Access to the health records of deceased patients: Why the law is in need of review

A glance at the cases that came before the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in the period between 2005 and 2008 immediately shows that a consistently high number relate to access to the health records of deceased patients. What accounts for this interesting state of affairs? This paper aims to demonstrate that the law regulating this increasingly important area is a patchwork of case law, statutes and professional guidelines that do not always lend themselves to a congruous and seamless amalgamation. This has in turn resulted in the need for creative interpretation and at times legal gymnastics on the part of the ICO and medical professionals. We argue that in an age where allegations of medical negligence are proliferating (and access to the health records of the deceased could help confirm or dispel suspicions of wrongdoings leading to the death) and where genetic information about a deceased relative could offer valuable support to a living patient's preventative care, diagnosis and treatment plans, the law regulating access to the health records of deceased patients in the UK can no longer afford to be unclear and confusing. There is, therefore, an urgent need for review.     

National Transparency Regimes: Rules or Principles? A Comparative Analysis of the United States and The Netherlands

Technology development and democratization have been identified as the general drivers of the worldwide thrust in transparency. But what transparency regimes do these drivers generate in different countries? This mixed method study indicates that national regimes are different due to pre-existing institutional differences and critical junctures in the historical development of transparency regimes. Our analysis shows that the U.S. transparency regime can be characterized as a rules-based approach while a principles-based transparency regime prevails in the Netherlands. This article nuances the debate about the global character of transparency and highlights two different outcomes of the push for transparency.     

宪法诉讼民主价值的构造

民主作为宪法诉讼机制的价值目标,其实质性内涵可以从两个层面加以界定:其一,工具性的民主价值。这种价值实质上就是传统意义上的多数民主价值,即秩序、法治之价值。其二,目的性的民主价值,即自由之价值。     

The Law of Assembly in China

This paper is a comparative study of the law of assembly between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) vs. the Republic of China (ROC). The comparison is achieved by looking at how these two Chinese societies structure police powers during assembly, procession, and demonstration; textually and contextually. Particularly, it investigates into how the forces of history, constitution and politics converge to define and shape the law of assembly. This comparative project is conducted with a view to understand the relative development in police powers in the two Chinese societies, once linked by history and culture and now divided by geography and ideology. In a still larger context, this research rides the tide of comparative policing in exposing and explicating how police in two closed societies, ROC (Confucianism) and PRC (Socialism), come to terms with social protests and political challenges; more broadly how to balance the forces of reform and control with the use of law.

社会主义核心价值观之自由的四重解读 ——基于马克思主义理论视域

自由是社会主义核心价值观的重要组成部分。在马克思主义理论视域下,社会主义核心价值观中的自由具有四种特性。首先,自由具有现实性。我们所追求的自由不是虚幻的,而是在人的实践活动的现实基础上产生的一种价值追求。其次,自由具有阶段性。我们既不能用未来社会的价值观念来衡量当前社会主义核心价值观中的自由,也不能将社会主义核心价值观等同于共产主义社会的自由观。再次,自由具有人民性。社会主义核心价值观所提出的自由不是一小撮人的自由,而是广大人民群众的自由。最后,自由是共性和个性的统一。既要看到自由在各个国家的不同发展阶段的特殊性,又要把握作为全人类共同价值的自由的普遍性。同时,要认清西方国家提出的"普世价值"观的真面目,不能将二者混淆。     

论高校学位纠纷的司法审查边界

高校学位纠纷中的司法审查是促进学位立法完善的重要推动力。在司法审查中,程序违法对实体问题认定的影响范围、对校规中学术标准的审查力度以及判决类型的选择适用标准都需要进一步明确,以统一裁判尺度,衔接司法与立法,促进学术评价走向真正的学术自治。在司法审查路径上,为实现权利保护,应建立程序与实体全面审查路径,将程序正当性和程序对实体的影响度纳入司法审查范围,并对学位授予的品行要件和学术要件确立不同的审查原则与例外。在司法审查深度上,为实质化解争议,应将高校对于学位争议事项是否尚存实际的裁量余地作为选择适用行政判决类型的标准,区分有裁量余地的学术标准和外观化的学术标准。     

从新闻分类角度谈新闻自由的保护与合理限制

新闻自由是新闻媒体满足公民知情权的一项特殊权利。其不同于言论自由、出版自由,它不仅是言论、出版自由在新闻领域的特殊表现,同时又具有其特殊的内涵。从社会学新闻角度和新闻职能角度出发,新闻自由的合理限制规则应包含报道事实与建议评论相分离规则和四类报道性新闻合理限制规则。     

对国际贸易法中绿色贸易壁垒的再认识

绿色贸易壁垒具有双重性质。我们不应只看到它阻碍贸易自由的消极方面,也要看到它存在的合理性,看到它对环境保护、推进可持续发展方面所起的积极作用。绿色贸易壁垒具有国际贸易法上的依据,其在国际争端解决中的实践也有新的发展。我们应在非歧视原则和比例原则的基础上,建立我国的绿色贸易壁垒。     

The Piper Played to Us All: Orchestrating the Cultural Cold War in the USA, Europe, and Latin America

Review of a recent book on the Congress for Cultural Freedom by British author and documentary filmmaker Frances Stono Saunders, Who Paid the Piper? The CIA and the Cultural Cold War (London: Granta, 1999), leads into an examination of the cold war ideological contest in the United States, Europe, and Latin America. Particular attention is given to the Americas and U.S. efforts to manipulate the social sciences as instruments of hemispheric control. Saunder's book is compared and contrasted to other works on the cultural cold war, while extensive references are provided for further reading and research.     

新闻自由权权利之源探析

新闻自由是言论自由在新闻传播领域的体现，是传统的言论自由、出版自由的延伸和发展。新闻自由权的权利主体包括新闻媒体和公民。天赋人权是一切人权理念的真谛，自然权利是新闻自由权最原始的权利基础；人性尊严是新闻自由作为个体性权利基础；新闻自由作为一种民主权利则演绎的是公民及媒体对监督政府而产生的制度性权利基础。