Inexplicable wealth and illicit enrichment of public officials: A model draft that respects human rights in corruption cases

The employment of crimes of inexplicable wealth as an anti-corruption tool has been increasingly advocated in recent years. The United Nations Convention against Corruption calls for the creation of a crime of illicit enrichment. This paper seeks to evaluate the drafting of such crimes from human rights and criminal justice perspectives. The author considers the jurisprudence from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and South Africa, as well as the European Court of Human Rights. The paper also evaluates the Hong Kong inexplicable wealth offence and subjects it to criticism in terms of the rights of defendants and the lack of clarity in drafting. The author concludes that there is no need for a specific crime of inexplicable wealth. A crime of corruption is perfectly adequate. All that is required is the use of a special rule of evidence which places the evidential burden upon the defendant. The use of a mandatory presumption of law is the most clear analytical method of drafting. This is consistent with human rights standards and common law jurisprudence. Finally, regulatory offences requiring proper financial record keeping and declarations of wealth should be created alongside the more serious corruption offence. These could impose strict liability. Wealth previously declared by public officials should not be presumed to be corrupt funds for the purposes of any corruption prosecution. This approach is consistent with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and would represent an acceptable mode of implementing that treaty.     

Does racism affect health? Evidence from the United States and the United Kingdom

Blacks have worse overall health than whites in both the United States and the United Kingdom. However, the relative difference in health between the two groups within each cultural context differs between each context. In this article, we attempt to glean insights into these health disparities. We do so by first examining what is currently known about differences in morbidity and mortality for blacks and whites in the United States and the United Kingdom. We then turn to medical examination data by race and country of birth in an attempt to further untangle the complex interplay of socioeconomic status (SES), race, and racism as determinants of health in the United States and the United Kingdom. We find that (1) longer exposure of blacks to the recipient country is a risk for mortality in the United States but not in the United Kingdom; (2) adjustment for SES matters a good deal for mortality in the United States, but less so in the United Kingdom; (3) morbidity indicators do not paint a clear picture of black disadvantage relative to whites in either context; and (4) were one to consider medical examination data alone, differences between the two groups exist only in the United States. Taken together, we conclude that it is possible that the "less racist" United Kingdom provides a healthier environment for blacks than the United States. However, there remain many mysteries that escape simple explanation. Our findings raise more questions than they answer, and the health risks and health status of blacks in the United States are much more complex than previously thought.     

Cyber-trespass and 'Unauthorized Access' as Legal Mechanisms of Access Control: Lessons from the US Experience

The common law doctrine of trespass to chattels has recentlybeen revived and applied by courts in the United States (US)to cover intrusions (in the form of electronic signals) to computersystems connected to the Internet. These cases represent judicialrecognition of the need to protect certain unwanted intrusionsin cyberspace, though the principles developed therewith areremarkably expansive. As such, they overlap with the conceptof ‘unauthorized access’ under computer misuse legislationin the US and elsewhere. This overlap has yet to be judiciallyacknowledged. Since the US, the United Kingdom and other commonlaw countries not only share a common law ancestry but also‘unauthorized access’ principles as the primarytrigger for computer misuse, this paper seeks to examine theconsequences of developing a broad cyber-trespass doctrine beyondthe US, and its corresponding implications for judicial interpretationsof ‘unauthorized access’ in the common law world.     

Hybrid Texts and Uniform Law? The Multilingual Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union

The case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) is shaped by the language in which it is drafted—i.e. French. However, because French is rarely the mother tongue of those drafting that case law, the texts produced are often stilted and awkward. In addition, those drafting such case law are constrained in their use of language and style of writing (owing to pressures of technology and in order to reinforce the rule of law). These factors have led to the development of a ‘Court French’ which necessarily shapes the case law produced and has implications for its development, particularly insofar as it inevitably leads to a type of precedent in that case law. That case law also undergoes many permutations of translation into and out of up to 23 different languages. The resultant texts that make up the case law are hybrid in nature—consisting of a blend of cultural and linguistic patterns, constrained by a rigid formulistic drafting style and put through many permutations of translation. The present paper investigates the production of the Court’s multilingual case law and considers whether the hybrid nature of that case law can actually aid the presentation (and thus the development) of a ‘uniform’ EU case law.     

