Construction of Legal System of China's Farmland Protection under the Coexistence of Multiple Objectives:Historical Logic,Practical Problems and Optimization Paths

[Objectives]To explore the evolution of the legal system of farmland protection and explore the rules and characteristics of policy development based on the theory and logic of institutional change since China's reform and opening up,reveal the problems and deep-seated reasons of its legislation,clarify the direction of farmland protection in the new period,and solve the"non-agricultural""non-grain"and ecological problems of farmland.[Methods]Literature analysis and inductive deduction methods were used.[Results]The evolution of the farmland protection legal system has gone through the process of"national consciousness-policy guidelines-institutional system",the change from"single subject to multiple subjects";change from the use of"one-way administrative means to coordinated use of administrative,economic and technical means".The practical problems of the farmland protection legal system are mainly due to the insufficient systematization of the farmland protection legal system itself,the generalization of quantity protection,the transformation of quality protection,and the absence of ecological protection.[Conclusions]It is recommended to improve the existing farmland protection legal system from the establishment of the Farmland Protection Law,the improvement of the farmland protection public participation mechanism and supervision mechanism,the establishment of the farmland quality construction and improvement system,the differentiated farmland occupation and supplementation balance system,and the ecological restoration system.

Environmental Impact Assessment System and Process in Developing Countries

Environmental impact assessment (EIA), a decision-making process for project appraisal and sustainability adopted globally as an administrative process to identify, predict, evaluate, and monitor projects from their feasibility, preconstruction, construction, and operation stages to mitigate the adverse impacts and enhance the beneficial impacts for the protection of the affected environment, The study objective is to explore global EIA systems and processes and find shortcomings and implications for making the best instrument or tool to protect the natural environment from man-made activities over the project cycle. For this, the relevant literature on the EIA system and process was reviewed and evaluated through the application of quantitative and qualitative approaches, including the assessment of legal instruments and the adoption of EIA methodologies in developing countries. EIA, initiated in the 1970s in the US and Australia, expanded to developing countries and was amended in East and Southeast Asia from the 1970s to the 2000s. The evaluation assessed that the South Asian countries follow UNEP and IAIA guidelines, utilizing national laws and expert consultations, with screening criteria and administrative processes based on established environmental legislation. Ad hoc, checklist, matrix, network, overlay, cost-benefit analysis, and predictive or simulation in EIA practice are used to assess the environmental impacts of development activities. Failure to recommend major projects undermines public trust and prevents mitigation measures from being implemented. Most developing countries have followed EIA to fulfill the legal requirement with shadow-off monitoring and follow-up rather than to upset, reduce, or compensate for the project impacts as per size, location, and severity of the project area. The research and guidelines outlined in the IAIA principles and process have synthesized the best EIA practices worldwide. Public participation, impact coverage, scientific mitigation, transparent evidence-based approaches, monitoring, follow-up, legitimate approaches, and future appraisal opportunities are major concerns to be included in best EIA practice.

Theory on Introducing a Mandatory Attorney System into Civil Litigation from the Perspective of the Protection of the Right of Action

As an important rectifying mechanism to the involved parties-oriented civil litigation model,the mandatory attorney system requires the involved parties of a lawsuit to appoint a lawyer to represent them in the litigation,otherwise they will be rejected because the litigation requirements aren’t met.This seems to restrict the litigants’right to initiate a lawsuit by themselves.Through the arrangement of the system for the participation of lawyers in some litigation procedures,stages,and cases,coupled with the legal principle of litigation costs,the litigation costs sharing mechanism,legal aid,and other related supporting systems,it is not only a substantive guarantee for the litigants’right of action,but also can even strengthen the protection of the litigants’right of action in civil litigation.Based on the need to effectively protect and strengthen the litigants’right of action,combined with its civil litigation system and judicial operation environment,China should adopt a phased and gradual strategy to introduce and implement the mandatory attorney system in civil litigation while constantly improving its lawyer system,litigation costs system,legal aid system,and other related supporting systems.

Improvement of the Legal System for Addressing the Issue of Elderly Care in China in the Context of Population Aging

Rapid population aging is a social reality facing China at present,and the issue of elderly care has become a hot topic of social concern.Legislation to address the issue of elderly care in the context of population aging should follow systematic concepts to achieve“vertical and horizontal integration.”In terms of content,it is necessary to formulate specific legal approaches around“the elderly and children,”with a focus on guaranteeing the livelihood and protection of the rights of the elderly while taking into account childbirth,employment and other issues.the laws should not only safeguard the social participation and labor rights of the elderly,but also effectively respond to the social challenges brought about by the aging of the population.It is also necessary to optimize the family planning policy to ease the burden of child-raising,improve the population structure and promote the long-term balanced development of the population,thus fundamentally solving the problem of population aging.the effort to improve the legal system to deal with the issue of elderly care in the context of population aging will better advance Chinese modernization.

