People We Hire as Executioners: Who Are They? Who Are We?

Christopher Bennett has introduced a new inquiry into the capital punishment debate by looking at whether the role of executioner is one in which it is possible and proper to take pride. He argues that this will depend on the kind of justifications that an executioner can offer in defense of his role and takes as an example the English executioner Albert Pierrepoint as portrayed in the film Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman. Bennett claims that none of the justifications available to Pierrepoint are adequate, that his pride in his role was unjustified, and that this gives us reason to doubt those justifications for capital punishment. I am unpersuaded by Bennett’s arguments and give reasons for thinking that the role of executioner can under certain circumstances be an honorable vocation in which one may legitimately take pride.     

Alteration of the Death Scene After Self‐stabbing: A Case of Sharp Force Suicide Disguised by the Victim as a Homicide?

This paper reports a case of a 72‐year‐old woman who was found dead in her bedroom with a 4 cm vertical stab wound in the abdomen. A bloodstained knife was found in the top drawer of her bedside table. The clothes worn by the victim showed no damage. A bloodstained vest and a sweater with frontal incisions were found far from the victim, in the bathroom and in the bedroom respectively. Several bloodstains were found in every room of the apartment. The evidence found during the forensic examination and, in particular, the Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, led the investigators to determine the manner of death, being consistent with a suicide with a long‐lasting physical activity after self‐stabbing. This report describes an unusual case of “disguised suicide,” in which the victim tried to cover‐up the suicide by changing her clothes and concealing the weapon, in the last minutes of her life.     

‘Factual causation’ and ‘scope of liability’: What's the difference?

According to a dominant view, for the negligent defendant to be held liable for the plaintiff's harm the plaintiff must establish first, that the breach was the ‘factual cause’ of the harm, and second, that the harm is within the ‘scope of liability’. On this view, factual causation is purely factual, while scope of liability is normative and non‐causal. This article accepts the basic two‐step approach, but argues that the distinction is overstated. A close analysis of the principles shows that factual causation may require value judgment, and that scope of liability often involves an assessment of the strength and nature of the causal connection between breach and harm.     

Are Behavioral Measures of Self-Control and the Grasmick Self-Control Scale Measuring the Same Construct? A Meta-Analysis

The Grasmick attitudinal scale of self-control (Grasmick, Tittle, Bursik, & Arneklev, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30, 5–29, 1993) is one of the more commonly used measures in research on Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) self-control concept. What has yet to be determined is whether the Grasmick scale correlates as well with crime and delinquency as behavioral measures of self-control and whether the Grasmick scale correlates better with these behavioral measures than it does with crime and delinquency. A meta-analysis was performed on 13 samples obtained from published research where the Grasmick scale, a behavioral or consequences measure of self-control, and an estimate of crime or delinquency were all administered to participants. All analyses were computed with Comprehensive Meta-Analysis, Version 2 (Borenstein, Hedges, Higgins, & Rothstein, 2005) software. The results of the meta-analysis revealed that the Grasmick scale and behavioral/consequences measures of self-control achieved comparable correlations with concurrent measures of crime and delinquency but correlated no higher with each other than they did with crime and delinquency. Four possible interpretations of these results are considered: (1) the self-control concept advanced by Gottfredson and Hirschi is a tautology; (2) the attitudinal and behavioral/consequences measures of self-control are measuring different constructs; (3) self-control is a multidimensional construct; (4) self-report measures of behavioral self-control are inadequate for assessing low self-control.     

Comparing the Recognition Memory Test and the Word Choice Test in a Mixed Clinical Sample: Are They Equivalent?

The Recognition Memory Test (RMT) was compared to the Word Choice Test (WCT) within the same fixed neuropsychological battery administered to a mixed clinical sample of 237 adults to empirically evaluate the psychometric equivalence of these two instruments. On average, there was a 3-point difference in raw scores between the two instruments (M _RMT?=?44.3, SD _RMT?=?6.8; M _WCT?=?47.1, SD _WCT?=?4.6; p?d?=?.48). The probability density functions differ substantially at the two ends of the scale but are similarly ≤42. Cross-validation analyses suggest that the RMT cutoff of ≤42 is functionally equivalent to a WCT score of ≤45.     

Human Rights in the Council of Europe and the EU: Towards ‘Individual’, ‘Constitutional’ or ‘Institutional’ Justice?

