK Climate Change Act 2008 remains one of the few examples of legally enshrined national mitigation legislation and hence provides a relevant, but surprisingly under‐researched, source of learning for policy‐makers worldwide. By analysing its development, critical features and implementation, this article shows that—despite criticism of the sustainability and implementation effectiveness of the Act—some aspects of the policy could provide lessons for other states, and hence are potentially transferable extraterritorially, although lesson‐drawing itself is conditional on contextual constraints.     

对2005年英国《意思能力法》的再解读——以社会工作为视角

2005年英格兰和威尔士颁行的《意思能力法》将判例法的大部分实践奉为准则以保护丧失决策能力的成年人,促进个人自主性以及确保个人能够提前做出拒绝治疗的相关决定.它在需要替欠缺行为能力成年人做主要的身体和福利决定的情形下引入了新的替代决策方式以满足这些需求以及相关特殊主张.2005年《意思能力法》的适用范围从不同的角度得到再次解读,此法与在既定领域以新角色与他人进行合作的社会工作者之间的密切关系得到考察,社会工作者的部分责任得到阐明,研究结论指出：社会工作者具备完美实践的潜力,而这也需要专业的反思与服务监督的支持.     

多式联运：关于当代法律的评论

德国运输法的改革法案于 1998年 7月 1日生效。新法最主要的变化是为国内的各种货物运输方式 ,包括公路、铁路、内水和航空运输 ,制定了一套相同的法律规则 ,同时第一次为多式联运制定了规则。本文主要以德国法为对象 ,同时比较中国、荷兰和法国法 ,论述多式联运合同的定义 ,适用法律 ,责任限制等问题。     

Abolishing Marriage: Can Civil Partnership Cover it?

This paper argues that all adult intimate relationships should be regulated under one single statute. This statute should be the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (which currently applies to same sex couples). The Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (which applies to opposite sex couples), should be repealed; it should not be amended to include same sex couples. There would, as a consequence, be no such thing as (legal) marriage. Marriage as a legal construct is a heterosexual and patriarchal institution and is therefore so fundamentally flawed it is beyond the possibility of successful reform or repair. The present system of having two distinct legal means of relationship recognition is akin to sexual apartheid and is therefore unsustainable in the long term. Having a legal system which recognises only one form of legal partnership would therefore formally end a discriminatory system. Despite its drawbacks, Civil Partnership does not have the same extent of symbolic and practical degree of flaws as Marriage.

《〈民事诉讼法〉修改决定》评析——兼论我国《民事诉讼法》的修改

《民事诉讼法》修改是众望所归的事,但以《〈民事诉讼法〉修改决定》的形式通过却有点出乎大家的意料。《〈民事诉讼法〉修改决定》有其创新之处,但其暴露的不足也是显而易见的。应当尽快启动对《民事诉讼法》的全面修改程序,将其打造成一部既有前瞻性又有特色的能很好服务于民事诉讼的法律。     

反恐背景下美国监视和情报制度的新发展——以《爱国者法》标题Ⅱ下的条款为分析对象

9.11事件后,美国政府吸取因国家监视和情报系统缺乏合作以及无能力、无效率等缺陷而造成重大损失的教训,以制定《爱国者法》的方式对之进行作了重大改革:打破执法机关与情报收集机关之间的信息壁垒,改变监视和情报收集体制的分立状态;建立起适用于互联网时代的监视和情报收集制度;扩大行政机关监视和情报收集的自由裁量权,以满足应对恐怖主义威胁的新需要。美国政府对监视和情报制度的改革增强了其在互联网时代预防和应对恐怖主义的能力,也将为当下中国反恐立法中相关内容的设计提供了重要的参考价值。