解读环境法的“立法悖论”——以经济利益与环境利益的冲突为视角

我国现行环境法未能妥当地处理经济发展与环境保护之间的矛盾,以至出现法律法规频频出台但破坏环境的违法行为却屡禁不止的“立法悖论”。本文对社会经济活动引发环境问题这一事实背后所牵涉到利益纠葛作进一步地剖析,试图对两种利益再作均衡,以寻求环境立法悖论的解决之策。     

Institutional Foundations of Legislative Turnover: A Comparative Analysis of the Swiss Cantons

Abstract: The rate of turnover within parliaments remains an understudied area of research. The present paper contributes to filling this gap by presenting the first comparable macro‐level data on legislative turnover in the 26 Swiss cantonal legislatures. In examining the strikingly different levels of turnover in sub‐national Swiss parliaments between 1993 and 2011, the focus is on politico‐institutional features. Multilevel models reveal that two hitherto neglected institutional variables are correlated with legislative turnover. In addition to the reduction of parliamentary size, we find the strength of a cantonal parliament to affect turnover rates on the Swiss sub‐national level. Moreover, we show that proportional representation significantly promotes parliamentary elite circulation. Among the non‐institutional covariates, we find that electoral volatility is also relevant in explaining legislative turnover rates.     

Peer‐Reviewed Forensic Consultation in Practice: Multidisciplinary Oversight in Common Expertise

The fallibility of forensic science consultation is an ongoing and major justice concern. Prospective peer‐reviewed forensic consultation has over 10 years of application in American criminal and civil courts, adapting from the traditional oversight of teaching hospitals, rules of evidence and discovery, conventions of testimony of expert witnesses, and attorneys' overall trial strategy. In systematizing heightened oversight, this process ensures greater accountability in forensic science consultation. The integration of peer reviewers' complementary expertise and experience enhances the sophistication and overall quality of assessment. Forensic examination frequently involves the interface of different specialties. Multidisciplinary peer review augments expert proficiency with that of professional peers having different vantage points from relevant scientific disciplines. This approach ensures greater sophistication of a case inquiry, built‐in accountability, and streamlined processes when multiple experts are necessitated. Here, the authors present examples of several cases and the primary and secondary benefits of this collaborative, rigorous, cross‐disciplinary exercise.     

Oversight Effectiveness and Political Will: Some Lessons from West Africa

The purpose of the present note is to advance two theoretical claims. The first claim proposed is that the impact of the availability of oversight tools and of the most broadly understood legislative capacity (availability of material, technical, financial resources; availability of well-trained staff) on the effectiveness with which legislative oversight is performed is conditional. The second claim put forward, after reviewing a rich body of work on executive–legislative relations and legislative oversight in West Africa, is that, of the various conditions that promote or prevent the effective use of oversight tools and capacity, political will is the single most important. These claims have both theoretical and practical relevance, for if political will is as important as is claimed for the effective performance of the oversight function, then international organisations may have to reconsider their approach to legislative strengthening.     

论转基因作物及食品监管的立法原则

在转基因技术风险不确定的情形下,无论是美国的"可靠科学原则",还是欧盟的"预防原则",均不能令人信服。转基因作物及食品的立法与监管,应遵循公共利益优先、保护消费者的知情权、统一监管机构、国家利益与商业利益结合以及风险全程监控的基本原则。我国当下的转基因作物和食品立法,在层级上较低,应制定《基因技术法》或《国家生物安全法》,重点关注对转基因食品消费者知情权以及我国基因资源的保护;同时,应加强转基因作物和食品的监管和风险评估,对违法者苛以更重的民事责任和刑事责任。     

部门联合立法的规范化问题研究

两个或两个以上国务院部门联合立法,已经成为我国行政立法实践中的一种惯常立法形式,在实现法律、行政法规的精细化和可操作性方面发挥了重大作用。与单个部门立法相比,部门联合立法的功能主要体现为实现部门“条条”之间的立法权责整合、防止多部门职责交叉领域立法的碎片化和部门本位主义、提升部门立法的公正性与效率性、节约行政立法成本和减少部门立法冲突、为制定行政法规进行先行制度实验等诸多方面。在部门联合立法的过程中,难免会出现各种部门权限冲突与利益协调的难题。为推进部门联合立法的规范化治理,应当对部门联合立法的时机选择、事项范围、效力等级、立法主体关系以及备案审查等方面进行充分的制度分析与研究。     

The institutionalisation of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the institutional development of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies (BCD) from 1826 to the present. Legislature careers, the internal organisation of the BCD, the current system for filling positions within the committees and electoral rules are the objects of this study. The process of development of the BCD should be understood in light of the dynamics of the Brazilian political system, which has undergone significant ruptures of regime, and also in light of the nearly permanent fragility of the democracy, especially of its representative components. It is an institution with legislature career patterns that vary through time, but always point towards opportunities out of the BCD, a stable, hierarchical and complex mode of organisation that currently values parties as distributors of opportunities. It is, above all, an institution that is subject to external influences from other parts of the political system, which diminish its autonomy and self-determination, as shown by the example of the rule for the adjudication of terms. With its 190 years, the BCD has evolved along with Brazilian democracy and today, although boasting a great structure and large resources, it still needs to establish itself as a decisive and permanent actor in driving public policies and communication (parties and government projects) with voters.     

Legislative success in open sky congresses: weak gatekeeping prerogatives and the loss of majority support

In legislatures with weak gatekeeping institutions and constrained plenary time, scheduling rules and majority requirements explain inter-party differences in the consideration and approval of law initiatives. In this paper a mixture survival model is used to analyse legislative success in a legislature with very weak gatekeeping prerogatives, the House of Representatives of Uruguay. Evidence is provided that the loss of majority support depletes plenary time more rapidly and yields an ideological drift that benefits the median voter of the House. The results inform recent debates on the endogenous formation of a plenary schedule in open sky legislatures.     

Legislative oversight in Nigeria: an empirical review and assessment

This article builds upon and extends the analyses presented by Fashagba (2009) and drills down on the analyses of oversight in Nigeria presented by Pelizzo and Stapenhurst (2014). It presents more nuanced findings. Based on an in-country document search and 45 personal interviews with politicians, parliamentary staff, civil society representatives and journalists, the article demonstrates that the Nigerian National Assembly possesses the tools and constitutional powers to undertake oversight; what it lacks so far is the political will of National Assembly representatives and senators to use these tools and powers effectively.     

司法人员徇私枉法犯罪的特点、成因及对策分析

司法人员作为国家机器的重要组成部分,其素质如何直接关系到我国的政局稳定和社会主义和谐社会的建设进程,特别是近年来司法人员徇私枉法犯罪有上升趋势,因此,针对个别司法人员的徇私枉法犯罪情况,进行实事求是的剖析,从中找出特点和成因,并有针对性地提出对策,显得非常必要。本文通过对司法人员徇私枉法犯罪的特点、成因及遏制司法人员徇私枉法犯罪的对策进行分析,论述了司法人员徇私枉法犯罪的防范机制。从而有效防止司法人员徇私枉法犯罪的发生。