The fractured state in the governance of private game farming: the case of KwaZulu-Natal Province,South Africa

Conversion from livestock and/or crop farming to game farming has been a notable trend on privately owned land in South Africa over the last decades. The rapid growth of wildlife ranching is associated with an annual increase in the areas enclosed by game fences and high demand for wildlife which is being traded privately and at wildlife auctions. Key environmental, agricultural and land reform legislation has been passed since 1994 that impacts this sector, but this legislation does not provide a clear regulatory framework for the game farming industry. This article seeks to understand why game farming is thriving in a regulatory environment plagued with uncertainty. The focus is on one province, KwaZulu-Natal. It is clear that the state is not a homogeneous and monolithic entity applying itself to the regulation of the sector. There is no clear direction on the position of private game farming at the interface of environmental and agricultural regulations. The argument put forward is that the fractured state, in fact, provides space within which the game farmers are able to effectively manoeuvre and to maximise their advantages as private landowners. While game farmers may complain about strict wildlife regulation in the province, the benefits they gain from the combination of a divided state and the presence in this province of a strong, autonomous conservation body are considerable.     

Paving the way for farm animal welfare in international relations: an EU–Brazil case study

As a sensitive area in international trade, animal welfare measures have encountered resistance in negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Consequently, alternative avenues have been pursued to reach international trade policy convergence. To further understand the contemporary trade politics of animal welfare, an empirical investigation was conducted on the interplay between European and Brazilian actors in the context of livestock production. By drawing upon diplomatic studies and the global governance literature, this study identifies and analyses initiatives that parallel the WTO approach and through which the development and implementation of mutually acceptable farm animal welfare measures have been pursued. Research findings indicate that a constellation of international non-diplomatic actors are currently engaged in influencing the future development of farm animal welfare measures. Among the initiatives that enable the alignment of European and Brazilian animal welfare policies and practices, there are soft instruments such as knowledge sharing and private standards. The rise of new actors and the use of soft instruments have been, to a certain extent, able to mitigate the tardiness of a WTO consensus regarding the use of animal welfare measures. However, there are concerns that the use of private standards has become a shortcut to circumvent the rigours of the multilateral trading system. This concern deserves a closer look because instead of paving the way, private standards may hamper trade relations which in turn hamper progress in animal welfare matters.     

关 于 民 办 高 校 人才 培养适 应 市 场 需 求 的 研 究

民办高校的人才培养模式必须适应市场需求,在社会经济体制改革和高等教育发展转型的背景下,民办高校人才培养模式对市场需求的适应性存在着许多亟待解决的问题。而解决民办高校人才培养适应市场需求的主要途径有:一是重视对领军人物的引进与培养,稳步提升师资水平;二是合理定位,加强专业内涵建设;三是改进课程设置,强化实践教学;四是创新人才培养途径和方法,满足人才培养的市场需求。     

Where the Action Is: Macro and Micro Justice in Contract Law

In contemporary private law theory the relationship between ‘macro’ theories of distributive justice and the ‘micro’ site of interpersonal transactions remains under-explored. In this paper, I draw on the ‘macro’ theory of justice articulated by John Rawls and offer an account of ‘micro contractual justice’ that helps us understand how the micro domains of contracting introduce particular relational constraints on the infusion of distributive considerations into contract law, resulting in constrained conception of ‘relational Rawlsianism’ operating in contractual domains. My framework provides a bridge between the macro and micro, helping us understand how they are in various senses separate yet interlocking, and also provides a ‘third way’ between all or nothing positions on the place of distributive justice in contract.     

Corporate policy entrepreneurship and cross-boundary strategies: How a private corporation champions mobile healthcare payment innovation in China?