Abstract: The European Convention on Human Rights, promulgated by the Council of Europe in 1950, is widely regarded as the world's most successful experiment in the trans‐national judicial protection of human rights. The EU's much more recent judicial and political interest in human rights has also been widely welcomed. Yet, while the crisis currently afflicting the Convention system has not gone unnoticed, the same cannot equally be said of the difficulties presented by the increasing interpenetration of the two systems. Amongst the few who have shown some interest in these problems, the dominant view is that good will and common sense will provide adequate solutions. We disagree. Instead, we detect a gathering crisis which, unless properly analysed and effectively tackled, will only deepen as the EU's interest in human rights develops further. In our view, the problem is essentially conceptual and that, ultimately, it boils down to a much‐neglected question, simple to state but not so easy to answer: is the trans‐national protection of human rights in Europe a matter of ‘individual’, ‘constitutional’ or ‘institutional’ justice?     

‘Stop the ECJ’?: An Empirical Analysis of Activism at the Court

This article uses a disaggregated approach to study the role of the Advocate General in the European Court of Justice (CJ). It presents original empirical material based upon interviews with Advocates General (AsG) and referendaires at the CJ to assess the question of activism at the Court. Using answers to specific questions, I conclude that while the AsG are entrepreneurs, neither they nor the Court can be described as ‘activist’per se.     

Falling into Line? The Hostile Environment and the Legend of the ‘Judges’ Revolt’

In 2012 the Government made a number of controversial changes to the Immigration Rules, which it claimed would ‘comprehensively reform the approach taken towards ECHR Article 8 in immigration cases’. This paper examines the judicial response, arguing that the courts ‘fell into line’, adapting human rights law to the government's aims through unprincipled and opportunistic techniques, whilst inflicting hardship and injustice on working-class British citizens in particular. Four key moves are identified. First, the courts created an ‘incapable’ test which immunised the rules from in principle challenges. Second, Lord Bingham's Article 8 test, in which the reasonableness of any family member relocation was a central consideration, was replaced with a far less family-friendly test. Third, the courts adopted an ultra-lax rationality test at common law, even when the ‘fundamental rights’ of British citizens were engaged. Finally, the courts identified immigration policy as the ‘constitutional responsibility’ of the executive.     

Banks and the Communities They Serve: Time to Legislate?

In March 2007 HM Treasury published its latest thoughts on Financial Inclusion (HM Treasury Financial inclusion: The way forward, 2007), highlighting that after 10 years of activity in this area there is still growing evidence that the market is not meeting everyone’s needs, with significant numbers of people not able to access basic financial services such as credit. This continues alongside media stories of further bank branch closures in some areas, branches for high income earners only in others and the continuing controversy surrounding charges. This article will, with reference to the UK government’s financial inclusion agenda assess whether the time has come to implement legislation mandating that UK credit institutions have regard to customers needs when making decisions that could affect those most at risk from restricted access to financial services. These needs can include both access to affordable credit and access to financial services, such as bank accounts. The paper will use as a comparator the much talked about United States Community Reinvestment Act, enacted in 1977 and since amended, hailed (Barr New York University Law Review 80:513, 2005) and criticised (Macey and Miller Virginia Law Review 78:291, 1993) in equal measures, designed to ensure that depository institutions meet the credit needs of the communities they serve, particularly low and moderate income areas. Although not designed to tackle the perceived problems identified by the UK government, would enactment of similar legislation do more to achieve these aims that the activities undertaken so far. The article proposes that one way in which to improve the fight against financial exclusion is to improve the disclosure requirements of financial institutions, forcing them, where necessary, to provide data on lending patterns in disadvantaged areas.

‘Hermann Heller and the European Crisis: Authoritarian Liberalism Redux?’

This essay tentatively buttresses Alexander Somek's view that Hermann Heller's 1933 essay, ‘Authoritarian Liberalism’, provides a useful starting point for thinking about the ongoing European crisis, in which European authorities are favouring rigid austerity and pro‐business policies while undermining basic liberal and democratic rights. Heller's unfortunate neglect, especially in Anglophone scholarship, is discussed. Nonetheless, Somek and other recent scholars who have turned to Heller to make sense of the European crisis downplay some of the tough questions raised by any attempt to apply Heller's analysis of the Weimar crisis to the contemporary setting. In particular, Heller's theory relied on a robust social democratic statism which has become increasingly unpopular even among theorists on the political left.     

