WTO争端解决机制中的专家决策与公众参与

专家决策在WTO争端解决机制中起着主导性作用.依照DsU的有关规定,专家组成员可以请求其他专家帮助他们评估某一WTO成员方的政策,以界定该成员方所采取的措施是否符合其所承担的自由贸易义务.然而,不论是专家的选任还是专家意见的征求,都有需要改进之处.WTO争端解决的法律化及民主化是公众参与的先决条件.实质上,公众参与的法律基础是透明度.公众参与作为一项手段,可以大大加强WTO争端解决机制的效力.     

再议现行医疗纠纷调整机制的立法缺陷与完善

《医疗事故处理条例》这部倍受关注的法规,它的出台曾经得到了社会各界的广泛好评。然而,随着实践的深入,一些新的问题也逐渐暴露出来,引发了许多学者的关注和研究。通过对新颁布的《医疗事故处理条例》存在的一些问题进行法律分析,同时结合最高人民法院第33号司法解释中关于医疗纠纷的举证责任倒置的规定,可对部分法律问题的解决做出理论分析。     

Psychological Barriers to Resolving Intergroup Conflict: An Extensive Review and Consolidation of the Literature

This article reviews over sixty years of research on psychological barriers to intergroup conflict resolution and finds that scholars have identified eighty nominally different barriers that create or exacerbate intergroup conflict. In order to create a tractable list that would be more helpful to future scholars and practitioners, we consolidate this vast literature (e.g., by eliminating substantive and conceptual redundancies) to produce a list of twenty‐six “unique” psychological barriers. We further organize this inventory of barriers with a framework that distinguishes between “cognitive,” “affective,” and “motivated” psychological barriers. To better understand the literature ecosystem of research on psychological barriers, we employ a data visualization tool to illustrate the extent to which each of the twenty‐six unique barriers has been studied conjointly with every other barrier in the articles we reviewed. We then shift our attention to the work of scholars who have attempted, experimentally, to attenuate psychological barriers in negotiation and conflict settings, and identify five primary methods for doing so. Finally, we discuss the implications of our review for future work in this field.     

Legal Outcomes of Suspected Maltreatment Cases Evaluated by a Child Abuse Pediatrician as Part of a Multidisciplinary Team Investigation

Child abuse pediatricians often carry the stigma that their sole role is to diagnose maltreatment. In reality, child abuse pediatricians use their clinical experience and current evidence-based medicine to make the best medical diagnoses for the children they evaluate. To better understand the legal conclusion of suspected maltreatment cases with medical examinations, this study sought to: (i) evaluate the percentage of children seen for suspected maltreatment that led to a clinical diagnosis of maltreatment, (ii) determine the number and type of criminal charges associated, and (iii) analyze the legal outcomes of cases as they proceeded through the judicial system. This study retrospectively reviewed the legal outcomes of 1698 children medically evaluated in 2013–2014 as part of an investigation by a multidisciplinary team at a children’s advocacy center in a mid-sized city in Oklahoma. Data were collected from electronic medical records, the district attorney’s office, and a public court docket. Of the original cohort, 477 (28.09%) children yielded a medical diagnosis of at least one type of maltreatment. Further analysis yielded 115 unique court cases involving 138 defendants and 151 children. A total of 286 charges were filed resulting in 190 convictions. While maltreatment allegations yield a high number of children that must be evaluated, a comprehensive medical evaluation helps determine which cases do not have sufficient medical findings for a diagnosis of maltreatment. The findings in this study indicate that a majority of suspected maltreatment cases seen by child abuse pediatricians did not result in criminal court outcomes.     

The Impact of Safe Harbor Legislation on Court Proceedings Involving Sex Trafficked Youth: A Qualitative Investigation of Judicial Perspectives

The passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) facilitated the conceptual shift in reframing youth involved in sex trafficking as victims, rather than criminals. Many states have passed legislation in the form of Safe Harbor laws to protect sex trafficked juveniles from criminal charges and provide rehabilitative services (Polaris, 2015). Nevertheless, limited research has examined the impact of Safe Harbor laws and the role juvenile and family court judges play in how minor victims of sex trafficking are treated by the court system. Consequently, the purpose of this qualitative study was to examine juvenile and family court judges’ knowledge and perceptions of Safe Harbor legislation and identify legal challenges when presiding over cases involving sexually exploited youth. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with a national sample (N = 82) of family and juvenile court judges. Findings suggest that respondents perceive Safe Harbor laws to have positively affected both attitudes and practices, although several challenges and unintended negative effects were identified. Further, dispositional issues, difficulties with case identification, legal and policy issues, and challenges with interagency collaboration were identified as ongoing issues to address. Legal implications as well as practice and policy considerations based on the study findings are discussed.     

