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.     

The contested spaces of civil society in a plural world: norm contestation in the debate about restrictions on international civil society support

Civil society organizations are facing increasing political restrictions all over the world. Frequently, these restrictions apply to the foreign funding of NGOs and thus curtail the space for external civil society support, which, since the 1990s, has become a key element in international democracy and human rights promotion. This so-called ‘closing space’ phenomenon has received growing attention by civil society activists, policymakers and academics. Existing studies (and political responses), however, neglect the crucial normative dimension of the problem at hand: As we show, the political controversy over civil society support is characterized by norm contestation, and this contestation reveals competing perceptions of in/justice and touches upon core principles of contemporary world order. Taking this dimension into account is essential if we are to academically understand, and politically respond to, the ‘closing space’ challenge. It is also highly relevant with regard to current debates on how to conceptualize and construct order in a world that is plural in many regards and in which liberal norms are fundamentally contested. Empirically, the paper combines an assessment of the global debate about closing space in the UN Human Rights Council with an analysis of a specific controversy over the issue in US-Egyptian relations.     

Judgement without justice: on the efficacy of the European human rights regime

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is widely regarded as the most important human rights court worldwide. This article investigates the extent to which the court addresses cases from countries with the worst human rights performance. Using a new data set on all ECtHR judgments from 1995–2012, the analysis suggests that the ECtHR does not deliver its judgments against members of the Council of Europe with the worst human rights records, but instead against more democratic and affluent states. The reason is that litigating in front of a supranational court requires capacities that vulnerable people are unlikely to possess, except when aided by transnational advocacy groups. However, more judgements are issued against countries that lack independent judiciaries, where cases are less likely to be resolved at the domestic level. While the ECtHR might not address the worst human rights crimes, it plays a subsidiary role in the European human rights protection system by compensating for weak domestic judiciaries. However, the court's inability to independently pursue litigation, together with the lack of capacity in some countries to bring cases forward, have hampered more effective protection of human rights for the most vulnerable in Europe.     

论民族、种族和宗教犯罪的立法完善——从国际人权公约角度看

民族、种族和宗教相互之间具有紧密联系,且对一个国家的和谐与稳定关系重大。我国加入或即将加入的国际人权公约对民族、种族和宗教相关的犯罪行为已经作出了明确规定,我国有必要以国际人权公约的规定为参照检视我国刑法在民族、种族和宗教犯罪上的规定,作出与我国实际相符合、也与国际人权公约相一致的修正。修改现有相关犯罪的构成条件,增加我国刑法没有规定但危害严重的民族、种族和宗教犯罪。     

IMF programs and human rights, 1981–2003

We examined the effects of International Monetary Fund (IMF) supervised programs on changes in government respect for physical integrity rights in developing countries between 1981 and 2003. A longer period under an IMF program increased government use of torture and extra judicial killing and also worsened the overall human rights conditions in developing countries. The use of a two-stage model ruled out the possibility that human rights practices would have worsened even if IMF programs had not been in effect. Previous studies of the impacts of IMF programs also found that they had worsened government respect for human rights. However, those studies did not control for the effects of selection. We found preliminary evidence that the worsened human rights conditions persisted even after the reforms in program lending of the late 1990s.

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中国超市连锁企业获取低成本竞争优势的途径

根据中国加入WTO的承诺,零售行业将于2004年年底全面对外开放,国内零售市场的竞争将具有国际化特征。根据中国的市场特点,充分发挥本土作战的优势,通过规模扩张、优化价值链系统等途径实现低成本优势,是中国超市连锁企业做大做强,赢取竞争优势的保证。     

国税公务员招考现状及其完善

从专业需求、学历要求、政治面貌和辅助条件等视角分析国税系统公务员招考现状及利弊得失,并提出以下策略:规划人才战略、规范专业需求、放宽学历要求、强调政治面貌和利用辅助条件。     

西方幸福观的历史回眸与现实思考

幸福观是西方伦理思想史上一种重要的伦理思想。从古希腊到近代欧洲,幸福观对社会经济文化的发展产生了重要的影响。在市场经济蓬勃发展、物质文明激烈冲突的今天,我们更需要树立正确的幸福观。正确的幸福观应是创造和享受的统一,物质生活和精神生活的统一,个人幸福和集体幸福的统一,个人德性和社会制度的统一。     

中国国家人权机构的建立与完善——以《巴黎原则》为基础

自2004年“国家尊重和保护人权”的条款写入宪法以来,完善人权的国内保护逐渐成为人权保障的核心。1993年,联合国大会通过了《促进和保护人权的国家机构的地位原则》（简称巴黎原则）,为各国在国家人权机构的建立和完善方面确立了基本原则。通过对巴黎原则的研究,能够建立起符合国际标准国家人权机构,对人权的国内保护大有裨益。