The European Court of Justice and its political impact

This article reviews recent advances in the study of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and its political impact at the European and member state levels. New quantitative as well as qualitative analyses show with great empirical precision that member state preferences guide the Court. The article summarises these findings, but argues that greater attention needs to be given to the (over-)constitutionalisation of EU law in order to fully capture the political impact of ECJ jurisprudence. Even if European judges are less activist than is often assumed and individual decisions are more restrained in the face of member state opposition, incrementally, case law evolves in a highly expansive fashion. And, exercising caution regarding unrealistic expectations about quasi-deterministic judicial law-making, it is found that the Court’s constitutionalised jurisprudence impacts heavily on European and member state policy-making.     

Why do Indonesian politicians promote shari’a laws? An analytic framework for Muslim-majority democracies

Taking the discussion in the existing literature on the adoption of shari’a laws in democratising Muslim-majority countries as a starting point, we posit that there are two broad motivations for democratically-elected politicians to adopt shari’a laws and regulations: ideological conviction on the one hand and response to the expressed or perceived preference of constituents on the other hand. The ‘demand side’ can be further divided into the preferences of individual voters, and the interests of groups which act as power brokers, influencing the voting choices of individual citizens. These groups may be economic, religious, or other actors. These motivations are not mutually exclusive; the passage of a given shari’a regulation may fulfil two or all three of them simultaneously. However, we posit that the interaction between the place, timing, and content of shari’a laws passed in a nation as a whole will vary in various predictable ways, according to the dominant motivations. The dominant motivation may also affect the vigour with which the law is implemented.     

Power and property: commercialization,enclosures, and the transformation of agrarian relations in Ethiopia

The transnational agrarian social movement Vía Campesina is campaigning to have the United Nations negotiate and implement a Declaration, and eventually an International Convention, on Peasants' Rights. This article analyzes the origins and demands of the campaign and the place of the claimed rights in international law. Peasant organizations hope to follow in the footsteps of indigenous peoples' movements that participated in the negotiations preceding the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The peasants' rights campaign has succeeded in linking its demands to discussions of the right to food in the United Nations, where concern is growing over the approach of the 2015 target for realizing the Millennium Development Goals, in particular the halving of the numbers of people suffering from hunger. The campaign is likely to face stiff resistance from powerful UN member states, but could achieve substantial advances even if the path to a convention is difficult or never completed.     

日本近世关于伊势外宫地位的论争

江户时代伊势神宫中的内外两宫围绕外宫的性质和地位高低问题发生过激烈的论战。外宫神职主张,外宫的祭神不仅是丰受大神,同时也是国常立尊和天御中主神,这样就赋予了丰受大神以祖先神的性质。外宫神职同时延续了中世的"二宫一光说",即认为两宫关系是阴与阳、水与火的二元关系,天照是二宫之通称。外宫据此谋求提高自身地位,达至与内宫地位对等。内宫方面则逐个反驳以上主张,否定外宫祭神是国常立尊,并彻底反对中国的阴阳思想。外宫在论战中的失败是追求地位对等与封建等级秩序之间的根本矛盾所决定的。     

Towards food sovereignty: interrogating peasant voice in the United Nations Committee on World Food Security

The goal of the direct participation of food producer constituencies – and other citizens – is a key component of food sovereignty, the policy framework first launched by La Vía Campesina and engendering the much wider food sovereignty movement. In this paper, I outline the reasons why the reform of the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (CFS) can be regarded as historically significant to this goal. Focusing upon the CFS's aspirations for inclusivity, I outline a framework for interrogating the experiences of social movement activists representing food producer constituencies seeking to convert their formal right to participate in the CFS into substantive participation. Going beyond the capturing of their experiences, the framework also reveals the different ways in which their challenges in attaining substantive participation can be overcome, with a particular emphasis upon adjustments within the arena itself. The paper concludes with an overview of the research agenda suggested by Raj Patel (2009), amongst others, and alluded to further in the content of this paper.     

论处置劫持人质案件工作预案

劫持人质案件处置工作具有复杂性,处置结果具有难以明确预见的特点。制定处置劫持人质案件工作预案应当体现超前性、专业性和可操作性,处置劫持人质案件工作预案的程序性作用在于：有利于使警方的处置过程及处置结果接受社会舆论监督;有助于使当事人及其家属接受处置结果;有助于明确民警职责,形成处置人员保护机制。处置劫持人质案件工作预案的实体性意义在于有利于警方高效、有序地开展处置工作,确保处置活动成功,其制作过程包括调查研究阶段、预案形成阶段以及预案评估阶段。     

农村治安新动向及解决途径

转型期农村利益调整,致使暴力性侵财案件、报复性治安案件和群体性事件频发。村级组织软弱涣散,群防群治机制欠缺,执法后续监督不到位,农村公安工作基础薄弱,是影响农村治安的主要因素。创建农村社会治安稳定局面,有待提高农民法制素质,调整农村社会生活中的各种关系,建立健全村、乡（镇）的组织功能,强化农村基层公安派出所的治安保障能力,还可以尝试开展治安承包,通过有偿方式和市场行为辅助解决农村治安防控问题。     

《监狱法》缺陷的另类解读——以罪犯服刑能力为视角

《监狱法》的适用为我国改造罪犯、保障人权提供了法律保障,然而《监狱法》也存有一些立法上的盲点,例如对服刑能力的规定就是如此。服刑能力是罪犯接受刑罚惩罚的能力,对一个具备完整服刑能力的罪犯实施惩罚是符合正义的基本要求的,但是,对于一个服刑能力有缺损的罪犯实施强制性改造则是非人道的、非正义的。我国对服刑能力的研究还处于起步阶段,立法上还有许多空白之处,这就使得服刑能力成为刑罚改造实践中的一个盲点。     

全球和合共生系统理论与中国周边命运共同体

全球和合共生系统理论是共生理论与系统理论相互融合而形成的全新框架体系,可以作为构建人类命运共同体和中国周边命运共同体的理论分析范式和理论依据。全球和合共生系统理论认为,世界上的一切事物都是一个大系统中的共生体,必须从全球的角度来构建命运共同体。国际体系各组成部分之间的关系是辩证的,即对立的统一。全球体系内部与中国周边体系内部的互相依赖既有积极的一面,又有消极的一面。积极的相互依存是指相互依存的双方都从关系中受益,而消极的相互依存是指任何一方对相互依存关系的破坏都可能给另一方甚至双方带来损失。构建中国周边命运共同体是全球共生体系高级阶段的目标。全球和合共生系统理论的相互依存论决定了优化中国周边体系以实现中国周边命运共同体的必要性。以相互尊重为前提,以公平正义为核心,以合作共赢为目标,应成为构建中国周边命运共同体的三个关键要素。我们应以此来推进构建新型国际关系,进而建立中国周边命运共同体。