Finnish guidelines for workplace drug testing

The Finnish guidelines for workplace drug testing outlined here represent what is considered the best practice for workplace drug testing to be followed in Finland. The guidelines are based on the act on the protection of privacy in working life (759/2004), the occupational health care act (1383/2001) and the decree on workplace drug testing (218/2005). They start by defining situations in which workplace testing is allowed and continue up to the point where the certificate is submitted to the employer. The role of the occupational health care system is crucial in the procedure. The guidelines include the best practice procedures to be followed by laboratories providing workplace drug testing services. The laboratory recommendations are based on general principles established internationally. In the Finnish guidelines, accreditation is an absolute prerequisite for a laboratory functioning as a workplace drug testing laboratory. The laboratory section of the guidelines includes specimen collection, laboratory organisation, analysis procedure, quality assurance and quality control measures. These largely conform to the European laboratory guidelines for legally defensible workplace drug testing published by the European workplace drug testing society (EWDTS), but there are differences. In addition to using urine as a specimen, the Finnish guidelines also encompass blood.     

Drug screening and confirmation by GC-MS: comparison of EMIT II and Online KIMS against 10 drugs between US and England laboratories

Drug screening through urinalysis is a widely accepted tool for rapid detection of potential drug use at a relatively low cost. It is, therefore, a potentially useful method for detecting and monitoring drug use in a variety of contexts such as the criminal justice system, pre-employment screening and a variety of treatment centers. This article explores the efficacy of two commercially available drug-screening assays: Online KIMS assay (Roche) and EMIT II assays. First, we evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of two immunoassays. A total of 738 urine samples were collected among adult arrestee populations from Chicago, New Orleans and Seattle through the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program. Partial samples were split within one laboratory and analyzed by both enzymes multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT) II and kinetic interaction of microparticle in solution (KIMS) assays for a 10-drug panel (amphetamine, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, marijuana, cocaine, methadone, methaqualone, opiate, phencyclidine and propoxyphene). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used as a confirmation method for all positives from either EMIT II or KIMS for all experiments. Second, the paper examines whether using different testing laboratories plays a role in the final results. The same experiments were repeated at two different testing locations: one in California and one in London and England. Third, the paper studies whether drug testing results vary between two laboratories when each of them had used their own routine screening method: the Forensic Science Service (FSS) at Birmingham, United Kingdom with KIMS assay and Medscreen Limited at London, United Kingdom with EMIT II. In summary, both EMIT II and KIMS assays generate fairly consistent results. The concordance rate against each of the 10 drugs tested is relatively high (97.4-100%). The discrepancies, in most cases, occurred at drug concentrations near the cut-off levels. There were more discrepant results between two laboratories compared to when specimens were analyzed at the same laboratory using two different assays.     

In vitro fertilisation and the limits of consent

In Evans v United Kingdom (2006) 43 EHRR 21; [2006] ECHR 200 the European Court of Human Rights was asked to overrule domestic legislation in the United Kingdom which stipulated that either the male or female provider of gametes could withdraw their consent to proceed at any time prior to implantation of embryos. The court held by a majority of five to two that such a legislative regime is compatible with current human rights instruments applicable in Europe. Ms Evans has appealed the European Court's decision to the Grand Chamber. However, compelling public policy arguments suggest that both parties to proposed in vitro fertilisation treatment should be permitted to withdraw their consent until the point of implantation.     

Forensic textile fiber examination across the USA and Europe.

Crime laboratories in the USA, who undertake fiber examinations, together with members of the European Fibres Group (plus representatives from Israel, Japan, Canada, and Australia) were surveyed in 1994 and 1995, respectively, and asked to provide subject-specific information relating to personnel, equipment, training, quality control, and techniques available. The information obtained showed that generally more fiber casework is carried out in Europe than in the USA. Most laboratories are quite well equipped but those in Europe seem to be able to obtain more state-of-the-art instrumentation. Proficiency testing and peer review is accepted practice worldwide. Americans appear to update fiber collections on a more regular basis than Europeans but both keep literature up to date. Contamination is a major issue, as with all areas of trace evidence. The results from the survey suggest that minimum standards are clearly not always being observed. Careful consideration also needs to be given as to whether legitimate contact could have occurred prior to an offense being committed. The standard of forensic fiber examination worldwide is generally high. With laboratory management continuing to support the work of the Scientific Working Group for Materials and the European Fibres Group and by instigating "best practice" as set out in their guidelines, standards should continue to improve.     

