“一国两制”视野下法律文化的同一性与多样性及其在中国的体现——写在中国特色社会主义法律体系形成之后

法律文化的概念外延包括了规范制度形态、意识观念形态、实践活动形态的法律文化。法律体系问题主要属于规范制度形态的法律文化,而法系的问题主要属于意识观念形态和实践活动形态的法律文化。由于实行"一国两制",在"两岸三地"即中国大陆、香港、澳门和台湾存在着多种法律体系与法系,这是"中国特色"的体现。中国特色社会主义法律体系形成之后,我们还可以在"一国两制"的视野下,继续探讨法律文化的同一性与多样性问题,对中西方法律文化中蕴藏的优秀精神——对法治的崇尚和对统治的信念,通过实践不断地选择,融化成一种崭新的、先进的法律文化体系,将法治精神与民族精神融为一体,建成法治国家。     

债权的平等与优先——兼对债权平等理论的反思

我国债权平等理论中,绝对化的全部债权平等说,限缩化的普通债权平等说亦或模糊化的多数债权平等说,都没有全面地把握债权平等的实质要义。以财产不足以清偿标准为适用界线,以相同债权同等受偿为基本内容的债权平等理论重释,更利于我们清晰地认识债权平等原则。     

Children’s voices on equal time-sharing arrangement following parents’ divorce

The article presents the final part of an Icelandic research project on parents and children of divorce, focusing on grown-up children’s experiences of equal time-sharing arrangements, ETSA, after their parents’ divorce. It consists of a quantitative analysis of firstly a nationally representative sample mapping the frequency and experience of 18–59 years old individuals of ETSA after parents’ divorce, and secondly a qualitative analysis of 16 long interviews with 16 children of divorce reflecting on their experiences. Both analyses indicate different experiences of this type of arrangement. The reality of the arrangement in practice is that parents chose the arrangement on the basis of their own preferences rather than a court imposing it or because the generally accepted core conditions for a positive outcome for children were in place. These negative experiences of ETSA are discussed in further detail and the need for law reform and service improvement is considered.     

Seclusion: the association with diagnosis,gender, length of stay and HoNOS-secure in low and medium secure inpatient mental health service

The use of seclusion is controversial. Using routinely collected data from low and medium secure service provider in the United Kingdom (n = 347) this study compared secluded and non-secluded Asperger’s syndrome, paranoid schizophrenia, organic personality disorder and emotionally unstable personality disorder patients. Analysis revealed that secluded patients were younger but did not differ on length of stay. Scores on the HoNOS-secure improved from entry to discharge on all diagnostic categories, indicating sensitivity to change. However, secluded patients with paranoid schizophrenia did not improve on the secure scale or personal and emotional well-being sub-scale factors, indicating HoNOS-secure should be used with caution in discharge decisions. Findings indicate that HoNOS-secure do not capture the factors linked to the use of seclusion in organic personality disorder and Asperger’s syndrome. HoNOS secure results outline differing needs and progress in the four diagnostic groups. Seclusion did not affect recovery as measured by HoNOS-secure clinical scale, providing evidence opposing the view that seclusion plays a major contribution to delaying recovery.     

Children’s and parents’ involvement in care order proceedings: a cross-national comparison of judicial decision-makers’ views and experiences

This paper presents the views of judicial decision-makers (n = 1794) in four child protection jurisdictions (England, Finland, Norway, and the USA (California)), about whether parents and children are provided with appropriate opportunities to participate in proceedings in their countries. Overall, the study found a high degree of agreement within and between the countries as regards the important conditions for parents’ and children´s involvement, although the four systems themselves are very different. There was less agreement about children’s involvement than parents’, and the court decision-makers from Norway and Finland were more likely to express doubts about this. Nevertheless, the main message from the judicial decision-makers is that they are relatively satisfied as to how parents’ and children´s involvement is handled in their countries. Whether or not this confidence is justified, the emphasis on achieving effective involvement of children and parents in court proceedings is likely to grow, with major implications for the workers, decision-makers and agencies involved.     

