‘The Sky is Falling!’ – Responses to the ‘Going Dark’ problem

The shared concern expressed in the two quotes below is that modern technologies provide criminals with a capability to evade investigation. This comment piece examines some of the policy and legal options available to governments and law enforcement agencies to try to address this concern. While accepting the claim that this phenomenon represents a real challenge to law enforcement agencies, we currently have insufficient evidence to show the true extent of the problem. What this piece does not accept is the implication contained in the quotes, and often made explicit by others, that the use of encryption represents a fundamental and irreversible shift in the balance of power between criminals and their investigators from what previously prevailed. Such claims tend to lack historical perspective, which is one of the themes of this 200th issue of Computer Law and Security Review.     

Law enforcement access to personal data originally collected by private parties: Missing data subjects' safeguards in directive 2016/680?

Access by law enforcement authorities to personal data initially collected by private parties for commercial or operational purposes is very common, as shown by the transparency reports of new technology companies on law enforcement requests. From a data protection perspective, the scenario of law enforcement access is not necessarily well taken into account. The adoption of the new data protection framework offers the opportunity to assess whether the new ‘police’ Directive, which regulates the processing of personal data for law enforcement purposes, offers sufficient safeguards to individuals. To make this assessment, provisions contained in Directive 2016/680 are tested against the standards established by the ECJ in Digital Rights Ireland and Tele2 Sverige on the retention of data and their further access and use by police authorities. The analysis reveals that Directive 2016/680 does not contain the safeguards identified in the case law. The paper further assesses the role and efficiency of the principle of purpose limitation as a safeguard against repurposing in a law enforcement context. Last, solutions to overcome the shortcomings of Directive 2016/680 are examined in conclusion.     

THE KOLMAR V. SUTEX CASE ON RECIPROCITY IN FOREIGN JUDGMENTS ENFORCEMENT IN CHINA: A WELCOME DEVELOPMENT OR STILL ON THE WRONG TRACK?

In December 2016, the Nanjing Intermediate People’s Court in China issued its ruling in the Kolmar v. Sutex case, where a monetary judgment from Singapore was recognized and enforced against a local textile company. The case confirms that once a foreign country has taken the initiative, Chinese courts will follow up to enforce judgments from that country reciprocally. This is the doctrine of de facto reciprocity adopted by some Chinese courts. The paper surveys the judicial practice of Chinese courts and finds that this area of law is full of confusion and uncertainties due to the lack of applicable rules. Recent developments suggest that China may move away from this approach and adopt a relaxed version of reciprocity, which is worthy of close attention.     

The differential demand for indirect rule: evidence from the North Caucasus

Indirect rule is one of the means that central authorities have long employed in hopes of defusing communal conflict and civil war in multicultural societies. Yet very little is known about the appeal of indirect rule among the ruled themselves. Why do people in some places demand more indirect rule and local autonomy, whereas others seem content to be governed directly by rulers of an alien culture? This is a crucial question with important implications for determining the form of governance that is most likely to provide social order in culturally heterogeneous societies. Although much attention has been given to consider the relative costs and benefits of direct versus indirect rule for the central authorities, the other side of the coin – namely, the variable demand for indirect rule among the members of distinctive cultural groups – has hardly been examined with systematic empirical data. This paper presents a theory of the differential demand for indirect rule and offers an initial test of its principal empirical implications using original micro-level data from the North Caucasus region of Russia. The theory's core claim is that the middle class should express the greatest demand for indirect rule, while both the upper and lower classes should prefer more direct rule. The theory therefore predicts that there will be an inverse parabolic relationship between the demand for indirect rule and economic class. The findings are largely consistent with these theoretical expectations.     

建设我国高素质行政执法队伍的宏观构想

行政执法队伍是党的执政队伍的重要组成部分,是推进党的事业发展的坚强基石。坚持和发展中国特色社会主义,关键在于建设一支政治坚定、能力过硬、作风优良、奋发有为的执政骨干队伍。本文从社会主义法治理念的角度分析了我国行政执法过程中存在的主要问题,提出了建设我国高素质行政执法队伍的总体思路和宏观构想。     

On the Resilience of Illegal Drug Markets

This paper argues that the concept of resilience is a fruitful way of understanding the impact of repressive policies on illegal drug markets. For the purpose of this article, resilience is defined as the ability of market participants to preserve the existing levels of exchanges between buyers and sellers, despite external pressure aimed at disrupting the trade. The first part of the paper highlights how some of the core features of illegal drug markets, a decentralized structure and high prices, contribute to increasing their resilience to attacks. The second part develops a framework that can be used to compare markets on the basis of their resilient properties. Some of the empirical and policy implications of the framework are discussed in the conclusion.     

执法办案风险评估预警工作的困境与对策研究

上海检察机关自2011年开展执法办案风险评估预警工作。从风险评估、风险预警、风险处置三个方面对该项工作的现状作出分析,对实践中存在的困境进行研究,并提出相应的对策。     

警察执法作战指挥训练方法构成探索

警察执法作战指挥训练方法是保证训练效果的重要因素。由于警察执法作战指挥训练内容的广博性,以及训练对象的多层次性,警察执法作战指挥训练的方法构成应具有很大的灵活性,探索其训练方法构成,对有效提高训练效益,提高警察指挥员的指挥能力具有重大作用和现实意义。     

行政执法证据刑事司法化的现实性浅析

刑事诉讼法在立法层面上首次对行政执法证据司法化予以肯定,但是行政执法证据如何向刑事司法证据合理转化,转化后司法机关如何使用,以及证明效力的延续性等我国法律实践中亟需解决的难题却没有得到根本解决。文章分析了行政执法证据向刑事司法证据转化的必要性和证据转化的种类、方法、规则等,并提出对司法实践具有积极意义的证据转化制度。     

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监狱作为维护社会稳定和政治延续的统治工具,一直默默地发挥着它不可或缺的功能。近年来一系列社会热门事件的发生,使监狱备受瞩目。尤其在信息公开透明且传播迅速的社会里,监狱的安全稳定也成为社会稳定的前提要件。监狱如何构建科学公正的监狱执法人员免责机制,则成为相关理论界与实务界人士共同关注的新视角。