‘Fat cat’ lawyers and ‘illegal’ migrants: the impact of intersecting hostilities and toxic narratives on access to justice

ABSTRACT

This article examines how three spheres of hostility intersect to prevent effective access to justice for those living with insecure immigration status. The neoliberal governance model, the barren justice landscape and the hostile environment are supported by the cynical construction of the ‘fat cat’ lawyer and the toxic ‘folk devil’ narrative of the ‘bogus’ asylum seeker. To the extent that the judiciary have frustrated the more obvious, ideologically driven, attempts to restrict access to justice for migrants, the austerity predicated measures pursuant to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) have completely altered the legal landscape. The analysis is informed by the findings of the ‘Legal advice and support for persons with insecure status’ project (hereafter LAPIS) in Nottingham which explores the challenges faced by service providers and the lived experiences of those with insecurity of status. It is clear that access to justice is a passport to the realisation of other rights, yet participants struggled to access a remedy because legal advice is too often out of reach.     

Lost in space? the role of place in the delivery of social welfare law advice over the telephone and face-to-face

ABSTRACT

Advice that is provided exclusively over the telephone has been promoted by government as more convenient and accessible than face-to-face appointments. The resulting push towards telephone-only provision, as implemented by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, challenges the long history of association between social welfare law advice and local delivery within disadvantaged communities. This article reports on qualitative research comparing telephone and face-to-face advice which uncovers the continuing relevance of place in the dynamics and mechanics of social welfare law provision. Familiarity with the geographical location, knowledge of local policies and procedures, relationships with opponents and allies, and an understanding of the ‘local legal culture’ mean that face-to-face advisers are often able to conduct their legal casework more effectively. Conversely, local knowledge is unlikely to be available to Community Legal Advice telephone advisers. This research suggests that, in addition, telephone-only advisers may be developing a more narrow understanding of the essential qualities of casework. These findings are particularly significant in view of the likely future expansion of remote methods of delivery in legal aid work.     

论公安机关侦查人员法律素养的差异化培养*--以教育培训为侧重

十八届四中全会以来，依法治国成为整个社会发展的主题。刑事侦查领域也提出了侦查法治化的思想，其中加强刑侦队伍正规化建设，提升刑侦队伍执法素养成为一个重要的环节。应该剖析侦查人员法律素养的内涵，立足于侦查人员不同的学习背景，提出差异化培养的思想，并通过有针对性的教育培训等途径提高侦查人员的法律素养，推动侦查工作的法治化进程。     

美国诱惑侦查制度及对我国的启示

美国社会执法实践中广泛存在诱惑侦查的使用，关于诱惑侦查的法律和制度规制经过长期演变和经验积累，形成了较为完整的诱惑侦查制度。本文通过对美国诱惑侦查制度的法律规定和具体实践的探究，以期为完善公安机关执法工作提供一些参考。我们应借鉴美国关于诱惑侦查方式运用的有益经验，加快有关诱惑侦查领域的立法进程，明确具体的法律规定。公安机关在执法实践中应正确认识诱惑侦查的合理性，慎用诱惑侦查手段，严格遵循程序执法，规范自身执法行为，积极改进执法方式。     

论缓刑的法律性质--兼评缓刑考验期满后再犯罪成立累犯的合理性

缓刑在不同的刑事诉讼阶段所表现的主要特性是不同的,因而对其性质进行分阶段的界定也就有了现实的依据和合理性。从决定是否对犯罪分子宣告缓刑的意义上来说,缓刑有刑罚裁量的性质;从对犯罪分子具体适用缓刑的各项规定的意义上来说,缓刑又具有刑罚执行的性质。缓刑,兼具刑罚裁量和刑罚执行两重性质。在明确缓刑具有刑罚执行的法律性质的前提下,认定缓刑考验期满后再犯相应之罪的犯罪分子为累犯,就有了理论以及法律上的合理性。此种处置,从一般预防和特殊预防的角度来看,既符合中国社会重视行为人主观意志的现实,又能更好发挥刑罚预防犯罪的功能,也是符合我国现行刑事政策和法律规定的。     

论加强新时代党的全面领导的法规制度建设

新时代党的领导以全面领导为特征,以法治化为基本方向,为此,必须在准确把握党的全面领导内涵的前提下,完善党的全面领导的法规制度,使党的全面领导做到有法可依、有法必依.党的全面领导以政治领导为核心和根本,在党的全面领导的法规制度建设中,要着重围绕政治领导,首先从《宪法》《党章》层面对党的全面领导做出规定,同时也要在党的全面领导的主要领域做到有规可依,注重用党内法规制度解决党的全面领导存在的突出问题,这样才能更好地保证党的全面领导要求得到真正贯彻落实.     

French engagement versus British commitment. Was it interlingual miscommunication or political manipulation?

ABSTRACT

The efforts undertaken to establish the contemporary European Union started many years earlier. The history of establishing a pan-European organization is interesting not only for historians and economists but also translators and linguists as it is the history of interlingual communication (negotiations and agreements). One such negotiation was allegedly ineffective due to the difference in understanding the French term engagement and its English equivalent employed by translators and interpreters, that is to say the English term commitment. The authors aim at presenting the political background of negotiations and the social semiotic analysis of the terms in question in order to provoke the reader to find the answer to the question whether the negotiation was broken due to interlingual miscommunication resulting from erroneously chosen equivalent or it was destined to failure from the very beginning due to socio-political and economic interests of negotiating parties. In order to achieve that goal, the authors have analysed notes exchanged between the governments of France and Great Britain in course of negotiation. The history of negotiation and the linguistic analysis are combined to illustrate the complexity of meaning construction and the semiotic implications of the contextual dependence of meanings of terms and their dynamic evolution in time and space.     

后土地财政时期减支增收的财税法律规制

后土地财政时期出现的财税现实困境暴露出过往经济发展失衡的问题,究其根源,无疑是现存财税制度的供给无法有效应对后土地财政时期的预期。面对财税领域特别是地方财政增量减少的窘况,并不能一味以外延式增加地方财政收入的方式来解决。应以财税制度供给侧结构性改革为指导,转变“全能政府”的传统观念,运用财税衡平理念和理论,强化内涵式减支增收财税法制供给与实施保障。只有矫正过往稀缺财税资源粗放使用的痼疾,使财税资源集约化配置,才能产生有效率的高质量经济发展功效。应通过财税衡平法律机制的纠偏,优化财富分配的社会实质公平效能,最终实现新时代社会和谐与经济可持续发展的理想目标。     

经济发展社会环境论

环境是人类赖以生存和发展的物质基础。形成良好稳定的社会环境,是我国改革开放以来经济高速发展的前提,是人民群众安居乐业的基本保证。