After Waterhouse: vicarious liability and the tort of institutional abuse

As evidence of the extent of the abuse of children in residential care increases, our understanding of this terrible wrong has altered. These assaults are an institutional syndrome, at the same time that they are individual crimes; certain systems of institutional care are conducive to/foster abuse behaviour (acting as 'crucibles' rather than 'honeypots'for rogue paedophiles). A theory of vicarious (institutional) liability is appropriate if we understand a syndrome of institutional abuse in this way, as involving institutional responsibility in addition to individual fault. The recent decision of the Canadian Supreme Court in Bazley v Curry found a children's home vicariously liable for sexual assaults of an employee on the basis of responsibility through the creation of risk, an analysis of and apportionment of liability which is appropriate to the special syndrome of institutional abuse, while encouraging deterrence and providing fair and practical compensation to victims. This analysis/liability is supported by an economic analysis of institutional child abuse and decision making in child protection.     

损益相抵在保护性约束损害赔偿中应用之我见

损益相抵规则虽在我国立法尚无明文规定,但在司法实践中已经普遍适用,损益相抵规则在适用过程中的难点是其适用范围和标准判断。保护性约束致损赔偿作为医疗损害赔偿的一种,法律性质上是违约责任和侵权责任的竟合,且保护性约束有效制止了患者在冲动时意外事件的发生,避免了患者及家属对因意外事件发生应承担的相关责任,获得了间接的额外利益,属于损益相抵规则的适用范围。     

论法院对基本权利的保护

为公民基本权利提供保护,是现代国家合法性的重要来源。普通法院在基本权利保护中发挥着重要作用。德国虽然设立了宪法法院,但保护公民基本权利的职责仍主要由其他法院承担。在没有设立宪法法院的国家,通过普通法院更是为基本权利提供司法保护的唯一途径。我国法院应当通过三种方式为基本权利提供司法保护:如果法律有保护基本权利的具体规定,法院应当直接适用法律;如果法律对基本权利的保护只作了抽象规定,法院应当对有关抽象立法进行合宪解释之后予以适用;如果法律没有作出保护基本权利的任何规定,法院可以直接适用宪法的基本权利条款。     

晚清领事保护的发展及其局限

对于领事保护的推动,就融合有政治与人权双重因素。当然,这一双重因素的影响又是随着历史的发展而有所不同的。尽管世界最早的领事保护实践可以追溯至古希腊城邦时期,而中国最早的领事保护实践却只能追溯至晚清时期。当时的清政府迫于内外压力,逐步转变对华侨的"叛民"、"罪民"和"弃民"等观念,从而展开了"立约保护"、"领事机关的调查与交涉"等形式(甚至还包括军舰巡航等军事方式)的领事保护。晚清政府领事保护的发展是与其华侨观念及政策的转变密切相关的。清政府华侨政策和领事保护的变化,根本上还是以巩固和发展清朝的统治为出发点的,政治因素在其中居于主导地位。这也就是"家国一体"型国家的局限性所在。     

La protección de los derechos fundamentales del deportista en la lucha contra el dopaje. Una visión desde el ordenamiento jurídico español

Doping is addressed in this paper from two different scopes: on one hand, the legal regulations for prevention and repression are studied; on the other hand, the clash between the anti-doping control mechanism and a fundamental right such as the athlete's privacy is noted. We start from the irrefutable fact that “awareness against doping” is practically universal. The enactment of this law was a milestone in the history of the fight against doping in the Spanish regulation. However, the problem arises when the anti-doping legislation worldwide and in Spain, which enables some healthcare professionals and other people involved, to carry out several anti-doping operations that may conflict with the athlete's fundamental right to privacy, all of this in a context of strong media and social impact. For this reason, it is pertinent to raise the issue if one of these operations, such as the duty of permanent localization, is sufficiently justified in terms of protecting the sportsperson's health.     

