Law Commons^™

Mao And Mediation: Politics And Dispute Resolution In Communist China, Stanley B. Lubman

Hong Yen Chang Center for Chinese Legal Studies

We lack much essential knowledge, not only about Chinese Communist legal institutions, but about Chinese society generally – how it is organized, how power is distributed and wielded, and the nature of even the most ordinary relationships. Such ignorance is dangerous, especially when China and the United States, and their perceptions of each other, remain tragically far apart. An analysis of China's institutions for resolving disputes can teach much about its dominant values and authority relationships.

This Article examines the resolution of disputes between individuals in China, relying on documentary sources and on interviews conducted by the author in Mandarin …

Non-Economic Objectives And The Efficiency Properties Of Trade, Jagdish N. Bhagwati

Faculty Scholarship

It is well known (Kemp, 1962; Samuelson, 1962; Bhagwati, forthcoming) that, for a country with no monopoly power in trade (or domestic distortions), free trade (in the sense of a policy resulting in the equalization of domestic and foreign prices and hence excluding trade, production and consumption taxes, subsidies, and quantitative restrictions) is the optimal policy. It follows, therefore, that free trade is superior to no trade.

It has also been argued recently (Kemp, 1962), that, even in the case where there is monopoly power in trade, so that both no trade and free trade are suboptimal policies, it is …

Compensation For Victims Of Violent Crimes: An Analysis, Robert E. Scott

Faculty Scholarship

Spurred by the implementation of plans in Great Britain, New Zealand, and California; and by various other federal and state proposals, the concept of state compensation to victims of violent crimes has recently become the subject of wide public interest and intensive legal debate. In essence, the concept envisages some scheme by which the victims of crimes of violence can be compensated for any losses resulting from their criminally inflicted injuries.

Before any proposals based on this conception are adopted they should be shown to have a valid theoretical framework, supported by sound legal principles, with an effective and efficient …

Prolonging Life, George P. Fletcher

Faculty Scholarship

A physician decides not to prolong the life of a terminal patient. What are the legal consequences? Is it murder, akin to a gunman's pulling the trigger? Or is the law more sensitive? Professor Fletcher proposes that a decision to interrupt life-sustaining therapy, such as that to turn off a mechanical respirator, should be classified as an omission, not an act. He arrives at this conclusion by analyzing the common sense usages of "cause" and "permit." If the decision is an omission then the law must focus on the doctor-patient relationship to define legal consequences, allowing customary standards of the …

Wiretapping And Bugging: Striking A Balance Between Privacy And Law Enforcement, Kent Greenawalt

Faculty Scholarship

The conflict between individual privacy and the needs of law enforcement occurs at a number of points in our system of criminal justice. It is not unique to wiretapping and electronic eavesdropping, but the competing claims in that area do have their own special character. They are qualitatively different from those in regard to, say, confessions. The kinds of crimes and criminals affected are different, as are the relevant assertions about individual freedom.

Law enforcement officials, almost to a man, consider wiretapping and eavesdropping valuable weapons in the fight against crime. They are most helpful in regard to consensual crimes …