Legal, workplace, and treatment drug testing with alternate biological matrices on a global scale

Global trends in drug trafficking and drug usage patterns indicate a continuing pattern of escalation throughout the world. Over the last two decades, urinalysis has evolved into a highly accurate means for determining whether individuals have been exposed to illicit drugs of abuse. Advances have also been made in the use of alternate biological matrices such as hair, oral fluids and sweat for drug testing. Often, these new matrices demonstrate some distinct advantages over urinalysis, e.g. less invasive procedures, different time course of drug detection. They may even indicate impairment. National and local laws of each country provide the underpinnings of drug-testing programs, but most countries have not addressed use of these alternate matrices. Currently, only a few countries have statutes that specifically mention use of alternate biological matrices, e.g. United States (Florida state law), Germany, Ireland, Poland and the Czech Republic. Conversely, few countries have prohibited collection of alternate biological specimens or drug test devices that utilize such specimens. In addition, guidelines for implementing drug testing programs have been slow to emerge and most deal primarily with workplace drug testing programs, e.g. United States. Currently, scientific technology utilized in drug testing is advancing rapidly, but there is a clear need for parallel development of guidelines governing the use of alternate matrices for drug testing. This article provides an overview of global drug trafficking patterns and drug use, and results from a survey of legal statutes in 20 countries covering use of alternate matrices for drug testing. In addition, elements needed for the development of guidelines for alternate matrices testing for drugs of abuse are discussed, and specific examples of use of alternate matrices in treatment monitoring are provided.     

The state of the art in privacy impact assessment

There is growing interest in Europe in privacy impact assessment (PIA). The UK introduced the first PIA methodology in Europe in 2007, and Ireland followed in 2010. PIAs provide a way to detect potential privacy problems, take precautions and build tailored safeguards before, not after, the organisation makes heavy investments in the development of a new technology, service or product. This paper presents some findings from the Privacy Impact Assessment Framework (PIAF) project and, in particular, the project's first deliverable, which analyses the similarities and differences between PIA methodologies in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, with a view to picking out the best elements which could be used in constructing an optimised PIA methodology for Europe. The project, which began in January 2011, is being undertaken for the European Commission's Directorate General Justice. The first deliverable was completed in September. The paper provides some background on privacy impact assessment, identifies some of its benefits and discusses elements that can be used in construction of a state-of-the-art PIA methodology.     

The future of informed consent in British common law

Within the common law world, the use of the term informed consent implies the American doctrine. Informed consent as a doctrine is not part of the law in the United Kingdom. However, it is possible to predict a way forward in disclosure cases yet to be heard in the courts of the United Kingdom. These predictions are based on current developments in the common law in the United Kingdom as well as those in Canada and Australia, on the European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine and on trends within the medical profession itself in the light of the Bolam test.     

Exhaled breath for drugs of abuse testing — Evaluation in criminal justice settings

Exhaled breath is being developed as a possible specimen for drug testing based on the collection of aerosol particles originating from the lung fluid. The present study was aimed to evaluate the applicability of exhaled breath for drugs of abuse testing in criminal justice settings. Particles in exhaled breath were collected with a new device in parallel with routine urine testing in two Swedish prisons, comprising both genders. Urine screening was performed according to established routines either by dipstick or by immunochemical methods at the Forensic Chemistry Laboratory and confirmations were with mass spectrometry methods. A total of 247 parallel samples were studied. Analysis of exhaled breath samples was done with a sensitive mass spectrometric method and identifications were made according to forensic standards. In addition tested subjects and personnel were asked to fill in a questionnaire concerning their views about drug testing. In 212 cases both the urine and breath testing were negative, and in 22 cases both urine and breath were positive. Out of 6 cases where breath was negative and urine positive 4 concerned THC. Out of 7 cases where, breath was positive and urine negative 6 concerned amphetamine. Detected substances in breath comprised: amphetamine, methamphetamine, THC, methylphenidate, buprenorphine, 6-acetylmorphine, cocaine, benzoylecgonine, diazepam and tramadol. Both the prison inmates and staff members reported breath testing to be preferable due to practical considerations. The results of this study documented that drug testing using exhaled breath provided as many positives as urine testing despite an expected shorter detection window, and that the breath sampling procedure was well accepted and provided practical benefits reported both by the prison inmates and testing personnel.     

