Today, international law is going through a period of structural transformation. Many claims of rights are being made, especially by the developing nations. However, (in part due to the fact that international law has no unified legislative body) this structural transformation has not progressed smoothly.
In this paper, the author discusses the process which led to the formation of the generalized system of preferences, focusing on the "rights" of the developing countries which receive the preferences. The analysis makes it clear that this system was formed on the basis of claims of right made by the developing countries. At the same time, however, contradictions in the existing preferences among the developed countries served as background. Therefore, although the system was being explained as one of favours, it had to be one of obligations of the developed countries. There remain some problems to be examined before we can determine whether the formation of general rights of the developing countries should be recognised in this system, one which shows certain similarities with the domestic "social law".

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This paper is a sequel to the author's article, "The Structure of Classical Sociology of Law-with a Focus on 'Living Law'" which appeared in the previous issue of this journal, and forms the second part of the author's attempt to clarify the theoretical stucture of Eugen Ehrlich's sociology of law. Ehrlich was a scholar who belonged to the classic period of the sociology of law in Europe. He had a great deal of influence upon the development of the sociology of law in Japan. In this paper, Ehrlich's view on "law made by the legal profession" and "state law", a view with which Japanese readers and researchers have had rather little familiarity, will be discussed. The author will survey first, the processes by which a law still unwritten, Ehrlich's "legal norm", is verbally formulated by the legal profession and becomes stabilized as Rechtssatz; second, various types of law made by the legal profession; and last, Ehrlich's unique view of "state Law".

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Following an article, Oikawa & Gotoh, 'A Study of Sociology of Law in England: Centering around the Theory of Alan Hunt, ' in the 1985 issue of this journal this article will study the theory Roger cotterrell set forth in his book "The Sociology of Law: An Introduction" (1984) and other publications. The article is constructed as follows.
(1) Introduction.
(2) The Development of the Sociology of Law in the United Kingdom and the Theory of Cotterrell
(3) Cotterrell's Approach to the Problems of the Sociology of Law
(4) Some Remarks
Though the theory of Cotterrell seems to be weak in its historical and economic analysis of the problems of the sociology of law, the theory will be evaluated as it tries to combine legal theory with empirical research in the field of the sociology of law.

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When we try to grasp the systematic structure of the theory of law of Max Weber, we may take as a starting-point his "theory of appropriation." This is a framework for describing the situation where the members of a given community are guaranteed some sort of opportunities with some degree of certainty. It is an interesting theoretical task to compare this with Karl Marx' theory of property, which likewise purports to clarify the (unequal) assigment of goods. We can thereby point out that the appropriation theory does not accord any special theoretical significance to the appropriation of the means of production, and therefore, is descriptive in nature. It lacks an orientation for grasping the social structure in its totality. Its Germanic approach is apparent in its conceiving the modern market society and its components as associations.

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We have conducted a survey on doctor's explanation and patient's consent in medical consultation.
(1) The sample of the survey consisted of the all medical practitioners in Ishikawa Prefecture (1981 doctors) and the voters in Kanazawa City (2452 voters). The response rate was approximately 40% for both groups.
(2) The survey was designed to yield some basic data which may be used to solve the legal problems surrounding the issue of the informed consent of patients.
(3) The final conclusion needs to wait for more detailed examination of the data. However, it may be said that in general both doctors and citizens recognize the patient's right of self-decision. The higher the level of medical invasion and disturbances the more frequent are explanations given and consent obtained thus enhancing the rights-character of the self-decision of the patient.

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The process of consent formation is generally conceptualized as if it were the opposite of the normative handling of a conflict. But as observed in light of actual behaviour, norms interact with circumstantial factors and are gradually sublimated into influence. In this article, I shall establish the concept of "norm influence", and present a perspective for analysing the existence and dynamic function of norms in the process of consent formation.
Then, taking the dispute about a justifiable cause as an example, I shall try to extract the dispute's specific structure and characteristics, and examine if autonomous consent formation is actually functioning or not in the out-of-court negotiation and in the litigation process. I shall try to find a way to overcome interfering factors in the functioning of autonomous consent formation and investigate possibilities of activating autonomous argumentation in litigation.

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In Takasago city, Hyogo Prefecture in 1969, the entire coast line was reclaimed, making it impossible for the residents to enter the coastal zone. In 1973, a large quantity of mercury was detected from the factory effluent, marking the beginning of the advocacy of the right of access to the coastal zone. This claim is based on the concept that a broad category of persons have the right to freely enter and utilize the coastal zone. It can be said that this right is a justifiable one from several points of view: the conservation of the enviroment, the traditional custom of the utilisation of the seaside, and customary leisure activities. But the present state of the law is such that the court would not accept a claim of such a right made in a lawsuit demanding an injunction against coast line reclamation. In order to have the right of access to the coastal zone legally established, it is necessary to learn from the examples of foreign countries and prove that this right is an ancient right, based on investigations of the customs of coastal zone utilisation.

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This joint report attempts to examine the influences on the life structure of senior citizens and their families brought about by the changes in the community. Our focus is on the relationship between the decreasing population and the support of senior citizens in shitamachi sections of large cities. The dimensions of analysis are the actual conditions of their lives, institutions and policies, and consciousness. This study constitutes a part of a larger study which aims at clarifying the conditions of self-support of senior citizens at home, the support by the family and their social integration, focusing on the relevance of these factors to social policy. For this purpose, we have conducted a survey on the actual conditions of their lives. The area chosen for the study is close to the center of the city and inhabited by working people. It has a high proportion of aging people and although underpopulated still retains the atmosphere of an old town (shita).

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