Legislating Dangerously: Bad Samaritans,Good Society,and the Heroism Act 2015

The Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Act 2015 is a troublesome statute. The Act requires that, when considering a claim brought against a defendant in negligence or for breach of statutory duty, the court must assess whether that party was ‘acting for the benefit of society or any of its members’ (section 2), or ‘demonstrated a predominantly responsible approach towards protecting the safety or interests of others’ (section 3), or was ‘acting heroically’ (section 4). However laudable the Coalition Government's attempts to foster a ‘Big Society’ might have been, this enactment was not the proper vehicle to achieve it. Some provisions merely repeat longstanding common law principles. Others may have been intended to amend the common law to encourage ‘good citizenship’, but fall well short of that aim. And some aspects of the Act's drafting have the (perhaps unintended) potential to sit uncomfortably with established common law negligence principles.     

论善意取得制度

善意取得制度是民法上财产权利的一种取得方式,主旨在于保护交易安全、稳定经济秩序。理论依据是公示、公信原则;构成要件上应着重强调并严格把握权利取得人的“善意”并同时兼顾取得要件;适用范围上应采取“相对极端主义立场”,有条件的适用民法上的一切财产权利,而不仅仅适用于物权。     

善与恶的解析

善是客体对于主体的需要、欲望、目的的效用性,是客体有利于满足主体需要、实现主体欲望、符合主体目的的属性善就是欲望的满足.所以,孟子日"可欲之谓善."善分为道德善与非道德善.道德善是行为主体对于社会创造道德的需要、欲望、目的的效用性,是符合道德目的的行为.反之,非道德善则是行为主体对于非道德的需要、欲望、目的的效用性,是符合个人目的的属性.     

Mainstream Revolutionaries: Sinn Féin as a “Normal” Political Party?

Despite the seismic shift of Sinn Féin from being the “mouthpiece” of the Provisional Irish Republican Army to the largest nationalist force in Northern Ireland, the party continues to project its objectives within the revolutionary politics and tradition of 1916. Whilst various groups across the island of Ireland stress their loyalty to Irish independence and allegiance to their republican forefathers, 2016 also plays host to devolved assembly elections in Northern Ireland. The centenary of the Easter Rising is therefore a poignant moment to reassess republican politics, more specifically, the relationship between the armed revolutionary tradition and constitutionalism. Within the post-peace process era Sinn Féin have been accused of maintaining an autocratic culture and an intra-party framework that is more representative of a clandestine revolutionary organisation than a political party. Yet, simultaneously, Sinn Féin have not been immune to the pressures experienced by other modern political parties, bound by the laws of electoral competition and driven by office-seeking priorities. In order to explore Sinn Féin within the modern political arena, this article firstly examines the broader debate surrounding how armed groups make the transition into constitutional politics. Secondly, public opinion survey data is used to judge the basis of Sinn Féin's electoral appeal. Finally, internal party documents are used to examine party structure, intra-party democracy, and professionalisation in order to judge the extent to which Sinn Féin have completed the transition from being a “mouthpiece” to their armed counterpart, towards being a “normal” political party.     

论遗失物的所有权归属——评《物权法》第107条与第113条

《物权法》对拾得遗失物问题进行了规范,并在其第113条和第107条分别规定了遗失物未被转让时和已被转让时两种情况下的所有权归属。《物权法》第113条没有规定拾得人一定条件下取得遗失物所有权,十分遗憾。《物权法》第107条在规范遗失物已被转让时采"例外承认主义",殊值赞同;但没有规定有偿回复中的公共市场、盗赃物的善意取得、无记名有价证券与货币。另外,《物权法》第113条的位置也值得商榷。     

Irish Unification After Brexit: Old and New Political Identities?

This article contends that the outcome of the prolonged dispute about the future constitutional status of Northern Ireland (NI) will be shaped by the emerging dynamic between ‘old’ and ‘new’ political identities in NI. The ‘old’ identities conceived political outcomes as defined by two monolithic ethno-cultural blocs: nationalism (alongside republicanism) and unionism (alongside loyalism). Nationalism and unionism formed the ‘two communities model’ of consociational governance enshrined in the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (B/GFA). Today, despite the Agreement being in existence for over twenty years, growing numbers of citizens identify with neither ethno-cultural category. Recent elections indicate that more pluralistic ‘new’ political identities are gaining ground at the expense of traditional alignments. The implications for NI's constitutional future are likely to be profound. The emerging constituency of non-aligned voters will have a decisive impact on the final outcome of any border poll on Irish unification. Such voters typically support the cross-community Alliance Party, the Greens, or the left People Before Profit (PBP) party. Crucially, these parties are concerned as much with economic and social issues as constitutional questions. In the context of growing political fluidity, the result of any future border poll remains contingent.     

Motivation and Intervention in the Northern Ireland Peace Process: An Interview with President Bill Clinton

The role of former U.S. President William Jefferson Clinton in the Northern Ireland peace process has been acknowledged as an example of political risk‐taking and leadership driven by political interests and strategic post–Cold War aims. The tendency to examine Clinton's role from the perspective of international and global policy objectives, however, has obscured consideration of his motivational role in the Northern Ireland peace process and of how he moved between encouragement and intervention to help the political parties reach a settlement. This article, which is drawn from an extended interview conducted with Clinton in 2017, seeks to paint a more comprehensive picture of Clinton's participation in the peace process, showing how his combination of motivational and interventional skills enabled him to help convince others of the need to take risks for peace and gave him greater influence and leverage over the peace process as a result.     

“Good and Evil” narratives in Islamic State media and Western government statements

This article uses a critical discourse and documentary analysis to explore “Good and Evil” narratives in Islamic State (IS) media and in the official policy statements of the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. The analysis initially considers how IS and Western governments define the other as “Evil” drawing from premodern Manichean and Abrahamic religious conventions. It then interprets how these entities subscribe to a post-Enlightenment ethic that associates the triumph of “Good” over “Evil” with science, reason and technological innovation. Distinct from similar analyses that emphasise the persuasive power of religion, this article reflects on how IS and Western governments use conflicting religious and philosophical imperatives to articulate their strategic political agendas. It further interprets how these agendas become ideologically convincing, through reflexive communication.     

数字治理对城市政府善治的影响研究

新公共管理运动和信息技术的发展推动了城市政府治理模式的变革“,善治”成为城市政府治理模式进化的方向。同时,在信息技术和电子政务的推动下,数字治理应运而生,成为信息社会实现城市政府善治的新思路。在对城市政府善治和数字治理进行全面阐释的基础上,构造数字治理环境下城市治理主体互动模式模型、城市网络治理结构模型;结合善治和城市政府善治的基本要素,对数字治理在城市政府善治中的作用进行了深入探讨。研究表明,数字治理借助其强大的技术优势,能形成良好的网络治理结构,加固城市政府善治的合法性基础,增强城市政府的透明性与回应性,明确城市治理主体的责任性,从而能够构建有效的城市政府善治机制,成为数字时代城市政府善治的理想选择。     

未订立书面劳动合同“双薪罚则”的法律适用

文章从立法目的、诚信原则、缔约过失三个方面论证了我国《劳动合同法》新创制的未订立书面劳动合同＂双薪罚则＂制度,并就审判实务中具体适用＂双薪罚则＂进行了研讨,以期对衡平用人单位和劳动者的利益,构建和谐、稳定、有序的劳动关系有所裨益。