The real deal? The post-conflict constitution as a peace agreement

Abstract

When intra-state armed conflicts end through a negotiated settlement, the conflict parties frequently agree to amend or replace the country’s constitution. Their aim is to entrench the settlement, address the conflict incompatibility, reform institutions and take other measures to prevent a recurrence of violence. This article argues that post-conflict constitutions (PCCs) should be understood as peace agreements. It motivates this argument on conceptual, functional and legal grounds. It demonstrates that PCCs comply with conventional definitions of a peace agreement, are an intrinsic component of the conflict resolution process and have a range of peace maintenance functions. As supreme law, they become the definitive peace agreement. Research on peace durability following negotiated settlements should therefore focus not only on comprehensive peace agreements (CPAs) but also on PCCs. PCCs should be conceived not as mere components of CPA implementation but as substantive political and legal agreements in their own right and as independent causes of peace.     

South Sudan: The Elusive Quest for a Resilient Social Contract?

ABSTRACT

After its hard-won independence in 2011, South Sudan slid quickly into violent conflict and became a theatre of enormous human suffering. This article attempts to answer the question of what went wrong, and what prospects exist for South Sudanese to forge a resilient social contract to build and sustain peace. It employs an analytical framework postulating three drivers of such a contract, at the heart of which is how core issues of conflict that underpin violent conflict and fragility have been addressed. The research findings underscore that the way the ruling elites managed the transition to statehood, the development of exclusive weak institutions, and frail social cohesion have all served to undermine peace and the development of a resilient social contract. Core issues of conflict have not been addressed, witnessed by the eruption of civil war in 2013. While the 2015 Peace Agreement provides, at least on paper, the basis for forging a new social contract that holds promise for sustaining peace, building inclusive institutions and nurturing social cohesion, its realization requires political will, strategic leadership, and a national vision, which are currently in short supply.     

缔约过失责任探析

本文从缔约过失责任的创立入手,探讨了缔约过失责任的法律基础,认为诚实信用原则是其合理存在的根基。同时,着重分析了缔约过失责任的构成要件及与相关责任的区别,并就其适用范围进行了论述。     

全球化:认同与抗拒

对全球化浪潮有两种不同的态度；认同与抗拒，持赞成态度认同经济全球化，科技全球化，全球生态环境保护，化与生活方式的趋同化及普世价值等现象的合理性和积极意义。持否定态度则从各自的视角针对全球化的负面影响进行批判。     

什么是言论——《宪法》第35条的一种论理解释

综合我国基本权利谱系、基本权利条款间的关系及立法意图,既不宜对言论作字面解释,将其含义限定为口头形式,同时也不宜作过分的扩充解释。我国《宪法》第35条意义上的言论,不仅包括口头形式,还应包括书面形式,但已成为基本权利或可以被其他基本权利条款所包摄的表达形式不在言论范畴。     

Negotiating Umbrella Agreements

Experienced negotiators know that it is often impossible to define all terms of a complex agreement. By negotiating umbrella agreements, the negotiating parties try to balance the need for certainty and calculability of give-and-take processes with the need to remain sufficiently flexible to embrace new or emerging business opportunities. Umbrella agreements describe a joint consent that explicitly articulates a framework of rules and principles that guides future agreements. It is argued that negotiators are better able to maximize their joint gains if they differentiate between agreements and the framework in which agreements are made.     

Mbeki's African Renaissance Vision as Reflected in isiXhosa Written Poetry: 2005–2011

IsiXhosa literary critics have not yet interrogated literature that was produced during and after the tenure of Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki as deputy president and president of the Republic of South Africa in order to study the impact of his African Renaissance doctrine. This article analyses poetry that was produced from 2005 to 2011. The content of the isiXhosa written poetry is profoundly influenced by the context of former President Mbeki's African Renaissance philosophy, its implementation structures and philosophy of self-confidence and self-reliance. The selected poems analysed and interpreted in this article suggest that Mbeki's legacy of the African Renaissance empowered poets to develop a narrative that advances the building of a regenerated South African nation and the African continent. Selected poetry of the period is contextualised, and the findings reveal that the poets have a dialectical relationship with historical developments of the time, and that they demonstrate acquiescence to the African Renaissance ideology, and support the operational structures created; namely African Union, Pan-African Parliament and the Vuk’uzenzele programme.     

人民币汇率构成补贴悖论

基于贸易保护之初衷,美国政界、商界部分人士以人民币汇率被低估而给出口企业带来不公平竞争优势为由提出人民币汇率构成补贴的观点,由此引发能否对人民币汇率采取反补贴措施的争议。将该争议之争点定位于WTO之反补贴协定框架之下,并结合我国汇率制度之形成基础及其对宏观经济的作用综合分析,可以认定人民币汇率不构成WTO体制下补贴的定义及法定构成要件,仅凭人民币汇率对出口企业的影响断定其构成补贴的观点是缺乏法律依据的。     

《中国银行间市场金融衍生产品交易主协议》相关法律问题解读

本文介绍了《中国银行间市场金融衍生产品交易主协议》制定的背景、特点及主要内容。探讨了交叉违约、终止净额及公允价值计算等衍生产品交易主协议所特有的制度安排,分析了该协议对中国OTC[2]金融衍生品市场发展的重要意义。     

集体合同快速增长背后的隐忧——以《武汉市餐饮行业工资专项集体合同》为例

在我国向市场经济的转型和发展过程中,劳方与资本利益上的差异逐步凸显,并引发了劳资冲突和矛盾.在这种情况下,集体协商和集体合同制度正是理顺新形势下的劳动关系、促进产业和平发展的有效机制.近年来,我国的集体协商工作已经取得非常大的进展,其中行业性工资集体协商中,尤其以武汉市餐饮行业工资专项集体协商的影响最大,但是其背后所隐藏的问题同样不可忽视.