村落文化景观保护利用的原则及制度思考

当前村落文化景观的保护与利用是一个热点问题。文章在分析贵州村落文化景观保护与利用的现状及存在问题的基础上,提出了贵州村落文化景观保护与利用应该遵循可持续发展、整体保护、以人为本等原则,并从法律层面设计了贵州村落文化景观保护与利用的一些制度。     

农民工合法权益立法保护探讨

农民工是我国城市化高速发展形成的特殊群体,现已拥有2.5亿成员,他们对国家、社会贡献巨大,但尚未得到独立、平等、充分、有效的法律保护。实现农民工合法权益的立法保护,符合人权保障、法的正义价值、完善社会主义法律体系、现有法律和实践创新有机整合的要求,制定符合中国特色的《农民工权益保障法》已势在必行。     

Foreign minister's budget vote address

This article examines the evolution of the responsibility to protect (R2P) norm through the institutional frameworks of the African Union and the United Nations. The investigation aligns itself with recent constructivist thinking around norm evolution and contestation which holds that diverging interpretations around norms facilitate not only norm contestation, but ultimately norm acceptance. In this case different ‘meanings-in-use’ of R2P within and across both organisations reinforce the contested nature of R2P. This becomes most apparent in the prevailing confusion around the affiliated concept of the protection of civilians, which is not effectively delineated from R2P. Nevertheless R2P is found to be widely acknowledged within both organisations.     

Durable peace and sustainable development in Africa

Zimbabwean migration into South Africa represents a challenge to standard global models for responding to large-scale migration flows. South Africa's existing legal and institutional infrastructure for migration management and refugee protection is not adequate for responding to this challenge and yet the country has not planned or implemented alternative responses. The paper outlines the complex ‘mixed’ nature of current Zimbabwean migration to South Africa and describes how South Africa's range of legal and institutional responses are ineffective in protecting both South Africa's national interests and the rights of Zimbabwean migrants. After presenting a series of factors against which future responses should be evaluated, it lists various possible forms of response, including legal and humanitarian interventions, and discusses their respective appropriateness in the South African context. Finally, the paper suggests six possible policy scenarios, taking into account institutional and political realities on the ground in South Africa.     

The transnational protection regime and democratic breakthrough in Taiwan and South Korea

External state pressure is understood to have played a causally significant role in democratic breakthrough in Taiwan and South Korea during the 1980s. This article problematizes the international dimensions of democratization in Taiwan and South Korea by first providing a revisionist account of external agency which involved complex networks of transnational nonstate and substate actors. These included human rights activists, Christian churches and related ecumenical organizations, members of the Taiwanese and Korean diaspora communities in the US, academics and students, foreign journalists, and members of the US Congress. In forming a transnational “protection regime” during the 1970s and 1980s to protect the political opposition from repressive governments, they contributed to the development of effective democratic movements. The case studies provide us with a more comprehensive view of the international dimensions of democratization, speaking to both the country specific and general theoretical literatures on democratization at the same time.     

Opening up personal data protection: A conceptual controversy

The existence of a fundamental right to the protection of personal data in European Union (EU) law is nowadays undisputed. Established in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in 2000, it is increasingly permeating EU secondary law, and is expected to play a key role in the future EU personal data protection landscape. The right's reinforced visibility has rendered manifest the co-existence of two possible and contrasting interpretations as to what it come to mean. If some envision it as a primarily permissive right, enabling the processing of such data under certain conditions, others picture it as having a prohibitive nature, implying that any processing of data is a limitation of the right, be it legitimate or illegitimate. This paper investigates existing tensions between different understandings of the right to the protection of personal data, and explores the assumptions and conceptual legacies underlying both approaches. It traces their historical lineages, and, focusing on the right to personal data protection as established by the EU Charter, analyses the different arguments that can ground contrasted readings of its Article 8. It also reviews the conceptualisations of personal data protection as present in the literature, and finally contrasts all these perspectives with the construal of the right by the EU Court of Justice.     

我国国有财产对私有财产优越权的法理省思

《物权法》颁行以来,我国公私财产平等保护原则的落实并不充分。现行宪法中"社会主义的公共财产"是指国有和集体财产中的公共财产;宪法所确认的国有经济在国民经济中的主导地位,主要体现在国家对某些自然资源和特定行业或领域的所有权或经营管理权的独占。完善我国公私财产平等保护的制度建设,需要从调整相关宪法规范的表述方式、区分国有财产中经营性财产与公共财产和建立政府对公私财产的平等保护机制等方面着手。     

Smuggling wildlife in the Americas: scale,methods, and links to other organised crimes

International wildlife trafficking has garnered increased attention in recent years with a focus on the illicit trade in ivory, rhinos, and other animals from Africa and Asia. Less is known about trafficking in the Americas. By conducting a systematic review of academic literature, popular accounts, and government reports, this case study attempts to identify the scope and methods of wildlife trafficking in the Americas and its connections to organised crime. Unlike arms or drug smuggling, individual operators with minimal connections to other criminal activities dominate the trade. Most perpetrators work independently and have expertise and interests in legitimate businesses involving animal products. Methods of concealment are frequently rudimentary and little appears to be known about primary trafficking routes. Overall, wildlife smuggling in the Western Hemisphere appears to be a small-scale activity, small in its aggregate amounts, and strongly linked to legitimate businesses operating in a low risk and technologically narrow environment.     

Reducing recurrent care proceedings: initial evidence from new interventions

The English family justice system faces a crisis of recurrence. As many as one in four birth mothers involved in public law care proceedings in English family courts are likely to reappear in a subsequent set of proceedings within seven years. These mothers are involved in up to one-third of total care applications, as they are – by definition – linked to more than one child . Few birth mothers experiencing the removal of a child to care are offered any follow-up support, despite often facing multiple challenges including poverty, addiction, domestic violence and mental health problems. Since 2011, however, a number of new services have been established to begin to address their unmet needs. This article summarises the findings of the first academic-led evaluation of two of these initiatives. Presenting evidence from a mixed-methods evaluative study, it concludes that the new services were able to foster relationships that ‘worked’ in reducing recurrent proceedings. None of the women engaging with the services went on to experience what could be described as a ‘rapid repeat pregnancy’ within the evaluation window. Just as significantly, a number of clients reported some improvement in their psychological functioning, and the practitioners involved reported positively on their experience of delivering and managing innovative services. The article closes with a discussion of the challenges of evaluating personalised, strengths-based interventions and the possibilities of evidencing empowerment in these cases.