The South African National Credit Act fails to protect homeowners against various interest rates hikes

Where a credit provider makes a proper financial assessment and finds that the low-income consumer will be able to satisfy in a timely manner all the obligations under all the credit agreements to which the consumer is a party he will in all probability conclude the credit agreement with the consumer. Obviously the affordability assessment made by the credit provider will depend on the prevailing interest rates at the time. There has been several interest rate hikes since June 2006 to December 2008 in South Africa that has had a detrimental impact on low-income home owners. Due to the various interest rate hikes and the prevailing high interest rates many consumers have lost their mortgaged homes. The South African National Credit Act of 2005 has failed to take into its purview cases such as these, and as a consequence there is no sort of consumer protection available for the low-income group who become over-indebted, because of the constant rising interest rates on their mortgage loans.     

公共利益法律化：理论、路径与制度完善

在多元社会背景下,为了整合各种形态的特殊利益,代表公共利益的国家借助法律的形式,建立起一种法律秩序,使其对社会的控制和管理合法化。公共利益也表现出从法律外的抽象政治理念到具有实质内容法律概念的现代转向,公共利益法律化的主要内容在于寻求公共利益的确定法律内涵。从实体和程序两个角度探讨公共利益的法律化忽视了公共利益作为法律概念与非法律概念的区分。将公共利益视为一个不确定法律概念,围绕着其规范目的进行具体化研究是公共利益法律化的有效路径。因而,公共利益的法律化不应停留在立法对公共利益概念的表述,更应当完善确定公共利益法律内涵的法律界定模式。     

中国中亚安全战略的构建

中亚独特的地理位置及丰富的战略资源和能源。已成为大国地缘政治竞赛战略区。作为中亚地区近邻的中国。应制定明确的中亚战略以维护自身安全。中国在中亚地区的地缘战略选择上。一方面要体现合作求发展、合作求双赢的精神。以“和而不同”的外交理念为指导。倡导新安全观。在中亚努力营造一个有利于保障和平、稳定的地缘政治环境。另一方面结合国家利益的需要。以上海合作组织为战略依托。以能源合作为战略重点。平衡中亚各方势力,保持中亚地缘战略的灵活性。为战略机遇期中国的和平崛起提供良好的外部环境。     

论国外行政公诉的产生与发展

行政公诉是一种检察官针对侵犯公共利益的违法行政行为而提起的一种诉讼类型,从国外行政公诉的发展过程看,这种诉讼之所以由检察官提起,是基于其公益代表人角色的定位;行政公诉能够弥补传统行政诉讼仅仅由利害关系人发动的局限,从而更有利于公共利益的维护;同时,这一制度也填补了审判权监督行政权时"不告不理"的空白,有利于检察权配合审判权以实现对行政权的监督。     

It's economic size,stupid! How global advocacy mirrors state power

Numerous empirical studies suggest that global interest communities are heavily biased in favor of wealthier countries. This research note critically reviews these works suggesting that they (i) lack a benchmark to assess the biased nature of global interest communities and (ii) conflate the concepts of “wealth” (based on GDP per capita) and “economic power” (based on GDP) into one analytical category. As a corrective to these problems, we compare variation in global interest group mobilization across countries to the size of these countries' national economies. Relying on an original dataset mapping interest groups communities at the World Trade Organization (1997–2012) and the United Nations Climate Summits (1997–2011), we show that (i) global interest representation almost perfectly reflects differences in countries' relative economic power and (ii) contrary to the conventional wisdom, wealthier countries are, relative to their economic size, actually underrepresented in global interest communities.     

Governance landscapes for emerging technologies: The case of cryptocurrencies

Scholars call for “adaptive governance” to balance concern about technology uncertainty with the need for innovation in the governance of emerging technologies. Yet, empirical assessment of such governance systems remains sparse. Do the actors interested in the potential regulation of an emerging technology focus on their own interests and opportunities, or do they think in terms of the collective interest? We focus on the actors who embed such systems from a novel landscape perspective that combines two dimensions of governance: the nature of the regulatory target, and the nature of the process they advocate for governing the target. We present data from over 70 actors in the area of cryptocurrencies for evaluating this new logic.     

诉利息未诉本金之诉讼时效如何认定

起诉时,只请求被告归还借款的利息,没有请求归还本金,不应视为原告放弃本金权利。利息诉讼时效的中断,自然及于本金,因为利息是依附本金而生的孳息。     

图们江地区开发开放再度升温

在区域合作一体化成为新一轮发展新模式的时代,东北亚地区间国际关系的改善和各国经济形势的好转,延边内生动力的驱动,为图们江地区开发创造了良好的条件。由此,UNIDO、国家、省、州对图们江地区开发的关注再度升温,周边国家的开发热情再度升温,延边由"主动参与"演变为"主导发展"的角色。为了提高图们江地区开发的深度与质量,提出了创新国际合作开发体制的新机制,并制定了建设新的增长点与畅通的对外通道、建立综合配套改革试验区与金融支撑体系等对策建议。     

民事公诉制度质疑

近来不少学者主张在我国应尽快建立民事公诉制度,赋予检察机关在一定范围内的民事起诉权,而从保护社会公益、解决群众性纠纷、保护弱者和加强法律监督四个方面分析,民事公诉制度在理论上存在着误区和在实际运作上可能陷入困境.其不具有存在的合理性、合法性和必要性,解决相关问题应加大行政执法力度,加强检察监督,赋予检察机关民事诉讼参诉权.     

政治稳定视野中的利益关系分析

体制转轨时期 ,利益关系的重新调整与组合 ,特别是各种利益之间的分化 ,对当代中国的政治稳定和政治发展具有双重效应。在改革发展进程中应积极构建系统的利益协调机制 ,以机制的有效运作协调各种利益关系 ,实现和保持利益分化与政治稳定之间的和谐共进 ,促进国家的长治久安和社会的有序发展。