我国刑法应增设“恐怖活动罪”——基于新疆“7·5”事件的思考

新疆7·5事件引发了对我国刑法规定的反思。我国刑法缺乏专门的反恐罪名,应将暴力破坏的犯罪类型从刑法分则各章节中分列出来,结合恐怖主义目的,合并设置为专门罪名恐怖活动罪,为反恐怖斗争提供有力的法律依据。     

论仲裁规则的性质及其与仲裁法之间的关系

仲裁规则是规定如何通过仲裁的方法解决当事人之间争议的程序性规则。仲裁适用的规则既可以由当事人约定,也可以由仲裁机构或者相关的国际经济贸易组织制定。仲裁规则的本质是契约性,仅在当事人选择适用的情况下对相关当事人或者仲裁机构(庭)具有法律上的拘束力。当事人也可在不违反相关国家有关强制性法律规则的情况下对他们选择适用的仲裁规则进行修订。国家的仲裁法所规范的是在该国境内进行的一切仲裁活动,无须当事人对此做出选择。仲裁法还是仲裁规则的重要补充。如果当事人或者仲裁规则未能对争议事项作出规定或规定不明确的,可以通过相关国家的国内仲裁立法加以补充与完善。由于仲裁规则与仲裁法在本质上的不同,决定了它们在适应范围和法律效力上的不同。     

我国非营利组织信息公开法律制度研究

基于非营利组织自身的特殊性,非营利组织信息公开制度相对于营利组织信息公开制度更具有现实意义,它是政府、捐赠人、社会公众等实现对非营利组织监督管理的基础。我国非营利组织信息公开法律制度尚未能够针对公益性组织和互益性组织、不同规模的组织做科学、合理的分类管理;双重管理体制下的双重信息公开有悖于效率的基本原则;社会团体和民办非企业单位信息公开专门制度缺失且缺乏强有力的保障措施。因而,应以功能优化为目标,在基本内容、基本途径和基本要求三方面来完善我国非营利组织信息公开法律制度。在基本内容上重点强化公益性和互益性组织、不同规模组织的分类管理;在基本途径方面完善税务部门对非营利组织信息公开的管理;在基本要求方面应逐步建立社会团体和民办非企业单位信息公开专门制度并健全信息公开法律责任制度。     

台湾民间治安防范法治模式对大陆的借鉴意义

民间治安防范力量在大陆地区和台湾地区都发挥着重要作用。台湾民间治安防范工作取得了很好的社会效益,犯罪率明显下降,警民关系、邻里关系融洽,他山之石可以攻玉,希望大陆地区保留已有的先进经验的前提下,借鉴台湾地区的优秀工作成果,进一步完善大陆地区的民间治安防范力量。     

关于“民主法治村（社区）”创建的实践与思考——以成都市为例

创建＂民主法治村（社区）＂是落实依法治国方略的具体实践,是构建和谐社会的重要标志,是增强基层政权和自治组织凝聚力的重要手段,是维护基层社会稳定的重要举措。近年来,成都市扎实有序地开展了＂民主法治村（社区）＂创建工作并取得了明显成效,但还存在发展不平衡、制度欠完善、创建经费不足等问题。因此,需要不断深化创建工作,以进一步夯实＂法治成都＂的根基。     

The Impact of the Terrorist Attacks of 9/11 on Anti-Islamic Hate Crime

Abstract

Using existing data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, time series analyses were conducted on hate crime data from 2001 around the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. A statistically significant increase in anti-Islamic hate crime occurred after 9/11, and anti-Islamic hate crime leveled off within 8 weeks of the occurrence. News stories reporting anti-Islamic hate crimes, stories reporting fear of such bias crime, and public calls for calm, tolerance, and/or reaction to anti-Islamic bias crime followed a similar pattern found within the official data. A city-by-city analysis found that UCR reported anti-Islamic hate crime was essentially non-existent in New York City and Washington, DC. It is suggested that public calls for calm and tolerance and in-group/out-group dynamics may have impacted anti-Islamic hate crime frequency, thus accounting for rises and reductions in this form of bias crime over time.     

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation and North American Migratory Bird Conservation: The Potential of the NAAEC Citizen Submission Procedure

This article examines the citizen submission process laid out in Articles 14--15 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), the 1993 environmental NAFTA “side agreement.” These articles set out a process by which nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) or individuals may file a submission alleging that one of the Parties to the agreement “is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law.” The paper traces developments set in motion by two submissions alleging failure to enforce migratory bird legislation. The first targets the United States, the second, Canada. Developments in these and other Article 14--15 cases have enfeebled an instrument that, from the outset, many regarded as having quite limited potential. These cases indicate, nonetheless, that the procedure still has some limited usefulness as a way of highlighting implementation failures. NGOs that do choose to invest in pursuing a citizen submission process would be advised to combine these efforts with other approaches to mobilizing public pressure.     

Alternative action organizations across different welfare and third sector regimes during hard economic times

ABSTRACT

Since 2008, the international economic and financial crisis has been affecting the living and working conditions of European citizens in different ways and scope. Yet, the pattern is of rising unemployment, social deprivation and poverty, cuts in health, education and social security budgets. These negative socio-economic conditions have led to major transformations in collective responses, which, among others, take place through Alternative Action Organisations (AAOs). The specific organizations carry out non-mainstream activities that primarily target the economic and the social well-being of citizens, including their basic needs, health and lifestyles. Using quantitative data from the LIVEWHAT project and drawing on social origins theory and resource mobilization theory, the article investigates AAOs’ main characteristics across four European countries that have been differently affected from the recent recession as well as belong to different welfare state and third sector regimes, including Germany, Greece, Sweden and Poland. The findings stress the importance of considering the particular combinations of the welfare state and third sector regimes as well as the severity of the experienced economic crisis in understating the variation in AAOs’ main features under a comparative perspective.     

Can Social Innovations in Housing Save Public Money? The Case of Slovakia

ABSTRACT

The paper deals with research into the innovative provision of public services by the non-governmental organizations in the field of housing. The paper describes the legislation of the housing system in Slovakia and aims to analyse innovation in social housing provision. The paper contributes to the knowledge on innovative social housing solutions provided by non-governmental organizations. The use of cost benefit analysis reveals the benefits of innovation in housing provision by an internationally awarded organization ETP Slovakia. The analysis proves the government´s possible savings of public expenditures if it would decide to support the innovative approach in social housing provision.