Book reviews

Transborder Data Flows (Proceedings of an OECD Conference) Edited by Hans‐Peter Gassmann North Holland (Elsevier Science Publishers) 1985, US$74.00

Plastic and Electronic Money: New Payment Systems and Their Implications Patrick Frazer Woodhead Faulkner Limited 1985 £35

A User's Guide To Computer Contracting: Forms, Techniques and Strategies Davis, Allen, Bowman and Armstrong Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1985, $75

Legal Protection of Computer Programs and Data C. Millard Sweet & Maxwell/Stevens 1985, £24

Piracy of Phonograms Gillian Davies ESC Publishing Ltd. 1986. 2nd edition. £17.95.

Biotechnology and Patent Protection—An International Review F. K. Beier, R. S. Crespi and J. Straus O.E.C.D. 1985, £5

Protecting Privacy in Two‐Way Electronic Services David H. Flaherty Mansell Publishing Company 1985, £23.50

High‐Tech Espionage Jay Tuck Sidgwick and Jackson Ltd 1980, £10.95     

Localizing Gender Equality after Conflict

Debates have grown in recent years concerning the realistic utility and application of international human rights law to a local context. Since 2000, the United Nations Security Council has issued eight Women, Peace, and Security resolutions geared toward promoting gender equality measures in conflict prevention during conflict and post-conflict settings. The first of these resolutions, United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325, has been adopted by a number of UN Member States through National Action Plans (NAPs), which provide a framework and roadmap for integrating gender equality measures at the domestic level. Although NAPs were once considered promising, they have largely been unsuccessful.

By examining the implementation challenges facing other gender equality measures and localization programs that seek more effective implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security Resolutions, the following argues that a bottom-up approach rather than a top-down approach must be considered more seriously by international actors supporting implementation and integration of international human rights law, not only for the obvious reason that it emboldens local agency in the adoption process, but also because it is likely to produce outcomes that are meaningful and sustainable for the communities most affected by these provisions.

As such, continued emphasis on change that emanates from the top down in a given country often ignores the reality that gender equality measures in international human rights law are often perceived by governments and civil society actors as a serious disruption to domestic gender norms. Sole reliance on state institutions to deliver these commitments is flawed because it fails to recognize the necessary dialog and contestation among various stakeholders concerning the role of external norms in a local context.     

Book reviews

D. Leebart (ed.), The Future of Software, The MIT Press, 1995. Hardcover, £19.95, 300 pp, ISBN 0‐262‐12184‐0

David Bainbridge, Software Copyright Law, 2nd edn, Butterworths, 1994. Softcover £35.00, 272 + xvi pp. ISBN 0‐406‐04841‐X

Andrew Christie, Integrated Circuits and Their Contents: International Protection, Sweet & Maxwell, 1995. Hardcover, £85.00. ISBN 0‐421‐48380‐6

S. White, S. Bate and T. Johnson, Satellite Communications in Europe: Law & Regulation, 2nd edn, FT Tax and Law, 1996. Hardcover, £135.00 xlvi + 456 pp. ISBN 0‐752‐002119‐8

A. Valente, Legal Knowledge Engineering: a Modelling Approach. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications, Volume 30, IOS Press, 1995. Softcover, £52.00, 227 pp. ISBN 90‐5199‐23‐0

Professor Christopher Arnold, Outsourcing Contracts, Pearson Professional, 1995. 114 pp.     

Detention Short of Arrest For Questioning in England: An Update

This research sampled 163 nations of the world to determine the use and non-use of capital punishment for 1980–85. The first conclusion was that the majority of the nations do have a legal device to administer capital punishment (77% with Yes; N = 126). The 22 nations who executed averaged 4.2 executions, per year. When the other nations are factored in, the average is 1.57 “official executions” per year (N = 163). Many nations have the legal device to execute, but few do. The top nations reporting were South Africa with 111, and Mauritius with 25 (per year 1980–85).

The average age for execution for the 42 reporting nations was 18. The United States of America was the only nation reporting for less than 16 years old. The following “methods of execution” were reported:

1.

