Pressure-induced legislation occasioned by media discourse is actually the result of an information deficit on the part of legislators. If legislators＇ information competency fails to meet the knowledge challenges of...Pressure-induced legislation occasioned by media discourse is actually the result of an information deficit on the part of legislators. If legislators＇ information competency fails to meet the knowledge challenges of the modem legal system and its activities, they will be powerless to resist the infiltration of media discourse. The result is that legislative activities are inextricably intertwined with the media; once a particular social issue is catapulted on to the media agenda, legislators have no choice but to fall into line, creating the phenomenon of pressure-induced legislation. The essential characteristic of law is its inherent constancy and stability, whereas pressure-induced legislation often loses the calmness, objectivity, prudence and comprehensiveness proper to law. Such legislative decision-making runs counter to the inherently rational mechanism of legislation and produces unfair and ineffective redistributive results. Pressure-induced legislation highlights the importance of information in public policy choices and institution design. It would be desirable for the whole legal system aimed at evaluating legislative performance to be introduced so as to provide legislators with a sufficient incentive to remodel their information competency and ensure the scientific nature and rationality of legislation.展开更多
The main significance of witnesses＇ appearing in court to testify in criminal trials is that this practice guarantees the defendant＇s right to confrontation. The issue can thus be framed in another way, as the issue...The main significance of witnesses＇ appearing in court to testify in criminal trials is that this practice guarantees the defendant＇s right to confrontation. The issue can thus be framed in another way, as the issue of the appearance in court of the necessary witnesses. Here, the defendant＇s right to confront is the key point. Since neither China＇s criminal procedural law nor corresponding judicial interpretations have granted the defendant the right to confront, the rate of appearance of the necessary witnesses amounts in practice to only about twenty- five percent. Criminal trials conducted in the absence of the right to confrontation usually conform to the doctrine of positive substantive truth and manifest a lack of care in conviction and sentencing as well as reliance on a single source of legitimacy in reaching judgments. To correct this state of affairs, it is necessary to institute the right to confront and corresponding safeguards.展开更多
文摘Pressure-induced legislation occasioned by media discourse is actually the result of an information deficit on the part of legislators. If legislators＇ information competency fails to meet the knowledge challenges of the modem legal system and its activities, they will be powerless to resist the infiltration of media discourse. The result is that legislative activities are inextricably intertwined with the media; once a particular social issue is catapulted on to the media agenda, legislators have no choice but to fall into line, creating the phenomenon of pressure-induced legislation. The essential characteristic of law is its inherent constancy and stability, whereas pressure-induced legislation often loses the calmness, objectivity, prudence and comprehensiveness proper to law. Such legislative decision-making runs counter to the inherently rational mechanism of legislation and produces unfair and ineffective redistributive results. Pressure-induced legislation highlights the importance of information in public policy choices and institution design. It would be desirable for the whole legal system aimed at evaluating legislative performance to be introduced so as to provide legislators with a sufficient incentive to remodel their information competency and ensure the scientific nature and rationality of legislation.
文摘The main significance of witnesses＇ appearing in court to testify in criminal trials is that this practice guarantees the defendant＇s right to confrontation. The issue can thus be framed in another way, as the issue of the appearance in court of the necessary witnesses. Here, the defendant＇s right to confront is the key point. Since neither China＇s criminal procedural law nor corresponding judicial interpretations have granted the defendant the right to confront, the rate of appearance of the necessary witnesses amounts in practice to only about twenty- five percent. Criminal trials conducted in the absence of the right to confrontation usually conform to the doctrine of positive substantive truth and manifest a lack of care in conviction and sentencing as well as reliance on a single source of legitimacy in reaching judgments. To correct this state of affairs, it is necessary to institute the right to confront and corresponding safeguards.
