The Trilateral cooperation

Legal context: The relatively informal agreements setting up the TrilateralCooperation (TC) among the world's three most important patentoffices are contrasted with formal multinational treaties suchas the Patent Law Treaty and the abortive Substantive PatentLaw Treaty. Key points: After its inception in 1983, the TC concentrated initially ondeveloping and implementing standards for electronic storageand retrieval of prior art documents, and facilitation of searching.This was later extended to electronic sharing of priority documentsand to standardization and searching of DNA sequence databases.More recently emphasis has been placed on harmonization of searchingand examination procedures, and working groups have comparedthe approaches of the Trilateral Offices (TOs) to the patentabilityof claims in areas of new technology. Encouragingly, the resultsare usually the same, although the specific objections raisedmay differ. The ultimate goal is to reach a situation in whicha claim allowed by one TO would be accepted by the others withoutfurther examination. Practical significance: The TC has already facilitated search and examination, leadingto lower costs and shorter pendency times than would otherwisebe the case. Further progress depends on harmonization of substantivepatent law, which in turn depends on the willingness of theUSA to accept a first-to-file system.     

THE BENEFITS AND RISKS OF CHILD CUSTODY EVALUATORS MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE COURT:

In their article, Tippins and Wittmann articulate a strong position against custody evaluators making specific custody recommendations to the court. This response will focus on my thoughts about their concepts and my belief that recommendations can be useful and appropriate some of the time, even though there may be significant problems with certain types of recommendations and problems with some evaluators.     

THE BOOKSHELF

Books reviewed in this article:
G. Andrew Benjamin and Jackie Gollan, Family Evaluation in Custody Litigation: Reducing Risks of Ethical Infractions and Malpractice .     

I volunteer to kidnap Oliver North

“I Volunteer to Kidnap Ollie North”, is an exercise in following our government's sometimes criminal, often bizarre and always hypocritical actions in the war on drugs during the Reagan-Bush years to their logical conclusion. The Supreme Court has indicated in its June, 1992 decision in U.S. v Machain, that American law enforcement officers can now enter the sovereign territories of other nations to legally abduct violators of U.S. drug laws. Iran immediately proclaimed that they had the same right for violations of Islamic law. What might happen if kidnapping becomes a recognized “tool” of international law enforcement? What prominent Americans might wake up in South American jails with bags over their heads?     

Toxicologic findings in the USS Iowa disaster.

The toxicologic results from the 47 victims of the explosion on the USS Iowa are presented. Good correlation between carboxyhemoglobin saturations and cause of death was found. There were no correlations between blood cyanide concentrations and causes of death. Volatile analysis suggested postmortem ethanol production rather than antemortem ethanol ingestion. No drugs except nicotine were detected in any of the victims.     

Public Scrutiny, Standards and the Planning System: Assessing Professional Values within a Modernized Local Government

Since the 1990s there has been a long-standing concern in government towards public sector accountability, management, efficiency and service delivery. A number of studies have attempted to analyse the multitude of individual changes and their manifestations through analyses based on a variety of institutional, policy and governmental distinctions. This paper attempts to specify the changes with particular reference to planning, and to consider the evolution of the public service ethic in planning towards more openness, scrutiny, transparency and efficiency with particular reference to the changing ethos of the professional employee. We first explore the  main impacts upon local government, the public service ethic and professional planning as a consequence of the Modernization agenda and freedoms and flexibilities initiative. We then look at how such changes have impacted upon the ethos and values in public service and planning. We draw on some evidence of Ombudsman cases to highlight issues of professional values in planning practice over the past decade before finally drawing these strands together in some conclusions. Our principal findings indicate that the much-trumpeted decline of services and standards may not have been as apparent as is sometimes portrayed and that internal professional attitudes and values towards the external changes may not have significantly altered over the same period.