Factors that influence engagement in pre-proceedings practice: presenting the roles of professionals working within the family justice system through personal narratives

Public discourse around changes introduced as part of a drive to tackle spending on welfare, reflect a less than tolerant attitude towards welfare generally, but more specifically towards parents who require state involvement to care safely for their children. The introduction of a deadline of 26 weeks for the completion of care proceedings, together with a clear steer to resolve disputes wherever possible prior to making an application to court has introduced further instrumental approaches to working with parents. In this paper we explore practitioner experiences and understandings of working within the new legislative frameworks and consider the dominant cultural narratives they are working within. However, in some cases professionals felt able to challenge the economic narrative of the pre-proceedings protocol, and they experienced the legal and policy changes as an opportunity to engage in a helping alliance with families with the provision of support that otherwise they would not have been able to offer.     

A personal journey through the law

On 26 September 1990 over 100 lawyers including Ministers of Justice and Attorneys‐General past and present from a wide range of Commonwealth Countries attended a Dinner with the Lord Chancellor at the Inner Temple to pay tribute to the contributions made to the law by Sir Shridath Ramphal, the newly‐retired Commonwealth Secretary‐General. Sir Shridath responded to the toast in his honour, proposed by Judge T O Kellock, first Director of the Legal Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, in the following terms.     

Islamic Dress in Human Rights Jurisprudence: A Critique of Current Trends

This article highlights some of the discursive implicationsof framing the question of Islamic dress as one of religiousrights. It is argued that the very construction of hijab issuesas those of ‘religious identity’, sustained by theuse of Article 9 of the ECHR as the primary legal basis fortheir resolution, has shaped a number of counterproductive trends.These are: avoiding difficult questions through a judicial techniqueof deference to local knowledge; using a language of choiceto produce an obscure and unsatisfactory account of Muslim women'sagency; false dichotomising of culture and gender; and producingan ever more docile and exposed subject through the subtle mechanismsof public scrutiny and moralising. Each trend is consideredin turn. The article's arguments draw on the critical thoughtof Wendy Brown and post-colonial feminism.     

第三种力量：和谐社会的动力建构

和谐社会是一个动态的社会,是一个发展的社会,和谐社会的建构需要持续不断的动力源。第三种力量在这种社会动力建构中,以弥补政府与市场的传统力量不足应运而生,促进社会利益的和谐,并最终产生社会和谐利益。     

Targeting the terrorists: A legal proposal for assassinating terrorists as a preemptive strike

Recently, Sam Nunn, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, stated to a gathering of weapons scientists and military planners at Los Alamos National Laboratory that, although the Cold War is over, “this is a world of regional wars, of spreading ethnic, religious and tribal warfare” in which more countries are acquiring the capability to unleash mass death. In January, 1994, then‐Defense Secretary Les Aspin wrote in his annual report to the President and Congress that “[t]he danger that [weapons of mass destruction] might be used against U.S. forces in some conflict is not, unfortunately, theoretical.” In July, 1994, during a visit to Moscow, FBI Director Louis Freeh commented that the efforts of organized crime to steal or buy weapons‐grade nuclear material is “the greatest long‐term threat to the security of the United States.” Later that month, “credible threats” were received by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence sources of an impending bombing of Israeli targets throughout the United States. While targeting Israeli interests is not uncommon, the fact that such targets were in the U.S. is somewhat alarming.

These statements and other episodes emphasize the ever‐increasing threat that confronts the United States. Terrorists, by nature, are continuously modifying their tactics to thwart defensive/protective measures placed before them by many nations. Therefore, it is contingent upon these nations to develop new strategies and remain one step ahead of the potential nuclear attackers. One such strategy is assassinating the terrorist before he strikes. While many commentators and politicians summarily dismiss this idea, it remains a viable, yet unexplored, option. This article details the historical and current perspectives on assassination as well as its legal significance and justification. While this author is not advocating a national policy of assassination, this argument is submitted strictly as an academic exercise for consideration and debate.     

