Decentralisation,socio-territoriality and the exercise of indigenous self-governance in Bolivia

This article analyses the ‘indigenous autonomy’ being constructed in two dozen Bolivian municipalities and territories, in accordance with the 2009 Constitution. It finds that Bolivia’s 1994 decentralisation reforms, which created the country’s system of municipalities, are central to understanding the contemporary implementation of indigenous autonomy. Some indigenous people view as favourable the representative and material gains achieved by municipalisation, which helps explain why more majority-indigenous communities have not yet chosen the new option of indigenous autonomy. However, the new legal framework also limits indigenous self-governance, because territorial delimitations of the country’s municipalities are generally inconsistent with indigenous peoples’ ancestral territories. The new institutions of self-governance are legally obligated to include discrete legislative, executive and administrative functions, reflecting not indigenous norms but a municipal structure of liberal design. This study illustrates the way that indigenous self-determination may encounter obstacles where indigenous territorial jurisdictions must coincide with contemporary boundaries of colonial origins, rather than with pre-colonial territories.     

Challenging the European Union: the rising powers and the USA in the Doha Round

In this article, the challenges posed to the European Union's (EU) role in trade policy and its implications for development policy during the World Trade Organization's Doha Development Agenda, also known as the Doha round, are highlighted. The authors argue that transformed power relations have created a situation characterized by role uncertainty, for the emerging powers but also for the EU. Priorities among multiple possible roles – in the existing trade regime, in relation to the global South and in the ongoing negotiations – become subject to redefinition. For the EU, heavily wedded to a multilateralist and reformist mission because of its own history, this process is particularly difficult. The EU's traditional role conceptions as a leader and a benign partner to developing countries have been challenged and partly replaced by a more realist approach.     

绑架问题与日朝关系

最近几年,由于日本和朝鲜在绑架日本人问题上严重对立,使得原本紧张的两国关系更是雪上加霜。日朝两国在绑架问题上坚持各自立场,最根本的分歧在于双方在政治、安全和战略利益方面的巨大差异。日本方面热炒绑架问题,可谓是一石两鸟。日本以防范"来自朝鲜的威胁"为由,不断强化日美同盟和增加军事实力,使军事能力在国家发展战略中的位置和作用不断提升。同时,绑架问题还是日方手中最为重要的筹码,在日朝关系正常化谈判中可以与朝方抗衡,甚至可以对冲朝方提出的"清算殖民统治的历史,进行赔偿"的要求,争取谈判主导权。     

甲午启示录——朝鲜半岛篇

1894年甲午战争爆发后,朝鲜在摆脱与清王朝之间藩属关系的同时又陷入了日本侵略势力的魔掌。随着世界反法西斯战争的胜利,朝鲜终于挣脱了日本的殖民枷锁,获得了独立自主。然而,1954年日内瓦会议关于朝鲜问题的讨论无果而终,无情地宣告朝鲜半岛又进入了南北分治时代。当新的甲午年来临之际,回顾前两个甲午年朝鲜半岛的历史,总结其经验教训,将会为我们客观认识和妥善处理当前朝鲜半岛问题,避免历史悲剧的重演,提供一些有益的启示。     

The Research On the Juristic Acts System of The General Principles of Civil Law

The theory of juristic acts is the core content of the General Principles of Civil Code, and the perfection of the legal norms is one of the main tasks of the General Principles of Civil Code of PRC. Based on the theory of juristic acts, this paper gave a detailed review of all the legal norms about juristic acts in the new General Principles of Civil Code of PRC. The author believes that the General Principles of Civil law of PRC have made great progress in the definition of juristic act, the basic values behind it, the implementation and effectiveness of the declaration of intention, and the validity system of juristic acts. At the same time, the article also pointed out that this General Principles of Civil Code still needs second consideration or perfection in this field, including the selection of terminology, the effect of persons with limited capacity of juristic acts, the rules about the error in the declaration of intention, the adoption of rules aboutunilateral false declaration of intention, the optimization of the validity system of invalid juristic acts etc. This paper put forward a series of concrete and practical perfection plans, looking forward to be useful for further improvement of the General Principles and the codification of other parts of the civil law.     

