Decision Making at the Firm Level: The of a Criminal Legal Aid Case Management System

The Criminal Legal Aid System, in Scotland as in England, is under severe economic strain. A key element in the legal profession's response should be reliance on IT in improving the efficiency of criminal legal aid case management. This paper is a work-in-progress report on our involvement (under a Teaching Company Scheme Project) with a Glasgow criminal practice and their use of an existing case management and automation tool. Although the focus of the research is on improving the scope of the present system, our work has involved us in an exploration of decision-making processes at the level of the firm and the role of computerisation and automation at all levels in the firm. More specifically, our investigations focus on the interaction of the fee earners and paralegals in the use they make of information and how, applying management science techniques, they could improve on that use. This in turn led to a reconsideration of how the case management system uses information available to the differing levels of “decision makers” within the firm. This creates an interesting contrast with the “decision making” process at the level of adjudication.     

Epistemological Dilemmas in the Assessment of Legal Decision Making

Law and Human Behavior -     

对停车场收取扣留车辆保管费的法律研究——从语用学中“扣留”与“扣押”的区别说开去

近年来,无论在理论界还是实务界,经营性停车场是否应该收取扣留车辆保管费一直是一个热点问题.语用学研究表明法律用语中扣留与扣押有区别,交管部门没有支付车辆保管费的法律依据；车辆保管合同的公私法混合性质,论述了停车场收取车辆保管费的法理基础；最后通过对《机动车停放服务收费管理办法》相关条款的解读,再次说明了停车场收取车辆保管费的法律依据.     

The Case for Large Participatory Conferences as a Means of Decision Making in International Environmental Law

As global environmental concerns such as climate change draw ever greater attention, there are increasing demands for national governments to engage in coordinated, internationally consistent decision making on environmental mandates, standards, and related matters. Are large participatory conferences the best means to achieve effective, consensus-based decision making in international environmental law? This article proposes two sets of reasons to answer this question affirmatively. First, legal reasons, since several sources of international law point to an incipient right to public participation in international environmental decision making, which could be satisfied by convening these conferences. And second, normative reasons, since allowing for participation is more consistent with the fundamental principles of liberty and equality, and participatory processes enhance the acceptance of the decisions and at the same time augment the possibilities of implementation.     

Making the Case for Evaluation Partnerships in Child Protection Mediation Programs: Insights from a Case Study

Many jurisdictions have instituted child protection mediation programs (CPM) for the purposes of reducing the length of children's stays in out‐of‐home care and decreasing court system burden, and numerous studies have shown promising results. However, important implementation and sustainability problems persist. This article presents a case study's findings and retrospectively interprets underlying reasons for challenges the program faced in implementation. Study implications call for a more structured planning process, including early partnership with experienced court‐based evaluators to develop successful marketing and recruitment strategies that may encourage stakeholder endorsement and foster sustainability.     

The Tort Remedy in Search and Seizure Cases: A Case Study in Juror Decision Making

Civil suits for damage awards against police officers alleged to have engaged in illegal searches have long been suggested as an alternative to the exclusionary rule as a remedy for police misconduct. A review of empirical literature on the incidence and outcomes of such suits suggests that defendant officers often prevail and that the awards do not seem large enough to produce the punishment and deterrence effect often claimed by proponents of the tort remedy. Using an experimental technique involving simulated trials and adults called for jury service as subjects, we examine the effects of two procedural aspects of such suits on juror awards. The extent of municipal liability and the substitution of the U.S. government as plaintiff do not appear to affect the incidence or size of compensatory or punitive damage awards. Denying jurors information about the outcome of the search does appear likely to increase damage awards. The article both explores factors affecting juror decision-making in these cases and illustrates the utility and limitations of the experimental method for testing suggested policy innovations.     

Decision Making in a Hybrid Organization: A Case Study of a Southwestern Drug Court Treatment Program

This article presents a case study of decision making in a drug court located the southwestern United States. This study seeks to fill a gap in research on decision making by attending to the ways that drug court officials navigate the demands of a court that is dedicated to both therapy and criminal justice. This analysis differs from previous research by viewing the drug court as a “hybrid organization” and asking how the staff members interact in the decision‐making process. Additionally, this research provides an opportunity to investigate the concerns over collaborative decision making raised by critics. The data from this case study reveal that as a hybrid organization, the drug court staff often divides along institutional lines by allowing the counseling staff to manage treatment and the judge to manage punishment. When tensions arise, they are resolved by the structure of the court, which is hierarchical rather than collaborative.     

