REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: Marxism and Law , By Hugh Collins . German Private and Commercial Law . By N. Horn , H. Kötz and H. G. Leser . The Role of Law in Central -Local Relations . By Michael J. Elliott . Law and Orders in Central -Local Government Relations . By Edward Page . No Access to Law: Alternatives to the American Judicial System . Edited by Laura Nader . The Housing Act 1980: A Practical Guide . By T. M. Aldridge . The Housing Act 1980. By A. Arden . Rent Acts and Regulations : Amended and Annotated . By J. Farrand and A. Arden . 2nd. ed. Public Sector Housing Law . By D. Hughes . Council Houses and the Housing Act 1980. By P. Liell . Private Sector Tenancies . By P. Pettit . 2nd edition. Squatting . By A. M. Pritchard . The Housing Act 1980. By P. F. Smith . Housing Action in an Industrial Suburb . By A. Stewart .     

Medical practitioner regulation in Indonesia

Against a background of little by way of health practitioner regulation, Indonesia's Medical Practice Act 2004 has introduced a regime of both ethical obligations for medical practitioners and a system of disciplinary oversight over practitioners' conduct. This editorial describes the Indonesian initiatives and evaluates the challenges that are likely to confront their implementation.     

Reshaping professionalism: branding,marketing and the new entrepreneurial barrister

Based on empirical evidence from in-depth interviews with barristers and other chambers’ staff, this paper investigates the development of marketing at the Bar of England and Wales since the removal of the advertising ban by the Bar Council in 1990. Marketing has developed in the context of an increasingly competitive market, structural reforms and legal aid cuts. The engagement of marketing consultants, together with a growing array of marketing initiatives, is transforming the cultural landscape at the Bar and is now integral to structural and organisational changes within chambers. This paper analyses the marketing models and techniques that are being deployed and how these developments are reworking traditional notions of legal professionalism. Barristers have had to acquire new skills, marking a shift from the notion of an independent, self-employed practitioner to the new ‘entrepreneurial barrister’. It further examines conflicting evidence on professional attitudes to marketing and its efficacy, despite heavy investment of time and money.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Medical Malpractice: Theory, Evidence, and Public Policy . By Patricia M. Danzon
Medical Malpractice: A Preventive Approach . By William O. Robertson, M.D.
Defendant: A Psychiatrist on Trial for Medical Malpractice — An Episode in America's Hidden Health Care Crisis . By Sara C. Charles and Eugene Kennedy
The High Cost of Healing: Physicians and the Health Care System . By J.H.U. Brown, Ph.D.
Public Health in a Retrenchment Era . By Helen J. Muller and Curtis Ventriss     

THE BOOKSHELF

Joint Custody and Shared Parenting , Jay Folberg, Editor
A Handbook of Dispute Resolution , Karl J. Mackie, Editor
Intractable Conflicts and Their Transformation , Louis Kriesberg, Terrell A. Northrup, and Stuart J. Thorson, Editors
Marriage Counseling in Australia: An Evaluation , Ilene Wolcott and Helen Glezer
Treating Couples : The Intersystem Model of the Marriage Council of Philadelphia, Gerald R. Weeks, Editor     

Book Reviews

Book review in this article:
Medical Law for the Attending Physician: A Case-Oriented Analysis . By Salvatore F. Fiscina, M.D., J.D.
Rights and Advocacy for Retarded People . By Stanley S. Herr
The Rights of the Critically Ill . By John A. Robertson, J.D.     

Law and ethics for the bioeconomy and beyond

The convergence of biological, technological and economic realms of life has fostered the development of the bioeconomy as a new feature of contemporary society. As the meaning of life and the human body is redefined in the context of the bioeconomy, new challenges have emerged for ethics and law In the face of these challenges, it is imperative that the currency of regulatory frameworks is maintained through the processes of regular review and update. The National Health and Medical Research Council has recently released the new National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research to provide guidance for health research in Australia. The new National Statement will play an important part in supporting innovation and the development of the knowledge economy.     

Paths toward reclamation: therapeutic jurisprudence and the regulation of medical practitioners

Much about what used to be termed "disciplinary" investigations and hearings is being revisited in the modern era. Therapeutic jurisprudence enables informed and sensitive awareness to potentially therapeutic and counter-therapeutic effects of both investigations and hearings conducted by medical regulatory authorities. This article analyses key aspects of authorities' processes from the perspective of notifiers/complainants and practitioners. Using developments at the Victorian Medical Practitioners Board as a base, it addresses issues of both investigative procedures and decision-making at formal and informal hearings, as well as the ramifications of re-hearings for the integrity of peer review informed regulation. It argues that where reclamation of practitioners is possible (namely where impropriety is not of the most serious order), there is much that is constructive about a focus upon enhancement of performance and competence levels, rather than the traditional preoccupation with whether registered status needs to be affected as a result of practitioner conduct.     

What is the magnitude of the subpopulation effect?

The effect of population subdivision on estimated match probabilities has been raised [Nature 339 (1989) 501; Am. J. Hum. Genet. 48 (1991) 819; Science 254 (1991) 1921]. Previous work [J. Forensic Sci. 39 (1994) 319; J. Forensic Sci. 39 (1994) 988; Am. J. Hum. Genet. 55 (1994) 533] has compared product rule estimates from differing databases and found that the "subpopulation" error may be of the order of a factor of 10. This approach compares an estimate with an estimate. This paper uses simulation to extend these studies by allowing a comparison to a 'true match probability' and supports the conclusion that subpopulation effects are mild. In addition the performance of recommendations 4.1 and 4.2 of NRC II [National Research Council and C.O.D.F. Science, The Evaluation of Forensic DNA Evidence, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1996].     