States Sued: Democracy,the Rule of Law,and Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS)

Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) cases have increased dramatically in recent decades, and the institutions of investment arbitration to resolve investor-state disputes constitute the core of the modern investment regime. In this article, we seek to explain the variation in the host governments’ risk of being challenged by foreign investors before international arbitration tribunals. We argue that such risk is greatest at the intermediate level of democracy where some democratic elements such as elections are strong, but the system of rule of law remains weak. In those regimes, “regulatory risk” runs higher than in autocratic regimes as the host governments are under greater pressure for regulating matters of broad public concern. At the same time, more traditional political risk of arbitrary, discriminate, and abusive acts remains considerable at that level of democracy due to weak rule of law, exacerbating the former risk. Empirical analysis provides a good deal of support for the argument.     

推进非公中小企业劳动关系协调机制建设的思考 —— 对改善非公中小企业劳动关系现状的对策建议

劳动关系协调机制是推进企业和谐稳定以及企业长足发展的重要抓手。集体协商、职代会和劳动争议调解是企业协调劳动关系的重要机制。然而目前,各类企业尤其是非公中小企业的劳动关系需要完善和改过。为此,可采用两手抓的工作路径,即一方面应积极推动具备条件的企业依法建立健全劳动关系协调机制,另一方面大力推进区域性、行业性劳动关系协调机制建设,通过两方面工作路径的有效联动,推进区域劳动关系的整体和谐稳定,进而增进企业活力,推动企业发展。     

孕产期劳动保护规定实施现状及其对在职育龄女性二孩生育意愿的影响 —— 以湖南省为例

本文基于湖南省孕产期劳动保护相关规定的落实情况,分析其对在职育龄女性二孩生育意愿的影响。通过分层整群随机抽样的方法对在职育龄女性进行问卷调查,得出如下结论:不同性质单位对各项劳动保护规定的落实情况参差不齐,国有企业女职工孕产期休假、劳动时间和劳动照顾规定的落实情况相对较好;配偶护理假、1小时哺乳时间、对原劳动的适应性和单位对高龄孕产妇的照顾措施显著影响在职育龄女性的二孩生育意愿。因此,相关政府部门应在确保各项劳动保护规定得到良好落实的基础上,不断优化完善各项政策,才能增加职业女性工作与生育间的兼容性,从而促进新生育政策目标的实现。     

“It Was My Understanding That There Would Be No Math”: Using Thematic Cases to Teach Undergraduate Research Methods

Undergraduates frequently approach research methods classes with trepidation and skepticism, owing in part to math-phobia and confusion over how methodology is relevant to their interests. These self-defeating barriers to learning undermine the efficacy of methods classes. This essay discusses a strategy for overcoming these barriers—use of a case study as a thematic framework for the class. In theory, the case study engages students and renders the material less abstract. A research methods class recently taught by the author was organized around political assassinations, with an initial framing focus the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In an end of semester Qualtrics survey, students reported that they liked this approach and believe that it kept them interested in the material.

“[S]tats are dry. The Kennedys are not dry.” ～A student     

利益争议处理中调解组织和机制的十国比较

代替性纠纷解决方式(ADR)中的调解制度作为调整劳动关系、解决劳资矛盾的核心制度,其重要性日益凸显。而我国现行的利益争议调解机制尚未成熟,有待转型。目前此领域的研究多是针对外国国情,无法为我国转型提供思路。本文从国外的调解制度比较研究中借鉴比较方法,选取十个与我国有着相似经历的转型中国家和调解制度完善的发达国家,对比其调解组织和制度的特点。基于我国国情,为我国调解制度改革提出提升立法层次、完善成员设置和任命制度等政策建议。