Prosecuting and Defending Diplomats as War Criminals: Ribbentrop at the Nuremberg Trials

This article considers the question of holding foreign ministers responsible for war crimes. A recent decision by the International Court of Justice, the Arrest Warrant case, Congo v Belgium, appears to have diluted the developing international customary rule that suspends immunity when a grave international crime has been committed. This article suggests that the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal decision in the Ribbentrop Case constitutes a precedent for how international criminal law should interpret the nature and scope of the immunity for foreign ministers. As a successful prosecution of Hitler’s former foreign minister, it is remarkable how little attention has been paid to this aspect of the Ribbentrop Case given that it was a path-breaking decision. For that reason, the present article is a case study of this example where prosecutors at an international criminal tribunal were able to successfully prosecute a foreign minister in a manner that may, therefore, still prove instructive given the existing legal position following the Arrest Warrant Case. The article considers in detail how Ribbentrop’s defence lawyers constructed a series of arguments that the prosecution were, however, largely able to demolish through resort to a variety of strategies. Dr Michael Salter is Professor of Law at the Lancashire Law School, University of Central Lancashire, United Kingdom; Dr Lorie Charlesworth is Senior Lecturer at the Law School, Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom.     

Hong Kong can develop its capitalist system only under the framework of the “One China, Two Systems” policy

Hong Kong is an administrative and economic entity under the sovereignty of the People’s Republic of China, and has developed to be an international center for finance, trade and shipping for history reasons and international favor. Essentially, the local political system adopted by Hong Kong is that of a non-sovereign state as well as a non-political entity. In terms of its makeup, the political system is neither entirely occidental nor completely oriental but an administrative dominative system developed according to Hong Kong’s peculiar characteristics, which has been proved to be effective. It was true when the United Kingdom held the reins of power and it still continues since its territory was returned to the People’s Republic of China. This paper is delivered in the conference “The Evolution of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ in Hong Kong and Macao: Implication for Canada” held by University of Waterloo, Canada on March 24, 2006.     

Voluntary versus enforced tax compliance: empirical evidence for the “slippery slope” framework

The “slippery slope” framework is an alternative approach for research in tax compliance that suggests two key variables to obtain taxpayers’ compliance: trust and power. Furthermore, two forms of compliance are distinguished. It is hypothesized that voluntary compliance depends primarily on trust in authorities, whereas enforced compliance is a function of the power attributed to authorities. Using a large data set (N = 3,071) on taxpayers from Austria, the United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic, these hypotheses could be confirmed. Furthermore, whereas voluntary compliance seems to be positively related to age and education, enforced compliance is negatively related to education.     

Asian Male Domestic Violence Victims: Services Exclusive for Men

The main reasons abused men do not seek social services include their strong endorsement of social/cultural values and avoidance of gender role conflict. Through internet-based service connections, we did not find sources in Asia, Australia, or New Zealand that advertised programs exclusively for male victims of domestic violence (DV). Nine social services in Hong Kong and Singapore describe their work with men in DV situations, but the main focus is “men as perpetrators.” Targeting men as victims, 32 sources in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom describe services designed especially for male DV victims. Findings demonstrate that services for male victims must address such factors as secretiveness, cultural values, masculine identity, tolerance, shame, and loss of face.     

Money and Marriage: Sexually Transmitted Debt in England

In recent years of economic recession, the problems faced byspouses and partners (especially wives) who provide third partyloan security (usually a second mortgage over the family home)for the business debts of their spouse or partner has emergedas an increasing evidence social and legal problem, especiallyin the United Kingdom, and also Australia (where the problemhas become know as ‘sexually transmitted debt’).In this article, the central findings of the first major empiricalstudy of ‘sexually transmitted debt’ are discussed,after first placing the problem in its legal and social context.     