Networks, terrorists and criminals: the implications for community policing

This paper addresses both the connections between criminals and terrorists and the potential overlap and meshing of their networks and considers the implications of these intersections for counterterrorism policies and actions. It concludes with a focus on the community and community policing’s role in the disengagement of terrorists from terrorist organizations. While addressing the intersections between terrorists and criminals and the actions they commit, it explores important distinctions between terrorism and criminality, and the implications these distinctions imply for confronting terrorism and criminality within communities and their effect on successful counter terrorism policies and actions.     

Islamic Law in Action: A Historical Discussion

This review essay engages Kristen Stilt's recent book, Islamic Law in Action: Authority, Discretion, and Everyday Experiences in Mamluk Egypt (2011), in a fashion that highlights its contributions to the study of Islamic law. In particular, it underlines the methodological arguments made in the book that might help us think about Islamic legal practice in sophisticated and historically grounded ways. As elaborated in the article, these arguments have important implications for modern as well historical settings. Specifically, Stilt's discussion of “Islamic law in action” reveals the inherent flexibility of Islamic legal practice to accommodate political change. The article also discusses how further research on the topic could benefit from specific approaches and orientations.     

Sexual assault perpetrators' tactics: associations with their personal characteristics and aspects of the incident

Past theory and empirical research have consistently associated a number of risk factors with sexual assault perpetration. This study extends past research by considering if the tactics which perpetrators use to obtain sex are associated with these risk factors or with characteristics of the sexual assault. Audio computer-assisted self-interviews were completed with a community sample of young, single men. Few participants reported using physical force as a tactic to obtain sex, thus this article focuses on 457 participants who used verbal coercion ( n = 152) or the victim's impairment (n = 39) to obtain sex or who were nonperpetrators (n = 266). Discriminant function analysis correctly classified 70% of participants. As hypothesized, analysis of covariance indicated that both groups of perpetrators scored higher than nonperpetrators on measures of negative attitudes toward women, positive attitudes about casual sex, personality traits associated with nonclinical levels of psychopathy, antisocial behavior, and alcohol problems. As compared to nonperpetrators describing their worst date, perpetrators knew the woman longer, used more isolating and controlling behaviors, misperceived her sexual intentions for a longer period of time, and engaged in more consensual sexual activities with the woman. Perpetrators who used impairment tactics did not usually consume more alcohol than other participants; however, they consumed much more alcohol during the incident. Although verbal coercion and taking advantage of an impaired victim are sometimes viewed as less serious tactics than the use of force, these findings demonstrate that perpetrators who use these strategies have personality, attitude, and experience profiles that distinguish them from nonperpetrators.     

A comparison of three studies of the influence of expert testimony on jurors

Three conceptual replications of the effects of expert testimony on jurors' decisions and behaviors were compared. Taken together, these studies demonstrated significant increases in jurors' scrutiny of the evidence presented to them and significant reductions in their beliefs in the general accuracy of eyewitness testimony. The overall effect of expert testimony had a combined probability ofp=.0000084. This means that these combined results would occur by sampling bias alone less than one time out of 100,000. Expert testimony accounted for 3% of the variance in verdicts and 68% of the variance in the time jurors deliberated about eyewitness testimony. Several implications of these findings for psychologists investigating eyewitness identification and for the criminal justice system are discussed.I would like to thank James V. Devine, Judith P. Goggin, Elizabeth F. Loftus, and Gary L. Wells for their valuable comments on an earlier draft of this article.     

Difficulties of sex determination from forensic bone degraded DNA: A comparison of three methods

