Legal profession in Britain: The 1992 conundrum

In an era of change, the year 1992 will be significant for some lawyers while irrelevant to others. Among solicitors big City firms are prospering, but those who depend on legal aid feel the pinch. The Bar has long‐term problems. Many of these developments are irreversible, argues Marcel Berlins in an Article in the “Financial Times” written shortly before the Lord Chancellor's recent announcement of proposed reforms.     

The hundredth volume of the Law Reports of the Commonwealth

This article, written as a foreword to the hundredth volume of the Law Reports of the Commonwealth (LRC), celebrates the growing success of these law reports published since 1985. Generally appearing in four or five volumes each year, the reports collect some of the main cases, mostly from final courts, decided throughout the Commonwealth of Nations. With the demise of the Privy Council as an institutional link, the courts of the Commonwealth remain connected by the English language, a shared doctrinal and historical tradition, common legal taxonomies and a similar professional culture. The author pays special tribute to the excellent Cumulative Indexes from the 1980s to date; the insightful annual Editorial Reviews which draw attention to grand themes and trends throughout the Commonwealth in the LRCs; the outstanding work of the two foundation general editors Professor James Read and Dr. Peter Slinn; and the publishers Butterworths LexisNexis. In the place of imperial rule there is now a free sharing of knowledge in the law, as befits the free association of the Commonwealth of Nations.     

Simulations of child sexual abuse interviews using avatars paired with feedback improves interview quality

We tested whether simulated child sexual abuse (CSA) interviews with computer-generated child avatars could improve interview quality. Feedback was provided not only on question types, as in previous research, but also on whether the conclusions drawn by the interviewers were correct. Twenty-one psychology students (average age M = 24.5) interviewed four different avatars which had a simulated story of either abuse or non-abuse. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: one received feedback on question types and conclusions after each simulated interview and the other one did not receive any feedback. Avatars revealed pre-defined ‘memories’ as a function of algorithms formulated based on previous empirical research on children's suggestibility. The feedback group used more open-ended and fewer closed questions. They also made more correct conclusions and found more correct details in the last two interviews compared to the no-feedback group. Feedback on both the question types and conclusions in simulated CSA interviews with avatars can improve the quality of investigative interviews in only one hour. The implications for training practice were discussed.     

Liberia: security challenges,development fundamentals

This research article argues that security challenges in post-conflict Liberia cannot be addressed effectively without synchronising current stabilisation policies with the implementation of development fundamentals. The article explores key strategic sectors of the Liberian economy and their impact on the security and development dimensions of peace building. The political economy of post-conflict Liberia has not structurally modified an economic model which relies on the concessionary system and the extraction of raw materials at the expense of developing productive sectors which could be used to secure sustainable livelihoods. It is suggested that a shift in the political economy pursued by national and international actors is needed to link current peacebuilding efforts to sustainable development processes; one policy measure recommended to achieve such a goal is enhanced support for land reform and small farmers' rights.     

Detecting Domestic Violence: Spanish External Validation of the Index of Spouse Abuse

The aims of the study were to assess the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Index of Spouse Abuse (ISA), and to validate it against external criteria of intimate partner violence. The Spanish version of the ISA was administered to 223 non-abused women and 182 victims of intimate partner violence. Internal consistency coefficients oscillated between 0.88 and 0.98. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis failed to replicate the original two-factor structure. Using Exploratory Factor Analysis, a two-factor solution was found: physical (ISA-P) and non-physical (ISA-NP), but the items included in each factor were slightly different from the original two subscales. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed an AUC value for the ISA global score of 0.99 (95% CI: 0.98–0.99), with the optimal cut-off of 12 for detecting intimate partner violence. The Spanish version of the ISA is a valid instrument for detecting intimate partner violence in a female population.     

Creating Entrepreneurial Universities in the UK: Applying Entrepreneurship Theory to Practice

In the modern knowledge economy higher educational institutions are being required to operate more entrepreneurially, commercialising the results of their research and spinning out new, knowledge-based enterprises. Like most large organisations, particularly those operating in the public sector, they are not traditionally suited to this role and often face the same sort of barriers to intrapreneurial activity as their counterparts in the private sector. In this note, the theories of entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship development are used to identify what needs to be done and a case example is provided.