论国家监察权的性质

监察机关对全体公职人员行使监察权,这是我国监督体系的有机组成部分,是通过预防和惩治腐败来对公职人员实施的专门性监督。在国家宪法层面上,各级监察委员会属于对公职人员行使监督、调查和处置职能的国家监察机关。监察机关不仅要对职务犯罪案件进行调查,而且其调查所取得的证据材料还可以直接在刑事诉讼中被作为证据使用,监察机关的调查权具有侦查权的性质和效果。监察机关的留置措施在取代"两规"方面取得了一些法治进步,但仍然属于在正式的刑事强制措施体系之外,兼具刑事强制措施和隔离审查措施的特殊调查手段。监察法在加强被调查人的权利保障方面取得了一些进步,但仍然存在诸多方面的缺憾。未来,对惩治腐败与保障人权加以兼顾,对于监察机关的权力进行有效的约束,仍然是一项重大的法治课题。     

Oil pollution and water conflicts in the riverine communities in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region: challenges for and elements of problem-solving strategies

ABSTRACT

In Nigeria’s Niger Delta, oil pollution has significantly harmed the natural environment on which the local people in the Niger Delta depend for their livelihood and sustenance. The direct consequence of oil pollution is that it has led to multidimensional and protracted conflicts in oil-bearing communities. Drawing on fieldwork data, this article examines the ways in which oil pollution harms water resources and fuels conflicts in the local communities. It explores the socio-economic dynamics of the conflicts and insecurity, and how they are aggravated by the ineffectiveness of the measures adopted by the state to manage the conflicts. It argues that the role of local actors in the ecological dislocation have been downplayed and not factored into the measures devised to tackle the intractable conflicts. This article demonstrates how the network of interactions among localised, national and globalised actors aggravate environmental pollution and the complex conflicts in local communities.     

Mending the Divide: Lessons from LGBTQ+ Movements for Latin American Studies

Latin American has made remarkable progress in the last twenty years regarding LGBTQ+ rights. More recently, LGBTQ-related issues have had major impacts on national and regional politics. However, most of the literature about Latin American social movements still largely ignores LGBTQ+ movements. This article argues that including LGBTQ+ movements in social movements research is essential to further our understanding of LGBTQ+ politics in the region and of Latin American politics and social movements more broadly, as well as to address the enduring lack of academic engagement with gender and sexuality as political topics.     

Peacekeeping in a Francophone Space: Experiences of Ghanaian Peacekeepers in Côte d’Ivoire

Abstract

This article adds historical and empirical insights to the ongoing global debate on peace operations in francophone contexts, by providing a historical analysis of Ghana’s participation in francophone peacekeeping operations, with a special focus on Côte d’Ivoire. It investigates the interrelationship between anglo-francophone African peace operations and its implications for negotiating colonial discourses and barriers and as a means to promoting deeper regional integration. The paper argues that the fundamental reasons behind the difficulties experienced by Ghanaian peacekeepers in francophone peacekeeping theatres, especially in the case of Côte d’Ivoire, resulted from the differences in culture, language, ethnic proximity and regional politics. We demonstrate in our discussions that solving the language problem, for instance, will foster better understanding and cooperation, but also fast-track and contribute to effective regional peacekeeping efforts and facilitate the establishment of the elusive regional standby force.     

Testing Duvergerʼs law: strategic voting in Mongolian elections, 1996–2004

Recent empirical research on voting in single-member districts, based on extensive data-sets of election results, has demonstrated the general (although not universal) validity of Duverger’s law (i.e. that the average outcome under plurality rule is generally consistent with two-party competition). This article tests Duverger’s law through analysis of a data-set covering Mongolian parliamentary elections in the period of 1996–2004. The results show consistent, but not linear, movement towards the Duvergerian equilibrium in Mongolia, with large part of the districts conforming to the Duvergerian norm of two-party competition. Duverger treated his law merely as an important tendency but insisted that social forces are the main determinants of the number of political parties. The main factor that limited Mongolian voters’ rationality, and created problems with their strategic ability to distinguish and abandon hopeless candidates, was weak institutionalization of the Mongolian party system. Finally, I prove that the emergence of bipolar party politics was not an immediate process and will continue over a series of elections, supporting the so-called “learning hypothesis.”