Quest for the Holy Grail—Is a Unified Approach to the Market Freedoms and European Citizenship Justified?

The case law of the CJEU on the economic free movement of people has departed from the traditional requirement that a nexus must be established between individual free movement and cross‐border economic activity, which has led to an extension of its scope. It is submitted that concerns with the protection of fundamental rights of European citizens are driving this process, and that the CJEU has sought to protect these fundamental rights through the market freedoms in two ways: by arguing that market freedoms are fundamental right themselves, and/or that European Citizenship has changed their normative underpinnings and status. This Article criticises both lines of argument, and defends a third: that the protection of these fundamental rights must be achieved at European level, if at all, through a conception of European Citizenship able to stand on its own.     

Reason‐Giving in Administrative Law: Where are We and Why have the Courts not Embraced the ‘General Common Law Duty to Give Reasons’?

This article has two aims. Firstly, it explores a body of modern challenges to administrative reason‐giving, decided in the five‐year period 2014–2018. Three main themes are drawn out: outright failures to give reasons now seem to be a rare occurrence; a number of considerations help to ensure that at least an outline of reasons is usually offered by decision‐makers; common law fairness plays a limited role in testing the adequacy of reasons. Secondly, it addresses the question of why the courts have not embraced a ‘general common law duty to give reasons.’ Four factors are discussed: doubts that introducing a general duty would add something of substance to the law; difficulties inherent in developing a general formulation of the reasons required; weaknesses in the ‘hortatory’ case for a general duty and weaker commitment on the part of judges than academics to generality as a central feature of administrative law doctrine.     

‘All About That Bass’? Is non‐ideal‐weight discrimination unlawful in the UK?

People of non‐ideal‐weight (overweight or severely underweight) are subjected to discrimination, in the workplace and elsewhere, based on attitudinal assumptions and negative inferences from their membership of a group, such as that they are insufficiently self‐motivated to make good employees. But is that discrimination unlawful in the UK? The Equality Act 2010 offers only a very tenuous route for protection, because the Act is based largely on a ‘medical model’ of disability. EU law, which embraces a ‘social model’ of disability, drawing from the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, offers more, at least in theory. But the mechanisms for enforcing individual EU law rights mean that entitlements in EU law are likely to be enforceable in practice only against state employers. This situation leaves a gap in the law which is remediable only by legislative reform.     

Speaking Their Language: How to Communicate Better with Policymakers and Opinion Shapers – and Why Academics Should Bother in the First Place

Scholars of international environmental politics who want their work to affect policy must learn to speak and write in a slightly different language – with extreme concision, an appealing format, and ready solutions to pressing policy questions. While communicating directly with policymakers and journalists can be time-consuming and exasperating, the direct approach may be the only way to rise above the din of the increasingly noisy marketplace of ideas.     

Is There Room for Optimism in China’s 2010 Exclusionary Rule and Its 2012 Revision?

The 2010 exclusionary rule in China and its 2012 revision has led to a spate of scholarly writings about the efficacy of the rule in the country. Divergent points have been expressed as to the viability of the rule. This paper weighs in the discussion and provides optimism for the rule’s application in China. Using a document textual analysis, the paper examines the current debate about the rule and concludes by advancing recommendations on how the rule can be better applied in the country. The authors of the paper caution against hasty decisions about the effectiveness of the law given that cultural practices and not the law itself may impede the effectiveness of the law.     

Gresham's law in politics: Why are politicians not the most remarkable men for probity and punctuality?

