Explaining crime in developing countries: The need for a case study approach

The relationship between crime and development typically has been investigated within the theoretical umbrella of three dominant frameworks (modernization, underdevelopment, routine activities) and by the analysis of cross-national, statistical correlations between developed and developed countries. We outline the empirical, methodological, conceptual and theoretical weaknesses of these studies. The categories developed and developing are invalid when studying crime and change and the defects of existing approaches can only be overcome by a case study approach to the relationships of patterns of crime in different countries.     

Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) v South Africa (Minister of Health): reflections on the right to health care in Canada

In this article, Showkat Yazdanian examines the potential impact of the South African Constitutional court's decision in TAC v Minister of Health on the right to health care in Canada. Showkat first focuses on the potential utility of international treaties and precedents as a means to uphold the right to preventative health care in Canada. She then examines the Canadian Constitution's bearing on a right to health care, including an analysis of the current division of federal and provincial health powers.     

Science and the courts: a fruitful experiment of interaction.

The authors report on the European Seminar on Hot Genetic Issues and the Courts, held in Pavia (I), September 2005. They examine the new possible concerns regarding bio-sciences practical applications and the stronger need for a closer interaction between jurists, judges and scientists. They highlight the importance of the ENLSC's networking experience in judicial education and the originality of its approach.     

An Analysis of the Potential Ramifications of People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service (PETPO v. FWS)

In 2013 a lawsuit was filed against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, contesting the constitutionality of the government's ability to regulate the Utah prairie dog on private land under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. There, the court held that constraints enforced under the ESA on the “taking” of the Utah prairie dog were unconstitutional, primarily because the species is found exclusively in Utah and the regulations thus exceed the government's power under the commerce clause. Here, an analysis of this unprecedented ruling was conducted to investigate its potential long-term implications. Ultimately, this case is expected to have lasting impacts on the future of endangered and threatened species conservation under the ESA.     

Bringing science to life in Australia: the need for a new approach in human health biotechnology policy

This paper discusses the development of the biotechnology industry in the context of Australia’s industrial and policy structure. The paper outlines the size and structure and ‘stage’ of development of the biotechnology sector in Australia and argues for a policy approach that recognises the specific dynamics of the industry sector as it presently stands. It argues that government in a small country with a patchy industrial structure and where the local market is highly regulated and dominated by public sector institutions must play a central but more sophisticated policy role in the development of effective mechanisms for both knowledge generation and transfer in the emerging biomedical sciences.     

Critical Issues in Relocation Cases: A Custody Evaluator's Response to Parkinson and Cashmore (2015) and Thompson (2015)

Parkinson and Cashmore ( 2015 ) and Thompson ( 2015 ) have written comprehensive articles outlining suggested reforms to the family law system in relocation cases. This brief article, from a child custody evaluator's perspective as opposed to researchers' and legal scholars' perspectives, highlights areas of agreement, in hope of leading to increased consensus, as well as areas of disagreement, furthering the discussion and debate of critical issues in relocation matters. Rather than an either/or approach to relocation presumptions, this article will identify a both/and perspective on presumptions for these cases. It will also focus on suggestions for evaluators in an effort to help guide ways that evaluations can be most helpful to the court.     

Delay reduction in the federal courts: Rule 50(b) and the Federal Speedy Trial Act of 1974

During the 1970s, 94 federal district courts implemented two major policy initiatives, Rule 50(b) of theFederal Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Federal Speedy Trial Act, that were designed in Washington to combat delay in the processing of federal criminal cases. Both of these initiatives established a national priority of delay reduction in criminal cases, encouraged local district court planning for delay reduction; established reporting procedures for monitoring local compliance, and provided for the determination of quantitative goals for the time to disposition of criminal cases. Neither initiative mandated specific activities for delay reduction; this determination was left to the discretion of local federal district courts. This research examines the effectiveness of Rule 50(b) and the Speedy Trial Act by constructing a 150-month time series of three measures of case processing time. A multiple-intervention time-series model found that both of these initiatives contributed to the dramatic reduction in the time to disposition in federal criminal cases. These effects persisted after controls for changes in case characteristics and judicial resources were introduced.Points of view expressed in this research are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the U.S. Department of Justice.     

R. (Martin) v Mahony: the History of a Classical Certiorari Authority

R. (Martin) v Mahony, a decision of the Irish High Court of 1910, continues to be acknowledged by modern textbook writers as a leading authority for the classical rule that certiorari could not correct error of law. This rule, which considerably reduced judicial superintendence of magistrates' courts, had been established by the English court of Queen's Bench in the 1840s. However, the rule was repudiated by the Exchequer Division in Ireland in the late 1880s, which developed a novel, liberal theory of certiorari. This doctrinal innovation, which was used in overturning convictions under the anti-boycotting statute, the Criminal Law and Procedure Act 1887, appalled sections of Lord Salisbury's government, was disapproved of by the English courts, and split the Irish judiciary. The division caused by the doctrine persisted until 1910 when the Irish High Court, having assembled in banc in Martin's Case in order to resolve the impasse, re-established orthodox English doctrine.     

“With all My worldly possessions I thee wed”: Nigerian courts and the exercise of discretionary justice in property ownership disputes in marriage and divorce

The question of title to property between married couples remains intractable in Nigeria’s social context. Ownership is addressed by Nigerian courts in a discretionary framework devoid of a cohesive conceptualization. By reviewing cases in Nigeria and England the paper finds that the exercise of discretionary justice is a ‘cold legal question’ and defective in granting a realistic outcome. A different approach is germane to achieve justice in family law. It concludes that the extant judicial approach is at variance with the marital vow ‘with all my worldly possessions I thee wed’ which imports unity of assets in the social psyche of parties.