A Changing House: The Life Peerages Act 1958*

The year 2008 marks the 50th anniversary of the Life Peerages Act 1958. The first life peer to obtain his letters patent was Lord Fraser of Lonsdale (Sir William Jocelyn Ian Fraser) on 1 August 1958. The first life peer to be introduced in the Lords was Lord Parker of Waddington (Sir Hubert Lister Parker) on 21 October 1958. The first woman peer to receive her letters patent dated 8 August 1958 was Baroness Wootton of Abinger (Barbara Frances Wootton), and the first woman peer to take her seat in the Lords was Baroness Swanborough (Dame Stella Isaacs, marchioness of Reading), ahead of Baroness Wootton on 21 October 1958. This article gives an overview of the background to life peerages and women peers before 1958, including the importance of two peerage cases, the Wensleydale case 1856 and the Rhondda case 1922. It does so with particular reference to women and the house of lords. It also considers the passage of the act itself; the initial life peers created in 1958; final equality between men and women peers achieved by the Peerage Act 1963; and the impact of life peers on the House since 1958.     

日本的能源立法与执行情况

日本已形成了由能源政策基本法立法为指导、各能源专门立法为中心内容、相关部门法实施令等为补充的能源法律体系。为了保证能源法律能够得到有效的执行,日本采取了多种措施,但也存在一定的问题。日本能源立法及其执行的经验,对我国能源立法具有重要的借鉴作用。     

论《旅游法》立法的若干理论问题

我国《旅游法》正在制订过程中,期间发生了若干重大理论争议,消弭争论、达成共识是摆在立法者面前一道现实课题。本文认为,当前制定的《旅游法》应当是规制旅游业、但又不限于旅游业的旅游基本法,并提出了框架性立法、以人为本、旅游可持续发展等三种立法理念作为当前立法的价值指引,以期厘清论争,推动立法。     

美国《1882年排华法案》的立法过程分析

论文聚焦于国内学者较为忽视的1882年3月美国国会排华立法讨论的经过,依据留存的美国国会辩论记录和当时的报纸记录,归纳并分析了当年美国排华立法辩论的历史情境。认为美国国会主要围绕三个问题讨论排华立法,即对华人人口的恐惧问题、种族和不可同化问题、华工薪资过廉伤害劳工利益问题。但真正导致排华立法通过的关键因素,是美国当时两党的政治均势和劳工利益团体的积极游说。为了争取工人选票,民主党和共和党都赞成排华。相对于排华态度坚定的民主党来说,利害关系较弱的共和党的积极参与,为排华法案的通过加大了砝码。     

Freudian Slips and Coteries of Vice: The Sexual Offences Act of 1967*

The Sexual Offences Act 1967 made the first inroads to decriminalising men's homosexual sex since buggery was made a capital offence under Henry VIII. The act was drafted at the direction of the 1957 Wolfenden report, but bore the distinct hallmark of individuals of the 1967 parliament. More complex than the dictated product of Wolfenden, and more idiosyncratic than a simple reflection of the social climate of the 1960s, the private member's bill was a Labour initiative with bipartisan support, driven in the Commons by the bizarre motivations of its sponsor, Labour member for Pontypool, Leo Abse. Contrary to popular myths about the aims of decriminalisation, Abse's crusading Freudian motivation was concerned with discouraging, more than allowing, homosexual behaviour. Similarly, ‘privacy’– the gift of the house of lords to sexual regulation – was aimed largely at curtailing men's sexual practices, along with secreting them away. Thus, while the act is typically associated with a general ideal of freedom, much parliamentary motivation concerned control and the prevention of sexual activities.     

南京临时参议院立法活动的若干考察

南京临时参议院中的资产阶级革命党人及某些立宪派人士,为制定建立资产阶级共和国所必需的法律、法规进行了积极的努力,在近代中国立法史上写下了重要的一页,具有不可忽视的进步意义;某些立法规则、程序没有得到严格的遵循,则可视为中国资产阶级革命不彻底性的一种表现。     

The Advocacy Coalition Framework and Implementation of the Endangered Species Act: A Case Study in Western Water Politics

Theories about subsystem activity typically focus on policy formulation processes. One causal model of public policymaking, the advocacy coalition framework, offers a potentially useful way to bridge the gap between policy formulation and implementation in examining subsystem activity. The purpose of this paper is to assess the analytical utility of the advocacy coalition framework by examining the stability of policy-producing coalitions over time in the face of implementation complexities. An analysis of the policy changes that occurred during the implementation of the Endangered Species Act vis-à-vis planning for the construction of the Bureau of Reclamation's Animas-La Plata water project is conducted. The analysis reveals how coalitions protect their policy core beliefs during technical disputes through the acquiescence of secondary aspects of belief systems.     

民族自治条例的立法变通权探讨

民族自治地方立法变通权是民族自治地方制定的自治条例或单行条例的立法权。其法定依据是宪法、立法法、民族区域自治法中以及法律、法规中具体授权的规定,但其行使受到宪法、立法法等的限制,并且,对自治条例的立法变通权还设置了批准后生效、备案、审查、违法撤销的监督制度。     

The Americans With Disabilities Act and Medical Providers: Ten Years After Passage of the Act

This article discusses the impact of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) on health care providers in the last decade. Even though some ADA training has been provided for health care providers, more education will help to improve access to their offices, improve health care practices for their patients with disabilities, and be an incentive for the providers to help raise the consciousness of the rest of the community about the ADA.