Cheaper,better, and more accountable? Twenty‐five years of prisons privatisation in Victoria

Twenty‐five years after the Kennett government began privatising prisons, Victoria has the world's highest proportion of prisoners in private prisons. When the privatisation project began, it was confidently expected that privately managed prisons would be cheaper, better, and more accountable than traditional public sector provision. This paper examines whether those anticipated benefits have been realised. In doing so, we assess system‐wide operating costs, specific measures of performance, and accountability of the prison system between 1992 and 2017. Using publicly available data, we conclude temporary lower costs occurred but have not been sustained. Similarly, performance improvements are mixed, and enhanced accountability is contested. Although the performance information now available on Victoria's prisons is superior to what was available in the pre‐privatisation era, successive Victorian governments have also overseen arrangements that severely curtail dissemination of such data. This has restricted the capacity of Parliament and the public not only to hold government to account for the operations of the prison system, but also to evaluate the efficacy and impact of the prisons privatisation project. We conclude a more definitive assessment will only be possible when current limitations on accessing performance and other data are lifted enabling greater public scrutiny of Victoria's prison system.     

Dynamics of water reallocation and cost implications in the transboundary setting of Ferghana Province

While in the international literature water sharing in the Syr Darya Basin per past agreements is widely portrayed as most benefiting Uzbekistan, here the dynamics of water allocation within small transboundary tributaries in Ferghana Province show Uzbekistan as benefiting least. The case study highlights that water allocation for Uzbekistan within the tributaries has decreased over the years. Uzbekistan's approach to compensate for the reduced allocations by means of other water sources has had large long-term cost implications for irrigated agriculture as well as the irrigation bureaucracy. This article contributes to the international debate on benefit sharing in transboundary rivers. The article highlights that costs should be incorporated into the benefit-sharing approach, and therefore the focus on benefit sharing alone is misguiding riparian states. Furthermore, the article raises the need to reevaluate benefits, since perceptions of potential benefits change over time.     

"借壳上市"之法律风险控制研究

＂借壳上市＂本质上是一种双重反向交易,较直接上市方式IPO而言,具有资质要求低、融资成本低、时间周期短、获益主体多等方面优势。在借壳上市收购与反向收购两个阶段中,非上市借壳公司面临选择壳资源、交易方式、关联交易、政府干预等问题,其中均涉及一系列法律风险,能否对之进行有效控制将直接影响借壳上市的成功与否。     

非法经营黄金期货若干问题探讨——对上海松江“4·18”系列非法经营黄金期货案的思考

非法经营黄金期货也被称作"地下炒金",近年来发案率居高不下,司法机关在办理这类案件时也不断面临新的问题和挑战。司法机关可以在没有行政机关行政违法确认函的情况下,根据具体法律和事实,对交易是否是期货性质进行司法认定;也可以在没有书面或电子标准化合约的条件下,通过对整个交易过程的分析,可以得出其是否采用标准化合约的实质性判断。将已经查明的投资人实际投入的保证金数额乘以手数,作为非法经营的犯罪数额,是相对恰当的。     

中国股市与经济运行背离的原因分析

本文从制度经济学的交易成本分析理论入手,对中国股市与经济运行严重背离现象进行分析,认为,投资者利益得不到保护是股市持续低迷的根本原因.监管者行为异化导致投资者在市场博弈中处于劣势地位；现有的股市制度体系很难体现“三公原则”,已不适应市场的发展.现阶段,要保护投资利益就必须建立投资者利益至上的制度体系,规范监管者行为,并建立良好的股市文化.     

诉讼标的之本土路径

美、德、日等国已在诉讼标的问题上作出了明确选择，而我国实务仍呈纷乱状态，至少有三条路径并存。既往的标的论低估了新、旧说之差异，高估了新说一次性解决纠纷之功效，诉讼标的相对论对新、旧说之折中并不合理。事件说在纠纷的一次性解决上最为彻底，而其缺陷其他诸说也有。国内法院普遍排斥竞合合并、预备合并，现行法苛待诉的变更，多数当事人系本人诉讼，故本土目前不具备采新说、事件说和相对论的条件，最高人民法院的新路径也不可采，只能采旧说。但应通过释明等措施尽力减少其负面效果，并朝新说乃至事件说努力。     

论计算机信息交易的法律性质

计算机信息交易是指以计算机信息为客体的在线电子交易，是电子商务的一种特殊类型。计算机信息交易包括计算机信息在线销售与计算机信息在线服务。从法律性质上讲，计算机信息交易是一种信息产品交易，而不涉及知识产权许可与知识产权转让。计算机信息交易的核心是信息产品上的信息财产权，而不是知识产权。     

论社会转型中的社区管治与社区警务

我国现阶段的社会转型对社区管治与社区警务产生着深刻的影响,使社区的管治环境、人际关系、管治方式和治安生态发生了重大变化。在对社区实施的政府管理与居民自治中,政府管理是主导,需要通过完善的居民自治才能最大限度地发挥管理作用;居民自治是基础,只有在政府引领下才能充分实现自治功能。社会转型期的社区警务活动,应当立足社区履行公安社会管理职能,充分利用社区资源改善警务运行条件,建立和谐警民关系为社区建设提供治安保障。     

论刑事和解与民间规范

刑事和解,是我国正在倡导和试验的一种刑事纠纷解决方式。刑事和解的核心问题是处理加害人和受害人之间的权利义务关系。究竟根据什么规范处理、分配刑事和解中当事人的权利义务问题,是刑事和解的重要前提。民间规范如果一旦获得刑事和解主持人、当事人在行为上的遵从、接受和心理上的确信、认同,则可以被援引为刑事和解中当事人权利义务分配的根据。不同类型的民间规范,具有不同模式的权利义务配置方式,但这都不影响在刑事和解中对当事人的权利义务分配。国家有关刑事和解正式制度的建立,应关注民间规范的参与,关注对民间规范的吸纳。     

信用联系型票据在我国的市场前景研究

信用联系型票据是指同货币市场票据相联系的一种信用衍生产品，它具有风险消除性、融资性、逃规性、投资性的特征。目前，我国信用联系型票据市场发展较为平稳，金融交易主体完备，并在相关业务时间上进行了尝试。