The Cybercrime Convention Committee's 2017 Guidance Note on Production Orders: Unilateralist transborder access to electronic evidence promoted via soft law

This article provides a critical analysis of the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention Committee's Guidance Note of Production Orders, published on 1 March 2017. The article looks at the legal controversies surrounding production orders with a cross-border element. It explains the Guidance Note's background and origins, the basic provisions in the Cybercrime Convention allowing the law enforcement authorities to order and obtain certain information and discusses the requirements that follow from the relevant provisions of the Convention. This analysis is complemented by four critical remarks on the way the Guidance Note pushes the boundaries of acceptable treaty interpretation on the necessity of the Guidance Note, its position in regard to extraterritorial enforcement jurisdiction and sovereignty, its reticence towards fundamental rights and its refusal to define or clarify the important notion of “subscriber information”. The article argues that unilateralism is not a solution. Instead of soft law plumbing, what is needed is an agreement between sovereign states checked by their constituencies.     

South Africa and Myanmar: Beware the politics of perfidy

The article examines the repressive actions of the government of Myanmar, focusing on its continuing incarceration of a Nobel Peace Prize Winner, and questions the diplomatic route South Africa has chosen in terms of its relations with the country.     

Gang activity in English prisons: The prisoners’ perspective

Abstract

Gang activity in American prisons has resulted in serious problems for prisoners and staff. This study assessed prisoners’ perceptions of gang-event frequency in the UK. Interviews with 360 prisoners from nine prisons in England and Wales indicated gang-related events were perceived as more frequent in all male categories of prison than they were in female institutions. Prisoners reported drug possession and prisoner groups being formed along regional origins as the most frequent gang-related activities. Recidivists perceived higher levels of gang-related activity than did first-time prisoners. Gang-related variables also predicted prisoners’ perceptions that groups of prisoners have more control over events in the prison than do staff and that order in the prison may not be maintained. The merits of interviewing prisoners and the implications of the results for maintaining order in prison are discussed.     

When Law and Order Returned to Denmark

The international trend toward increased use of punishment has been visible in Denmark since the early 1990s and has accelerated in the first years of the new millennium. As in other countries the trend cannot be explained by changes in crime or a political turn to the right. The increased use of punishment in (post) modern societies undoubtedly has a very complex background. The primary explanation put forth in this article is that it is based on a radical change in the human conditions and in the way people relate to their world. It is an existential revolution and, as such, it has emerged ‘from the bottom’ of society. This suggestion is not offered as an alternative to existing explanations that have been mainly dealing with factors and matters ‘from the top’ of society, such as changes in and of the political system (e.g. populism), the mass media (e.g. alarmism), the social organization of society (e.g. bureaucratization and/or industrialization), and globalization (e.g. imitation and/or internationalization of penal law). Rather, the hypothesis should be viewed as an important supplement to these existing theories and explanations.     

The Fate of the State Revisited

The State, which during the three and a half centuries since the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) has been the most important and the most characteristic of all modern institutions, appears to be declining or dying. In many places, existing states are either combining into larger communities or falling apart; in many places, organizations that are not states are challenging them by means fair or foul. On the international level, we seem to be moving away form a system of separate, sovereign, legally equal, states towards less distinct, more hierarchical, and in many ways more complex political structures. Inside their borders, it seems that many states will soon no longer be able to protect the political, military, economic, social and cultural life of their citizens. These developments are likely to lead to upheavals as profound as those that took humanity out of the middle ages and into the modern world. Whether the direction of change is desirable, as some hope, or undesirable, as others fear, remains to be seen.     

寻衅滋事之罪与罚

寻衅滋事罪是严重扰乱社会秩序的犯罪,该罪与故意伤害、强迫交易、敲诈勒索、故意毁坏财物等犯罪有共同之处,都存在伤害他人身体、毁坏或非法占有他人财物的客观行为,但构成此罪或是彼罪,争议较大。文章通过分析寻衅滋事罪的犯罪动机、主观故意、客观行为、侵犯客体以及刑罚适用,与其他相关犯罪作了比较区分。     

Sentence disparity in the federal courts and the adoption of sentencing guidelines

Pressure in the 1970's to reform the sentencing process can be attributed to a change in perceived public sentiment regarding the utility of treatment and to the belief that sentencing disparity was a severe problem in the sentencing process. Primary reform occurred in the federal judicial system with the development and implementation of rigorous sentencing guidelines. An evaluation of sentencing patterns for one federal judicial district indicates that sentencing disparity was not severe. Most federal offenders are relatively mild and consistently receive relatively mild sentences.     

当前公租房治安管理模式存在的问题及对策——以重庆“民心佳园”公租房小区为视角

随着公租房建设的全面铺开,如何管理好公租房小区是当前面临的社会难题。公租房小区的管理主体、管理对象、管理手段方面都呈现出新的特点。要理顺管理体制,明确责任,健全基层组织;建立完备的公租房规章制度,完善技防措施,提高物管水平;延伸公安信息采集的触角,开展多元化服务;协调整合社会各界力量,建立多层次、全方位的社区安全资源网络。     

民航客机飞行安全的治安法制保障——以“诈弹”威胁民航客机安全为研究对象

在社会转型时期,新型的治安违法行为日益滋生,并逐渐扩展到民用航空领域,严重影响着民航客机的飞行安全,对新时期公安工作提出了更大挑战。近期,故意编造虚假信息、威胁恐吓民航客机飞行安全的"诈弹"事件频繁发生,极大地威胁着公民的生命财产安全,引发社会局部恐慌。在"诈弹"事件的背后,存在其发生、发展的深刻原因,并引起该类事件迅速发酵,逐步升级。通过对"诈弹"事件问题及原因分析,进一步加强治安法制保障,引导公众安全出行,保障民航平稳运转,已成为航空领域公安工作的关键。     

试论“征收”在《多边投资担保机构公约》中的扩大解释

《多边投资担保机构公约》的建立目的在于保护外国投资,它所承保的险别也较私营和官办海外投资保险机构的范围广。纵观MIGA(多边投资担保机构)近几年的发展,其呈现出一个新特点,就是对承保险别——"征收"一词的扩大解释上:即使东道国未明确发出征收命令,但是采取了一些事实上与征收同样效果的措施,也将被认为是实行了征收。本文结合条约的扩大解释学说和习惯国际法原则,对"征收"在国际投资实践中表现出的行为进行分析,并结合实例提出了自己的设想和思考。