Citizenship and the Constitution

The status of “British subjects”, the relationship between the individual and the State, and the concept of “rights” and “liberties” are relevant to the current political debate about “British identity”, citizenship, “multiculturalism”, a “British Bill of Rights”, and whether there is now a need for a written constitution. This article describes the confused contemporary understanding of what is meant by “British” citizenship and analyses the parallel developments of citizenship and our constitutional arrangements. The Human Rights Act, devolution and Gordon Brown's proposed constitutional renewal are important steps in setting out the ideas and principles that bind us together as a nation. Together with a coherent definition of the rights and obligations of British citizenship, constitutional reform would achieve a stronger sense of what it means to be British today.     

Constitutional Dynamics in the European Union: Success,Failure, and Stability of Institutional Treaty Revisions

ABSTRACT

Despite high institutional hurdles for constitutional change, one observes surprisingly many EU treaty revisions. This article takes up the questions of what determines whether a treaty provision is successfully changed and why provisions are renegotiated at subsequent Intergovernmental Conferences. The article presents an institutionalist theory explaining success and renegotiation and tests the theory using all core institutional provisions by means of Qualitative Comparative Analysis. The causal analysis shows that low conflict potential of an issue is sufficient for successfully changing the treaties. Furthermore, high conflict potential of an issue and its fundamental change are sufficient for it to be renegotiated.     

受贿罪的重构——以《刑法修正案（七）》为背景

《刑法修正案（七）》出台之前，针对官员身边人受贿行为的法律规定存在漏洞，使得官员身边人收受贿赂后往往得不到应有的惩罚，很多人还借此逃脱法律的制裁。《刑法修正案（七）》在《刑法》第三百八十八条中增加了相应内容，这对进一步遏制腐败现象的滋生与蔓延，将我国的反腐败斗争不断地向纵深推进，无疑具有重大的意义。     

刑事被告人权利的宪法化问题

中国刑事司法改革的一个重大课题是将被告人的重要诉讼权利上升为宪法性权利 ,并在刑事诉讼程序建构中尊重和实现这些权利 ,在司法体系中建立一种针对宪法性侵权行为的权利救济机制。然而 ,在被告人权利宪法化问题上 ,我国的刑事诉讼法还存在着不少亟待解决的重大课题。只有在被告人权利宪法化方面取得实质性的突破和进展 ,刑事诉讼法对于犯罪嫌疑人、被告人权利的保护 ,以及未来以加强这种权利保护为标志的法律改革 ,才有其坚实的法律基础     

宪政视野下民事权利基本问题的探讨

民事权利是组成社会最基本的细胞———公民、法人和其他社会组织最基本的法律权利。民事权利的自然权利说、意思说、法益说、法力说揭示了民事权利本质的四个层面,即"自然为理"、"意思为体"、"利用为用"、"法力为形式"。从宪政视界考察,一方面,民事权利形成和发展是孕育宪政环境并促成宪政产生一个重要的条件,另一方面,宪政又是发展公民民事基本权利的关键手段,发展公民民事基本权利是宪政的终极目的和归宿。应正确认识民法与宪法的关系,构建一个以民法为基本法,以刑法、行政法等法律法规为配合的网状维权(利)、控权(力)系统,并统一于宪法,才能构建一个完整、和谐、统一的民事权利保障体系。     

论国家与社会的二元分立是我国宪政的基础

国家与社会,公共领域与私人领域的分立为政府权力的行使划定不可逾越的界限,构成限制政府权力和保障公民权利的宪政本质。社会主义市场经济体制的确立冲破了几千年来我国“强国家、弱社会的”格局,造成国家和社会的二元分立,为我们进行政治制度的创新,建立宪政民主奠定了坚实的基础。     

Discerning Immunity for Governmental Entities: Analyzing Legislative Choices

In 2006, three disagreements about the scope of immunity for governmental entities were considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. Governmental entities were seeking to avoid liability for their actions, claiming the defense of sovereign immunity. Other lawsuits involving governmental immunity under state constitutional and statutory provisions disclose controversies concerning the responsibilities of governments to injured persons. The complicated jurisprudence governing immunity for governmental entities shows two alternatives for legislatures. They have the ability to increase liability by waiving immunity or to add defenses that defeat liability. The trend seems to be to waive immunity for governmental entities while adding statutory defenses that are available to both the private sector and governmental entities.     

美国宪法解释:"麦迪逊两难"之消解

在美国宪法解释实践中长期存在着被学者们所称的“麦迪逊之两难”问题,即民主多数统治的自由与少数自由权利之间始终处于一种似乎不可消解的张力之中。不同的学者和法官由于基于各自不同的民主与宪政原则,而在宪法解释的理论与实践中采取了不同的解释方法与立场,主要分属两大宪法解释流派:原意主义和非原意主义。然而,认真考察和分析美国宪法与宪政原意与原则理想,则会得出“麦迪逊之两难”命题不过是一个假命题的结论,因为真正的民主自身包含着自由平等原则。     

The economic effects of judicial accountability: cross-country evidence

Judicial independence is not only a necessary condition for the impartiality of judges, it can also endanger it: judges that are independent could have incentives to remain uninformed, become lazy or even corrupt. It is therefore often argued that judicial independence and judicial accountability are competing ends. In this paper, it is hypothesized that they can be complementary means towards achieving impartiality and, in turn, the rule of law. It is further argued that judicial accountability can increase per capita income through various channels one of which is the reduction of corruption. First tests concerning the economic effects of JA are carried out and on the basis of 75 countries, these proxies are highly significant for explaining differences in per capita income drawing both on OLS as well as TSLS.

对抗秘密取证:对质权属性及范围重述

就对质权的理论定位而言,学界一直莫衷一是:有功利主义视角下的工具论,亦有自由主义视角下的权利论,还有混合了两种主义的有限权利论。对于对质权应该坚持较为宽泛意义上的权利论,其首先应作为一项权利而存在,其次才是追求其他价值,例如发现真实。进而,对质权之于当事人应侧重程序性而非实体性保障。相应地,对质权的调整范围也应当作广义解释,即可以调整全部庭外陈述。当然,调整范围上的平等对待,并不意味着调整程度上的一视同仁。对质权的核心在于防止追诉方滥权,因此对属于证词性陈述(testimonial statements)应当由最为严厉的对质规则调整。对于非证词性庭外陈述,检察官可以在满足证人“无法寻获”的前提下,引入未经对质但可采的庭外陈述。