An evaluation of the UK’s anti-money laundering and asset recovery regime

This paper describes the UK’s anti-money laundering and asset recovery laws and the aims and objectives behind the regime since the introduction of the Proceeds of Crime Act in 2002. It then evaluates the regime in terms of the amount of criminal assets recovered, its application against organised crime and its impact upon the price of illegal drugs.

---

Evaluation of photometric stereo and elastomeric sensor imaging for the non-destructive 3D analysis of questioned documents – A pilot study

Photometric Stereo and Elastomeric Sensor Imaging were assessed for measuring the 3-dimensional (3D) morphology of questioned document samples. Photometric stereo is shown to be a powerful non-contact technique for revealing micron level detail of the samples examined. Elastomeric Sensor Imaging is shown to complement photometric stereo by yielding equivalent results. Additionally, this technique allows quantification of the morphological depth information. The techniques were applied to 2 different types of questioned document sample. Firstly, written signatures were examined. Both techniques were able to reveal characteristic features that could be used to infer stroke direction and ink line application sequence. Secondly toner/ink intersections were examined. Both techniques allowed visualisation of 3D features which were used to infer the sequence of application.     

Issues and Options for the Post-2012 Climate Architecture – An Overview

This article provides a background for the Developing post-2012 scenarios project, an international study which looks at a range of scenarios that countries may wish to consider for a post-2012 framework to tackle climate change. The purpose of the article is threefold. Firstly, it provides a review of the literature for the future climate regime. Secondly, it provides a set of criteria that are used in order to evaluate whether the scenarios provided in the other articles in this Special Edition are likely to be effective. Thirdly, the article spells out some of the more general policy implications rising from these scenarios.     

Scope of jurisdiction online and the importance of messaging – lessons from Australia and the EU

Where a court makes an order, for example, requiring an Internet platform to block or remove content, it has several options. The order can be limited to content displayed locally, it can apply to that content globally, or something in-between. This – the matter of ‘scope of jurisdiction’ – is gaining increasing attention and was the central issue in two recent decisions by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).In this article, I examine those two decisions. I then compare that to how Australian courts have dealt with scope of jurisdiction and I map out what we can learn from these cases. In doing so, I place emphasis on the importance of messaging and the need for judicial activism.     

Staff members’ evaluation of inpatients’ motivation for aggression – the roles of staff restrictions and aggression severity

Improved understanding of inpatient aggression can come from systematic assessment of motivation for aggressive incidents. This study investigates staff members’ evaluation of motivation for aggressive incidents, and how such evaluations are influenced by staff restrictions and aggression severity. Staff reports of aggressive incidents in a secure psychiatric unit were collected in clinical practice over a ten-year period (2006–2015). Motivation for aggression was assessed with the Aggressive Incident Motivation Evaluation Scale, measuring irritable, instrumental, and defensive dimensions. Information about staff restrictions was collected with the Staff Observation Aggression Scale – Revised, and severity was rated with the Visual Analog Scale. Multilevel analyses of 2649 aggressive incidents, committed by 67 inpatients, revealed greater variation in aggression motivation across incidents than between individual patients. Staff restrictions preceding the aggressive incident and rating of severity were positively related to staffs’ evaluation of motivation for aggression, but their impacts differed across motivational dimensions. Staff reports of motivation provide important additional information beyond current standard report forms. Systematically evaluating motivation is essential to risk management, and may contribute to develop more fine-tuned interventions for preventing and managing aggression in inpatient settings.     

School climate and delinquency – on the significance of the perceived social and learning climate in school for refraining from offending

School is regarded as a central arena for crime prevention. This study analyses the effects of student perceptions of school contextual aspects on self-reported offending, using logistic regression with control for clustering effects. The data comprise a census of pupils in year nine in comprehensive school (15 year olds) and in year two of upper secondary school (17 year olds) in the City of Stockholm in 2006, 2008 and 2010 (n = 25,850 of which 47% are boys and 53% are girls). Besides showing that several aspects of students’ perceptions of the school setting have direct protective effects on offending, the study shows that perceiving schoolwork as meaningful appears to moderate the effect of adverse home conditions on delinquency for boys. The only aspect of school investigated in this study that was not significantly related to offending was the perception of classroom order, indicating that emotional support from teachers is more important for crime preventive implications than maintaining order in the classroom. Controlling for clustering effects shows differences in offending between classes and schools that are not produced by differences between the students.     

