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It is increasingly common that children of divorce are geographically separated from one of their parents. This article considers the challenges that arise from that reality by exploring this problem from a variety of perspectives and by providing practical tips to minimize the impact of the distance. A review of the Ontario caselaw and Arizona Guidelines reveal that certain factors are important in the resolution of these disputes, including: the age of the child, mode of transportation between homes, distance, prior contact, and feasibility of virtual access. Court‐ordered access may include remedies that, absent the distance issue, may be considered extreme, including moving to overnight/extended access periods for young children, permitting children to travel unaccompanied, favoring the nonresident parent for holidays and vacation time, allowing children to decrease contact with the nonresident parent, and decreasing or terminating child support. Where distance dictates the in‐person and virtual access schedules, creative solutions are critical to the successful resolution of these cases. Forward thinking family law professionals can meaningfully help parents to achieve better outcomes for children.     

‘We,the European People . . .’—Relâche?

Abstract:  The failure of the European constitutional treaty has not been taken seriously by the European constitutionalists. It is regarded as a kind of accident which will be repaired in due course. The article is a plea for a reopening of the debate on Europeanness. Europe cannot and should not be a 'superstate'; nor can it be a kind of revival of the European nation state which is threatened by globalisation. Even less can it be a community of post-national deliberators as Jürgen Habermas would have it. Europe should be constructed as an entity of its own which responds to the heterarchical relational logic of fragmentation which characterises post-modernity and globalisation of which it is a part. It cannot be its counterpart. Europe does not need a 'constitution', and it does not need a 'people' either.     

Identification of 2‐(ethylamino)‐1‐(4‐methylphenyl)‐1‐pentanone (4‐MEAP), a New “Legal High” Sold by an Internet Vendor as 4‐Methyl Pentedrone

Online vendors are offering a new legal high, 4‐methylpentedrone (4‐MPD). Information for potential users provided by internet vendors of 4‐MPD includes incorrect structures and nonexistent CAS numbers. A sample of 4‐MPD was obtained and analyzed using GC‐MS, NMR, and LC‐EIS. The fragmentation data from the GC‐MS and LC‐EIS produced an M‐1 ion that suggested the molecular mass was 219 amu, rather than 205 amu as calculated for 4‐methylpentedrone. The difference in molecular mass corresponded to the addition of a methyl group. Based on the mass and fragmentation pattern, two standards were synthesized, 2‐(ethylamino)‐1‐(4‐methylphenyl)‐1‐pentanone and 1‐(4‐methylphenyl)‐2‐(propylamino)‐1‐butanone. The synthesis involved bromination of the appropriate ketone followed by the reaction with ethylamine or propylamine. Based on the NMR data and unique fragmentation patterns produced by these molecules, the sample was identified as 2‐(ethylamino)‐1‐(4‐methylphenyl)‐1‐pentanone, not 4‐methylpentedrone.     

Distribution of ∆9‐Tetrahydrocannabinol and 11‐Nor‐9‐Carboxy‐∆9‐Tetrahydrocannabinol Acid in Postmortem Biological Fluids and Tissues From Pilots Fatally Injured in Aviation Accidents

Little is known of the postmortem distribution of ?⁹‐tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and its major metabolite, 11‐nor‐9‐carboxy‐?⁹‐tetrahydrocannabinol (THCCOOH). Data from 55 pilots involved in fatal aviation accidents are presented in this study. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis obtained mean THC concentrations in blood from multiple sites, liver, lung, and kidney of 15.6 ng/mL, 92.4 ng/g, 766.0 ng/g, 44.1 ng/g and mean THCCOOH concentrations of 35.9 ng/mL, 322.4 ng/g, 42.6 ng/g, 138.5 ng/g, respectively. Heart THC concentrations (two cases) were 184.4 and 759.3 ng/g, and corresponding THCCOOH measured 11.0 and 95.9 ng/g, respectively. Muscle concentrations for THC (two cases) were 16.6 and 2.5 ng/g; corresponding THCCOOH, “confirmed positive” and 1.4 ng/g. The only brain tested in this study showed no THC detected and 2.9 ng/g THCCOOH, low concentrations that correlated with low values in other specimens from this case. This research emphasizes the need for postmortem cannabinoid testing and demonstrates the usefulness of a number of tissues, most notably lung, for these analyses.     

