The Camorra closely observed

An article that discusses how information and communications technology (computer systems and data transmission) are used as ‘cyber weapons’ for criminal purposes. It canvasses a number of legislative policy options for controlling their misuse. The paper concludes with the view that implementing some form of cyber weapons laws – in the same vein as firearms legislation – would not only help ensure society's domestic well-being, but would also aid national security.     

Solitary Sunnah and Its Legislative Value Among the Muslim Jurists： Readings of Selected Examples

The science of hadith authentication and classification （ulum al-hadith） has been developed by Muslim scholars mostly based on critical analysis of the texts and chains of the reports （ahadith） that are attributed to Prophet Muhammad （s.a.w.）. Though this science is basically designed to identify the authentic reports which are truly the words, actions or tacit approvals of the Prophet （s.a.w.）, however, it has left its implications onfiqh （legal） opinions among the Muslim jurists （fuqaha）, who left contrasting legal opinions on certain issues offiqh, some of which are as a result of their differences on hadith classification, particularly classifications of hadith into solitary and recurrent reports. This paper uses analytical method, and intends to address the implications of hadith authentication and classification methods on the legislative power of the sunnah, with particular emphasis on the solitary sunnah and its legislative value among the Muslim jurists.     

论我国地方立法存在的问题及其解决

地方立法是我国立法的重要内容,我国地方立法存在缺乏必要性、具体性、越权严重、冲突广泛、操作性差等问题;这些问题导致大量立法资源被浪费,不利于法的价值的实现、社会主义法制的统一、法律作用的实现,法律适用无所适从、地方保护主义合法化。地方立法存在问题的原因主要是地方立法目的不当、立法主体立法技术的欠缺、地方立法主体观念滞后、立法依据不明、相应的国家机关怠于履行立法监督职责。解决地方立法问题的出路在于端正立法目的、更新立法观念、实行立法专业化、明确地方立法依据、强化立法监督责任,建立地方立法“良法”标准等。     

刑法牵连关系界定标准之新解——兼论牵连犯与吸收犯的区别

在司法实践中,刑法牵连问题层出不穷,不仅源于实践案例的复杂性,也源自当下对刑法的牵连关系理论研究的滞后性。若要从根源上对刑法牵连问题的理论研究有所推进,须对现有牵连关系理论进行清理与重建．坚持限制解释、不可逾越与避免、严格参照罪状、事实判断四原则,进而对刑法牵连关系进行界定,并在刑法牵连关系之下实现对牵连犯与吸收犯的认定;且对具有刑法牵连关系的牵连犯与吸收犯一律从一重刑处罚．．     

Media Coverage of Congress in the 1990s: Scandals,Personalities, and the Prevalence of Policy and Process

In this article, we provide a comprehensive, systematic examination of media coverage of Congress in the 1990s. Specifically, we content analyze over 2,600 congressional news stories from the New York Times and CBS Evening News from 1990 through 1998. We find that the news media covered substantive policy concerns and the legislative process quite regularly and that stories focusing on individual personalities and political scandals were comparatively infrequent. We also find that legislative maneuvering is a mainstay of congressional media coverage, and the democratic process is most often framed as conflict between parties and Congress and the president.     

The Personalization(s) of Politics: Israel, 1949–2003

The relationship between the United States and Iran has had an important influence on world affairs during the past two decades. Accordingly, the U.S. news media have an instrumental role in portraying U.S.‐Iran relations to the public. The Iranian Revolution and hostage crisis of 1979–1981, the TWA hijacking of 1985, the Irangate controversy of 1986–1987, and the Persian Gulf War of 1990–1991 are examples of important media events that have impacted public opinion regarding U.S. policy toward Iran. This research analyzes government and print media portrayals of the Reagan administration's U.S.‐Iran policy during Irangate. Results supported the prediction that the print media would fulfill their “watchdog” function by providing more critical portrayals of the United States' policy toward Iran than the Tower Commission Report, an investigative document published by President Reagan's Special Review Board. Among the three leading newspapers analyzed, there was significant diversity in the reporting of U.S.‐Iran relations. Results indicate the Reagan administration's attempt to “spin” its version of Irangate did not successfully pressure the media to neglect their watchdog role. Although the Tower Commission Report was less critical of U.S. policy toward Iran than the print media, all four print media sources portrayed the Reagan administration's policy as a flawed approach that degenerated into trading arms for hostages. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed.     

我国警察权再配置的法律问题分析

在法治国家的背景下,政府的行政管理体制和管理职能不断发生变化,对作为典型行政权的警察权提出了新的要求,既有的警察权配置面临着各种问题和挑战,已经不能满足社会形势的发展需要。文章从对警察权的性质和既有配置规则的分析入手,提出了警察权再配置的立法构想。     

民事法律监督视野中的“先法后检”模式

"先法后检"模式及相关立法造成两次再审,在国家利益和社会公共利益的保护、对恶意诉讼的打击等方面未予以例外规定,拉远了检察院与当事人间的"距离"。为此,检察院应树立科学的执法理念,严格执法,积极与法院合作,确保该模式得以贯彻落实,并取得良好的成效。     

Horses and hippos: Why Italian government bills change in the legislative arena, 1987–2006

Scholars interested in legislative processes pay relatively little attention to the changes made to bills in parliamentary democracies. On the one hand, comparative research has often described parliamentary institutions as ineffectual vis‐à‐vis cabinets throughout the lawmaking process; on the other hand, for a long time the rational choice literature has focused more on the formal rules regulating amendatory activity than on amendatory activity itself. Hence, very few studies have tried to explain how much government bills are altered in parliament and why. This article investigates the changes made to governmental legislation in Italy. Taking the modifications occurring during the legislative process as the dependent variable, a number of explanatory hypotheses derived from both existing scholarship and original arguments are discussed and tested. This also allows the identification of some usually unobserved aspects of the decision‐making process within the cabinet. The findings can also be relevant for comparative research since Italy has been characterised during the period under scrutiny (1987–2006) by two distinct electoral systems, two extremely different party systems (pivotal and alternational), governments with various ideological orientations and range, and both partisan and technical ministers.     

Balanced or Biased? Interest Groups and Legislative Lobbying in the European News Media

This article examines the coverage of legislative lobbying in European news media. The starting point thereby is that lobbying in the crowded European Union (EU)-level interest community is not only a struggle for direct access to policymakers, but that in order to realize policy goals many interest groups rely on political attention generated by the media. Our main research question is how media attention is skewed toward particular interests and which factors explain these varying levels of prominence. Our empirical analysis is based on a set of 125 legislative proposals adopted by the European Commission between 2008 and 2010. For all these cases we identified 379 interest organizations that made public statements, we coded the amount of media attention these organized interests gained, the type of statements they made as well as some key organizational features. While the aggregate levels of attention look pretty balanced, our evidence shows that media prominence is skewed toward particular types of interests; in particular that organized interests which oppose a proposed policy gain significantly higher levels of media attention.