Computer Power and Legal Reasoning: A Case Study of Judicial Decision Prediction in Zoning Amendment Cases

While social scientists have long advocated the use of statistical methodology in legal analysis, its practical application has not been tested. Statistical models based on social science theories have been used to predict judicial decisions and explain court behavior, but the legal profession has failed to develop statistical models based on traditional legal theories and using data familiar to the lawyer. This article seeks to demonstrate by practical application of statistical methodologies, coupled with traditional legal research methods, that such research can produce important insight into a court's decision making and provide a useful model for predicting the probability of a favorable decision. The zoning amendment decisions of the Connecticut Supreme Court are the data base of this study, which also provides a comprehensive explanation of zoning amendment law in Connecticut as a backdrop against which to evaluate the insights gained by statistical analysis.     

Juror Perceptions of the Legitimacy of Legal Authorities and Decision Making in Criminal Cases

Literature on trust in legal authorities and institutions demonstrates that trust affects individual behavior, yet there is little research on whether attitudes toward legal authorities such as the police or courts influence juror behavior as a third party assessing evidence and determining legal outcomes for others. Additionally, the literature on juror decision making confirms that juror race is an important predictor of juror decisions, but explanations for differences among racial groups are not clear. Since minority groups hold less favorable attitudes toward legal authorities generally, legitimacy theory may help explain racial differences in decision making among jurors. Using data from nearly 2,000 jurors in felony trials, this research utilizes multilevel modeling techniques to find that jurors' trust in legal authorities is related to juror outcomes, though the effect of juror trust and confidence in the police is opposite that of juror trust and confidence in the courts. Additionally, juror race conditions the effect of trust in police and courts. Trust is a stronger predictor of both perceptions of evidence and voting for black jurors than it is for white jurors.     

Rights as a Divide‐and‐Rule Mechanism: Lessons from the Case of Palestinians in Israeli Custody

Critics have highlighted the complicity of human rights law in mass disempowerment and domination—a criticism equally applicable to child law. This article investigates this issue, as evidenced by three recent developments that Israel has justified by invoking these legal frameworks: an increased separation of Palestinian adults and children in Israeli custody; the Israeli legal system's growing preoccupation with “rehabilitating” the now‐segregated Palestinian children; and the Israeli authorities' ever‐diminishing interest in such rehabilitation for adult Palestinian prisoners. By canvassing the legal architecture, judicial rationalizations, adverse effects, and sociopolitical context of these developments, this article foregrounds their divide‐and‐rule logic and structure of driving a generational wedge between Palestinians and potentially weakening their political ties, solidarity, and resistance.     

Courts,Criminal Process,and AIDS: The Institutionalization of Culture in Legal Decision Making*

This study views legal process as part of an interactive web of social and cultural relationships. While law may create public policy, its own creation is part of a complex system of institutional deference and subjective behaviors which reflect a larger cultural context. The fears engendered by AIDS help to highlight the underlying cultural biases and patterns of disease scare management ingrained in legal policymaking. These patterns are again enhanced when placed in a criminal context where the resident focus is one of controlling those who precipitate anxiety. Using a method of qualitative comparative analysis, this study concludes that the historical patterns of bias and institutional deference in disease scare management continues in modern criminal court process.     

结构变动与经济增长研究——对长江三角洲地区的实证分析

改革开放以来,长三角地区产业结构发生了巨大变化,第一产业所占份额大幅度收缩,第二产业小幅收缩,第三产业则强力扩张。其经济增长速度与产业结构变化速度密切相关,呈现出显著的正向对应关系。其中上海市产业结构变化程度最大,其次是浙江省,江苏省最小。沪苏浙三省市第一产业相对规模收缩和第三产业相对规模扩张的幅度均比较大,但在第二产业相对规模上,上海市大幅度下降,江苏省基本持平,浙江省小幅度扩张。上海市相对于经济增长的结构变化弹性最大,江苏省最小,浙江省则介于二者之间。今后一个时期长三角地区各省市仍应积极促进产业结构转换和升级,提高产业结构层次,以继续维持经济快速增长。     