The private nature of corporate actors does not necessarily preclude them from contributing to public interest. When business strategies and genuine public motivation are favorably aligned, corporate actors from the private sector can also drive public sector innovations. For a private corporation, policy entrepreneurship inherently entails crossing not only the public–private boundary but also various policy domains. This study formulates five propositions to characterize the cross-boundary strategies of corporate policy entrepreneurship, a distinct form of policy entrepreneurship in a developing authoritarian state. The case study of mobile healthcare payment innovation in China finds that the corporate entrepreneur used a series of cross-boundary strategies adeptly that eventually made the innovation not only adopted in one locality but also rapidly diffused nationwide. These strategies were not used in isolation or in a pure stepwise fashion but appeared to be recursive and interactive, suggesting the dynamic nature of corporate policy entrepreneurship in a multilevel governance system. More studies could be done to further examine strategies and processes of other forms of policy entrepreneurship in various national and sectoral settings.     

刑事被害人当事人化的反思与制度重构

刑事被害人当事人化的实质是犯罪损害追诉方式的公私合一,该制度设计混淆了公益和私益两种不同性质的诉讼,导致两种权益保护相互冲突进而对刑事司法结果公正造成负面影响。公私分离是刑事被害人去当事人化的当然制度选择,其立法对策主要包括在刑事立法中确立被害人为特殊诉讼参与人、废除被害人在刑事审判中就定罪量刑发表意见的权利、废止被害人刑事自诉权和切断其引起刑事二审、再审的程序路径。同时需要完善相关配套举措,如允许被害人对其物质和精神损害单独提起民事诉讼、完善精神损害赔偿制度、建立刑事被害人国家补偿制度等。     

北京市民办幼儿园教职工权益维护路径研究

民办幼儿园教职工队伍已逐步成为我国学前教育的主力军,其权益维护状况直接影响着这支队伍的稳定与发展,由于价值观念、顶层设计、制度落实等方面因素的影响,民办幼儿园教职工队伍存在着不公、不畅、不明朗的障碍,本文从北京市民办幼儿园教职工权益维护面临的就业、收入、安全、保障、参与、职业发展等方面的实际问题入手,通过系统研究分析,提出了相应的政策建议。     

秘密侦查与侦查不公开之辨

侦查不公开与秘密侦查是有本质区别的。侦查不公开即为侦查过程中所知悉的情况不得向外泄露,其法理基础在于保证诉讼活动的顺利进行、贯彻无罪推定、保障公正审判和保护相关当事人的法益,域外各国都严格控制侦查不公开性。秘密侦查与侦查不公开在性质、要求保密的主体和客体上都是不同的。侦查应坚持适度公开,着重考虑是否会影响实体真实发现诉讼目的的实现、是否会对犯罪嫌疑人的名誉造成不应有的损害、是否会影响公正审判。     

“新与旧、公与私、理与时、情与势”中的人——试探李准1954-1955年(合作化高潮前)的小说创作

本文聚焦于作家李准的早期创作(1954年到1955年7月合作化高潮前),追踪李准如何观察互助合作过程所引发的农民在价值观念、心理、意识、情感、家庭关系等方面的变化状态,深入分析他围绕互助合作的动员组织方式、个人与集体关系、集体形成路径、新的家庭关系与乡村日常生活状态等主题所展开的观察和把握的具体意涵。文章进而揭示,李准的体察突破了惯常的"阶级"视角,有助于我们突破相关历史表述及其逻辑重新认识那一段历史中经验的真实意涵,同时使我们得以在更为丰富的维度中思考20世纪50年代合作化进程中集体与个人、公与私、情与理等重要问题。文章还将思考李准当年这些观察和理解对我们今天认识中国乡村社会和农民的启发意义。     

公益行政诉讼模式的理论分析与制度化建议

公益行政诉讼模式可分为公诉模式与私诉模式.公诉模式包括检察机关作为起诉人的典型公诉模式和特定公益性社会组织作为起诉人的未来公诉模式.检察机关的典型公诉模式为现阶段实际可行形态.在检察行政公益诉讼中,检察机关处于“行政公诉人”地位,依法行使有关监督和诉讼职权.私诉模式包括公民提起的典型私诉模式和经依法登记的社会组织提起的...