REVIEWS

Legal Services in Birmingham . By Lee Bridges , Brenda Sufrin , Jim Whetton and Richard White . Legal Expense Insurance . By Werner Pfennigstorf . [Chicago: American Bar Foundation. 1975. ix and 117 pp. $3.00.] The Land and the Development , or The Turmoil and the Torment . By Sir Desmond Heap ; being the 27th series of the Hamlyn lectures. Compensation for Compulsory Purchase : A Comparative Study. Edited by J. F. Garner . Compensation for Compulsory Purchase Landlord and Tenant . By M. Partington Kemp and Kemp : The Quantum of Damages in Personal Injury and Fatal Accident Claims . By David A. Mc I. Kemp, q.c. , assisted by Derrick Turriff , John M. C. Moxom and Richard W. Seymour . Compensation and Rehabilitation . By Harold Luntz . Bullen an D Leake and Jacob's Precedents of Pleadings . Twelfth edition. By I. H. Jacob . Odgers ' Principles of Pleading and Practice . Twenty-first edition. By D. B. Casson and I. H. Dennis . The European Convention on Human Rights . By Francis G. Jacobs . The European Convention on Human Rights . By Fredr . Casteberg . European Community Law in the United Kingdom . By Lawrence Collins . Compendium of Case Law Relating to the European Communities 1973. By H. J. Eversen , H. Sperl , and J. A. Usher . Megarry's Manual of the Law of Real Property . Fifth ed. By P. V. Baker . A Practical Guide to Capital Transfer Tax . By Hilda Wilson .     

REVIEWS

P.J. Cooke and D. W. Oughton, The Common Law of Obligations Michael Foley, The Silence of Constitutions H.K. Bevan, Child Law Dieter Giesen, International Medical Malpractice Law Ian Kennedy and Andrew Grubb, Medical Law: Text and Materials     

我国全科医生制度法制化初论

执业医师制度改革是我国医疗卫生体制改革的重要组成部分。如何对执业医师进行科学划分并配置符合其特点的制度安排,将对我国目前正在积极探索的执业医师的签约首诊制度、转诊分级医疗制度和多点执业制度产生积极影响。美、英、德等国的全科医生制度各具特色,其中符合市场经济发展规律的规则值得我国效仿。我国全科医生制度主要依靠国家政策推进,上海和深圳全科医生试点也暴露出一些问题。全科医生制度＂政策推进型＂模式应当逐渐被＂法制推进型＂模式取代,完善《执业医师法》是我国全科医生制度法制化的理想选择。     

The human genome: lessons for life, love and the law

In 2003, the Australian Law Reform Commission and the Australian Health Ethics Committee (of the National Health and Medical Research Council) completed a major inquiry into the Protection of Human Genetic Information, focusing on privacy protection; protection against unlawful discrimination based on genetic status; and the establishment and maintenance of high ethical standards. The joint inquiry considered these matters across a wide range of contexts, with the final report, Essentially Yours, making 144 recommendations in such diverse areas as medical research; clinical genetic services; genetic research databases; employment; insurance; immigration; sport; parentage testing; and law enforcement. This article discusses some of the major themes that emerged in the course of the inquiry and underpinned the broad-based strategy adopted to prepare Australia for the challenges of the "New Genetics".     

The Effect of Practitioner Recommendations on the Tax Judgments of Small Business Owners and Managers*

This study addresses conflicting results between prior research documenting a client demand for aggressive practitioner-prepared returns and research establishing taxpayer preferences for accurate returns and cautious reporting behavior. Rather than rely on practitioner reports of client aggressiveness, the tax reporting preferences of clients are examined in afield experiment mailed to small businesses across the country. After subjects had indicated ex ante beliefs about the likelihood of independent contractor status, they significantly altered their behavioral intentions in the direction of a preparer's recommendation. This implies that prior results with practitioner samples may have been biased by the practitioners' personal views. Nonetheless, some aggressive subjects were not as willing to follow the preparer's advice as were the conservative subjects. Evidence is presented on variables that correlate with aggressive tax decision making.     

Participation of children in clinical trials: UK, European and international legal perspectives on consent

The Declaration of Helsinki was, until recently, the leading international code on the conduct of clinical trials on human subjects. The Council of Europe's Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (1997) and the ICH guidelines for Good Clinical Practice (1996) represent a significant step towards increased harmonization of standards in the conduct of medical experiments on human subjects. But in spite of emerging areas of consensus, there remain important areas of unclarity and divergence. Medical practitioners involved in paediatric research in the UK are concerned about the lack of certainty in the law, particularly on the application of consent rules to emergency research. This paper examines UK, European and International norms on the participation of children in medical research and compares the circumstances under which consent rules may be waived under each normative regime.     

Professional self-regulation and guidelines in assisted reproduction

Australia's scientific expertise in ART has not been matched by similar standards in national regulation. Scientific breakthroughs in the early 1980s were followed by cohorts of State and national inquiries. Early guidelines by the National Health and Medical Research Council were followed by status of children legislation clarifying their parentage where donated gametes were used. The practice and procedure of ART was legislatively regulated in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia but left to guidelines and accreditation of the Fertility Society of Australia in the remaining States and Territories. The article examines the consequences of an absence of national regulation in dealing with embryo experimentation now that debates have shifted to human cloning and stem cell technology. The article also considers arguments for and against regulation in areas of parental procreative decision-making and embryo experimentation.