From Triads to snakeheads: organised crime and illegal migration within Britain's Chinese community

This article revisits the continued existence of organised crime within the Chinese community, with particular reference to snakeheads and the trafficking or smuggling of illegal migrants. This article begins by exploring the history of Chinese organised crime within the United Kingdom and situates its continued existence within an ever more diverse ‘Chinese community’. It then draws on research involving three sets of qualitative data: one set is based on 60 interviews with law enforcement personnel based in China and the United Kingdom as well as key stakeholders within the Chinese community; the other set is based on structured questionnaires issued to 25 Chinese residents currently illegally residing in the United Kingdom; the final set is a review of the five free Chinese newspapers analysed over a 2-week period for relevant advertisements relating to migration. It then explores the mechanisms which enable illegal migrants to obtain criminal employment and discusses the motivations of those involved.     

The Scottish Independence Referendum 2014

On 18 September, in a historic referendum, the people of Scotland voted by 55.3 per cent to 44.7 per cent to remain in the United Kingdom. This article provides an immediate response. It is inevitably provisional and broadbrush in character and cannot cover all of the varied and conflicting perspectives on the referendum and its consequences; it is just one man's view. Given the varied international readership of this journal, I shall assume little prior knowledge of politics and government in the United Kingdom or of its history. Citations have been kept to a minimum.     

The future of informed consent in British common law

Within the common law world, the use of the term informed consent implies the American doctrine. Informed consent as a doctrine is not part of the law in the United Kingdom. However, it is possible to predict a way forward in disclosure cases yet to be heard in the courts of the United Kingdom. These predictions are based on current developments in the common law in the United Kingdom as well as those in Canada and Australia, on the European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine and on trends within the medical profession itself in the light of the Bolam test.     

Birds Behaving Badly: The Regulation of Seagulls and the Construction of Public Space

This article is about the socio‐legal construction of one of the least‐loved birds in the United Kingdom: the ‘seagull'. In particular, it is about how the gull has been brought within the realm of the ‘anti‐social', in a context in which urban‐nesting gulls (of which there are many in the United Kingdom) are cast as causing a great deal of public nuisance, ranging from noise, aggression, and mess, to attacks, injuries, and stress. The article examines the measures adopted by local authorities to regulate the gull population – and to regulate people, in the name of regulating gulls – and shows how a construction of the ‘seagull’ underpins and justifies this regulatory framework. It argues that the story of the regulation of seagulls in the United Kingdom is also a story about the construction of public space, to the point that the measures adopted here challenge the very idea of public space.     

Contrasting Strategies within the War Crimes Trials of Kesselring and Wolff

This article compares the different ways in which, during the post-war decades, the Allied war crimes trials programme responded to the war criminality of two prominent German officials: Field Marshal Albert Kesselring and SS General Karl Wolff. It explores the question of why Wolff, whose complicity was arguably much greater than that of Kesselring, received more favourable treatment, and the role of various political and geo-political factors, including those influencing the interventions of US intelligence officials, as explanations for this apparent legal discrepancy. Dr. Kerstin von Lingen is a researcher at the Centre for Studies on Experiences in War (SFB 437 “Kriegserfahrungen”) at Tubingen University, Germany; Dr. Michael Salter is Professor of Law at The Law School, University of Central Lancashire, United Kingdom.     