An outcome evaluation of the Methodist Home for Children’s value-based therapeutic environment model

Objectives

This study presents an outcome evaluation of the Value-Based Therapeutic Environment model, a multipurpose, cognitive–behavioral treatment approach for juvenile offenders.

Methods

Using a quasi-experimental design, the impact of VBTE treatment on recidivism is assessed for 258 youths, relative to a matched subsample of 258 comparison subjects.

Results

Results indicate that VBTE treatment is an effective intervention for reducing violent recidivism but has no significant effect on property, drug, or public order offenses. Consistent with past research, offender type moderates the impact of treatment. Specifically, 72.8 % of high-risk/need youth in the comparison group had reoffended within a 16-month follow-up period, compared to only 57.5 % of high-risk/need MHC youth, yet there were no significant differences between the treatment and comparison groups among low- and medium-risk/need juveniles. Moreover, the odds of a new violent charge were 49 % lower for high-risk/need MHC youth during the 12 months following MHC-discharge. Supplementary analysis indicates that VBTE participants also showed improvements on value- and skills-based behaviors related to self-image, goal orientation, honesty, empathy, decision-making, and personal development.

Conclusions

Findings of this study suggest that the VBTE model is a promising approach for the treatment of violent behavior among high-risk youth. Implications of the findings are discussed with regard to alternative treatment approaches for juvenile offenders.

     

MPs and the Internet – An Empirically Based Typology

In recent years, both an increase in and a process of differentiation of ‘new’, digital media devices, including rising numbers of citizens turning to them, have stimulated recurring speculation about a readjustment of the communicative relationship between political representatives and the people. The debate about ‘electronic democracy’ has so far focused predominantly on technical potentials on the one hand and citizens' exposure to interactive political communication channels on the other. By contrast, the ‘supply side’, that is, the internet activities of political actors and especially their motives, has been investigated relatively rarely. Against this backdrop, two representative surveys were conducted among German and Austrian members of parliament that investigated their attitudes towards the internet. The results demonstrate similarities and differences in internet-related competences and assessments which are explained by micro- and meso-level factors. Foremost, an age-related ‘digital divide’ was found crossing the parliamentarian rows in both countries.     

The prosecutor and human rights – from the general to the particular

It is not unusual that one or all parties commit a genuine mistake when making contracts. While there is the strict general duty under the law to respect agreements, there equally exists the duty for courts and tribunals to be fair and to render commercial justice in the factual matrix of cases before them. In national legal systems and transnational law regimes, rescission for mistake on economically efficient and just terms is embedded in contractual obligations. The Solle v Butcher (1950) doctrine, which represented the English law approach, was rejected in The Great Peace (2002). Potential conflicts and crises now exist in commercial relations and international dispute resolution when ‘English law’ is the applicable law. This extends to jurisdictions where English decisions are highly persuasive. This article examines the correctness and effect of The Great Peace decision on the doctrine of equitable rescission for genuine mistake as propounded in Solle v Butcher, and possible clarifications needed after the complications brought by The Great Peace. It analyses the conceptual importance of the remedy of equitable rescission for mistake in commercial transactions, and identifies serious substantive errors of law by The Great Peace court. Finally, it provides other effective, fair and efficient legal methods that remain available to avoid the weaknesses of the decisions.     

