Sources of local government extractive capacity: The role of trust and pre‐colonial legacy in the case of Uganda

Local government extractive capacity, as measured by the amount of graduated personal tax (GPT) collected relative to district wealth and population and, more qualitatively, as reflected in the nature of enforcement, varies considerably in Uganda. This article explores the reasons for this variation, first by investigating aggregate data at the cross‐district level, using data on taxation as well as survey data from the Afrobarometer, second, by a focussed comparison of two districts, one with high‐ and one with low‐extractive capacity. I find that generalised trust can explains some of the variation in extractive capacity across districts. The case studies trace the differences in trust and extractive capacity back to pre‐colonial rule; the better performing district having had centralised rule, a tradition of tax‐payment and a higher degree of social cohesion, while the poorer performing district had a more fragmented and less cohesive history of governance. The article thus points to the importance of understanding institutional path dependencies when assessing the feasibility of reform. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

产业竞争优势模型构建与实证研究——-以黑龙江绿色食品产业为例

产业竞争优势是一个动态变化的一组指标，它与产业结构优化与否有直接关系。本文以中国绿色食品产业为例，通过构建的竞争优势模型测定了绿色食品产业的综合竞争优势度，而且模型验证了结构优化对发展竞争优势的作用，通过分析得出：中国绿色食品产业已有的竞争优势因素已经淡出和衰退，需要通过优化结构、扩大企业规模和重点加强落后环节，发展新的竞争优势因素，从而使产业竞争优势从总体上得到巩固和发展。     

粮食安全是最大的民生——以泉州市为例

粮食始终是一种具有战略性的特殊商品,是人类最基本的需求和生存的底线.粮食安全是国家安全战略的重要组成部分,也是最大的民生问题.我国是粮食消费大国,当前,人口再生产与粮食增长失衡、粮食生产资源流失严重等威胁我国粮食安全的因素依然存在.为确保国家粮食安全,必须加强和规范粮食市场宏观调控,调动农民生产粮食的积极性,加大节约粮食、爱护粮食的宣传力度,制定<节粮法>,规范粮食消费行为.     

送法下乡与民族习惯法的变迁——以影片《马背上的法庭》为材料说明

巡回法庭把国家的司法权威运送到了乡土社会。送法下乡的过程事实上是一个法律与民间习惯的对话与碰撞的过程。法官在此过程中扮演着核心角色,法官的知识结构中接受习惯法,民间习惯就能够得到较多适用;法官拒斥习惯法,习惯法可能就会淡出司法。随着接受习惯法的法官的离职,国家法律将会更多的进入乡土社会,对乡土社会构成冲击并瓦解乡土秩序。     

论食品安全法中的惩罚性赔偿责任

在食品安全领域适用惩罚性赔偿,具有补偿消费者维权成本,提高生产者、经营者违法成本,谒制违法行为再次发生等多种功能。《消费者权益保护法》中规定的惩罚性赔偿在食品消费领域仍有适用空间。《食品安全法》中规定以生产或销售不符合食品安全标准的食品作为适用惩罚性赔偿的前提不利于对消费者的保护和对违法者的惩罚;并且惩罚性赔偿标准偏低,并不能使惩罚性赔偿的多重功能得到完全释放,不应以食品价金来确定赔偿标准,应根据具体情况采取综合性标准来确定具体的赔偿数额。     

《鹿特丹规则》对承运人“凭单放货”义务重大变革之反思——交易便利与交易安全的对弈

出于交易便利的考虑,实践中无单放货问题日渐凸显,危及了交易安全。为了解决此难题,《鹿特丹规则》对承运人凭单放货义务进行了重大变革。但相关制度设计并未实现便利交易的目标,同时削弱了交易的安全性。中国应在兼顾交易便利与安全的基础上对可转让提单坚持凭单放货,同时允许承运人在记名提单下有条件地无单放货,把大力发展电子单证作为解决无单放货难题的出路。中国对加入公约应持审慎态度。     

初评《鹿特丹规则》

对《鹿特丹规则》中的海运＋（maritime＋）、承运人的义务和赔偿责任、托运人的义务和赔偿责任、货物的交付、批量合同与合同自由、承运人的识别等问题进行探讨和评论。     

Postmortem Computed Tomography Findings of Upper Airway Obstruction by Food

Abstract: This study is a retrospective analysis of 14 cases with food bolus upper airway obstruction as the defined cause of death where both postmortem computed tomography and autopsy were performed. Three groups were defined by the images i.e., Type 1: foreign body situated between the oral cavity and oropharynx, while the epiglottis sits in normal position, Type 2: foreign body situated in the oropharynx just above the epiglottis pushing it posteriorly and obstructing the airway, and Type 3: foreign body obstructing the laryngeal inlet while pushing the epiglottis anteriorly. At the time of autopsy, foreign bodies were detected by pathologists, occasionally in a different position, presumably being dislodged in the act of organ removal especially for the “Type 1” pattern. CT imaging provides accurate interrogation of upper airway bolus obstruction prior to autopsy.     

