Trade, Harmonization, and Domestic Autonomy in Environmental Policy

This article evaluates the environmental criticisms of free trade that have been such an important part of the critique of globalization. The first section briefly surveys the range of criticisms environmentalists have brought against the new economic order. The second section examines the available literature on the race to the bottom, one of the key concerns. The third section analyzes the World Trade Organization trade rules and how they have been interpreted by dispute resolution panels involving environmental issues. The fourth section turns to the specific rules of the North American Free Trade Agreement and examines several case studies of environmental issues in that region. The final section provides a summary evaluation of the environmental criticisms. The article argues that the environmental criticisms are exaggerated. Trade agreements leave far more room for domestic environmental measures than is frequently argued. The political globalization of the environmental movement has helped counter the threat to environmental policy created by the economic and trade aspects of globalization. Environmentalists do need to be careful about how they advance this critique of globalization, however, because their arguments risk becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.     

契约视角下的刑事和解

刑事和解是一种以协商为特征的纠纷解决方式,旨在被害人获得损害赔偿,犯罪人获得宽恕谅解,社会秩序得到恢复。刑事和解的本质是刑事法领域中的契约关系,鉴于刑事法的内在特性,需要对刑事和解进行理性定位和科学设计。     

试论我国农村土地纠纷的现状及解决机制

农村因土地征收、耕地转包引发的纠纷,不仅影响到农村的社会稳定,而且已成为乡村治理的一大难题。针对错综复杂的农村土地纠纷,必须构建可行的纠纷解决机制,具体的对策就是在完善诉讼与调解制度的基础上,让诉讼与调解形成一种良性互动的关系,这是解决当前乡村社会治理难题的一个有效途径。     

我国非讼程序的立法问题及解决建议

在民事诉讼程序多元化的背景下,解读非讼程序的内涵、特征和适用范围及其与诉讼程序的关系,才能真正认识非讼程序对于民事诉讼的意义。对于我国非讼程序立法存在的问题,可以在借鉴国外经验的基础上于民事诉讼法修改过程中给予调整、完善或解决。     

构建依法化解群体性事件纠纷机制的思考[1]

群体性事件是在经济转型期各种社会矛盾相互碰撞集中爆发的外在形式,其主要分为因经济发展不平衡、政治诉求难以满足和经济利益冲突转化为政治诉求引发的群体性事件等三种类型。国际社会有着成熟的处置群体性纠纷的方法和经验,在借鉴相关经验的基础上,应当通过建立社会调解机制、新型社会组织参与机制和信访运行机制,探索构建我国群体性事件的纠纷解决机制。     

略论未成年人犯罪案件诉讼程序

新《刑事诉讼法》增设“未成年人刑事案件诉讼程序”专章,对我国未成年人刑事司法制度改革具有重大的里程碑意义,彰显了国家对未成年人犯罪问题的重视以及对未成年犯罪人进行教育、感化、挽救和改造的方针。然而在立法理念尚须进一步推敲与配套制度缺失等诸多司法环境限制因素的影响下,新刑诉中与未成年人刑事案件诉讼程序的相关规定仍有未尽之处。未成年人刑事案件诉讼程序立法原则为“教育为主、惩罚为辅”,立法体例相对集中,具有“社会调查”、“附条件不起诉”以及“犯罪记录封存”三大创新性制度。     

The historical evolution of settlement patterns and trends in South Africa: Unlocking the log-jam of the unsustainable settlements impasse

Abstract

This article ascertains the underlying causes of the persistence of unsustainable settlement patterns and trends in post-apartheid South Africa. Despite positive development planning policy intentions in the post-apartheid South Africa, glaring deprivation and spatial inequality has persisted. The article is grounded in a chronological analysis of demographic, functional and regional economic dynamics at the different epochs of South Africa's history as well as the settlement policy and planning intentions. Its main finding is that the persistence of unsustainable settlement patterns and trends in post-apartheid South Africa is largely a result of misplaced settlement policies and strategies. They give knee-jerk responses to global, regional, national and local dynamics shaping settlement patterns and trends. The recommendation is that development planning initiatives should be informed by the dialectics of settlement facets at local, regional, national and global levels for them to deal decisively with the historical problem of unsustainable patterns and trends.     

关于刑事诉讼当事人处分权的思考

刑事诉讼当事人处分权的正当性来源于两个方面:一是权利具有可分性;二是当事人作为程序主体理应具有自主性.刑事诉讼当事人处分权的内容体现在程序启动、程序选择和变更以及程序参与的过程中.对刑事诉讼当事人的处分权应予以适度限制,具体体现为效力范围的限制、社会公益的限制和国家权力的限制.     

Post-civil war democratization: promotion of democracy in post-civil war states, 1946–2005

Post-civil war democratization is a critical element of building sustainable peace in post-civil war states. Yet studies of democratic transition and survival suggest that the post-civil war environment is not hospitable to either the transition toward or the survival of democracy. This inhospitality may be due to the fact that post-civil war environments are contentious. After a civil war, the former protagonists fear for their security and also want to protect their political and economic interests. The central argument of this study is that former rivals can agree to a transition toward democracy to the extent that a stable balance of power exists between the government and rebel groups; a balance that eliminates the sort of security dilemma that would encourage one or both parties to resume armed conflict. Such a balance should ensure access to political power and economic resources. This study identifies factors that contribute to the establishment of a balance of power between former protagonists and factors that affect its stability. The presence of these factors should affect the decision of former protagonists on whether or not they can achieve their political and economic interests if they agree to a transition toward democracy once the civil war ends. Based on this theoretical argument, I have derived empirically testable hypotheses. In the survival analysis performed, I find support for the theoretical arguments. The findings of this study have some policy implications.     

能动与重构：公私合作背景下行政诉讼制度路径抉择

在公私合作背景下,行政行为和行政法律关系趋向复杂化,传统的行政诉讼制度出现缺失。时下,司法能动主义在我国法院系统和法学理论界备受关注。为适应公私合作背景下纠纷问题解决的需要,我国的行政诉讼制度面临选择司法能动还是制度重构的抉择。结合中国法治实践,行政诉讼制度的重构,是比较符合中国现实国情的。