Petition System Research Articles

Petitions: Different Dimensions of Voice and Influence in the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales

AbstractThe creation of the National Assembly for Wales and the Scottish Parliament not only saw a shift in responsibility and democratic accountability for many areas of policy, including significant areas of social policy, but also provided the opportunity for the Parliament and the Assembly to adopt ‘transformative reforms designed to expand the opportunities for citizens to connect with their governments’ (Carman 2006: 4). One such reform, which was associated with aims of increased access and openness, was the introduction of petitions systems in the new legislatures.Drawing on case studies from the devolved level, this article explores one of the less researched non‐traditional forms of participation to examine how and what petitions can contribute to social policy. In particular, it seeks to explore the extent to which petitions systems challenge or replicate existing inequalities; what voices and interests they enable to be heard; and what impact they can have on social policy and social policies.

The Growing Clout of Online Public Opinion in China: New Media as a Platform for Advocacy and a Tool for Choice and Change

At 513 million people, China has the world’s largest Internet user base More than 300 million people use it from blogs to social-networking sites to microblogs and other online communities. Online media interaction is a huge phenomenon in the world’s second largest economy. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is one of the most dynamic sectors in China, and online media interaction is a huge phenomenon. New Media (Internet) has emerged as an important platform for citizens to obtain and share news, and participate in social affairs. This paper adopts a case study approach to examine why Chinese citizens go online to discuss, seek advice and offer guidance on social issues, as compared to traditional petitioning channels. China’s online users are not only the most active when compared to users worldwide but also have multiple social media accounts. Two case studies have been selected: ‘Yihuang’s Self-Immolation’ and ‘My father is Li Gang’. Political-Economic Theory was applied to the final data analysis in order to examine and compare the nature of online citizen expressions versus the traditional appeal system. In the context of uneven economic development and ongoing social changes, the fact that Chinese citizens are keener on online expressions, appears to be influenced by a number of factors; primarily that the State-run media is subjected to censorship. Furthermore, the baffling ineffectiveness of the traditional petitioning system and the obvious advantage of Internet communication, make online media the preferred choice.

From 'Arms, Malice, and Menacing' to the Courts: Disputed Elections and the Reform of the Election Petitions System

From the first recorded disputed election in 1319 to the unseating of Philip Woolas in 2010, disputes over the outcomes of elections have been a consistent feature of the electoral landscape.A variety of ways have been tried to regulate controverted elections in the UK. This paper canvasses the history of the systems used to decide disputed elections: direct appeals to the Monarch, the ordinary courts, Star Chamber, parliamentary committees, and the final reform of the system in 1868 where jurisdiction was vested in the Election Court under the Parliamentary Elections Act. There have been no reforms since the Victorian era, despite the dominance of parties in the contesting of elections and the increasing role of the state in the electoral process. This paper explores the points where the election petition system could usefully be reformed, suggesting changes to standing, access to justice rules, and a new role for the Electoral Commission. These reforms, if adopted, would open up the petitions system beyond the immediate participants in the candidacy contest and recognising the public, rather than private, nature of the process.

THE INTER-AMERICAN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM FIFTY YEARS LATER: TIME FOR CHANGES

This article analyzes the latest reforms of rules and regulations of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the overall functioning of the Inter-American human rights system. Particularly the article focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of the judicialization of the Inter-American amparo. The paper identifies the measures necessary to allow the Inter-American system to play a more prominent role in the promotion and protection of human rights. Specific measures include mainstreaming the work of the OAS around human rights issues, including in the Inter-American Democratic Charter a stronger link between democracy and the protection of human rights, and balancing the work on individual complaints with other tools available to the IACHR. It proposes a fundamental change in the IACHR’s profile through the modification of its participation in the individual petition system. The Commission should only act as an organ of admissibility and facilitator of friendly solutions, and the Court as a tribunal that carries out findings of fact and makes legal determinations on the merits of complaints. The IACHR needs to concentrate more heavily on political and promotional activities that complement its limited participation in the processing of individual cases.

The Political Click: Political Participation through E‐Petitions in Germany

AbstractElectronic petitions can serve as an influential mechanism for political participation. We present a study on the dynamics in the German e‐petition system which was introduced in late 2008. Drawing on a data set of signatures, we analyze four aspects: (a) the types of petitions found, (b) the temporal dynamics of petitions, (c) the types of users found, and (d) the intersection of different petitions' supporter populations. We present evidence that (a) the system is dominated by a very small number of high‐volume petitions and (b) these high‐volume petitions have a delayed boosting effect on the base activity in the petition system. We furthermore (c) present a typology of users, showing that although highly active “new lobbyists” and “hit‐and‐run activists” exist, one‐ or two‐time petitioners have the largest impact. Finally, it is indicated that (d) many of the high‐volume petitions share a significant part of their user base, hinting at a complex, topically motivated network of supporters. Through the application of methods from what has been called “Computational Social Sciences,” we illuminate a highly relevant field of political behavior online, while demonstrating the capability of data‐driven approaches in such novel domains.

