论我国环境公益诉讼制度的构建——兼评《环境影响评价公众参与暂行办法》

环境公益诉讼可以分为环境民事公益诉讼、环境行政公益诉讼、环境公诉。环境公益诉讼制度的构建应以《宪法》、《环境保护法》的规定为依据,通过确定诉讼原告、环境公益,对《民事诉讼法》、《行政诉讼法》等作适当修订,并结合一些相关诉讼制度,在实践中逐步进行。《环境影响评价公众参与暂行办法》因缺乏环境公益诉讼制度的规定,将直接影响其立法目的的实现和公众参与的主动性。     

Bad History

If history is a sort of radar for the ship of state, then the machine has broken down, just at the point where Gordon Brown, trained as a historian, takes over control. Caught up in the best-seller business, popularised on TV, it has come to reflect metropolitan commercial drives, the obsessions of The Hitler Channel or the 'publish or be damned' ethos of the Research Assessment Exercise. Fashionable discourses about identity and postmodern consumerism, and the palsied traditions of Fogeydomboth remote from the basic business of getting, spending and governing-may offer a niche-marketing future, but are more likely to speed the vessel towards the rocks.     

公共支出效率评价——带非自主决定输入的两阶段数据包络模型

公共支出的效率评价是政府进行有效公共支出管理的基础,正确评价公共支出效率也是各国政府需要研究和解决的问题.经济学是通过比较公共支出前后的社会福利变化来衡量公共支出效率的,然而,社会福利是由公共支出与私人支出共同决定的,而且公共支出的增加是有机会成本的.因此,我们不能通过忽略私人支出,而单独分析公共支出对社会福利的影响的方式来衡量公共支出的效率.同时,各种原因共同导致政府通过公共支出提供的公共产品组合往往与社会公众的实际需求不一致.本文尝试在分析公共支出的效率时,把私人支出也纳入分析的范畴,同时提出了一种方法--带非自主决定输入的两阶段数据包络模型,试图解决在政府与公众偏好不一致情况下的公共支出的效率评价问题,并按照中国的数据进行了实证检验.     

The Assessment of Gain-Based Damages for Breach of Contract

This article argues that there are two different measures of gain-based damages for breach of contract: the Wrotham Park measure and the Blake measure. The former is assessed by reference to the objective value of the benefit received by the defendant and the latter by reference to the defendant's subjective gain. In assessing Wrotham Park damages the courts apply a fixed formula, determining the price that a reasonable person in the position of the claimant might have demanded from the defendant at the time of breach for relaxing its rights under the contract. The Blake measure is different; it requires the defendant to disgorge the actual net profit received from the breach. Unlike the Wrotham Park measure, it deals only with positive and not negative gains. It is also limited by the doctrine of causation so that only those gains that are 'directly occasioned' by the breach are recoverable.     

Regulatory Impact Assessment: How political and organizational forces influence its diffusion in a developing country

Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIAs) are being diffused progressively throughout the world following the recommendations of international organizations. Research has shown that the diffusion of RIA has not produced convergence in actual practices, particularly in developing countries, due to political forces at work in domestic contexts or the available organizational capacities. The Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) has recently recommended that the Brazilian federal government adopt RIA. This article evaluates how contextual variables, specifically political and organizational ones, influence RIA adoption in Brazil. It is based on field research consisting of semi‐structured interviews with the main stakeholders of the Brazilian regulatory framework. The research explored RIA concept familiarity among stakeholders, the bureaucratic context, the policy process, pivotal stakeholders' standpoints in adopting RIA, and available organizational capacities. Contrary to previous studies in developing countries, the research reveals that strong organizational capacities are not a sufficient factor for successful diffusion of RIA, because political variables can influence divergence among agencies in future RIA practices.     

关于提请罪犯减刑、假释的几点思考

监狱建立对罪犯有悔改表现的考核机制,在决定对罪犯提请减刑、假释时,应依据罪犯悔改表现程度适时对罪犯进行综合评价,进而决定是否提请减刑、假释。使监狱减刑、假释工作更加公开、公平、公正。     

社区矫正人员再犯风险评估工具实证研究

在社区矫正力量有限、增长速度缓慢,社区矫正规模不断扩大的现实背景下,准确鉴别出再犯风险高的罪犯加以重点控制,并根据高致罪因素进行个别化矫正是目前唯一可行、科学的策略。因此,制定科学有效的社区矫正人员再犯风险评估工具,将其应用于审前社会调查和罪犯监管矫正是一种当然选择。基于同期群比较研究研发的CIRAI系统经过实践部门两年实际应用,多次修订完成了社区服刑人员再犯风险评估评估表修订版(CIRAI-R),并取得了明显的实践效果。     

Towards a universal framework for democracy assessment

Assessing the state or quality of a country's democracy has become an increasingly widespread undertaking over the past ten years, whether to construct league tables of democratic attainment, to explore correlations between democracy and economic condition or performance, or to identify likely recipients and projects for international aid. This article reports on a civil society-based programme and framework for democracy assessment in which the author has been involved, whose purpose is to contribute to public debate about a country's democracy, to monitor its progress over time, and to identify pressing areas for reform. Distinctive features of the methodology are the derivation of assessment criteria from clearly articulated democratic values, its relevance to new and established democracies alike, and the comprehensiveness of the assessment framework, covering citizen rights and the rule of law, institutions of representative and accountable government, civil society and participation, and international dimensions of democracy. The article explores the intellectual underpinnings of the assessment methodology in the universal validity of democratic norms and a common imperative for democratization in developed as well as developing countries; and argues for the framework's usefulness in teaching as well as research. It concludes with a brief report on the comparative findings from pilot assessments undertaken with in-country partners in eight countries from across the world.     

Environmental technology assessment for enhanced green economy transition in South Africa

Abstract

South Africa has in place policies that promote green economy and sustainable development path. For example, the National Environmental Management Act Principle 3 states that development must be socially, environmentally and economically sustainable. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) practice in South Africa was formalised in 1997 when the first set of EIA regulations were passed. The DEA EIA review report however suggested that the EIA does not contribute adequately to achieving sustainable development. To this end, a framework is outlined to incorporate the key elements of the environmental technology assessment (EnTA) to EIA, consequently strengthening the EIA process for enhancing green economy transition in the context of sustainable development. The method used consists of case studies and survey data. It is established in the article that there is a level of incorporation between some EnTA elements and issues considered in EIA. It is, however, also established that, of the twelve key elements of EnTA, institutional capacity is the least considered in the EIA. Further research is recommended to investigate the extent to which the lack of consideration for institutional capacity relates to the EIA not contributing to sustainable development.