Organizing cigarette smuggling and policy making, ending up in smoke

The smuggling of taxed goods, like tobacco or alcohol, has always been a lucrative cross-border crime business. The very high excises for tobacco in the United Kingdom since the 1990's has stimulated the already existing cigarette smuggling from the continent, particularly from Eastern Europe. The analysis of the investigations carried out by the Dutch customs showed that the Netherlands function as a gateway from the continent to the United Kingdom. However, part of the contraband remains in the Netherlands and is sold on the black market. The crime-entrepreneurs operating on this market rarely have a criminal background or connections with other contraband markets like drugs. Despite that while trading they developed crime-organisations, which again underlines the dynamic dimension of ``organising crime.' Some international wholesalers developed extensive organised crime-networks. Two criminal trading patterns could be discerned: a Northern European ``trade belt,' stretching from the Baltic to the British isles and a Southern one, in which the Iberian peninsula and Italy are more prominent. This indicates that this form of crosse-border crime should be addressed from the perspective of economic ``crime-regions.'     

The Legal Situation on Stalking among the European Member States

Stalking became a subject of academic and social concern in Europe in the mid-1990s. Shortly afterwards the issue of legislation became the subject of debate in some countries and in 1997 the United Kingdom was the first European Member State that passed anti-stalking legislation. Denmark constitutes an exception because its Criminal Code of 1933 contains a provision which also deals with stalking. Other States that up to now have passed legislation against stalking in Europe are Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Malta, Ireland, Austria and, last in order of time, Italy. Where an anti-stalking law exists, legislators have introduced a new article into the existing Penal Code or have amended an article still in force for similar conduct, or have introduced a specific Act against Harassment or Domestic Violence which is intended to cover not only such conduct but also stalking. In the remaining European countries where an anti- stalking law does not exist, it is possible to prosecute stalking only when the behaviour amounts to crimes prosecutable under other existing norms. This article analyses legal regulations on stalking across European Member States in civil and criminal justice considering specific laws addressing the phenomenon or, alternatively, other laws under which stalking can be prosecuted. In the conclusions some advantages and disadvantages of European anti-stalking laws are discussed and some suggestions are given for future work in order to improve the protection of the victims of stalking.     

声誉商标问题研究——兼评欧盟法院第C-252/07号初步裁定

因特尔公司是在英国注册的国内文字商标“INTEL”的持有者,认为英国CPM有限责任公司在英国注册的“INTELMARK”国内文字商标的使用将不公平地利用在先商标的显著性、声誉或者对该显著性或声誉产生有害的影响,亦或可能达到这样的程度.因特尔公司请求英国注册商标局宣告“INTELMARK”商标无效.欧盟法院做出初步裁定,认定“INTELMARK”商标的使用不足以构成对“INTEL”损害.     

The exclusion-inclusion spectrum in state and community response to sex offenders in Anglo-American and European jurisdictions

Continental European and Anglo-American jurisdictions differ with regard to criminal justice and community responses to sex offenders on an exclusion-inclusion spectrum ranging from community protection measures on one end to therapeutic programs in the middle and restorative justice measures on the other end. In the United States, populist pressure has resulted in a community protection approach exemplified by sex offender registration, community notification, and civil commitment of violent sexual predators. Although the United Kingdom and Canada have followed, albeit more cautiously, the American trend to adopt exclusionist community protection measures, these countries have significant community-based restorative justice initiatives, such as Circles of Support and Accountability. Although sex offender crises have recently occurred in continental Europe, a long-standing tradition of the medicalization of deviance, along with the existence of social structural buffers against the influence of victim-driven populist penal movements, has thus far limited the spread of formal community protection responses.     