The Process is the Reality: Perceptions of Procedural Fairness and Participatory Democracy

To (re)connect and (re-)engage citizens with their governing institutions, many advanced industrial democracies have adopted innovative reforms designed to ‘transform’ the way citizens interact with public institutions. This article assesses the extent to which the Scottish Parliament's petitioning system, a reform designed to connect the Scottish public with its parliament, influences broader trust in the political system. Using structural equations to model data from a survey of Scottish Parliament petitioners, the article finds that process evaluations far exceed outcome evaluations in influencing petitioner trust in political institutions. Hence simply adopting reforms that allow for ‘civic engagement’ is not enough to improve public support for the political system. Great care must be taken in adopting transformative reforms to ensure that those members of the public who do choose to ‘engage’ with political institutions see procedures as fair and politically neutral.

Reforms in the petition letter and visit system of China and construction of a harmonious society

A petitioner participates in the administration of public affairs at his own discretion. A cooperative relationship exists between the petitioner, petition letter, office visits and the related functional departments. Good governance is reflected in petition system which is to set up a balance between public interests and citizens’ private rights. Institutional reform regarding the petition letter and visit system should focus on the “settlement of issues”. The specific design of the petition reform must comply with the requirements of good governance, balancing the rights and serving the interests of the parties concerned. Only in this way, can we achieve cooperative and harmonious governance of the society and still allow for the involvement of various forces in the society. The petition system plays an important role in promoting the cooperation and mutual assistance of public power and private rights, executing two-way persuasions, improving error corrections and regulating the settlement of disputes.

The Petitioning System: A Major Challenge to “Social Harmony”? and Can Taiwan’s opposition reconstruct itself?

Analysis by Candice Tran Dai based on:• Wu Yang, “Debate at the highest level of the CCP on the question of maintaining or abandoning the petition system,” Chengming, 2 May 2009• Yu Jianrong, “University specialisation in ‘petitions’: What needs to be studied,” Nanfang Zhoumo, 10 June 2009Analysis by Hubert Kilian based on:• “Internal tensions in the DPP: Pandora’s box opened in executive committee,” Lianhe bao - United Daily News, 9 June 2009, editorial pages.• “When Chen Chu was in prison fighting for independence, where was Tsai Ing-wen?,” Zhongguo shibao – China Times, 30 May 2009, editorial pages.• “Where Tsai Ing-wen failed, Chen Chu finds success,” Zhongguo shibao – China Times, 23 May 2009, editorial pages.

Electronic Petitions and Institutional Modernization. International Parliamentary E-Petition Systems in Comparative Perspective

Since 2000, a number of parliaments and governments have introduced electronic petitions systems (e-petitions). Compared to most other means of e-participation made available by public institutions, e-petitions have moved beyond the experimental stage and are characterized by a high level of institutionalization and procedural maturity. Hence, the field of e-petitioning is particularly promising if the relationship between public institutions and Internet-based participation channels is to be better understood. Based on empirical data generated in the research project "Public electronic petitions and civic involvement" conducted on behalf of the German Bundestag, the article undertakes an analysis of the e-petition systems of the Scottish Parliament, the Parliament of Queensland, the Bundestag and the Norwegian Municipalities in comparative perspective. Apart from presenting the systems’ main technical and procedural features and selected user statistics, the article attempts to explain the high attractiveness of e-petitions for parliaments and governments.

Petition and Judicial Integrity

The petition system (Xingfang) is one of the greatest dilemmas in China’s legal framework. Chaos was created as a result of the clash between it and the judicial system. This article is divided into three sections to analyze the interaction between petition practice and judicial integrity. The first section will identify the factors limiting judicial independence in mainland China, which is the main reason for the swelling number of petitions. Further, the characteristics leading to the failure of the petitioning system will also be explored. In the second section, the author will go on to explain the inherent conflict between the petitioning system and judicial integrity. In conclusion, the article draws together all the above strands into an overall analysis contending that the misplaced functions of petition practice should be redefined and a comprehensive reform is imperative.

