Direct Democracy and Political Trust: Enhancing Trust,Initiating Distrust–or Both?

This study investigates the relationship between direct democracy and political trust. We suggest a solution to the controversy in research centering on positive versus negative effects of direct democracy by analytically differentiating between the availability of direct democratic rights and the actual use of those rights. Theoretically, greater availability of direct democratic rights may enhance political trust by increasing citizens' perception that political authorities can be controlled as well as by incentivizing political authorities to act trustworthily. In contrast, the actual use of the corresponding direct democratic instruments may initiate distrust as it signals to citizens that political authorities do not act in the public's interest. We test both hypotheses for the very first time with sub‐national data of Switzerland. The empirical results seem to support our theoretical arguments.     

The transition from limited access orders to open access orders in the post-communist Europe

This paper attempts to explain the process of institutional transition of post-communist countries applying conceptual framework proposed by D.C. North, J. J. Wallis, and B. R. Weingast. The first part of the article is devoted to outline the theory of North, Weingast, and Wallis. The second part the theory is used to analyze transformation processes in post-communist countries. An important conclusion of this paper is that cultural, religious and historical factors have crucial impact on formation of new coalitions of elites in the transitions countries. In the countries where Western values were present the transfer of the market and democratic formal institutions was easier. Also, the process of transformation was strongly influenced by external factors, especially the prospect of integration with the European Union, which encouraged elites to take action that benefited the opening of both political and economic markets. These observations suggest that, in general, the success of transformation in transition countries did not depend on the intentional actions of ruling elites.     

论检察活动的原则

检察活动原则是对检察工作根本性、整体性的要求,贯穿于检察机关法律监督工作的各个方面和各个环节,体现了检察机关的性质,规范着检察机关行使法律监督职能活动,对检察机关正确行使检察权具有重要作用。检察活动原则主要有法治原则、检察一体原则、依法独立行使检察权原则、客观公正原则、理性原则和正当程序原则等,这些原则不仅对检察活动具有普遍指导意义,也是检验检察权行使合法性和合理性的重要标准。     

能动司法的实现条件——一个中美比较的视角

近年来,司法能动作为一种与司法克制相对的司法意识形态,引起国内法学界和实务界的关注,很多学者和法官倡导在司法实践中应该充分发挥法官的自由裁量权,实行＂能动的司法＂。但是,能动司法的实现需要多方面条件和因素来支持,否则实行能动司法于法治是不利的。通过比较中美两国在法律文化、法律制度等方面的差异,分析美国能动司法的实现条件,发现中国的不足,有利于推动中国实行有限的＂能动司法＂,构建和谐的法治社会。     

中国军事司法改革理论研究的重、难点问题探析

军事司法作为国家司法的重要组成部分和军事法制建设的核心内容之一,其改革在不断探索中进步,关于军事司法改革的理论研究也面临着重大理论攻关和难点问题辨析,其中需要关注的较突出、重要的问题包括：进一步完善我国军事刑事诉讼制度、加快军事法院的组织立法进程、构建我国的军事行政诉讼制度等方面。通过上述问题的系统研究,进一步启发学界的研究和讨论,努力为我国军事司法制度的改革完善提供更加及时、丰富和有力的理论支持。     

新媒体环境下的新闻报道与司法公正

新媒体环境下,以网络为代表的传播新形式带来了新闻报道内涵与外在形式的变化,也使得媒体与司法的关系出现了新的特点。在网络媒体的报道下,司法审判更为引人关注,也面临更大的舆论压力和挑战。然而,在我国当前形势下,司法和媒体并没有根本的冲突,二者都是现代社会维护和保障人权的两种力量,所以建立良性互动关系是一种双赢的策略。在法律规范的前提下,司法和媒体更要受各自职业伦理的约束,媒体客观中立报道,司法谦抑应对。     

司法警察端源考证

人民法院司法警察是人民警察的重要警种之一,是维护审判秩序,保障司法公正、权威的重要武装力量。然而,这样一支司法行政执法力量,其诞生和发展并不是与我国古老而悠久的司法体制与审判制度应运而生的。我国司法警察的发端起源与中国司法制度和审判制度的变迁以及中国警察制度的建立有着千丝万缕的联系,我国司法警察制度的建立发展又带有深刻的西方警政思想的烙印。     

《刑法》第358条刑罚适用问题探讨

《刑法》第358条的设置为学者诟病。组织卖淫罪的组织性界限不明，但当我们将组织卖淫罪限定在满足场所条件和人员规模条件后，各罪的界限开始清晰。组织卖淫罪的客观行为涵盖了强迫行为。当组织卖淫活动中出现强迫行为时，应以组织卖淫罪认定。本条规定的五项加重情节全部适用于组织卖淫罪，第（二）项至第（五）项适用于强迫卖淫罪。加重情节“强奸后迫使卖淫的”之强奸行为与卖淫行为存在顺承关系。强迫幼女卖淫无需对“幼女”的明知。在认定淫业犯罪时，应放弃对卖淫次数的评价。     

Reviews

Books reviewed:
Maclean Making Law for Families
Kahn The Cultural Study of Law: Reconstructing Legal Scholarship
Ahdar Law and Religion     

Mixing Habermas with Bayes: Methodological and Theoretical Advances in the Study of Deliberation

Two challenges stand out in the study of deliberation: the development of appropriate methodological tools and the development of more unified analytical frameworks. On the one hand, analysing deliberative processes is demanding and time‐consuming; hence we tend to have only few and non‐randomly selected cases at the group or context level. In addition, the real world of deliberation presents us with a complex matrix of nested, cross‐classified, and repeated speakers. This article shows that Bayesian multi‐level modelling provides an elegant way to tackle these methodological problems. On the other hand, we attempt to enrich comparative institutionalism with individual characteristics and psychologically relevant variables (such as group composition). Focusing on Swiss and German parliamentary debates we show that institutional factors ‐ in particular, consensus systems ‐, the gender composition of committees and plenary sessions, and age matter for the quality of deliberation. Furthermore, we also show that partisan affiliation ‐ government or opposition status of MPs ‐ affects deliberative quality and can refine institutional arguments. We conclude that a multi‐level approach to deliberation focusing on contextual and actor‐related characteristics and using Bayesian hierarchical modelling paves the way toward a more advanced understanding ‐ and methodological handling ‐ of deliberative processes.