At a time when constitutional reform is on the agenda, is the Constitutional Council the only institution that could not be reformed? This institution should find a new equilibrium in the appointment of its members, a greater openness in its functioning and procedure which could come from a clarification of its relationships with administrative and judiciary magistrates. But the main stake remains the evolution of its competence given the growing influence of European Union and Council of Europe law. Adapted from the source document.
Examines developments that began with the aim of the government to reform regional elections in order to allow for a more effective regional management. This was a law "relative to the election of regional council members & European Parliament representatives as much as to the public assistance of political parties." Regional ballots of 2004 were to take place under such conditions until the administration, acting under Raffarin, decided to institute a new system by making controversial use of article 49.3 of the constitution in order to have this law passed. The Constitutional Council (Conseil Constituionnel) sanctioned not the applicability of the article, but rather the procedure by which the State Council (Conseil d'Etat) was consulted. The Prime Minister then responded by presenting new, adjusted measures fit to the reply of the Council. The integrity and consequences of justifying passage of reforms based on controversial use of law are thus taken into critical consideration. 50 References. Adapted from the source document.
Anläßlich eines Kolloquiums über die aktuelle Lage der Sozialwissenschaften in Algerien wird hier der Bezug zwischen Rechts- und Gesellschaftswissenschaft erläutert. Stärken und Schwächen der Wissenschaftsdisziplinen werden gegeneinander abgewogen. Rechtsquellen werden in ihrem historischen Ursprung und in ihrer sozialen Bedeutung bewertet. (DÜI-Wsl)
The reform of Vietnamese criminal law engaged in the early 1980s has proved deceptive: it never led to the de-politicization of penal practices & of the characterization of crimes. The judicial & legal apparatus of social control was merely superimposed upon preexistent disciplinary mechanisms, instead of replacing them. Admittedly, codifying criminal law, rationalizing judiciary organization & reinforcing judicial review have put an end to the lawlessness of the revolutionary era & to "government by morality" -- up to a certain point. But the reinforcement of legality has not established the rule of law, only a "government by the law" of sorts, because it was really only intended to consolidate social control, to provide a legal frame for economic reform, & to supply the regime with a new, legal, rational source of legitimacy. Besides, criminal charges are only superficially de-politicized in the 1999 Criminal Code: the influence of socialist theories of law, revolutionary justice & customary law is still obvious in the definition of criminal responsibility, & the characterization & hierarchy of crimes. Finally, the sentencing system remains essentially the same. Based on repression, exemplary punishment & reeducation, it is a product of socialist theories of social hygiene & certain Vietnamese popular beliefs. Adapted from the source document.
Although legal reform has allowed the gradual & relative assertion of law's independence from politics, it has yet to weaken the repressive nature of the Chinese legal system, especially with respect to criminal law & public liberties. The paradox of the Chinese legal reform during the eighties & the nineties is that its shortcomings generated then more reforms than before 1978, when the Chinese legal system was either widely politicized or inexistent. Since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, Western countries have increased their interactions with that country, but have also diminished their pressure on sensitive issues such as human rights violations. Meanwhile, if economic & people-to-people exchanges between China & the world have multiplied & supported increased cooperation in the legal field, many issues remain unresolved. The reform stands as incomplete & has not favored greater independence from law, while commitments for cooperation on legal matters lack coherence & coordination. These shortcomings & the many failed hopes of reforms are likely to increase conflicts, not only between China & the outside world, but also between Chinese jurists & political leaders. Thus, despite its conservative politics, the Chinese communist regime joins in a global debate on law & human rights from which it cannot extricate itself anymore, but where it tries to reconcile its political goals with the requirements of a necessary legal modernization. Adapted from the source document.
The law implementing the framework agreement on the First Nations' land management raises questions about whose interest it was designed to serve. Is the Land Management Act rooted in the First Nations' own demands or was it brought in to satisfy the needs of the Canadian majority? The answer to these questions will affect the adopted measures' legitimacy & efficacy. This study shows that it was neither a question of a top-down reform imposed from above by a legislator representing a unanimous population nor a bottom-up one demanded by a consensus of aboriginals. Rather, it appears to be the result of an agreement between a minority of aboriginal groups wanting to engage in a market economy & the federal authorities trying to disengage the state & responding at the same time to the banks' desires for a new landholding regime. This makes it difficult to classify the land codes the Act imposes on participating Aboriginal Band Councils, which fit neither the category of "local" Canadian law nor that of "popular" aboriginal law. Adapted from the source document.
South American states' traditional antinarcotics policy, which is highly influenced by Washington and its prohibitionist doctrine, is facing increasing criticism. Several countries such as Bolivia, Uruguay and Colombia are attempting to introduce policy that is less focused on blanket repression. However, this new orientation poses problems with regard to relations with the United States and international conventions for the suppression of drug trafficking. Adapted from the source document.
Examines domestic policy developments in Morocco in the early 1990s; focus on constitutional revision and electoral law reform of 1992, 1993 legislative elections, and social programs.
This article aims to compare the two legislative electoral reforms that took place in Italy in 1993 and 2005, by analyzing the contexts in which they emerged and were adopted. The laws emerged in very different contexts: in the constraint of the abrogative referendum of April 1993 on the one hand, and in the context of internal conflict in the center-right coalition in 2005 on the other hand. However, the rationales for adoption in both cases are relatively similar: these laws, through complex ambiguous and potentially contradictory mechanisms, aim to conciliate divergent interests in the heterogeneous coalitions sustaining them. We conclude by drawing attention to the following central elements in the analysis of the two processes: the degree of uncertainty in which political parties evolve, the internal coalition dynamics and the part played by ambiguity to reach a consensus. Adapted from the source document.
In November 2003, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan named a group of 16 to consider possibilities for a universal reconfiguration of the organization. This new UN would be better able to respond to international crises and problems. One of the principal points of the document that was produced concerns the Security Council. The advisory group proposed, for the first time, two serious proposals for enlarging the council, one more audacious than the other. In the more audacious plan, Africa would have two permanent seats, Asia would have three, Europe would have four and the Americas would have two.
This thematic issue is intended to present a collection of articles that will give insight into the efforts to transform police forces in Occidental countries over the course of the past thirty years. The issue's objective is to offer an analysis of the diversity of police forces and of the methods by which such agencies have been transformed. In addition, the article explores processes of such transformation, examining the actors involved and the impact of the introduction of new technologies. W. A. Butler