The <em>Li'an</em> ("Docketing") Process: Barriers to Initiating Lawsuits in China and Possible Reforms

COMMENT THE LI'AN ( DOCKETING ) PROCESS: BARRIERS TO INITIATING LAWSUITS IN CHINA AND POSSIBLE REFORMS Andrea Cheuk* I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. V III. IX . Table of Contents Introduction Institutions and Policies A. What Is the Docketing ( Li'an ) Process? . . . . . B. Creation of Docketing Chambers Problems and Difficulties with the Docketing Process A. Narrow and Vague Definition of the Court's Scope B. Investigations by Docketing Chambers ........ C. The Role of Evidence D. Refusal to *Accept ( Shouli ) Cases and Appealing Decisions Turning to Alternatives A. Compromise and Mediation B. The Petitioning ( Xinfang ) System Comparison with Other Civil Law Traditions ...... The Docketing Process and the Disciplinary M odel Proposed Reforms and Looking Forward A ppendix I A ppendix II * J.D. Candidate, UCLA School of Law, May 2010: Certificate, Johns Hop- kins University - Nanjing University, Center for Chinese and American Studies, June 2007; B.A., University of California, Davis, June 2006. I would like to thank Professor Donald Clarke for guiding me in writing this comment and providing help- ful feedback. Additionally, I would like to thank my co-Editor-in-Chief, Courtney Gould, for being an excellent colleague and friend - it has been wonderful working with you on this journal. Finally, I would like to thank all PBLJ editors and staff for their hard work and dedication to the journal.

The evolution of periodic population systems under random environments

In this paper we study the behavior of trajectories of the Lotka-Volterra com- petition system with periodic coefficients under t elegraph noise. We give sufficient conditions for the average permanence. Furthermore, we determine the ω-limit sets of the system. 1. Introduction. In this paper we study the behavior of trajectories of the Lotka- Volterra competition system with periodic coefficients under telegraph noise. Until now, many models have revealed the effect of environmental variability on the population dynamics in mathematical ecology (10, 14). In particular, a great effort has been made to find the possibil- ity of the coexistence of competing species under the unpredictable or rather predictable (such as seasonal) environmental fluctuations. It is well recognized that the seasonality has similar effects to stochastic variation (4, 9), but as Lo reau (11) pointed out, the theory of coexistence in a seasonal environment needs further development to reveal the variety of possibilities that seasonal fluctuations may cause. Among these, Namba and Takahashi (13) review the results on Lotka-Volterra competition systems with periodic coefficients, and show the new modes of the possibilities of stable periodic solutions even when the stable coexistence cannot be realized in the corresponding classical Lotka-Volterra system with constant coefficients. Here, we restrict the competition parameters so that there is no possibility of the multi- ple periodic solutions that (13) shows. Then we consider the situation where the interacting populations experience pseudo-stochastic environmental fluctuations with unpredictable dis- continuous change, such as seasonality in a year with 'a cycle of three cold days and four warm days'. In a separate paper (6), we analyze the Lotka-Volterra competition system with constant coefficients under telegraph noises, i.e., environmental variability causes parameter switching between two systems. Our focus of attention is on the intermediate case where environments have both pre- dictable and unpredictable aspects. This case is studied by using a combined system of two Lotka-Volterra systems with periodic coefficients. In this system, it is assumed that at ev- ery moment the population dynamics is governed by one of the two Lotka-Volterra systems with periodic coefficients. That is, the populations usually experience predictable changes of environments. However, it is also assumed that the population dynamics abruptly becomes governed by another Lotka-Volterra system. This abrupt switch between two systems occurs

Overseeing the Refugee Convention: Taking Refugee Law Oversight Seriously

At the Ministerial Meeting of States Parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Refugee Protocol held in Geneva on Dec. 12-13, states agreed formally to pursue efforts to reinforce effective implementation of their refugee protection treaty obligations. To that end, the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), in collaboration with the University of Michigan's Program in Refugee and Asylum Law, convened a Global Consultation on International Protection in Geneva on Dec. 11. That meeting launched a process of careful review of options for the establishment of an independent supervisory mechanism for international refugee law based on a series of Working Papers. The introductory paper, Taking Oversight of Refugee Law Seriously, by Prof. James Hathaway of the University of Michigan Law School, makes the case for genuinely independent supervision of the Refugee Convention. In particular, it argues that scholars and activists must not be intimidated by institutional insistence that oversight of the Refugee Convention be a function exclusively of the UNHCR. The High Commissioner's duty to supervise implementation of the Convention and the more obligation of state parties to take collective responsibility to oversee implementation of their treaty obligations are, in fact, compatible - not mutually exclusive - responsibilities. The first four Working Papers in the series consider the usefulness in the context of the Refugee Convention of the most widely used mechanisms of treaty supervision which, as forcefully argued by Harvard?s Professor Henry Steiner, are mutually reinforcing and interdependent processes: Working Paper No. 1 takes up the question of state reporting requirements, regularly reviewed through a dialogue of justification between the supervisory body and states, supported by strong non-governmental input. It emphasizes the value of carefully targeted, thematic reporting, rather than routine, generic reports; and outlines a well-prepared and forward-looking process of review; Working Paper No. 2 looks at the possibility of a complaints mechanism under the Refugee Convention, and recommends in favor of a selective, group-based petition system as a means of injecting the voices of refugees directly into the supervisory process; Working Paper No. 3 takes up the often-overlooked value of general issued by other human rights treaty bodies to codify their work on particular legal issues, which have had extraordinary value in influencing the work of domestic courts and tribunals. It recommends a staged process to conceive and review comments, including an open debate in which NGOs and IGOs would participate actively; Working Paper No. 4 proposes that the supervisory body have an auxiliary investigative capacity to supplement its reporting, complaints, and comments functions. It stresses the importance of direct access to evidence on the ground as critical to the credibility and effectiveness of the supervisory body. The final three papers speak to the process of overseeing the Refugee Convention: Working Paper No. 5 draws the lessons from other treaty bodies' experience in involving both national and international NGOs in their work, and of linking the work of a supervisory body to the possibility of direct enforcement by judges and human rights commissions in state parties; Working Paper No. 6 recognizes the importance of avoiding overlap between the work of a supervisory body for the Refugee Convention and that of other UN human rights treaty bodies, and proposes careful mechanisms of both close and diffuse cooperation with these and other oversight bodies to inspire them more effectively to take up the cause of refugee protection in their own work; and Working Paper No. 7 makes the case for differentiating the protection work of UNHCR from that of an independent supervisory body for the Refugee Convention, and explains why it is in the best interests of both UNHCR and of states to commit themselves to an arms-length mechanism to oversee the Refugee Convention.