Fractured International Environmental Governance and the Potential Role of the Commonwealth in Biodiversity and Climate Change

Abstract

This paper begins by examining the reasons behind most failures of governance, including fault lines in institutional and professional specialisation, and in ideology. These three, forever competing within and between themselves, frustrate attempts to find solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges. Not least among these are environmental challenges, where preferences and priorities that are geographically, professionally or ideologically narrow inevitably fail to achieve solutions for the greater good. What role can the Commonwealth play in addressing the fracture lines that bedevil solutions for climate change and biodiversity? It may help to stimulate global action on these issues if it can encourage agreement across multidimensional global boundaries. We know the Commonwealth is not a leading global force for controlling climate change or biodiversity loss; but if it had the political will it could be an exemplar of how, between a group of vastly diverse countries across the globe—and on the global political stage—binding agreement and positive action on climate change and biodiversity could be promoted and perhaps achieved. One of the strongest features of the Commonwealth is the generation of long-standing legal and ethical norms whose appeal is obvious even if their implementation is lacking. These norms should not be limited to the rule of law, democracy and human rights, but should include environmental norms because these too are fundamental to a satisfactory human condition.     

The Commonwealth is Getting its Second Wind

This article looks forward to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London, April 2018, in light of reflection on the nature of the Commonwealth (‘club, church or beehive?’) and its legacy. Special attention is paid to the significant anniversaries of 2015—Magna Carta, United Nations, end of the Second World War, London Declaration and 50 years of the Commonwealth Secretariat. The author also considers the agendas for CHOGM and the implications for the Commonwealth of Britain’s exit from the European Union (Brexit).     

“一带一路”战略下的反腐败刑事司法合作

"一带一路"战略是中国提出的重大战略,其已经成为世界经济增长的"引擎"。经济合作是"一带一路"的战略核心,然而经济合作的重点在基础设施建设、金融合作、货物贸易、能源开发等领域。面对这些领域的经济利益,部分沿线国家法治落后,权力得不到有效制约,导致这些领域很容易产生贪污腐败。由此沿线各国应重点加强联合侦查、证据交换、犯罪引渡、赃款追缴等领域的反腐败刑事司法合作,这对打击腐败行为,确保"一带一路"战略实施尤为关键。     

Introducing the Open Clause to improve copyright flexibility in cyberspace? Analysis and commentary on the proposed “two-step test” in the Third Amendment to the Copyright Law of the PRC,in comparison with the EU and the US

The so called “three-step test”, that the limitations and exceptions of copyright shall be allowed in certain special cases, provided that they do not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author, grants copyright flexibilities to balance the interests of all stakeholders, especially within the European system of circumscribed limitations and exceptions. This is essential for the domain of computer law, confronted by rapid and unpredictable global technological developments, and is, thus, enshrined in the most important international intellectual property (IP) treaties. Through the proposed third amendment to the Copyright Law of the PRC, the legislature intends to adopt this test while also introducing an open-ended list of limitations and exceptions that constitutes a China-specific “two-step test.” This contravenes prima facie the thesis endorsed by the WTO Panel in the case concerning Section 110(5) of the US Copyright Act in 2000. In contrast, court decisions in China frequently apply the fair use doctrine of US copyright law, neglecting to consider its peculiar context of the US common law tradition and, thus, unduly expanding the Chinese courts' discretionary power.This paper summarizes the case law in China and takes a comparative approach to address the divergence between the judicial application of cyber copyright law and the existing legislation. It suggests revising the proposed Article 43 of the Copyright Law of the PRC to capture the due interpretation of the three-step test, thereby finessing the delineation between rights protection and free use with the compensation of remuneration under the principle of proportionality. It argues that transplanting the US fair use doctrine into Chinese copyright law is feasible, but with the preconditions of endeavouring to strengthen judicial reform to integrate the IP adjudication systems, enhancing the coherence and efficiency of copyright enforcement, and facilitating consistent dialogues between scholars, practitioners, and lawmakers.     

AID EFFECTIVENESS AND THE PARIS DECLARATION: A MISMATCH BETWEEN OWNERSHIP AND RESULTS‐BASED MANAGEMENT?

Although recent years have witnessed substantial changes in the global aid architecture, less effort has been devoted to investigating the process of implementing those changes. By using the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) as an illustrative and critical case, this article shows how a donor development priority—gender—travels from Stockholm and headquarters to a Paris Declaration‐infused aid practice in three cases with different aid modalities: Tanzania, Zanzibar, and Cambodia. More specifically, the qualitative empirical investigation conducted here shows that the implementation of the new aid architecture puts severe and competing demands on development practitioners. At the core of this tension is the fact that although all donors are supposed to promote partner country ownership, harmonize their efforts with other donors, and align themselves with partner country priorities, results‐based management simultaneously implies not only a focus on continuously measuring and reporting results but also stricter prioritizations on behalf of donor governments. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.