‘Fat cat’ lawyers and ‘illegal’ migrants: the impact of intersecting hostilities and toxic narratives on access to justice

ABSTRACT

This article examines how three spheres of hostility intersect to prevent effective access to justice for those living with insecure immigration status. The neoliberal governance model, the barren justice landscape and the hostile environment are supported by the cynical construction of the ‘fat cat’ lawyer and the toxic ‘folk devil’ narrative of the ‘bogus’ asylum seeker. To the extent that the judiciary have frustrated the more obvious, ideologically driven, attempts to restrict access to justice for migrants, the austerity predicated measures pursuant to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) have completely altered the legal landscape. The analysis is informed by the findings of the ‘Legal advice and support for persons with insecure status’ project (hereafter LAPIS) in Nottingham which explores the challenges faced by service providers and the lived experiences of those with insecurity of status. It is clear that access to justice is a passport to the realisation of other rights, yet participants struggled to access a remedy because legal advice is too often out of reach.     

Lost in space? the role of place in the delivery of social welfare law advice over the telephone and face-to-face

ABSTRACT

Advice that is provided exclusively over the telephone has been promoted by government as more convenient and accessible than face-to-face appointments. The resulting push towards telephone-only provision, as implemented by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, challenges the long history of association between social welfare law advice and local delivery within disadvantaged communities. This article reports on qualitative research comparing telephone and face-to-face advice which uncovers the continuing relevance of place in the dynamics and mechanics of social welfare law provision. Familiarity with the geographical location, knowledge of local policies and procedures, relationships with opponents and allies, and an understanding of the ‘local legal culture’ mean that face-to-face advisers are often able to conduct their legal casework more effectively. Conversely, local knowledge is unlikely to be available to Community Legal Advice telephone advisers. This research suggests that, in addition, telephone-only advisers may be developing a more narrow understanding of the essential qualities of casework. These findings are particularly significant in view of the likely future expansion of remote methods of delivery in legal aid work.     

美国诱惑侦查制度及对我国的启示

美国社会执法实践中广泛存在诱惑侦查的使用，关于诱惑侦查的法律和制度规制经过长期演变和经验积累，形成了较为完整的诱惑侦查制度。本文通过对美国诱惑侦查制度的法律规定和具体实践的探究，以期为完善公安机关执法工作提供一些参考。我们应借鉴美国关于诱惑侦查方式运用的有益经验，加快有关诱惑侦查领域的立法进程，明确具体的法律规定。公安机关在执法实践中应正确认识诱惑侦查的合理性，慎用诱惑侦查手段，严格遵循程序执法，规范自身执法行为，积极改进执法方式。     

论缓刑的法律性质--兼评缓刑考验期满后再犯罪成立累犯的合理性

缓刑在不同的刑事诉讼阶段所表现的主要特性是不同的,因而对其性质进行分阶段的界定也就有了现实的依据和合理性。从决定是否对犯罪分子宣告缓刑的意义上来说,缓刑有刑罚裁量的性质;从对犯罪分子具体适用缓刑的各项规定的意义上来说,缓刑又具有刑罚执行的性质。缓刑,兼具刑罚裁量和刑罚执行两重性质。在明确缓刑具有刑罚执行的法律性质的前提下,认定缓刑考验期满后再犯相应之罪的犯罪分子为累犯,就有了理论以及法律上的合理性。此种处置,从一般预防和特殊预防的角度来看,既符合中国社会重视行为人主观意志的现实,又能更好发挥刑罚预防犯罪的功能,也是符合我国现行刑事政策和法律规定的。     

French engagement versus British commitment. Was it interlingual miscommunication or political manipulation?

ABSTRACT

The efforts undertaken to establish the contemporary European Union started many years earlier. The history of establishing a pan-European organization is interesting not only for historians and economists but also translators and linguists as it is the history of interlingual communication (negotiations and agreements). One such negotiation was allegedly ineffective due to the difference in understanding the French term engagement and its English equivalent employed by translators and interpreters, that is to say the English term commitment. The authors aim at presenting the political background of negotiations and the social semiotic analysis of the terms in question in order to provoke the reader to find the answer to the question whether the negotiation was broken due to interlingual miscommunication resulting from erroneously chosen equivalent or it was destined to failure from the very beginning due to socio-political and economic interests of negotiating parties. In order to achieve that goal, the authors have analysed notes exchanged between the governments of France and Great Britain in course of negotiation. The history of negotiation and the linguistic analysis are combined to illustrate the complexity of meaning construction and the semiotic implications of the contextual dependence of meanings of terms and their dynamic evolution in time and space.     

法律行为基础瑕疵制度——德国法的经验及其对我国民法典的借鉴意义

法律行为基础瑕疵制度2002年被纳入《德国民法典》。法律行为基础瑕疵制度与我国现行民法中的重大误解制度、显失公平制度、附条件法律行为制度存在区别,并且具有独立的价值基础。因此,我国未来民法典应当引进此种制度,并对该制度实行分别立法的模式,将法律行为基础欠缺制度规定于总则编,将法律行为基础丧失制度规定于合同法编。     

以一起担保纠纷为范本论对合同效力认定的法律适用原则--兼评新公司法对旧公司法第60条第3款的修改

我国司法机关对合同效力的认定,适用特殊的法律原则:"依照合同成立时的法律合同有效的,适用当时的法律,依照合同成立时的法律合同无效,适用现行法律合同有效的,则适用现行法律".最高法院以司法解释的形式赋予了现行法律溯及力,难免有越权之嫌,这一原则适用的结果加剧了民事关系的不确定性、破坏了法制的稳定,同时最高法院的司法解释本身也尚需解释.这一原则的适用带有较大模糊性与不确定性.     

被保险人故意犯罪致保险事故发生的法律后果--从公共政策的角度分析

保险领域中,公共政策要求“一个人不能从自己的犯罪中获利”,但须区分“一个人不能从他人的犯罪中获利”之情形。被保险人故意犯罪致保险事故发生,应视保险目的与功能而异其法律后果:若被保险人因预谋犯罪而直接谋求保险金,保险人当然免责;若被保险人在投保二年后故意犯罪致保险事故发生,则保险人虽不负给付保险金之责,但应退还保险单的现金价值;若故意犯罪并非保险事故发生的直接原因,保险人不能当然免责。     

未成年人不能适用无期徒刑的误区——以刑法第49条和第17条第3款的关系为中心

未成年人能否适用无期徒刑,理论上的观点是否定说。其理由是刑法第49条规定,未成年人不得适用死刑,其法定最高刑就是无期徒刑;根据刑法第17条第2款,无论从轻或者减轻处罚,都不能适用无期徒刑。司法实践一直都肯定未成年人可以适用无期徒刑,但缺乏正确的理由支持。否定说的错误在于混淆了法定刑和宣告刑的界限,未成年人不得适用死刑,其含义是宣告刑而不是法定刑。决定未成年人的责任时,首先应引用刑法第17条第3款,根据其法定刑,最高可以是死刑,如果不需要判处死刑,就是遵守了刑法第49条的原则。虽然大多数情况下,引用刑法第17条第3款就足够了,但是,在绝对确定的死刑以及情节冲突的情况下,必须引用刑法第49条才能解决问题。由于刑法第49条是个原则性的规定,必须修正才能更好地适用。