“Bubbles”—A Spot Diagnosis

Abstract: Aspiration of blood is a phenomenon observed in violent and natural death scenarios. Bloodstain patterns evolving from expectoration of aspired blood may look suspicious of a violent genesis and thus mislead crime scene investigators. In the present case, a woman was found lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. Furthermore, bloodstains covered her face, clothing, and surrounding furniture and walls. Bloodstain pattern analysis and medicolegal inspection of the suspected scene of crime were carried out and revealed dispersed stains with enclosed gas bubbles in the absence of signs of physical violence leading to the assessment of a natural manner of death. The bloodstains were attributed to expiration of blood because of an internal bleeding. Medicolegal autopsy confirmed the on‐site diagnosis as a fatal esophageal varix rupture was found.     

‘That wicked rule,that evil doctrine … ’: Reforming the Law on Disclosure in Insurance Contracts

The Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, which abolishes the consumer assured's duty to volunteer information, heralds the first successful outcome of the English and Scottish Law Commissions current insurance contract law reform project. This paper outlines the defects of the common law duty of disclosure which the Law Commissions sought to address. It goes on to consider why previous legislative attempts failed, the self‐regulatory measures introduced by the insurance industry as a means of resisting earlier pressure for statutory intervention, and how that resistance broke down. Finally, it examines the scope of the 2012 reforms and the current consultation being undertaken in respect of the duty of disclosure in relation to business insurance. It concludes by assessing the significance of the statute in providing a necessary impetus for future insurance law reforms.     

‘Robust and Raring to Go?’– Judges' Perceptions of Child Witnesses

This article explores judicial perceptions of child witnesses. It considers the impact of recent legislation in England and Wales as well as in Scotland which classified all child witnesses as vulnerable and introduced a series of special measures to facilitate children's evidence. The article reports the findings of an empirical research study conducted with the judiciary in Scotland which suggests that judicial perceptions of child witnesses extend across a complex spectrum where a child may be viewed as vulnerable but is also likely to be seen as suggestible, reliable or resilient. The article advances two propositions. First, that the statutory conceptualization of children as invariably vulnerable has not displaced established beliefs concerning children's suggestibility and therefore has made little difference to perceptions of their ability to produce reliable testimony. Second, that focusing on children's potential for resilience rather than their vulnerability may prove a more productive conceptualization of children, one which could better support their capability as witnesses.     

Identification of 1‐(2,3‐dihydro‐1H‐inden‐5‐yl)‐2‐(ethylamino)pentan‐1‐one (bk‐IVP) in a Seized Drug Exhibit

To circumvent the law by evading regulation and obscuring their identities in routine analyses, numerous substituted cathinones have entered the illicit drug market. These compounds have been coined “bath salts” by users. In the described case, the laboratory received an unknown white powder for controlled substances identification. The sample could not be immediately identified using standard methods and procedures. Ultimately, the structure was elucidated using GC‐MS, NMR, FTIR, GC‐SPIR, UV, and color tests to be 1‐(2,3‐dihydro‐1H‐inden‐5‐yl)‐2‐(ethylamino)pentan‐1‐one (bk‐IVP), a cathinone analog with a rarely observed nonoxygenated bicyclic ring system. Features of spectra and chemical tests are reported that distinguish this class of cathinones from heterocyclic analogs.     

Of ‘Landmark’ or ‘Leading’ Cases: Salomon's Challenge

This article seeks to question the two dominant conceptions of ‘landmark’ or ‘leading’ cases in English legal scholarship, using the House of Lords decision in Salomon v. Salomon Co Ltd. – the most famous case in corporate law – as a case study. It argues that neither the first dominant conception of ‘leading’ or ‘landmark’ cases, characterized by the analysis of the intrinsic merits of a case, nor the second, which looks at the historical contexts in which cases were decided, appears sufficient by itself to determine whether a case is landmark or canonical. Rather, we have to look at how the canonicity of a case is constructed by subsequent courts. The article seeks to advance the debate concerning the formation of landmark cases and aims to challenge certain prevailing views on the canonicity of corporate law's arguably most significant case.