论我国法治文明的两个重要范畴

各国基于历史条件和法律文化的差异,在法治文明进程中,不同历史阶段的中心任务是有所不同的。就当代中国而言,对公权力的有效制约和对社会弱势群体的经济社会权利的有效保障,是现阶段法治文明与和谐社会建设进程中的两个重要范畴。该两项要务的法治化和常态性的强力构建,很大程度上将成为21世纪中国法治建设和社会文明进程中的题中要义和执政党兴国安邦,福祉社稷,建设和谐社会与平安中国历程中的重中之重。     

走向多元：宪政时代司法的复合功能

定分止争是原始社会司法功能之核心。但进入阶级社会后,国家的出现使得司法功能逐渐朝着维护特权阶层之政权的角度发展。到了近现代社会,随着身份特权被打破,法治成为国家治理的主要方式,宪政原则被确定为司法功能的逻辑原点,司法功能在逻辑自主性支配下呈现出了多元化的趋势。宪政时代司法的多元化功能具体体现为服务功能、统治功能、保障功能、法治功能和治理功能五个方面。     

诉权的宪政之维

目前我国的诉权研究视野比较狭窄、法理根基的探讨比较单薄,基于诉权与宪政之间的内在逻辑联系,从宪政的维度更能够厘清诉权的来源、属性与价值,这有助于拓宽诉权的思考空间,深化对诉权的理论研究,凸显加强诉权的宪法保障之重要意义。     

Why Federalism Does Not Always Take Shape: the Cases of Italy and Nepal

Federalism has been discussed as a potential system of governance in many countries, but in some it has failed to take shape. This has been the case in Nepal and, to a certain extent, in Italy. In fact, in Italy the federal option was rejected at the time of Risorgimento, and constitutional reforms in the 2000s never transformed the country into a federation as desired by political actors such as the Northern League despite some decentralization. In Nepal, the 2007 interim constitution specified that the country would be federal, but the first Constituent Assembly elected to write a new constitution was unable to produce a federal map acceptable to the major political parties and the second is wrestling with the same issue. In both cases, federal structuring was attacked by political actors who argued that it could promote disunity, undermine solidarity, and possibly lead to disintegration. This article argues that the idea of federalism held by prominent political actors as promoting division and conflict played strongly against its implementation.     

Experimentalism in the EU: Common ground and persistent differences

Our central claim in this rejoinder is that experimentalist forms of organization in making regulatory rules, organizing social services, and articulating constitutional norms arise and diffuse as the problem that the actors and the state face shifts from ignorance to uncertainty. We argue that this has consequences for forms of accountability and for the conception and organization of democracy and constitutionalism. The EU, founded by diverse states in a period of continuing uncertainty, intensified by growing interdependence, proves to be a natural laboratory for observing urgent efforts to adjust to this new situation, and the symposium focuses on developments there. The symposium has brought us to see that there is more common ground in these debates than prior exchanges may have suggested. We therefore emphasize convergence on large points, while underscoring and, we hope, clarifying persistent differences, with the aim of encouraging the joint exploration of them already underway, in part explicitly, in part implicitly.     

从汉冶萍公司兴衰看晚清宪政缺失与悲情

清末洋务工业化运动,由于落后生产关系与相对先进生产力的悖离,在经历了半个多世纪折腾后最终归于沉寂,被世界誉为"亚洲第一雄厂"且为大清帝国第一家股份制改制企业的汉冶萍钢铁煤联营公司仍然难逃倒闭破产的厄运。缘何自近代洋务始的国有企业均易短祚而亡,一直为学术界所重。清末政治精英与商务精英们共同创设了汉冶萍公司,但由于其晚清帝国近代化先天准备不足和基本政治制度的宪政缺失,在西方列强武力与资本裹挟的双重夹击中崩俎。本文意欲以汉冶萍为范例,寻绎晚清民族自强求富与变法救国宪政缺失的内在原因。     

对清末民初中国宪政理念转型的分析

清末民初的宪政理念,历经由改良主义到君主立宪、再由君主立宪到民主立宪的转化历程,达到了近代宪政的高潮,为近代中国权利理念的转化奠定了基础。但是,近代中国的宪政建设,始终面临神、俗两界的尴尬。帝制崩溃,共和未能真立,表明近代中国不具备宪法运行的社会环境。中国近代宪政建设的特别之处在于,它发生在东西文化碰撞这一历史大背景之下,接受西方宪政模式的引领,进行宪法移植,并大搞宪政建设,而本国固有的人生态度、生活模式等却不匹配,以至宪法只能保持其神圣性价值,无法在世俗中运行,其理论功能无法转化为"法在行动中",徒具空文而已。     

Reforming the United Kingdom Constitution: Law,Convention, Soft Law

The Governance of Britain Green Paper continues the programme of constitutional reform begun in 1997, and appears to reinforce the juridification of the UK's constitution. Nevertheless, several key reforms will be implemented not by legislation, but by creating new conventions. This article argues that such ‘declared’ conventions are best understood as a form of constitutional ‘soft law’, which attempt to influence constitutional behaviour rather than generating binding norms. Applying a regulatory analysis, it then argues that the case for a soft, rather than hard law approach to constitutional reform is weaker than its widespread use in the UK suggests. Finally, the article challenges the thesis that the political constitution is being replaced by a legal constitution, arguing that the government's attitude to constitutional reform still exhibits basic characteristics of political constitutionalism. Moreover, there is more to contemporary constitutional developments than a bipolar contest between political and legal constitutionalism.     

宪政视野下的《刑事诉讼法·总则》

通过重构《刑事诉讼法·总则》,可以将其分为三部分,涉及权力分配问题、权力主体从事刑事诉讼行为时可能受到的限制、诉讼主体可以凭借的工具。第一部分是在宪政视野下的分析,其得出了一个值得注意的结论,中国刑事诉讼程序现代性因素非常多,权力分配的基本框架已经确立;第二部分,涉及对权力主体的各种限制本身可以增加司法机关判决的可接受性,可以提高司法权威;第三部分,分析了刑事程序参与者可以凭借的各种工具。在此基础上,进一步揭示出其暗含的一些瑕疵、甚至缺陷,如不赋予法官独立权,仅仅赋予法院作为整体的独立权。     

Making Referendums Safe for Democracy: A Call for More and Better Deliberation

In this essay I argue that when thinking about the design of referendums we should pay particular attention to the quality, substance, and inclusiveness of the debate and deliberation that precedes the vote. This is especially true for constitutional referendums that affect fundamental laws. I suggest that drawing out the procedure over time and including citizens’ mini‐publics might be helpful additions to our design tools box.