Economists have always criticized politicians' behaviour. Adam Smith called politicians “crafty and insidious"; and, more recently Brennan and Buchanan have applied Gresham's law to politics, arguing that the man for whom the expected profit is highest will be the highest bidder for political power. However in their model there is not an argument to explain why these people are elected to public offices. This paper presents a supply model and a demand model explaining why politicians behave as “wicked" men, and are elected by the citizens. Firstly, we develop a model of repetitive and reputation games that shows why probity is not important for many politicians. The second model employs asymmetric information theory to explain why voters elect “wicked" people even if probity is a highly estimated value for them. The paper ends with some suggestions of legal reforms for reducing this asymmetry of information. classification D72. D82     

Can 14,737 women be wrong? A meta‐analysis of the LSI‐R and recidivism for female offenders*

Research Summary Over the past two decades, researchers have been increasingly interested in measuring the risk of offender recidivism as a means of advancing public safety and of directing treatment interventions. In this context, one instrument widely used in assessing offenders is the Level of Service Inventory‐Revised (LSI‐R). Recently, however, the LSI‐R has been criticized for being a male‐specific assessment instrument that is a weak predictor of criminal behavior in females. Through the use of meta‐analytic techniques, we assessed this assertion. A total of 27 effect sizes yielded an average r value of .35 ([confidence interval] CI = .34 to .36) for the relationship of the LSI‐R with recidivism for female offenders (N= 14,737). When available, we also made within‐sample comparisons based on gender. These comparisons produced effect sizes for males and females that were statistically similar. Policy Implications These results are consistent with those generated in previous research on the LSI‐R. They call into question prevailing critiques that the LSI‐R has predictive validity for male but not for female offenders. At this stage, it seems that corrections officials should be advised that the LSI‐R remains an important instrument for assessing all offenders as a prelude to the delivery of treatment services, especially those based on the principles of effective intervention. Critics should be encouraged, however, to construct and validate through research additional gender‐specific instruments that revise, if not rival, the LSI‐R.     

US state crimes related to nuclear weapons: Is there hope for change in the Obama administration?

Given the long history of US state crimes related to nuclear weapons and the aggressive unilateralism of the George W. Bush administration that compounded these crimes, the election of Barack Obama created a “hope” for “change” in American nuclear weapons policy. While it is too early to render any conclusive judgment, we offer a preliminary assessment of the Obama record with regard to nuclear weapons based on a number of significant policy statements made and official actions taken, including Obama's 2009 Prague speech, the signing of the new START agreement in April 2010, the administration's 2010 Nuclear Posture Review, the Washington DC Nuclear Security Summit, and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference of 2010. Although the new administration has taken some steps to reduce the likelihood of the use or threat to use nuclear weapons, we conclude that under President Obama the US continues to be in violation of the solemn legal obligation to disarm as imposed by the NPT treaty of 1968. We also briefly note some of the structural and cultural factors related to the American empire that hinders any president from changing American nuclear weapons policy.     

What Role for the Party Group Leader? A Latent Variable Approach to Leadership Effects on Party Group Cohesion in the European Parliament

Previous research has identified several structural and situational factors that affect party cohesion in parliamentary voting behaviour. The potential role of leadership has been neglected so far. The authors apply a latent variable approach to model leadership effects in roll call votes from the European Parliament (EP), 1979–2001. Other things being equal, their findings suggest that a small but significant 7 per cent share of the total variance in party group cohesion is due to the party group leaders. About 40 per cent of this leader component can be accounted for by their experience inside the European institutions, their career prospects, and their ideological positions.     

Who's Your Daddy?: The Marital Presumption of Legitimacy in the Modern World and its Application to Same‐Sex Couples

Recently, the definition of marriage has been significantly altered. No longer do we find ourselves exclusively in the midst of “traditional marriage” between one man and one woman. Instead, everywhere we experience different kinds of marriages and diverse, nontraditional families. The United States has finally caught up to many advanced democracies in universally recognizing same‐sex marriage through the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. However, the next question remains unanswered: what about families of same‐sex couples? This Note explores the nature of same‐sex couples, their families, and in particular, their children. It addresses the issue of the marital presumption of legitimacy and encourages its application to all legally recognized married couples regardless of sexual orientation and biology. Even though prior to Obergefell some states were unwilling to apply the presumption, since the implementation of marriage equality, the next logical step would be to utilize the presumption to ensure that all parents, regardless of gender, are recognized and families are preserved.     

