Judiciaries as crucial actors in Southern regulatory systems: A case study of Indian telecom regulation

This article addresses regulatory reforms in the Indian telecommunications sector and emphasizes the role of the Indian judiciary. Our claim is that when confronted with a series of disputes relating to the nascent telecom regulatory landscape, the Supreme Court of India sought to make a constructive contribution to both the actual disputes as well as the overall regulatory framework. Our reading of these cases suggests that in the sphere of telecom, the Supreme Court has been less interested in stamping its own authority on issues, and has instead sought to bolster the authority and legitimacy of the recently constituted telecom regulatory institutions. We seek to draw attention to the role of the Indian judiciary as marking an exceptional feature of evolving regulatory systems in the Global South. Conventional wisdom in the regulatory jurisprudence that has evolved in the Global North suggests that judiciaries should have little or no role to play in regulatory systems. We suggest that to overcome the special challenges that regulatory systems in the Global South confront, more established institutions and actors might have to lend credibility and legitimacy to enable nascent regulatory actors to develop over time. At least in the Indian case, this is one way to understand the Indian judiciary's interventionist actions in the sphere of telecom regulation.     

The political economy of regulatory change: The case of British merger control

This article aims to explain the broader evolution of British merger control. To this end it outlines a novel critical political economy perspective on regulation and regulatory change which differs from established political economy approaches, such as the regulatory capitalism/state perspectives, in three main ways: it places regulatory ideas at the heart of the analysis, it differentiates between different degrees of regulatory change, and it links regulatory change in delineated issue areas with changing power balances between fractions of capital and labor. The application of this perspective to the analysis of the evolution of British merger control provides some important new insights, most notably that the content, form, and scope of merger control in Britain have been deeply transformed in accordance with neoliberal ideas since the 1980s and that this process, which was part of a broader regulatory and ideational shift, was premised on the ascendancy of transnational capital.     

山西参与国际区域经济合作的现状及环境因素分析

山西对外经济在"十一五"期间取得了较大发展,但也存在一些问题,比如对外贸易总量仍然偏低;出口逆差增加;利用外资规模偏小,总体水平偏低;利用外资产业面窄;外商直接投资的聚集效应不明显;高新技术区对全省高新产业的带动作用有限,等等。"十二五"期间,山西要扩大国际区域经济合作的范围,优化参与路径,面临着外部及内部两种因素的影响。外部因素主要是国际区域经济一体化趋势的加快以及中国自贸区政策的深入推进,内部因素主要有山西必须进行的资源型经济转型以及转型跨越带来的新机遇。     

丰富环境对脑梗死大鼠梗死灶周围血管内皮生长因子受体的影响

目的:研究丰富环境对大鼠局灶性脑梗死后梗死灶周围血管内皮生长因子受体的影响.方法:采用开颅电凝法制作SD大鼠右侧大脑中动脉缺血(MCAO)模型,术后第24小时随机分为丰富环境(EE)组和标准环境(SE)组.以免疫组织化学法检测血管内皮生长因子受体Flt-1及Flk-1的表达.结果:大鼠大脑中动脉闭塞后,缺血区神经元变性、坏死,Flt-1和Flk-1在缺血周边区表达明显增加,经丰富环境干预后,血管内皮生长因子受体表达大量增加.结论:丰富环境可促使血管内皮生长因子受体表达上调,进而促进微血管新生,有利于脑损伤修复.     