The United Kingdom and Ireland association of forensic toxicologists forensic toxicology laboratory guidelines (2018)

In 2010, the United Kingdom and Ireland Association of Forensic Toxicologists (UKIAFT) created forensic toxicology laboratory guidelines. This represents a revision of those guidelines as a result of the changing toxicological and technical landscape.     

The Politics of the Human Rights Act

The Human Rights Act is the result of post-war changes in Europe. It is the consequence less of the campaigning of dedicated individuals and more of the change in the position of the United Kingdom in Europe and the world. Objections to incorporation of the Convention have given way to the desire to be like the rest of Europe. Traditional views of the judicial role have given way to a perception of the judiciary as the last bastion against an over-powerful executive, unchecked by Parliament.     

A survey of extraction techniques for drugs of abuse in urine

Sixty nine participants in the United Kingdom national external quality assessment scheme for drugs of abuse in urine reported details of their sample extraction technique by questionnaire. Laboratories were categorised by differences in technique and their analytical test results compared for samples containing D-amfetamine 0.4 (4) and 0.8 (3) mg/l, morphine 0.4 (4) and 0.8 (4)mg/l, and benzoylecgonine 0.15/0.2 (2) and 0.45/0.5 (4) mg/l. Values in parentheses are numbers of samples. For amfetamine, there was no significant difference in the frequency of true positive results between liquid-liquid or solid phase extraction and the Toxi-Lab A system at 0.8 mg/l. Toxi-Lab A gave significantly fewer positives when operating below its specified threshold at 0.4 mg/l. Paradoxically, laboratories using >5 ml urine volume performed less well. Acidification of the extract before volume reduction gave significantly more true positives. For extraction of morphine, solid phase systems significantly outperformed both liquid-liquid and the Toxi-Lab A system at both 0.8 and 0.4 mg/l. No significant differences between extraction techniques were demonstrated for analysis of benzoylecgonine.     

Harmonisation by Example: European Laws against Unfair Commercial Practices

This examination of the implementation of the European Union's Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices in the United Kingdom by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 assesses the likely impact on the national law governing the marketing practices of rogue traders, including its ambition to simplify and extend legal protection, and the likely success of the Directive in achieving the harmonisation of the laws and practices regulating marketing in Europe. In particular, the discussion evaluates the regulatory strategy of the Directive in its attempt to secure uniform laws through the combination of principles, rules, and concrete examples of prohibited practices. The paper also investigates the likely impact of the Regulations on the private law of contract and tort and the possibilities for improvements in a consumer's personal right of redress.     

Inching toward incrementalism: federalism, devolution, and health policy in the United States and the United Kingdom

In the United States, the recently enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 envisions a significant increase in federal oversight over the nation's health care system. At the same time, however, the legislation requires the states to play key roles in every aspect of the reform agenda (such as expanding Medicaid programs, creating insurance exchanges, and working with providers on delivery system reforms). The complicated intergovernmental partnerships that govern the nation's fragmented and decentralized system are likely to continue, albeit with greater federal oversight and control. But what about intergovernmental relations in the United Kingdom? What impact did the formal devolution of power in 1999 to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have on health policy in those nations, and in the United Kingdom more generally? Has devolution begun a political process in which health policy in the United Kingdom will, over time, become increasingly decentralized and fragmented, or will this "state of unions" retain its long-standing reputation as perhaps the most centralized of the European nations? In this article, we explore the federalist and intergovernmental implications of recent reforms in the United States and the United Kingdom, and we put forward the argument that political fragmentation (long-standing in the United States and just emerging in the United Kingdom) produces new intergovernmental partnerships that, in turn, produce incremental growth in overall government involvement in the health care arena. This is the impact of what can be called catalytic federalism.     

European Empires in Conflict: The Brexit Years

Law and Critique - On 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom (UK) Government notified the European Council (EC) of its intention to withdraw from the European Union (EU) legal order. On 31 January 2020,...     

论非法证据排除规则的两种立法模式

本文通过对英美两国有关非法证据排除规则的发展历史及其具体法律规定的考察,归纳出非法证据排除规则的两种立法模式:强制排除模式和裁量排除模式,并在总结其他国家的立法经验和教训的基础上,提出在我国确立非法证据排除规则应采取裁量排除的立法模式.