Involuntary detention and treatment of the mentally ill: China's 2012 Mental Health Law

The long-awaited Mental Health Law of China was passed on 26 October 2012 and took effect on 1 May 2013. Being the first national legislation on mental health, it establishes a basic legal framework to regulate mental health practice and recognizes the fundamental rights of persons with mental disorders. This article focuses on the system of involuntary detention and treatment of the mentally ill under the new law, which is expected to prevent the so-called “Being misidentified as mentally disordered” cases in China. A systematic examination of the new system demonstrates that the Mental Health Law of China implicitly holds two problematic assumptions and does not provide adequate protection of the fundamental rights of the involuntary patients. Administrative enactments and further national legislative efforts are needed to remedy these flaws in the new law.     

保险法理论的发展与保险实务的应对及挑战——以《保险法司法解释二》的实施为中心

《最高人民法院关于适用〈保险法〉若干问题的解释（二）》就保险实务中若干重问题予以了规定,包括保险利益、追溯保险、如实告知义务的内容以及保险金给付与其他请求权之间的关系等,此次解释或采纳了最新的保险法理论研究成果,或根据保险法原理突破了传统法规的不合理适用规则,为更好地保护保险消费者权益以及保险业的发展创造了良好的司法环境.     

Asia-Pacific news

This column provides a country by country analysis of the latest legal developments, cases and issues relevant to the IT, media and telecommunications' industries in key jurisdictions across the Asia Pacific region. The articles appearing in this column are intended to serve as ‘alerts’ and are not submitted as detailed analyses of cases or legal developments.     

Area Differences and Time Trends in Crime Reporting: Comparing New York with Other Metropolitan Areas

Police measures of crime are shaped by victims’ decisions to notify the police. To obtain a better understanding of US crime trends, this study uses the National Crime Victimization Survey to examine geographic differences and temporal trends in crime reporting in New York and other metropolitan areas for the period 1979-2004. We find that net of crime characteristics and survey methodology, the New York metropolitan area showed fewer increases in crime reporting than did other metropolitan areas. These divergent trends suggest that the real differences in the drop of nonlethal violence between New York and other areas may have been smaller than those indicated by police-based crime statistics. We also find that from the early 1990s to 2004, New York showed a sharp decrease in the likelihood of victims perceiving that “police wouldn’t help.” This trend suggests that police reforms in New York City have not resulted in more victims using police-related reasons to explain their nonreporting behavior. Instead, researchers need to develop a broader theoretical framework (not an exclusive focus on police actions) to understand how police- and nonpolice-related factors may explain the geographic variation in the trends of reporting observed in this study.     

域外财税法学发展及其对中国的启示

在市场经济和法治较为发达的国家,财税法往往相对完善,这不仅表现在财税立法、执法和司法上,也表现在财税法的教育和研究上。质言之,财税活动自国家产生之日就已存在,并在现代受到民主、法治等理念的深刻影响,在理财治国中发挥着系统性的作用。域外财税法学一直遵循独立的发展轨迹,尤其以税法为核心建构起了成熟的法律框架和教学体系。而财税法学在中国作为一门交叉学科、新兴学科,亟需厘清自身的性质和定位,围绕公共财产的收入、支出、监管展开制度构建,才能有效地推动财税改革和法治建设。同时,与欧美、日本等国相比,中国财税法学人地提出了"财税一体"的广阔视野,从而为财税立法和财税法学的后续发展奠定了良好基础。     

再论司法鉴定统一立法——兼评新刑诉法中鉴定制度的变化

新刑诉法对鉴定制度有诸多改进,如：将鉴定结论改为鉴定意见、初步建立起中国式＂专家证人＂制度、打通了法庭寻求专门知识的人帮助的通道等,但如鉴定启动权的配置、鉴定机构设置等问题却仍未解决。刑诉法调整的乏力,再次证明只有制定统一的《司法鉴定法》才能实质性解决我国鉴定制度存在的问题。从必要性上看,统一立法既是完善鉴定制度的需要,又是保障法制统一和理顺鉴定管理机制的需要;从可行性上看,当前具备时代背景、民意基础和客观条件。在统一立法时,要处理好适度超前与立足实际、精密立法与开门纳谏、统一立法与既有立法的关系,以《全国人民代表大会常务委员会关于司法鉴定管理问题的决定》为基础,找准着力点推进立法。     

行政证据与刑事证据衔接机制研究——以新《刑事诉讼法》第52条第2款为分析重点

2012年修正后的《刑事诉讼法》第52条第2款建立了行政证据与刑事证据的衔接机制。在肯定这一机制建立的正当性的同时,有必要对"可以作为证据使用"的内涵、行政证据与刑事证据衔接的范围、有权移交行政证据的主体等基本问题予以分析和阐释。行政证据与刑事证据的衔接可能造成司法实践操作的混乱,导致侦查活动前置,架空非法证据排除规则,侵犯犯罪嫌疑人、被告人的合法权利。为此,应当完善相关法律规则,划清侦查机关与其他行政机关的职能界限,严格行政证据的审查标准,加强对辩护方权利的保护。     

农村土地承包经营权的继承问题探析

农村土地承包经营权能否作为继承标的,在理论上及《继承法》的修订中颇有争议。农户以家庭承包方式取得的土地承包经营权,是一种特殊的用益物权,具有福利性和社会保障功能,户内成员均具有特殊的身份并因此形成特殊的准共有关系。户内成员部分死亡时,由于"户"还存在,仅产生生存成员的权利扩张问题,而不存在继承问题;户内成员全部死亡的,承包关系终止,应由发包人收回承包地,也不发生继承问题,唯林地的承包经营权有所例外。而以其他方式承包取得的四荒地的承包经营权,其主体无特定的身份限制,也不承载社会保障功能,作为自然人的承包人死亡时,其承包经营权应可作为遗产。承包地因被征收而获得的补偿费的继承问题,亦应区别不同费用而作不同的对待。     

陪审制的分权机制与证据法的发展

针对我国人民陪审员制目前面临的“陪而不审”、“审而不议”之晋遍困境,本文探讨了西方国家陪审制产生和发展的过程,认识到“分权是陪审制成长的基本条件”;详细探讨了我国“陪而不审”、“审而不议”现象的主要形态,指出没有实行分权是造成这种困窘局面的根源;讨论了正在兴起的河南人民陪审圆制度的进步意义与局限性;主张我国应当建立以分权为首要特征的人民陪审员制度,为此需要立法机关制定有关陪审团如何与法官分享裁判权的制度,其中最关键的是制定证据法和陪审团法。     

对下调法定最低刑责年龄的省思

此次刑法修正案(十一)对最低刑事责任年龄进行下调,可以在很大程度上避免一部分已满12周岁未满14周岁的未成年人倚仗法律保护肆意实施危害行为的"钻法律之空子"的情况发生,能够有效提升法律的威慑力,使公众免受"12岁恶魔"的伤害。在作为调整对象的低龄未成年人一侧,最低刑责年龄的下调意味着他们必须为自己的不法行为承担责任、付出代价。戴上这只法律"金箍"的未成年人将不得不在法律的框架内保持自身行为的检点合法。当然,虽然法律对最低刑事责任年龄进行了下调,但犯罪未成年人仍然需要在"教育为主、惩罚为辅"的矫治环境中得到救赎,既不能"一放了之",也不能"一关了之"[1]。在"疏"与"堵"并行的同时加强相关法律制度的衔接,使低龄未成年人可以在一个相对完善的制度设计中树立起对法律以及他人权益的敬畏之心。