Cohabitants, Property and the Law: A Study of Injustice

With cohabitation outside marriage becoming increasingly common, the law's response to the problems that arise on separation has become a key issue for public and family policy. This article draws upon the findings of a qualitative empirical study of how property disputes are handled when cohabitants separate. It argues that the unfairness of the current law is best understood as stemming from a failure to recognise the situation that arises as one of unjust enrichment. It shows that the complexity and unpredictability of the law make it difficult to bargain effectively in the shadow of the law. It suggests that the need for reform goes beyond the introduction of a discretionary regime, such as that proposed by the Law Commission, to reform of conveyancing and property law and practice to facilitate initial, as well as post-separation private ordering.     

Public expectations of health professionals when patients telephone for medical advice

This article focuses on the ethical, social and liability implications of patients obtaining unsolicited medical advice over the phone. The ethical discussion centres on the demise of paternalism and the increase in patient autonomy and individualism and the growing public expectations of health professionals. The article then discusses the advantages and disadvantages of telephone consultations from a social and policy perspective. In light of these considerations it considers what the liability implications are for phone consultations. It argues that the ethic of individualism, coupled with recent Australian tort reforms, suggests that only in limited circumstances would a doctor be found liable for negligence in relation to telephone consultations. However, the increasing expectations being placed on medical personnel, as evidenced by the increase in unsolicited telephone consultations, if left untempered, may lead to a situation with which the health care system is ill equipped to deal.     

Modus Vivendi: Liberalism for the Coming Ages

Migration and the global media have mixed up all the old cultures into a hybrid brew. How will aging and shrinking societies that need immigrants to survive cope with this new culture? What political philosophy fits this new reality?     

Low recidivism rates of child sex offenders in a Finnish 7-year follow-up

ABSTRACT

This study examines the recidivism rates of Finnish child sex offenders convicted in 2010 (n = 361) over a follow-up period of seven years. The results indicate that while reoffending for other types of offences was common (34%), offenders had very low sexual crime recidivism rates (1%). In terms of more persistent criminal careers, less than a quarter of the offenders had both a previous criminal history and at least one subsequent offence during the follow-up period. Offenders with child sexual abuse material-related crimes reoffended more rarely than did others. Study limitations and implications for policymaking, media and rehabilitation are discussed.     

Assessing and Explaining the Diverging Trajectories of Territorial Parties and Politics in Italy and Spain (2008‐2018)

Until the mid‐2000s, territorial politics played a considerable role in both Italy and Spain. Two regionalist parties, among others, clearly contributed to this: Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and the Northern League. Yet evidence shows that the two parties, while starting from relatively similar positions, have followed diverging trajectories, particularly after the financial (and then economic) crisis that hit their respective countries. CDC pushed its pro‐autonomy stances to the extreme and eventually ended up supporting Catalan independence. On the other hand, the League dropped its regionalist agenda and even became a state‐wide party. By comparing these two cases, this article aims to shed light on the mechanisms that lead to the radicalisation or moderation (and even abandonment) of regionalist parties’ territorial demands. These opposite movements have broader implications, since they have been accompanied by increasing polarisation of territorial politics in Spain and the de‐politicisation of this issue in Italy.