Hanging (N = 26, 57%)

2.

Shooting (N = 11, 24%)

3.

Beheading (N = 7, 15%)

Nations also excluded from the death penalty for the following reasons:

1.

Mental Illness

2.

Juveniles

3.

Pregnant Woman

Only 7 nations reported “open” or “public” executions.     

Haplogroup prediction in the Ghanaian population using haplotype data of 27 Yfiler® Plus loci and TaqMan SNP genotyping

This study describes the use of the 27 loci Yfiler® Plus kit and TaqMan™ SNP genotyping to characterise and predict the haplogroups of Y chromosomes within the four major ethnic populations of Ghana. Haplogroups were assigned using the desktop NevGen software (https://www.nevgen.org/). The E1b1a and E1b1b haplogroups are the most common in the Ghanaian population and form 95% of the dataset. The Mole-Dagomba sub-population had 4. 8% assigned to the haplogroups G, H, R1b, R2 and T. The Ewe had two samples assigned to haplogroups C and D whilst the Akan had one sample each assigned to haplogroups B, J1 and J2. The NevGen predicted haplogroups were further screened with TaqMan™ genotyping for confirmation. In conclusion, ≈ 95% of the dataset was classified as M-E1b1a using NevGen combined with TaqMan™ SNP Genotyping for confirmation. The TaqMan™ also revealed 5% as J1 and other haplogroups, using an in-house control from the J1 haplogroup.     

A conceptual replication of the Strategic Training Initiative in Community Supervision (STICS)

Objectives

This study was an attempt to replicate the findings from an earlier experimental evaluation of a probation officer training program by Bonta et al. (Criminal Justice and Behavior, 38: 1127–1148, 2011). An experimental design was used with an improvement in the random assignment of clients and was tested with a sample of probation officers from a new jurisdiction.

Methods

Probation officers from the Canadian province of Alberta were randomly assigned to training or probation-as-usual. Officer behavior was measured by audio recordings of supervision sessions and recidivism was defined as a new conviction within 2 years of the initial recording. Attrition resulted in 27 probation officers submitting audio recordings of supervision sessions over a 6-month period (15 in the experimental group and 12 in the control). There were 160 recordings of 81 probationers submitted.

Results

The audio recordings showed inconsistent changes in officer behavior and no differences in recidivism between the clients of the experimental and control probation officers. However, the use of cognitive techniques by the probation officers was associated with a longer time to recidivism. In addition, by 10 months, more than half of the trained officers stopped their involvement in ongoing professional development activities.

Conclusion

Although the study failed to replicate the major findings reported by Bonta et al., it did highlight the importance of cognitive techniques in officer training. The results are interpreted with respect to the replication literature and the difficulties inherent in direct and conceptual replications especially in real-world settings.

     

Ethical analysis of a curious event of a forensic case becoming an involuntarily hospitalized psychiatric patient

It is not uncommon in forensic psychiatry that the duty to care for the patient conflicts with the responsibility to the court, or the duty to protect the public from harm from the potentially dangerous patient-offender. This paper exemplifies the scenario of what happens when the line between forensic and clinical psychiatry is crossed and whether crossing that boundary can be justified. Ethical discussion also embodies and clarifies the issues of unjustified violation of the patients’ autonomy and an undue infringement on their right to liberty on the arbitrary basis of existing or perceived mental illness. The paper provides an in-depth analysis of the issues of physicians’ conflicting duties, vulnerability of patient-offenders, and their human rights in the light of court orders and involuntary hospitalizations.

I argue that in order to promote ethical decision-making we must establish clear rules and guidelines for psychiatric practice, separate conflicting roles, and provide sufficient training of health-care professionals regarding topics of human rights and legislation governing clinical and forensic psychiatric practice. Empowering patients and enhancing their rights to autonomy and liberty can also be potent tools of promotion and protection of their human rights and prevention of ethical breaches in practice.     