The Quest for a United Nations Specialised Agency for the Environment

Abstract

Recent years have seen intense intergovernmental deliberations on issues concerning governance in the field of environment. Their aim has been to address the role of the institutions that provide platforms for international environmental cooperation. There are two main lines of enquiry: the role of regime-specific institutions that cater to sectoral regulatory frameworks (popularly known as multilateral environmental agreements, or MEAs); and the role of institutions that are established to follow up on global environmental conferences or a specific environmental task. Most of these institutions reflect intergovernmental consensual process. However, there are concerns about their proliferation and there is a growing cacophony of calls to ‘bring coherence to the fragmented landscape of MEAs, intergovernmental bodies, UN system entities and other international organizations’ (Sha Zukang (2011) ‘Legal and policy dimensions of sustainable development: expected contribution of Rio + 20’, Environmental Policy and Law, 41(6), pp. 244–246, at p. 245). In fact the need to bring order to environmental governance has assumed great importance and urgency if environmental cooperation is to be achieved. This paper explores, in particular, the role of the United Nations Environment Programme and its potential for conversion to a specialised agency of the UN.     

Fractured International Environmental Governance and the Potential Role of the Commonwealth in Biodiversity and Climate Change

Abstract

This paper begins by examining the reasons behind most failures of governance, including fault lines in institutional and professional specialisation, and in ideology. These three, forever competing within and between themselves, frustrate attempts to find solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges. Not least among these are environmental challenges, where preferences and priorities that are geographically, professionally or ideologically narrow inevitably fail to achieve solutions for the greater good. What role can the Commonwealth play in addressing the fracture lines that bedevil solutions for climate change and biodiversity? It may help to stimulate global action on these issues if it can encourage agreement across multidimensional global boundaries. We know the Commonwealth is not a leading global force for controlling climate change or biodiversity loss; but if it had the political will it could be an exemplar of how, between a group of vastly diverse countries across the globe—and on the global political stage—binding agreement and positive action on climate change and biodiversity could be promoted and perhaps achieved. One of the strongest features of the Commonwealth is the generation of long-standing legal and ethical norms whose appeal is obvious even if their implementation is lacking. These norms should not be limited to the rule of law, democracy and human rights, but should include environmental norms because these too are fundamental to a satisfactory human condition.     

食品安全视域下政府监管存在的矛盾及改进策略

目前,突出的食品安全问题与政府管理机制的运行缺陷、内在矛盾有着密切关系。政府在管理职能、管理手段、治理过程、信息传播、法规执行上存在着诸多的问题。因此,厘清矛盾关系,找出监管"失灵"的根源,转变监管理念,调整监管行为,提升监管效能,这样,才能提高政府对食品安全监管的公信力。     

民族地区生态文明建设法治保障之路径

民族地区作为我国生态环境的屏障区,经过多年的努力,局部生态环境有所改善,但与生态文明建设的目标相去甚远。分析现实中阻却这一目标实现的制约因素及原因,并提出法治保障之举措,是实现该地区与全国同步建成小康社会的应有之义。     

论独立监管机构的经济法主体地位——以马克思主义社会权力机构学说为视角

早在19世纪中叶,马克思、恩格斯就已经预见到社会权力机构的兴起,这一预见已被中西方主要国家独立监管机构的产生与发展实践所证明。作为日益重要的经济管理主体,独立监管机构的公益代表性与权力合一性完全契合经济法主体特征的基本要求,亟需在经济法主体理论上对此作出回应。纳入独立监管机构考量后的经济法主体理论更加完善,可以明晰国家与政府在经济法主体类型上的差别,解释政府作为经济法主体和行政法主体在性质上的不同,并在一定程度上回答了社会中间层的经济法主体地位问题。基于独立监管机构的发展现状与趋势,经济法主体将呈现出"政府——独立监管机构——市场主体"互动模式。     

我国金融监管制度供给过剩的法经济学分析

中国金融监管存在显著的制度供给过剩。金融监管制度供给过剩会增加交易成本,不符合效率原则。从法经济学的角度分析,中国金融监管制度供给过剩的原因在于金融监管供给与需求不匹配、权力监管模式下监管机关的粗放型制度供给以及金融监管的行政化。改变金融监管制度供给过剩的状况,应当引入金融监管的成本收益理念和问责机制,将金融监管由权力监管向市场化监管转变,并合理处理金融创新与金融监管的关系。