Inching toward incrementalism: federalism, devolution, and health policy in the United States and the United Kingdom

In the United States, the recently enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 envisions a significant increase in federal oversight over the nation's health care system. At the same time, however, the legislation requires the states to play key roles in every aspect of the reform agenda (such as expanding Medicaid programs, creating insurance exchanges, and working with providers on delivery system reforms). The complicated intergovernmental partnerships that govern the nation's fragmented and decentralized system are likely to continue, albeit with greater federal oversight and control. But what about intergovernmental relations in the United Kingdom? What impact did the formal devolution of power in 1999 to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have on health policy in those nations, and in the United Kingdom more generally? Has devolution begun a political process in which health policy in the United Kingdom will, over time, become increasingly decentralized and fragmented, or will this "state of unions" retain its long-standing reputation as perhaps the most centralized of the European nations? In this article, we explore the federalist and intergovernmental implications of recent reforms in the United States and the United Kingdom, and we put forward the argument that political fragmentation (long-standing in the United States and just emerging in the United Kingdom) produces new intergovernmental partnerships that, in turn, produce incremental growth in overall government involvement in the health care arena. This is the impact of what can be called catalytic federalism.     

Ranking of United Kingdom Law Journals: An Analysis of the Research Assessment Exercise 2001 Submissions and Results

Notwithstanding the Chancellor of the Exchequer's announcement in the 2006 Budget that, after the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise ('RAE 2008'), it is the government's firm presumption that the system for assessing research quality and allocating quality-related funding to United Kingdom universities will be mainly metrics based, RAE 2008 is vitually certain to proceed and to have considerable significance for legal research in the United Kingdom. In this rapidly developing and controversial context, this paper uses statistical analysis of the data from RAE 2001 to construct a series of metrics-based rankings which, when taken together, provide a reliable and coherent ranking of leading United Kingdom law journals.     

声誉商标问题研究——兼评欧盟法院第C-252/07号初步裁定

因特尔公司是在英国注册的国内文字商标“INTEL”的持有者,认为英国CPM有限责任公司在英国注册的“INTELMARK”国内文字商标的使用将不公平地利用在先商标的显著性、声誉或者对该显著性或声誉产生有害的影响,亦或可能达到这样的程度.因特尔公司请求英国注册商标局宣告“INTELMARK”商标无效.欧盟法院做出初步裁定,认定“INTELMARK”商标的使用不足以构成对“INTEL”损害.     

Legal reflections on the Google Print Library Project

Legal context. IP lawyers need a better understanding of theimplications of new technology when advising their clients onlegal strategies for appropriating rents from the exploitationof intellectual property rights in the digital environment.Conversely, clients seeking to ascertain the permissible limitsfor accessing material on the Internet must be made aware ofthe critical distinction between contractual and copyright issues. Key points. Licensing of copyright will continue to be an efficientinstrument for resolving issues relating to compensation andboundaries for permissible use. A sound understanding of thedigital environment will ensure that potential problems associatedwith the scope of the restricted acts under the Copyright, Designsand Patents Act 1988 can be avoided. Lawyers should also beaware of the possible policy developments relating to the exploitationof digital content following the deliberations in the GowersReview. Lawyers should also re-examine the submissions in boththe Grokster and Perfect 10 cases, recognizing the circumstanceswhen copyright arguments raised in other jurisdictions may beimported into the United Kingdom. Practical significance. The absence of any UK legal precedentwith regard to the copyright issues arising from the disputebetween search engine providers and copyright owners providesno excuse for failing to consider how contractual instrumentsmay efficiently resolve issues relating to the appropriationof rents from intellectual property rights. The absence of a‘fair dealing’ exception does not inevitably meanthat, should a similar dispute as that in Google v The Author'sGuild arise in the United Kingdom, a copyright infringementwill have taken place.     

An Analysis of the Role of NGOs in the WTO

It seems that the WTO Secretariat has offered some room forNGOs to participate in both the policymaking and the disputesettlement in the WTO. The note points out the structural weaknessesin the ability of NGOs to do so. Following Richard Shell’s"The Trade Stakeholders Model", this note offers suggestionsfor making NGOs participation more meaningful so as to protecttheir interests. Footnotes ^*LL.B of Law School, Xiamen University, China; LL.M of Law School,Hull University, United Kingdom