中国司法鉴定救助制度的实证研究

我国司法鉴定救助制度运作虽时日不久,但却积累了较为丰富的经验。实践中的典型案例和一些鉴定机构、法律援助部门的统计数据表明：目前规模性的鉴定救助兴起于2006年,并主要发生于民诉领域;同时,司法鉴定救助的对象大多是因交通事故、工伤等引发伤残鉴定的农民或农民工等弱势群体。毋庸置疑,鉴定机构与法律援助部门在推动我国司法鉴定救助方面起了重要作用。鉴定救助的现状是与当前司法鉴定制度改革背景、法律援助的多年经验,以及其它特殊条件共同促动的,虽然存在不少问题,但其探索启示了进一步的发展之路。     

Family Conferencing for Juvenile Offenders: A Singaporean Case Study in Restorative Justice

Restorative justice has been or is being adopted in many parts of the world, including countries in Asia. In the case of Singapore, restorative justice was adopted by the court system in 1997 as its guiding philosophy in its approach towards juvenile offenders. This article traces the adoption of restorative justice by the Juvenile Court in Singapore and the use of family conferencing in the light of the principles of restorative justice. It concludes by suggesting areas where the family conferencing system in Singapore can be improved, and possible lessons for other jurisdictions considering adopting family conferencing.     

Mainstreaming Therapeutic Jurisprudence in Family Law: The Israeli Child Protection Law as a Case Study

This article considers the contribution of therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) to the theoretical development and practical advancement of reforms in child care law. It does so by presenting three dilemmas arising from The Israeli Youth Law (Care and Supervision) 1960 relating to its substance, procedures, and practice. TJ is a “field of enquiry” that examines the influence of the law on litigants in order to advance rules and practices that have therapeutic effects and to minimize the use of rules and practices that have antitherapeutic ones. Following the TJ methodology, we integrate psychosocial findings into the legal discussion. We propose some therapeutic practices, as well as legal reform to make the child protection legal regime more TJ friendly for children and families.     

地方立法行政许可设定权之法律解释:基于鲁潍案的分析

我国地方立法行政许可设立权相关条文之解释存在不同见解,鲁潍案裁判要点1及其引发的相关讨论,即围绕地方立法行政许可设立权之法律解释问题展开。但是,对该案及相关法条的已有讨论,无论是"领域说"与"事项说"之争,还是"积极抵触"与"消极抵触"之辩,均未就地方立法行政许可设立权提供融贯的解释。应当引入体系视角重述与上位法相抵触,承认地方立法在上位法所确定的框架秩序下享有一定的选择空间,并由此超越"领域说"与"事项说"之争,从宪法-组织法-行政许可法三个层次、授权与限制两个方面整体把握我国地方立法行政许可设定权之规范体系。将这种体系解释应用于鲁潍案,显示它可提供一种比该案原判更为全面的解释框架。     

Climate Change,Wildlife Movement and the Law: A Case Study from New Zealand

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change mandates parties to prepare for adaptation to climate change. This is of direct relevance to the management of wildlife. Climate change is likely to alter and/or expand the habitats of wildlife and may make the conditions within existing habitat ranges unsuitable for the continued existence of a species. Of necessity, efficacious adaptation must attempt to address this likelihood. Using New Zealand as a case study, this paper considers the range of present legal instruments that might be utilized within that nation to manage the movement of wildlife and identifies any lacunas that should be addressed. The conclusions will be of interest to any nation wishing to protect wildlife from the adverse effects of climate change.     

Legal Rights and the Limits of Conceptual Analysis: A Case Study

Legal philosophers divide over whether it is possible to analyze legal concepts without engaging in normative argument. The influential analysis of legal rights advanced by Jules Coleman and Jody Kraus some years ago serves as a useful case study to consider this issue because even some legal philosophers who are generally skeptical of the neutrality claims of conceptual analysts have concluded that Coleman and Kraus's analysis manages to maintain such neutrality. But that analysis does depend in subtle but important ways on normative claims. Their argument assumes not only a positivist concept of law, but also that it counts in favor of an analysis of legal rights that it increases the number of options available to legal decisionmakers. Thus, whether Coleman and Kraus's analysis is right in the end depends on whether those normative assumptions are justified. If even their analysis, which makes the thinnest of conceptual claims, depends on normative premises, that fact serves as strong evidence of the difficulty of analyzing legal concepts while remaining agnostic on moral and political questions.