Are Risky Youth Less Protectable as They Age? The Dynamics of Protection during Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Research on recidivism in criminal justice and desistance in criminology are not integrated. Yet, both fields are moving towards models that look at how positive elements in a person’s environment can impact a person’s behavior, conditional on different levels of risk. This study builds on this observation by applying interactional theory and the concept of Risk–Needs–Responsivity to theorize that both Needs and Responsivity will change over time in predictable ways. We then use a novel empirical approach with the Rochester Youth Development Study to show that even in late adolescence, individuals who are at risk for violence can be protected from future violence and risky behavior like gun carrying with positive events in their environment and personal life. In young adulthood, fewer people are still at risk for violence, and those who are at risk are harder to protect from future violence and gun carrying.     

Variations in Member States’ Preliminary References to the Court of Justice—Are Structural Factors (Part of) the Explanation?

The preliminary reference procedure in Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which enables national courts to request the Court of Justice to provide a ruling on the interpretation or validity of an EU legal act, is widely considered to be the jewel in the crown of EU law. When considering the number of references from different Member States, it will become immediately apparent that there are considerable variations. This article examines to what extent these variations may be explained by three structural factors, namely (1) population size, (2) willingness to litigate and (3) Member State compliance with EU law. It is concluded that some—but not all—of the variations in number of references from Member State judiciaries may be attributed to structural factors rather than being merely a reflection of different Member State courts’ willingness to make use of Article 267 TFEU on such references (the so‐called behavioural factors).     

The Reverse Majority Voting under the ‘Six Pack’: A Bad Turn for the Union?

The ‘six‐pack,’ a set of six Union legislative acts that was adopted in November 2011, was one of the main Union responses to the current sovereign debt crisis. Aware of the weak performance of the Stability and Growth Pact and of the underlying design faults of the Treaty provisions on the coordination of Member States' economic policies, in particular the multilateral surveillance procedure (Art 121 TFEU) and the excessive deficit procedure (Article 126 TFEU), the legislators were determined to strengthen the means of surveillance in this policy field. One step considered necessary to achieve this end was the introduction of reverse majority voting in the Council when the latter has to adopt, for example, sanctions in above procedures. This article will examine whether this voting method is compatible with the Treaties.     

Universal Credit, ‘Positive Citizenship’, and the Working Poor: Squaring the Eternal Circle?

This article examines the potential effects of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 on the United Kingdom social security system, and on claimants. This legislation illustrates new modes of thought and ideology underlying the British welfare state. The introduction of the ‘Universal Credit’ has the potential to solve the ‘poverty trap’, where claimants are better off in receipt of welfare benefits rather than engaging with employment, and may assist low‐paid individuals into ‘positive’ citizenship. However, the practicalities of implementing Universal Credit might undermine legislators’ ambitions. It may be that the Act attempts too much reform to the social security system, trying to impose legislative uniformity on a highly complex set of socio‐economic circumstances which may be impervious to such rationalisation. This could result in the scheme requiring further reform, or even abolition. The ideological and historical underpinnings of Universal Credit are also examined to understand more clearly its nature and structure.     

Reversing the ‘Tragedy’ of the Commons? Sustainable Management and the Commons Act 2006

The Commons Act 2006 is the first statute since the Commons Registration Act 1965 to address the problems associated with the management of common land in England and Wales. A key focus for the 2006 Act is the introduction of mechanisms for the sustainable management of common land, including self‐regulatory commons councils. This article examines the ‘sustainable’ management of common land in historical and contemporary perspective. It sets the 2006 Act, and the sustainable management of common land, in the wider context of the ongoing debate triggered by Hardin's ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ and subsequent institutional and post‐institutional scholarship on common pool resource management. It uses historical and qualitative research data drawn from three case studies to demonstrate the irrelevance of Hardin's thesis in an English context, and identifies the Commons Registration Act of 1965 as the true ‘tragedy’ of the English and Welsh commons. The case studies also illustrate the challenges posed by the introduction of legal mechanisms to promote the ecologically sustainable management of the modern commons, and inform the critique of the Commons Act 2006 developed in the article.