Fostering Constructive Action by Peers and Bystanders in Organizations and Communities

Peers and bystanders play important roles in organizational and community conflict management. Bystanders often learn relevant information and have opportunities to act in ways that can affect three of the basic functions of a conflict management system (CMS.) They can help (or not help) to identify, assess, and manage behaviors that the organization or community deems to be “unacceptable.” Examples in which bystanders play important roles include sexual and racial harassment, safety violations, unethical research, national security violations and insider threats, cyber‐bullying and cyber‐sabotage, violence, fraud, theft, intimidation and retaliation, and gross negligence. Bystanders often are a missing link in conflict systems. For the purposes of this article, I define peers and bystanders as people who observe or learn about unacceptable behavior by others, but who are not the relevant supervisors, or who knowingly engage in planning or executing that behavior. I define CMS managers as all those people, including line managers, who have responsibility for managing conflicts. Conflict managers face many challenges in fostering constructive behavior from bystanders. The interests of bystanders may or may not coincide with the interests of conflict systems managers in an organization or community. Bystanders often have multiple, idiosyncratic, and conflicting interests, and experience painful dilemmas. In addition, peers and bystanders, and their contexts – often differ greatly from each other. Blanket rules about how all bystanders should behave, such as requirements for mandatory reporting, are often ineffective or lead to perverse results. Bystanders are regularly equated with “do‐nothings,” in the popular press. In real life, however, helpful bystander actions are common. Many bystanders report a wide variety of constructive initiatives, including private, informal interventions. In this article, I report on forty‐five years of observations on bystanders in many milieus. I present what bystanders have said are the reasons that they did not – or did – take action, and what can be learned to help organizations and communities to support bystanders to be more effective when faced with unacceptable behavior.     

悖信援引时效抗辩权的法律规制

义务人实施一定言行导致权利人合理信赖诉讼时效不会成为其行使权利的障碍,其后义务人援引时效抗辩权的,构成悖信援引行为。我国现行法框架下对于悖信援引行为的法律规制,难以通过起算、中断等规则予以解决,而应当适用诚实信用原则或禁止权利滥用原则限制此类援引行为。司法实务中适用诚实信用原则或禁止权利滥用原则处理时效援引争议的典型案例包括:义务人恶意躲避权利人、双方存在长期合作关系使权利人产生合理信赖、时效期间届满后双方进行某种形式的磋商等。对于司法实务中某些误用此二原则的裁判意见,应当尽量予以纠正和避免。     

Life Extension: Rolling the Technological Dice

The idea of radically extending average human life expectancy is an ancient one, but for most of human history exceedingly utopian. There is now, however, a revival of that idea, with some scientists and others arguing that it is possible and desirable. But the main problem with most of the life extension enthusiasm is that it is based almost entirely on the desire of some individuals to make it happen. The social consequences of success of such a venture are, however, either ignored altogether or dismissed on the grounds that any problems can be dealt with. In the end, none of our present human and social problems would be helped by radically longer lives and no obvious social benefits have been advanced to support it.

论村民委员会作为乡村社会维权性组织的可能与路径

“三农”问题的实质是农民权益问题,作为村民自治组织的村民委员会应成为维护乡村社会权益的组织依托;当前在我国乡村治理的实践中,乡村自治性组织的维权性功能存在着缺位、错位和异化的现象,这是由诸多原因造成的;在社会主义新农村建设中应着力构建以保障农民权益为根本的乡村治理新机制,推进乡村自治组织的社会性复归;通过政治环境的发展、制度机制的重构、文化观念的培育,挖掘和塑造村民自治性组织作为村民群众维权性组织的组织资源和实践能力。     

Communication uncertainty and the fictional role of organizational culture

This theoretical investigation aims to critically analyze the concept of organizational culture as an example of ＂organizational fiction＂. In order to benefit from unveiling organizational fictions, it is necessary to be aware of how illusion is linked to stability and predictability. It is here proposed to consider communicational uncertainties as positive qualities in flexible organizations, where communicative flows between organizational spheres and individual spaces of employees or managers engender new ideas and foster creativity. Thus, a strong organizational culture, especially in intercultural contexts, may be a barrier to organizational health, but a strong and unified corporate identity is necessary to guarantee organizational stability and cohesion. The solution is the interplay between stability and contingent openness toward external influences.     

新形势下的非法集资特点及对策

当前的非法集资呈现出集资手段多样、新颖,侵害对象多元化,涉案数额巨大,犯罪组织严密,跨地区流动作案等特点。非法集资扰乱了正常的金融秩序,破坏了社会的安定团结,处理不当后果严重,寻找相应的防治对策是十分必要的。     

制作并出售网游外挂应当构成犯罪

对于制作并出售网游外挂的行为,无罪说所持的大前提并不准确——相对的罪刑法定原则提倡刑法解释;"有利于被告人"原则不能成为刑法解释中的霸王条款;和谐社会强调的也不是一味的刑法谦抑而是宽严相济——因而不应为我们所采纳。该行为符合犯罪特征,应当予以刑事规制。     

民事诉讼发回重审制度之检讨

十多年来我国法院民事上诉案件发回重审率的变化表明,发回重审的适用,除取决于法律制度本身外,还与司法政策、一审法官的素质等因素紧密相关。实践中我国二审法院存在着诸多发回重审的"潜理由",如提高年度结案率、规避审判责任追究、维持上下级法院之间良好关系等。对二审法院滥用发回重审进行制约的措施应包括,在立法上将发回重审的事由限定于法律问题,在审级功能正当化的基础上使上级法院更加尊重一审判决,并赋予发回重审裁定时二审法院的自缚效力。无害性原则、辩论原则、处分原则以及终局性原则,应当成为构建以保护当事人程序利益为中心的发回重审制度的基础。     

实质的刑法解释论之确立与展开

在刑法的解释与适用上,存在着形式的刑法解释论与实质的刑法解释论之争。形式的刑法解释论主张对刑罚法规进行字面的、形式的、逻辑的解释,实质的刑法解释论主张对刑罚法规进行实质的、价值的、合目的的解释。实质的刑法解释论是对形式的刑法解释论的扬弃,它不仅与刑法规范的特点、结构、内容相一致,具有方法论意义上的合理性,而且满足了我国刑事法治目标与罪刑法定原则兼具形式侧面与实质侧面的要求,适应了我国犯罪概念与犯罪构成体系形式与实质相统一的特点,具有优越的合理性。我国刑法应确立与贯彻实质的刑法解释论立场。     

中国-东盟民事司法协助制度探析

随着中国—东盟自由贸易区的建立,中国—东盟各国间互涉民事案件呈现增长趋势。现行的中国—东盟民事司法协助制度已不能完全适应现实的需要,中国—东盟民事司法协助机制亟待完善。文章对中国—东盟民事司法协助制度构建前提及协助的主要内容进行了较为深入的探析。