Sex determination is of paramount importance in forensic anthropology. Numerous anthropological methods have been described, including visual assessments and various measurements of bones. Nevertheless, whatever the method used, the percentage of correct classification of a single bone usually varies between 80% and 95%, due to significant intra- and inter-population variations, and sometimes variations coming from secular trends. DNA is increasingly used in a forensic context. But forensic DNA extraction from bone raises several issues, because the samples are very often badly altered and/or in very small quantity. Nuclear DNA is difficult to get from degraded samples, according to low copy number, at least in comparison with mitochondrial DNA. In a forensic context (as in a paeleoanthropological context) DNA sex determination is usually complicated by the weak amount of DNA, the degraded nature of nucleic acids, the presence of enzymatic inhibitors in DNA extracts, the possible faint amplification of Y band and the risk of contamination during either excavation or manipulation of samples.The aim of this work was to compare three methods of DNA sex determination from bones: procedure #1 using a single PCR amplification, procedure #2 using a double PCR amplification, and procedure #3 adding bleaching for decontamination of the bone, instead of simply rubbing the bone. These processes were applied to samples of bones (49 samples coming from 39 individuals) that were in various states of post mortem alteration.The main results are the following. (i) No DNA could be extracted from three skulls (parietal bones, mastoid process), the compact bone of one rib, and the diaphysis of one femur; (ii) there was a contamination in three skulls; and (iii) the Y band did not appear in two male cases, with one of the three procedures (male tibia, procedure #2) and with procedures #2 and #3 (male femur).This study emphasises the main issue while working with altered bones: the impossibility to extract DNA in some cases, and, worth of all, the contamination of the sample or the faint amplification of Y band which leads to a wrong sex answer. Multiple and significant precautions have to be taken to avoid such difficulties.     

Cytological detection of spermatozoa: comparison of three staining methods

Sperm detection can be an important factor in confirming sexual assault in cases of rape. This paper compares three of the most commonly used staining methods cited in the scientific literature: Christmas tree. hematoxylin-eosin, and alkaline fuchsin. The population studied was composed of 174 consenting women seen at the Male Infertility Center in Toulouse. France. The date of their last sexual intercourse was accurately known. Alkaline fuchsin did not seem effective in detecting spermatozoa in vaginal samples. Compared with hematoxylin-eosin, Christmas tree stain appeared to be the most useful test in the first 72 h. Two external factors were associated with decreased detection of spermatozoa: time since in tercourse and sperm volume.     

Enhancement technologies and the person: an Islamic view

The availability of newer choices in contemporary bioethics, especially enhancement technologies, poses a challenge for Muslim patients and their care providers in making appropriate decisions. How should they reconcile personal autonomy with ethical guidelines of Islamic Shariah (jurisprudence)? This article discusses such concerns.     

A comparison of three automated DNA purification methods in Forensic casework

Manual Chelex^®-100 and organic extractions (phenol/chloroform) are used as routine methods at the Swedish National Laboratory of Forensic Science, SKL. The aim of this study was to find an automated DNA purification system to replace the organic method. The following methods were evaluated and compared to each other and to the organic method used routinely; BioRobot^® EZ1 with EZ1 DNA Investigator Kit and Card (Qiagen), iPrep™ Purification Instrument with iPrep™ ChargeSwitch^® Forensic Kit and Card (Invitrogen), Magnatrix™ 1200 Workstation with the Magnatrix™ gDNA Blood Kit Forensic and two different protocols; Forensic protocol A and B (Magnetic Biosolutions). Blood on fats, cotton swabs, moist snuff, paper towels and leather, post-mortem blood and muscle tissue were extracted with the different methods. DNA concentration and quality of the electropherograms were examined. Individual comparisons between the four extraction methods showed that iPrep™ and Magnatrix™ 1200 gave significantly lower mean quantities compared to BioRobot^® EZ1 and the organic extraction method (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences between the latter two. BioRobot^® EZ1 generated the best results and is in the process of being validated for routine analysis at SKL.     

Islamic capital markets: developments and issues

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. Key points

• As modern Islamic finance continues to develop, thedevelopment and growth of capital markets, including secondarymarkets, for securities and investments that are compliant withthe principles and precepts of Islamic Shari'ah, is being witnessed.
• Thisarticle first considers the nature of Islamic finance, thenlooks at the primary factors influencing the development andgrowth of Islamic capital markets, before looking at the factorsaffecting risk assessment by transactional participants, particularlythose pertaining to certainty, predictability and transparencyof risk factors.
• Capital markets transactions involve bothShari'ah and secular jurisdictions, and legal opinions and choiceof governing law for transactional documentation in each typeof jurisdiction are critical factors in effecting these transactionsand the growth of these markets.
• The article concludes withan overview of the state of the capital markets products.