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Human Life and Human Rights: death penalty Data and sentencing Procedure during the Song Dynasty
ZHANG Shoudong
Front. Law China. 2020, 15 (4): 390-408.
https://doi.org/10.3868/s050-009-020-0023-9
The adjudication and amnesty system in the Song Dynasty has been thoroughly researched by academia, but the annual death penalty numbers have not been credibly determined due to insufficient and disorganized historical records. The period’s policy that no innocent person would be executed was based on the double-digit record of capital punishments for Zhenguan during the Tang Dynasty, and the execution number was adjusted accordingly. As a special procedure, Zoucai (a request for judgment) was used to reduce the death penalty numbers. The value of human life, concern about excessive execution, and trimming of the capital punishment regime resulted in conversations between the emperors and their officials about the death penalty, which allowed the law that executed capital punishments during the Song Dynasty to strike a proper balance between justice, efficiency, and mercy, while avoiding rigidity and abuse.
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Natural Law, Basic Goods, and Fiduciary Altruism
WU Zhicheng
Front. Law China. 2020, 15 (4): 431-451.
https://doi.org/10.3868/s050-009-020-0025-3
Even though fiduciary duties take the highest position in the spectrum of legal altruism, and legal fiduciary altruism sometimes differs from moral fiduciary altruism, natural law morality is not necessarily useless in helping to explain, determine, and justify concrete rules in fiduciary law. Five specific inspirations, in addition to divergences, can be drawn by a closer look at the seven basic goods of John Finnis’ natural law theory. First, the basic good of life may help to determine the boundary of the best interest test under the duty of loyalty. Second, the basic good of play, in particular the distinction between business community and play community may help to justify the separate treatment between civil agency and commercial agency regarding the unconditional power of immediate termination. Third, practical reasonableness may help to explain the rule against set-off under the duty of no conflict. Fourth, different cultural notions of sociability may lead to distinct understandings with regard to the no-profit rule. Fifth, different attitudes towards knowledge in various religious beliefs may create distinct understandings about the burden of informed consent.
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8 articles
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