Recommended Films

First Run Features, The Film Center Building, 630 Ninth Avenue, Suite 1213, New York, NY, 10036. Website: https://www.firstrunfeatures.com/

Patrimonio (Directors: Lisa F. Jackson and Sarah Teale, 2018)     

Recommended Films

To purchase these and other films from Torch Films, please contact: Torch Films, 597 Madison Street, Brooklyn, NY 11221. Website: https://www.torchfilms.com/

A Cambodian Spring (Director: Chris Kelly, 2016)     

An authentic constructionist approach to students’ visualisation of the law

This study discusses student perspectives on visualisation used as a constructionist technique for learning the law in an authentic context. Student constructions of storyboards, comics, films and animation are explored as an authentic method for personalised learning of legal professional conduct and ethics. Undergraduate law students (n = 112) were asked to select a visual format for exploration of an ethical issue of their choice. The results of this study showed most students engaged with this highly creative visual task responding very positively to the exercise as a learning activity. This study discusses why students chose different forms of visualisation, what approach they took to developing their visualisation, the amount of effort devoted to visualisation versus legal elements of their artefacts and observations on the positive and negative aspects of their approach and how the technique could be improved.

A video abstract is also available at https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2018.1496313     

Characterisation and discrimination of so-called metallised fibres found in clothing and decorative materials originating from the consumer market

1. Download : Download high-res image (187KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

     

Developing an index of EX-POST parliamentary oversight of public finance

For the past decade, scholars and practitioners have developed indexes to measure both legislative powers in general, and of the legislative power of the purse, in particular. Initial focus was on the development of a comprehensive index of legislative powers, and on assessing the ex-ante role of the legislature in the budget process.

This article substantially deepens extends previous research on ex-post oversight, by developing a more comprehensive index to measure ex-post oversight, by using more up-to-date data bases and by including more countries. We can partially confirm the emerging consensus that ex-post budget oversight is stronger in parliamentary – and especially Westminster – systems than in countries with other forms of government, thereby somewhat offsetting the previously identified weaknesses of Westminster parliaments in budget formulation.

When used in combination Wehner’s [2006. Assessing the power of the purse: An index of legislative budget institutions. Political Studies, 54, 767–785] index of ex-ante legislative oversight, this index provides a comprehensive picture of legislative power of the purse regarding the budget process.     

Letter to the editor: Commentary on “Strategic choice in linear sequential unmasking,Roger Koppl,Science & Justice,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scijus.2018.10.010”

This letter to the Editor comments on the paper ‘Strategic choice in linear sequential unmasking’ by Roger Koppl (Science & Justice, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scijus.2018.10.010).     

DNA-based identification of big cats and traditional Chinese medicine artifacts in the Czech Republic

The aim of this study is to provide an overview of ongoing research on and the development of identification tools for big cats (Panthera tigris, Panthera leo, Panthera pardus, …). The set of tools includes a species-specific RTPCR quantitation system (nuclear and mitochondrial), STR multiplexes, a rapid system for big cat species determination, and a database solution.     

Ageing in forensic psychiatric secure settings: the views of members of staff

Background: Although the prevalence of older patients in forensic psychiatric services is increasing, research around service provision for this population is very limited. We aimed to gather the views of members of staff on how well secure services are meeting the challenges of an ageing population.

Methods: Three focus groups were carried out with 13 members of staff working with older patients in secure services. A topic guide, based on the research team’s previous research, guided the sessions. The focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed through thematic analysis.

Results: Two themes were identified: (1) Identifying patients’ needs, which focused on how promptly any emerging issues in the older patients are identified and reported; (2) addressing patients’ needs, which focused on how the unique needs of the older patients are addressed, once established.

Conclusions: There are unique age-related issues that may have an impact on the older patients’ opportunities for recovery, including a lack of specialist training for members of staff, prolonged stay in secure care and a limited number of age-relevant activities. Far from optimal, provision requires improvement through the active involvement of the primary stakeholders.     

The Measurement of Legitimacy: A Rush to Judgment?

