Recent Trends in Sentencing Policies in the Netherlands

This article considers sentencing in the Netherlands and in particular the changes that have been introduced since the 1980s, both in the adult and in the juvenile justice system. Several questions will be treated in the article. Sentencing in the Netherlands in the last two decades is analysed and some explanations for the changing trends are presented. Results indicate that the Netherlands is following a general pattern, prevalent in Europe and the US, of more punitive and repressive punishment. Also, the extent to which new sentencing options, such as community sanctions have made a difference to the upward trend in imprisonment, will be analysed. In an effort to reduce the costs of the system new policies are being developed, introducing both 'front door' and 'back door' varieties in sentencing. These will lead to some important and radical changes in the criminal justice system.     

第三类推理是什么？——沃尔顿假设性推理研究述评

非形式逻辑学家沃尔顿对假设性推孕进行了深入的研究，并且将假设性推理升为和演绎与归纳相并列的第三类推理形式，从而在理论和实践上解决了许多长期困扰人们的逻辑问题，为论证和谬误理论研究提供了一个新的逻辑基础，是对非形式逻辑合法性的极好辩护，也对建立面向生活世界的语用逻辑提供了更为合适的标准。同时，第三类推理理论也为研究法律推理中的推理模式提供了新的逻辑方法。     

试析电子网络中大学生社会资本的形成——以非正式群体大学生QQ家教群为个案

信任是一种对利益的投资，意味着风险也意味着收获。在电子网络的非正式群体中，潜规则起到了更大的作用，规则是互动的产物；社会网络的建构受社会结构的限制，但也离不开个人能动性的发挥。     

预防性羁押在我国的适用

我国刑事诉讼法修订后,在逮捕条件中确立了预防性羁押制度,但只作了一般性的规定,目前,当务之急是要进一步明确预防性羁押的适用范围,适用程序,以对其进行严格的限制,从而最大限度地实现人权保障和社会防卫之间的平衡。     

对“哈啤”案的几点思考——兼论商品特有名称的法律性质及其保护

我国反不正当竞争法禁止擅自仿冒知名商品的特有名称不是所谓的“中国特色”、一时之需。相对于注册商标,商品特有名称是商品表征中相对易变的部分,也是商品外观的重要组成部分,其存在是符合商品流通规律的。对于商品特有名称的简称等非正式名称,在具备公示、持续使用和特有性的条件下也构成商品特有名称,从而受反不正当竞争法的保护。商品特有名称在本质上是未注册商标,对其应限定于为相关公众所共知的范围内适度保护,才能保证经营者有相当的行为自由和较低的信息搜集负担。     

工商行业规范与清代非正式法——以会馆碑刻为中心的考察

工商会馆碑是清代行业规范的重要载体,而行业规范又是中国传统非正式法体系的重要组成部分。数以百记的清代工商会馆碑刻,记载着行业公产保护、行业准入与自律自治、同业互助救济与应急救援等事宜的规范内容。透过这些静态的碑文,我们可以看到清代城市社会中非正式法的形成与运作机制,以及清代工商行业与社会、工商组织与业者个体、非正式法与正式法之间,相互依存、冲突、妥协的动态演进规律。     

State retrenchment and informal institutions in Kazakhstan: people's perceptions of informal reciprocity in the healthcare sector

Despite government efforts, post-independence Kazakhstan has largely failed to provide high-quality medical services to its population. State retrenchment in the public healthcare system has led to the deterioration of medical service delivery. It has provided incentives for people to widely use informal reciprocal exchanges – personal connections and informal monetary and non-monetary payments – to gain access to better medical care. In contrast to the existing explanations focusing mostly on the cultural origin of the continuity of informal exchanges, I argue that state retrenchment from the social sphere and under-provision of state goods and services have perpetuated informal exchanges in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. Despite similarities in informal practices between Soviet and post-independence Kazakhstan, some important differences in terms of scope and the nature of informal exchanges are observed. This article draws on data collected from interviews, textual analysis, and original surveys of people's attitudes towards the healthcare system and informal help conducted in Kazakhstan in 2011 and 2013.     

RACIALLY HOMOPHILOUS SOCIAL TIES AND INFORMAL SOCIAL CONTROL

Social disorganization theory argues that racial/ethnic heterogeneity is a key neighborhood characteristic leading to social disorganization and, consequently, higher levels of crime. Heterogeneity's effect is argued to be a result of its fragmentation of social ties along racial/ethnic lines, which creates racially homophilous social networks with few ties bridging racial/ethnic groups. Most studies of social ties in social disorganization models, however, have examined their quantity and left unaddressed the extent to which ties are within or across different racial groups. This study goes beyond previous studies by examining the effects of both racially homophilous and interracial friendship networks on informal social control. Using multilevel models and data from 66 neighborhoods with approximately 2,300 respondents, we found that heterogeneity actually increased the average percentage of residents with interracial friendship networks, but the percentage of residents with interracial networks decreased the likelihood of informal social control. In contrast, the percentage of residents with White racially homophilous networks increased the likelihood of informal social control. Examining the microcontext of individuals’ networks, however, we found residents with interracial ties reported higher likelihoods of informal social control and that this effect was enhanced in neighborhoods with higher percentages of non‐White racially homophilous networks.     

Corruption and marketization: Formal and informal rules in Chinese public procurement

The relationship between market liberalization and corruption has attracted scholarly attention in recent years. Conventional wisdom holds that increased economic marketization reduces corruption. China, however, provides evidence to the contrary; corruption has grown as its market‐oriented reforms progress. This paradoxical co‐development of the market and corruption begs the intriguing questions of how corruption has survived marketization and what explains the failure of government regulation. Extending the conceptual framework of institutional theory about formal and informal rules, and using public procurement in China as an example, this article shows that formal tendering rules and regulations may be modified, circumvented, or replaced by informal ones which facilitate corruption. The article identifies four corruption schemes through which procurement actors may distort competition processes and mechanisms under the guise of formal rules. Consequently, public procurement in China displays the structural outlook of market competition, but not its essential substance.     

Local Government Support for Women in the Informal Economy in Durban, South Africa

This paper examines the response of the city government of Durban to the growth of the informal economy. It argues that, unlike the national government of South Africa, Durban's government has been creative in designing policies that favor informal economy workers, particularly women. These progressive policies are the result of an innovative local government and, to some extent, an emerging self-employed women worker's union that has been able to exert influence on informal economy policies.