《环境保护法》的前世今生

修订后的《中华人民共和国环境保护法》将于2015年1月1日开始实施,这部法律的前身是1979年《环境保护法（试行）》,基础是1989年颁行的《环境保护法》。1979年的《环境保护法（试行）》虽然不是此次修法的直接文本,但其作为中国第一部环境保护领域的综合性法律,在奠定中国环境保护法律制度体系基础的同时,也为后来留下了一些隐患,成为此次修法的争论的起因。1989年的《环境保护法》是此次修改的直接文本,这部法律的存废之争一直持续了20多年;在2011年年初人大常委会正式启动修法程序后,经历全国人大常委会四次审议、修改草案两次面向社会公开征求意见、从＂修正案＂到＂修订案＂,创造了中国立法史上几个＂第一＂。最终通过的《环境保护法修订案》体现了十八届三中全会提出的建设生态文明,建立最严格制度的要求,确立了其在环境保护领域的基础性、综合性法律的地位,在建立生态环境保护法律机制方面实现了重大突破。     

Asia-Pacific news

This column provides a country by country analysis of the latest legal developments, cases and issues relevant to the IT, media and telecommunications' industries in key jurisdictions across the Asia Pacific region. The articles appearing in this column are intended to serve as ‘alerts’ and are not submitted as detailed analyses of cases or legal developments.     

Rethinking the one-stop-shop mechanism: Legal certainty and legitimate expectation

This paper aims to contribute to the discussion concerning the one-stop-shop mechanism proposed in the General Data Protection Regulation (hereinafter “GDPR”). The choice of regulation as the instrument to legislate on data protection is already an unmistakable indication that unification and simplification (together with respect of data subjects' interests) shall be the guide for every legal discussion on the matter. The one-stop-shop mechanism (hereinafter “OSS”) clearly reflects the unification and simplification which the reform aims for. We believe that OSS is logically connected with the idea of one Data Protection Authority (hereinafter “DPA”) with an exclusive jurisdiction and that this can only mean that, given one controller, no other DPA can be a competent authority.² In other words, OSS implies a single and comprehensive competent authority of a given controller. In our analysis we argue that such architecture: a) works well with the “consistency mechanism”; b) provides guarantees to data subjects for a clear allocation of powers (legal certainty); and c) is not at odds with the complaint lodging procedure. Our position on fundamental questions is as follows. What is the perimeter of competence of the DPA in charge? We believe that it should have enforcement power on every issue of the controller, including issuing the fines. How to reconcile such dominant role of one DPA with the principle of co-operation among DPAs? We do not consider co-operation at odds with the rule that decisions are taken by just one single authority. Finally, we share some suggestions on how to make the jurisdiction allocation mechanism (the main establishment criterion) more straightforward.     

中国(上海)自由贸易试验区知识产权保护研究

中国(上海)自由贸易试验区的建立对推进国内改革与世界市场开放具有里程碑式的意义。我国的自由贸易试验区属于自由贸易园区(FTZ),不同于自由贸易协定下的自由贸易区(FTA),也不同于传统保税区,具有"境内关外"和"一线放开、二线管住"的特征。自由贸易试验区的贸易便利化举措必然使其成为知识产权侵权避风港的可能性急剧上升。但由于相应制度的缺失和认识的偏差,自由贸易试验区可能成为知识产权海关执法的模糊区甚至空白区,同时我国目前的知识产权保护体系与自由贸易试验区寻求的便捷、高效的知识产权市场监管模式和纠纷解决机制相距甚远。从相关国际条约的立法和国内外自由贸易园区的实践来看,在自由贸易园区内实施更加严格的知识产权保护是现在和未来国际知识产权保护的必然趋势。因此,在自由贸易试验区内应加强知识产权海关保护、建立知识产权市场监管体系、完善知识产权纠纷解决机制。     

养老医疗服务中的民法问题及对策

随着依法治国政策的不断推进,健全养老医疗服务的法治体系是顺应时代要求的必然选择.在养老医疗服务过程中未充分运用法律手段,在对养老医疗服务机构的监管、对养老医疗体系的保障以及老年人权益救济等方面欠缺规范,不利于法治功能的发挥.在分析《民法典》《老年人权益保障法》等相关法律的基础之上,提出强化监管、完善保障体系、明确侵权责...