Unenumerated Rights Clauses and the System of Restriction on Fundamental Rights——Another Construction Plan for Article 51 of the Constitution of PRC

According to constitutional jurisprudence in China,Article 51 of the Constitution is an unenumerated restrictive clause.Such theoretical construction fails to justify the differentiated restrictions established in the Constitution and makes it difficult to explain the constitutional status of human dignity. Article 51 implies the possibility of other theoretical constructions. It is not an unenumerated restriction clause but an unenumerated rights clause. It aims to provide guarantees for general freedom of action not enumerated in the Constitution rather than restricting fundamental rights. The actual benefit of this kind of theoretical construction lies in that it can establish the basis of the constitutional text for general freedom of action and promote the people’s correct understanding of the model of restriction on fundamental rights established by the Constitution of PRC.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

1 Legal requirements The author(s)guarantee(s)that the manuscript will not be published elsewhere in any language without the consent of the copyright holders,that the rights of third parties will not be violated,and that the publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.Authors wishing to include figures or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright holder(s)and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers.Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

1 Legal requirements The author(s)guarantee(s)that the manuscript will not be published elsewhere in any language without the consent of the copyright holders,that the rights of third parties will not be violated,and that the publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.

Promoting Environmental Risk Assessment and Control of Emerging Contaminants in China

1.Introduction In recent years,China has carried out an extensive preventative battle against air,water,and soil pollution,and the nation’s environmental quality-as reflected by conventional pollutant indicators—has significantly improved.At the same time,the issue of emerging contaminants(ECs)is beginning to receive increasing attention.ECs generally refer to newly discovered or noticeable pollutants that pose risks to the ecological environment or human health.Either they have not been included in environmental management,or existing management measures are insufficient to effectively prevent and control their risks.The ECs of greatest concern generally include persistent organic pollutants(POPs),endocrine-disrupting chemicals(EDCs),pharmaceuticals and personal care products(PPCPs),and microplastics.These four categories of ECs are not entirely separate,as they interrelate with each other(Fig.1).Chemical production and product usage are the main sources of ECs.China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of bulk chemicals,and the production value of China’s chemical industry is predicted to reach 50%of the global total by 2030[1].Scientific control of ECs based on their environmental risk assessment is a necessary way to support the prevention and legal governance of ECs.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

1 Legal requirements The author(s)guarantee(s)that the manuscript will not be published elsewhere in any language without the consent of the copyright holders,that the rights of third parties will not be violated,and that the publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.Authors wishing to include figures or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright holder(s)and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

1 Legal requirements The author(s) guarantee(s) that the manuscript will not be published elsewhere in any language without the consent of the copyright holders,that the rights of third parties will not be violated,and that the publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.Authors wishing to include figures or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright holder(s) and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers.Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

1Legal requirements The author(s)guarantee(s)that the manuscript will not be published elsewhere in any language without the consent of the copyright holders,that the rights of third parties will not be violated,and that the publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

1 Legal requirements The author(s)guarantee(s)that the manuscript will not be published elsewhere in any language without the consent of the copyright holders,that the rights of third parties will not be violated,and that the publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

Legal requirements The author(s) guarantee(s) that the manuscript will not be published elsewhere in any language without the consent of the copyright holders,that the rights of third parties will not be violated,and that the publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

1 Legal requirements The author(s)guarantee(s)that the manuscript will not be published elsewhere in any language without the consent of the copyright holders,that the rights of third parties will not be violated,and that the publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.Authors wishing to include figures or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright holder(s)and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

1Legal requirements The author(s)guarantee(s)that the manuscript will not be published elsewhere in any language without the consent of the copyright holders,that the rights of third parties will not be violated,and that the publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.