论无正本提单提放货的责任属性及权利救济——兼评《最高人民法院关于审理无正本提单交付货物案件适用法律若干问题的规定》

针对2009年3月5日颁布实施的《最高人民法院关于审理无正本提单交付货物案件适用法律若干问题的规定》（简称《无单放货规定》）第3条关于对承运人无正本提单放货责任属性的定性以及第11条和第13条关于无正本提单放货人和无正本提单提货人责任承担方式的规定,采用剖析承运人在目的港交付货物所处的法律地位和动态物权进入流通领域的法律特征的方法,在分析和论证后指出：首先,承运人依据海上货物运输合同的约定和法律规定,在不改变承运人的法律地位和不免除承运人海上货物运输合同义务的前提下,在卸货港向收货人交付货物的问题上是处于卖方托运人交货代理的法律地位,承运人虽未凭正本提单错误放货,并应对无单放货的损失承担赔偿责任,但因承运人无单放货不具有法律规定的侵占或损害他人财产权的侵权特征,故承运人无单放货只构成违约,而不能构成对提单持有人物权的侵害。《无单放货规定》第3条将其规定为违约与侵权责任竞合,缺乏事实依据。其次,当具有财产权的货物进入流通领域以后,在货物交易合同没有解除的情况下,该财产即货物作为交易的标的物,在合同相对人之间只表现为债权的相对财产。虽提货人未付款,在货物所有权未发生转移时仍占有货物,但该行为依法只构成不当得利,而不能构成对提单持有人物权的侵害。《无单放货规定》第11条规定由承担违约责任的承运人与承担返还不当得利的提货人承担连带责任,缺乏法律依据。最后,在提货人与提单持有人达成付款协议以后,该行为依法应是提单持有人对交货代理人即承运人超越代理权无单放货行为的追认,由此依法应免除承运人无单放货的违约民事责任。《无单放货规定》第13条规定仍不免除承运人民事责任,与民事代理法律制度不符,且损害了承运人的合法利益。     

TOWARDS A HUMAN DIGNITY BASED APPROACH TO FOOD SECURITY: LESSONS FROM CHINA AND INDIA

Despite almost halving the proportion of the world’s undernourished over the past two and half decades, the number of undernourished people in the world remains staggeringly high. Efforts to address the global state of food insecurity must target China and India, which are home to the world’s highest and second highest number of undernourished people. This article analyzes the comparative experiences of tackling food security in China and India and adopts an inter-disciplinary approach, which melds legal, economic, and human perspectives to food security. Both China and India have made concerted efforts to improve food security of vulnerable populations in the past three decades. These efforts have historically focused on actively promoting grain production, which has been largely successful in achieving grain self-sufficiency and securing adequate availability of food for their populations. However, the contemporary challenges to food security are now increasingly driven by unsustainable dietary patterns and are exacerbated by growing populations, increasing wealth, and the globalization of food supply chains. As a result, the cause of food insecurity is no longer fundamentally about food supply, but rather about the extent to which marginalized populations are empowered with the rights, freedoms, and capabilities that enable them to attain healthy and productive lives. China and India apply markedly different approaches to address the issue of people’s access to food. In India, the right to food movement has gained momentum through the work of civil society actors and there is now a legal right to food. In contrast, in China the right to food is neither stipulated in Chinese law nor referenced to in the official policy rhetoric as the country seeks to ensure access to food by focusing on poverty alleviation more generally through an income transfer program and a non-food based, social safety net to help the poor. At the same time, the Chinese population’s high educational level provides enormous potential for effective interventions and education on nutrition and health. A comparison of the approaches to food security in China and India ultimately reminds us that efforts to tackle food insecurity must center on human dignity, which requires more wide-ranging investment in enhancing people’s capabilities, combined with effective enforcement of the right to food.