Overseeing the Refugee Convention: Complaints

At the Ministerial Meeting of States Parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Refugee Protocol held in Geneva on Dec. 12-13, states agreed formally to pursue efforts to reinforce effective implementation of their refugee protection treaty obligations. To that end, the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), in collaboration with the University of Michigan's Program in Refugee and Asylum Law, convened a Global Consultation on International Protection in Geneva on Dec. 11. That meeting launched a process of careful review of options for the establishment of an independent supervisory mechanism for international refugee law based on a series of Working Papers. The introductory paper, Taking Oversight of Refugee Law Seriously, by Prof. James Hathaway of the University of Michigan Law School, makes the case for genuinely independent supervision of the Refugee Convention. In particular, it argues that scholars and activists must not be intimidated by institutional insistence that oversight of the Refugee Convention be a function exclusively of the UNHCR. The High Commissioner's duty to supervise implementation of the Convention and the more general obligation of state parties to take collective responsibility to oversee implementation of their treaty obligations are, in fact, compatible - not mutually exclusive - responsibilities. The first four Working Papers in the series consider the usefulness in the context of the Refugee Convention of the most widely used mechanisms of treaty supervision which, as forcefully argued by Harvard's Professor Henry Steiner, are mutually reinforcing and interdependent processes. The final three papers speak to the process of overseeing the Refugee Convention. Working Paper No. 2 looks at the possibility of a complaints mechanism under the Refugee Convention, and recommends in favor of a selective, group-based petition system as a means of injecting the voices of refugees directly into the supervisory process.

The Petition System under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1965, was the first human rights treaty approved by the United Nations to be equipped with its own mechanism of international supervision. It established in article 8 para.l a Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) with the following tasks: to consider periodic reports submitted by the States parties (article 9), to receive state to state complaints (arts 11-13, a procedure not resorted to as yet), and to receive and consider communications from individuals or groups of individuals (article 14). It is this communications procedure, set forth in article 14 of the Convention which is the subject matter of this article. Article 14 of ICERD was the outcome of lengthy and complex negotiations in the UN General Assembly in 1965. Its inclu-

Forum Shopping for Human Rights

The article analyzes a growing trend in international human law: the submission of petitions by aggrieved individuals to multiple human courts, tribunals, or treaty bodies, each of which is authorized to review the petition and to determine whether the individuals? have been violated. Most commentators have viewed this practice of shopping for human rights as a danger to be avoided. This article questions that conventional wisdom and offers in its place a re-envisioning of the human petition system. Although efficiency, finality and other concerns weigh against some varieties of duplicative review, this article argues that forum shopping, if properly regulated, will enhance the development of international human law. Forum shopping is the only way that many aggrieved individuals can receive a complete review of the violations allegations in their petitions, and it serves the further salutary function of encouraging jurists on human tribunals to engage in a dialogue to harmonize the content of legal rules shared by more than one treaty. The article first examines the haphazard approach to forum shopping that States have adopted in various human treaties, and it discusses two different strands of case law that together create incentives for individuals to forum shop for a favorable human ruling. The article then critiques the established view that forum shopping is harmful to human law, and it identifies in a comprehensive way the theoretical justifications for and against the practice of forum shopping. Building upon this theoretical analysis, the article then develops a comprehensive proposal for reforming the current approach to forum shopping and discusses alternative ways in which the proposal can be implemented into practice.