Contesting Professionalism: Legal Aid and Nonlawyers in England and Wales

Professions are granted a form of cartel that enables them to charge more than would arise in a free market on the assumption that they provide better quality and are more trustworthy than free-market actors would be. The theoretical assumption that lawyers are more competent than nonlawyers has given rise to significant formal protections for professions in many jurisdictions. Two testable propositions arise from this theory: (1) lawyers cost more, but (2) they deliver higher quality. It is a testing of these twin propositions that is the subject of this article, with well-triangulated data and a deeper understanding of the theoretical differences between lawyers and nonlawyers.     

以积极姿态迎接新《未成年人保护法》的实施

2006年12月29日，十届全国人大常委会第二十五次会议以154票赞成、2票弃权，表决通过的新《未成年人保护法》将于今年6月1日起正式施行。与原先的《未成年人保护法》比较，修订后的新法律有许多创新和亮点，不仅明确了“未成年人享有生存权、发展权、受保护权、参与权等权利，国家根据未成年人身心发展特点给予特殊、优先保护，保障未成年人的合法权益不受侵犯”等重要内容，还就涉及未成年人身心健康发展的许多方面作了明确和具体规定，例如：禁止向未成年人出售烟酒；不得在未成年人集中活动的室内饮酒、吸烟；老师辱骂学生要受到惩处；学校不得延长未成年学生在校学习时间；