In an important article on the methodological issues surrounding measuring of police legitimacy, Jackson and Bradford (Asian Journal of Criminology,https://doi.org/10.1007/s11417-019-09289-w, 2019) adequately warn against the use of confirmatory factor analysis as an adjudication tool for differentiating the possible sources and constituent components of police legitimacy. However, in the process of arguing against the Sun et al.’s (Asian Journal of Criminology, 13, 275–291, 2018) measure of legitimacy, they inadvertently bring attention to a more foundational issue—How should scientists conduct research and test theories in various cultures? Furthermore, their argument against the alternative measuring of police legitimacy elucidates an extensive problem facing criminology—they have brought attention paid to the interrogation of operationalizing key constructs within criminology. We argue that Jackson and Bradford’s (2019) critiques of Sun et al.’s (2018) modeling and subsequent testing of police legitimacy in China are a bit overstated. Additionally, we contend that testing theories, such as police legitimacy, across cultures should be conducted both top-down and bottom-up—neither are necessarily contradictory. We urge readers to be the ultimate amicus curiae because this issue is not a concretely right-or-wrong type issue.

     

K9s killed in the line of duty

While police work comes with a slew of dangers, little research has focused on deaths of police dogs in the line of duty. The purpose of this paper is to begin a conversation about violence toward police dogs and the treatment of animals working with the police.

To do so, a database of 96 police dogs that died in the line of duty in the United States between 2011 and 2015 was compiled, drawn from the Officer Down Memorial Page. More police dog deaths were reported in 2014 and 2015, during summer months, with half clustering in the Southern US. The victim police dogs were mostly younger and recently employed by the policing agency. The most frequent cause of death was heat exhaustion, followed by gunfire and automobiles. Most offenders were apprehended by police or shot.

Policymakers and researchers should encourage systematic data collection for a better understanding of the extent of the issue.     

The effect of ambiguous question wording on jurors’ presumption of innocence

ABSTRACT

Research suggests that jurors misunderstand the presumption of innocence. However, past studies have not asked participants to estimate the defendant’s probability of guilt, setting aside the fact of charge and indictment. We conduct two studies to explore the impact of this question wording on estimates of the probability of guilt/innocence by jury-eligible Mturk workers. In Experiment 1 (N?=?275), question wording (legal, factual and ambiguous) was varied within participants and revealed significantly higher estimates of innocence in response to the legal than the factual or ambiguously worded question. In Experiment 2 (N?=?303), question wording was manipulated between participants both before (prior) and after (posterior) the presentation of evidence. Prior estimates of guilt were significantly lower in the legal than factual or ambiguous conditions. Question wording also predicted posteriors, and these in turn predicted verdicts. These results suggest that imprecise wording may have contributed to concerns about jurors’ understanding of the presumption of innocence, highlighting the need for further research. Link to associated OSF page: [https://osf.io/ywuxr/?view_only=b2148ffd1f674e62b66d31ed6593e586].     

Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Movers Scale in a French-Canadian Population

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a study that draws upon a collaborative research strategy and has two main objectives: 1) Translating and adapting into French the Measure of Victim Empowerment Related to Safety (MOVERS scale) (Goodman et al. Psychology of Violence, 5(4), 355-366, 2015a); 2) Validating the French version of the MOVERS scale in a population of French-Canadian women receiving shelter services. The French-Canadian MOVERS (FCM) was administered to 189 women receiving shelter services in the province of Québec (Canada). The factorial structure, reliability and validity of the FCM were tested. This paper highlights that the FCM replicates the three dimensions found in the original version (Goodman et al. Psychology of Violence, 5(4), 355-366, 2015a), displays significant correlations with measures of depression, anxiety and stress, self-esteem, perceived social support, satisfaction with life and self-efficacy, and has overall good reliability estimates. The FCM is a valid and reliable scale to assess safety-related empowerment among women receiving shelter services. Furthermore, the scale provides interesting opportunities to shelter workers, which will be discussed in the paper.

     

Three IP blogs

Lessig Blog By Lawrence Lessig United States of America Archivedback to August 2002 http://www.lessig.org/blog/ Techno Llama ByAndres Guadamuz Scotland Archived back to October 2004 http://technollama.blogspot.com/ Patently-O:Patent Law Blog By Dennis Crouch United States of America Archivedback to April 2005 http://patentlaw.typepad.com/