Why are countries reluctant to exchange information on interest income? Participation in and effectiveness of the EU Savings Tax Directive

Since 1.7.2005 the EU Savings Tax Directive has ensured a minimum of taxation on foreign interest income by offering participating countries the opportunity either to apply a withholding tax or to exchange information on cross-border interest income. The aim of the paper is to examine why countries do not exchange information on interest income. The results suggest that the incentive to exchange information is weakened if the financial sector in a country is very profitable. A high profitability of the financial sector enables countries to maximize revenues from the corporation tax. A second reason for discouraging information exchange is related to the spillover effects on the domestic labor market. An inflow of financial capital is indirectly associated with the creation of employment and well-paid jobs. In its current form the savings tax directive enables individuals to avoid taxation, either by placing their income in non-participating countries or by investing in assets which are not part of the directive. Using German revenue data for 2005 and 2006 the paper shows that Germany receives significantly less revenue from countries applying a withholding tax. This result indirectly indicates that investors can take advantage of the directive's loopholes.     

Cardiac Changes Due to Electronic Control Devices? A Computer‐Based Analysis of Electrical Effects at the Human Heart Caused by an ECD Pulse Applied to the Body's Exterior

Electronic control devices (ECDs) deliver high‐voltage, low‐current energy pulses temporarily paralyzing a person. For the ECD–human interaction, we have developed a computer model using the SEMCAD program within which to simulate the electrical effects throughout the body resulting from the imposition of an ECD pulse at a particular point on the body surface. Our human body models were based on cross‐sectional MRIs and CT scans, with the dielectric properties of the various tissues assigned based on previously published values. We simulated the application of a single ECD pulse and calculated the resulting electric field strength and current and charge densities at different body locations. The results were compared with corresponding values obtained by other researchers in similar simulations. Furthermore, we simulated an application of a pulse of 20‐millisecond duration equal to the European household current of 50 Hz and to the ventricular fibrillation threshold. The resulting current level indicated at the heart muscle was 1/5 the level considered the threshold for triggering ventricular fibrillation.     

Vicarious Liability and Non‐Delegable Duty for Child Abuse in Foster Care: A Step Too Far?

In NA v Nottinghamshire County Council the Court of Appeal held that a local authority is not liable under vicarious liability or for breach of a non‐delegable duty when foster parents sexually or physically abuse a child that it has placed in their care. The note discusses the decision in the light of recent developments in the law. It is argued that the result is unsatisfactory in terms of doctrine and policy. It is further suggested that non‐delegable duty, rather than vicarious liability, offers the most appropriate route for establishing liability.     

Is this the Right Job for Me and my Children? Turnover Intention and Parental Correctional Career Endorsement among Correctional Officers in Taiwan

Correction officers play an important role in the functioning of any correctional facility and in the criminal justice system overall. A substantial and growing literature exists on turnover and turnover intention of correctional officers in Western societies. Since the societal culture and working environments of correctional facilities are notably different in Taiwan from those of the West, turnover intentions may arise from different sources and result in different consequences. Likewise, parental opinions likely play a more important role in children’s job selection in Taiwan than in non-Western societies. This study examines the factors affecting correctional officers’ turnover intentions and their likelihood of parental endorsement of a correction career among Taiwanese correctional officers. Factors related to turnover intention drawn from the research literature published in the West are investigated with an ordinary least squared (OLS) multivariate regression approach using a two-stage cluster sampling process producing a sample of 860 Taiwanese correctional officers.     

Whose Fault Is it Anyway? Political Orientation, Attributions of Responsibility, and Support for the War in Iraq

Political orientation has been shown to be a strong predictor of attitudes toward war. Specifically, political conservatism has been associated with increased support for war and with decreased attribution of responsibility for war to one’s own government. The present research aims to test whether the relationship between political orientation and support for the war in Iraq is mediated by attributions of government responsibility. In Study 1, survey data showed that the relationship between political orientation and support for the Iraq war was mediated by beliefs about the US government’s motivations for the war. Study 2 provided a conceptual replication of the proposed mediation model and extended the findings from beliefs about US government motivations to perceived threat from the pre-war Iraqi government. Study 3 used an experimental paradigm to manipulate perceived threat to show that such beliefs directly affected support for the war. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.