美国《保健物理》(Health Physics)杂志英文摘要(2023年126卷第2期)

Statistical Analysis of Radioactivity:Lamprecht Uranium Mine in Texas Mark C.Harvey1 and Nancy L.Glenn Griesinger2(1.Department of Physics,Texas Southern University,Houston,TX 77004;2.Department of Mathematical Sciences,Texas Southern University,Houston,TX 77004)Abstract:The former Lamprecht uranium mine facility in Texas ceased operations well before the new millennium.However,decommissioning activities were never completed by the licensee.Consequently,a legal proceeding was authorized between state and licensee representatives.Meanwhile,state funds were used to hire an independent contractor to perform radiological surveys and assess the magnitude of residual radioactivity across the terrain at the site.The purpose of this study was to apply advanced spatial statistical methods to the survey data measured by contractors at the Lamprecht site to precisely predict remaining radioactive hotspot locations post soil remediation activities.

Research on the Prevention and Control of Self-Money-Laundering in the Digital Age

The development of virtual currencies,network banking,and artificial intelligence technologies facilitates the implementation and completion of self-money laundering in crimes involving embezzlement and bribery.Amendment XI to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China lists self-money laundering as a separate money laundering crime,breaking the restrictive framework that it must be committed by someone else.This is reflective of the specific interest that China has in anti-money laundering.The criminalization of self-money laundering has been adopted as a powerful legal weapon against money laundering.However,it has confronted a series of dilemmas in terms of specific judicial applications.To gradually address the dilemmas in applying the clause,a comprehensive consideration of Chinese judicial and anti-money laundering practices,as well as international anti-money laundering regulations and practices,is carried out.Moreover,the following recommendations are given:that the protection of legal interests concerning self-money laundering should be expanded appropriately;that a penalty and cooperation system should be established for the crime of self-money laundering;and that the scope of the means of self-money laundering should be extended.

Regulatory Impact Assessment of the EU Digital Market Surveillance and Chinese Response Plan

As a data protection legislation with the dual objectives of market regulation and government supervision,the EU General Data Protection Regulation(GDPR)is designed to promote the cultivation of a market for data ele⁃ments and to regulate the data processing subjects'behaviour.The civil legal norms to participate in the data market regulation are introduced,and a right-protected mode with the obligation norms of data controllers as the core is started by GDPR.However,from the perspective of GDPR's global enforcement effectiveness,as an export-orientated global standard and protection framework,the power regulation model of the EU's single digital market is facing the in⁃novative incentives of data market expansion and the tension of human rights protection.A more modest and moderate data governance regulation model has been opened by a new round of the EU digital market regulation.The legal sce⁃narios transition and digital platforms regulation more fit the regulatory demand and development goals of global digital economy development.The EU's determination to enhance the global digital market share and competitiveness is dem⁃onstrated.For China,the impact and security risks of the new round should be evaluated carefully,drawing on the ex⁃perience of the technical standpoint and institutional framework and regulatory rules of the EU digital market regula⁃tion,providing the regulatory models and Chinese solutions to respond to the EU digital market regulation,and enhanc⁃ing Chinese institutional discourse and rule-making leadership in the global digital economy.

Research on the Legal Framework of Content Regulations for Network Platforms

In the era of the Internet,various network platforms have evolved into new hubs for information dissemination.Currently,China has established a platform-centered content regulation framework,wherein platforms proactively enforce content regulations in accordance with legal censorship obligations.Additionally,platform policies and user agreements augment their authority in content regulation.The platforms can achieve cost-effective and highly efficient content regulation by leveraging their strategic advantages enabled by their own technical capabilities and extensive coverage.The platform self-regulation model,however,still faces challenges.First,accurately evaluating content remains a formidable task;second,ensuring effective platform publicity through self-regulation poses difficulties;third,users may potentially face disadvantages due to the platform’s right of self-regulation;and fourth,digital copyright owners face challenges when defending digital copyright disputes under the safe harbor rule.Therefore,it is imperative to establish,review,and revise the legal framework for content regulation of network platforms in order to enhance the efficiency of their governance systems.The formulation of the legal framework for content regulation of network platforms may encompass the following aspects:rationalizing obligations pertaining to platform content regulations,enhancing supervision over platform self-regulation,and establishing a dual-track responsibility system for digital copyright content regulation.This will ensure a harmonious balance among public interests,users’personal rights and interests,and commercial benefits through regulating the content on network platforms.

Beijing Declaration of the Global Business and Law Conference 2024

The Global Business and Law Conference 2024 took place in Beijing, China on September 27, 2024. Hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade(CCPIT), the event brought together representatives from the global business and legal communities to deliberate on the theme of “Strengthening Business and Legalaw Cooperation for Further Global Economic Development”.