Moving beyond the paradox of macroeconomic stability in Uganda?

This article explores macroeconomic policies in Uganda in the wake of the global financial crisis and following the publication of the 2010 National Development Plan. Despite apparent changes in rhetoric regarding macroeconomic policies by the Ugandan authorities, the paper demonstrates how the commitment to conservative monetary and fiscal policies prevails. The article analyses how the persistently conservative macroeconomic policy stance has exacerbated the lack of economic transformation in the Ugandan economy. The resultant outcome has been a failure to absorb the fast-growing Ugandan labour force into productive and gainful employment. The case is therefore made for an alternative macroeconomic framework that puts public investment at its centre and which complements macroeconomic policies with suitable sector-specific and industrial policies.     

BEPS,tax sovereignty and global justice

The base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and G20 countries marks an important development in the reform of the international taxation regime. In this paper I argue that the initiative nevertheless fails to provide a coherent account of what global justice requires in the realm of fiscal policy. While the OECD’s ostensible aim to increase and protect the tax sovereignty of states is commendable, there is insufficient attention for the distribution of relative tax sovereignty. I show that current global income inequality is correlated with significant inequality of tax sovereignty, that this inequality is unjust on a plausible conception of what global justice requires, and that the BEPS initiative is unlikely to meaningfully address this injustice. I close by suggesting that an internationalist conception of justice concerned with securing the tax sovereignty of independent polities may need to prescribe the creation of globally redistributive institutions.     

THE SAUDI ARABIAN BUDGETING SYSTEM: AN INSTITUTIONAL ASSESSMENT

This article describes and evaluates the budgetary institutions in Saudi Arabia. The primary sources of information for this study are publications from the Saudi Ministry of Finance and a survey implemented to investigate the different aspects of budget formulation and execution. We find that the Saudi budget experiences difficulties associated with incremental annual line‐item budgeting systems. Although capital expenditures in the education and health sectors are guided by five‐year plans developed by the Ministry of Planning, the rest of the budget preparation procedure is mainly driven by requests from government agencies to increase spending (i.e. a bottom‐up approach), instead of being based on an early determination of the macroeconomic constraints and the acceptable level of deficit (i.e. a top‐down approach). The result is an exacerbation of tragedy of the commons problems associated with information asymmetry and conflict‐avoidance strategies. We discuss possible reasons for this finding and offer budgetary reform proposals. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

新形势下人大财政监督职能之建构简

《宪法》将人民代表大会制度规定为我国的根本政治制度,并赋予人大立法权、监督权、重大事项决定权和任免权的职能。其中,监督权更是起到了约束政府权力的关键性作用,应充分贯彻于预算的整个过程。在社会主义法律体系已经形成的新形势下,人大在进一步完善立法的同时,亟须“一体两翼”地着力加强预算监督,促进工作重点向强化预算审批职能方面转移,不断提高理财治国能力,推动国家治理模式的现代化转型,从而与公共财政、良法善治的理念相契相合,顺应关注民生、防治腐败的时代发展要求。     

‘Let's Talk Cash’: Cantons' Interests and the Reform of Swiss Federalism

In 2004 the Swiss people accepted a new equalization scheme and a new distribution of competences between the federal state and the cantons. It was argued that the reform was successful because of the capacity of veto-players to overcome their interests and adopt a ‘problem-solving’ interaction mode. We propose a different interpretation and argue that distributive issues and the accommodation of actors' interests crucially mattered. We identify three mechanisms that contribute to a successful reform, i.e. package-deals, side-payments and the downsizing of the reform. Our in-depth, mainly qualitative study of both the content of the reform and related decision-making process supports the pertinence of these strategies for the explanation of the successful reform of Swiss federalism.     

论经济犯罪的犯罪化根据及其对于经侦工作的重要意义

从公安经侦工作的角度来看,研究经济犯罪的犯罪化根据具有十分重大的现实意义,尤其具有直接的指导作用。经济犯罪的犯罪化根据大致可以在立法层面与司法层面等两个层次上进行讨论。在立法层面上,经济犯罪的犯罪化根据在于三个方面:行为的社会危害性、刑罚手段的必要性和刑罚手段的可行性。在司法层面上,经济犯罪的犯罪化根据基本上体现于全面贯彻立法意图和刑法原则的过程之中,尤其要全面、深刻地体现罪刑法定原则、刑法谦抑主义的要求。相应地,在经侦工作中应当自觉地关注经济犯罪的犯罪化根据问题,准确理解、适用法律规定,慎重发动侦查权,严格规范侦查行为。     

刑事被告人在庭审中的最后陈述权探析

最后陈述权是刑事被告人在庭审中所享有的一项重要的诉讼权利。其理论基础主要在于立法对刑事被告人弱势地位的特别关注以及对言词原则的体现。最后陈述程序的设置,可以助法官更好地发现案件的真实性,同时还突显了对被告人人格的尊重,对旁听民众具有一种特殊的教育功能。在性质上,最后陈述权主要是辩护权,还体现为一种情感宣泄权。最后陈述权在内容上限制的同时,还应在立法上保障被告人的充分行使。     

我国政府权力宪政制约探究

在市场经济体制中，政府权力对经济运行的干预不能泛化，且政府权力不应介入市场功能的有效边界内。在对政府及工作人员权力“软约束”无效的条件下，必须引入宪政框架对政府权力予以约束。这既是宪政国家内在的本质规定．又是我国政府权力运行的现实要求。针对我国政府权力制约面临的现实障碍与宪政困境，必须从政府权力法制化、重构三权关系运行等方面入手，建立有针对性的政府权力制约机制。     

WTO争端解决中的司法克制及其对我国的启示

源于GATT四十多年争端解决实践中的"司法克制"思想,在WTO时代也得以"衣钵继承"并呈现出新的特色.作为GATT /WTO争端解决机制从"外交取向"向"司法取向"演化不可或缺的"重要缓冲"和"润滑剂",它不仅贯穿着GATT /WTO争端解决机制"司法取向"的全过程,而且两者的"博弈共存"对国际贸易争端解决方式不断"机制化"从不同侧面发挥着各自的作用.可以预见,即便WTO争端解决机制演化成国际贸易法院,基于国家主权价值和多边贸易体制的特殊性等原因,"司法克制"思想也绝不会"销声匿迹".我国作为WTO的成员,应从"司法克制"的历史轨迹与现实运作中获得理性启示,籍以善用WTO争端解决机制,为我国的对外贸易保驾护航.     

和谐社会建设:法制及司法理念

和谐社会是一种稳定的社会,但在稳定中不是说没有变化,它是指变化发展中的稳定.和谐社会是指社会各要素之间的平衡状态,因而要达到和谐得使用综合的方法.但各种方法并不是均衡地起作用.其中最主要的应该是法制方法.这里的法制方法是指与和谐社会建设相适应的良好的法律规范、法律价值理念和克制宽容的司法意识形态的和谐运用.在建构和谐社会的过程中,我们应弘扬法制的妥协与克制精神,而要抑制法治的强制管理与能动的特性.我们要认真地对待规则,不要在解释中对明确的规则添加额外的含义,要充分发挥规则在和谐社会建设中调整功能.