Evaluation of the solvent black 3 fingermark enhancement reagent: Part 2 — Investigation of the optimum formulation and application parameters

A comparison is reported of the relative effectiveness to two formulations of the solvent black 3 (Sudan Black) reagent used to enhance grease contaminated fingermarks. These experiments compared the currently recommended ethanol-based formulation with a lower flammability system based on 1-methoxy-2-propanol (PGME) using natural, deliberately sebaceous and grease contaminated marks across a range of surfaces. It is shown that overall the PGME-based formulation was significantly better at producing good ridge detail on most surfaces for both natural and deliberately sebaceous prints, and for contaminated prints the ridge detail obtained with the PGME-based formulation was as good or better than that obtained with the ethanol formulation.Several smaller experiments were also carried out in order to provide additional information on the solvent black 3 process. These showed that solutions of age up to 2 years can still develop good ridge detail, but the colour of the stained mark may vary. It was also demonstrated that the currently recommended 2 minute treatment time often resulted in very heavy background staining and in practice significantly reduced treatment times can be recommended according to the nature of the surface present.     

Civilian uses of unmanned aerial vehicles and the threat to the right to privacy – An Israeli case study

In recent years we have witnessed a growing demand for the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (“UAVs”) in civilian contexts. Government authorities (such as law enforcement agencies), corporations and private individuals have identified the advantages inherent in the use of UAVs. At the same time, corporations marketing and manufacturing UAVs for civilian purposes, and the industries that support these manufacturers, have identified the enormous economic potential which may be derived from the sale and maintenance of UAVs (and the cameras and other equipment assembled into them). Hence, in the coming years, we will undoubtedly witness a rapid expansion of the civilian use of UAVs.     

Evaluation of ninhydrin as a fingermark visualisation method – A comparison between different procedures as an outcome of the 2017 collaborative exercise of the ENFSI Fingerprint Working Group

In 2017 the Fingerprint Working Group (EFP-WG) of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI) undertook a collaborative exercise (CE) with the aim of assessing the use of ninhydrin as a fingermark development technique in the laboratory. The test was prepared and managed by the officially established advisory group. The characteristics of the CE are summarised. The results indicate that ninhydrin is a robust methodology. Unexpected negative outcomes have been outlined and discussed, followed by an overview of the knowledge that has been gained.     

An MP's role in the internet Era – The impact of e-newsletters

The role of MPs changes over time. Commentators have identified five separate roles that an MP may carry out for which communication with constituents may be a key factor in determining the success of an MP. One of the latest, and currently underdeveloped, forms of direct political communication to constituents is e-newsletters from MPs. This article addresses how MPs are using their e-newsletter to help fulfil each of their parliamentary roles. A content analysis of the e-newsletters of seven MPs sent out regularly over a 1-year period from April 2003 to March 2004 was conducted. The data found that e-newsletters best helped fulfil both the political and non-political aspects of the constituency role. However, the article concludes that e-newsletter communication is primarily one-way, but that if it was two-way it might help MPs in all of their roles.     

mHealth and data protection – the letter and the spirit of consent legal requirements

In this article, the role of consent is discussed in the framework of fundamental rights and in the context of mobile health technologies (mHealth), such as smart phones, mobile phones or tablet/palm-held computing devices to provide healthcare. The authors surmise how, in practice, although there will be more emphasis on informed consent formally, there will be less space for genuine individual consent. This betrays a focus more on the letter of consent rules in data protection than their spirit. This risks reducing consent to a tick box operation in a manner analogous to consumer transactions, something manifestly unsuitable for consent, even if only in informational terms, during medical procedures.     

Risk Factors for Women’s Intimate Partner Violence Victimization: An Examination from the Perspective of the Schema Therapy Model

This study attempted to examine risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization against women in terms of the schema therapy model (STM). Seventy-nine shelter-residing female IPV victims and 78 married female IPV non-victims participated in the study. The Young Schema Questionnaire Short Form, the Young Parenting Inventory, the Young Compensation Inventory, and the Young Avoidance Inventory were used. The results revealed that being young and having low income were risk factors for IPV victimization. Paternal parenting style was also found to be a further risk factor in addition to demographic variables. Further, the endorsement of disconnection and the unrelenting standards schema domains presented further information predicting IPV victimization above and beyond demographic variables and parenting styles. Maladaptive coping styles did not reveal themselves as maintenance factors for IPV victimization when the information gathered from demographic variables, parenting styles, and schema domains is taken out. The results are discussed in terms of the STM.