European national news

The regular article tracking developments at the national level in key European countries in the area of IT and communications – co-ordinated by Herbert Smith LLP and contributed to by firms across Europe. This column provides a concise alerting service of important national developments in key European countries. Part of its purpose is to compliment the Journal's feature articles and briefing notes by keeping readers abreast of what is currently happening “on the ground” at a national level in implementing EU level legislation and international conventions and treaties. Where an item of European National News is of particular significance, CLSR may also cover it in more detail in the current or a subsequent edition.     

European national news

The regular article tracking developments at the national level in key European countries in the area of IT and communications – co-ordinated by Herbert Smith LLP and contributed to by firms across Europe. This column provides a concise alerting service of important national developments in key European countries. Part of its purpose is to compliment the Journal's feature articles and briefing notes by keeping readers abreast of what is currently happening “on the ground” at a national level in implementing EU level legislation and international conventions and treaties. Where an item of European National News is of particular significance, CLSR may also cover it in more detail in the current or a subsequent edition.     

The effect of microbial degradation on the chromatographic profiles of tiki torch fuel, lamp oil, and turpentine

Biodegradation can result in selective removal of many of the compounds required for the identification of an ignitable liquid. In this study, the effects of microbial degradation on tiki torch fuel, lamp oil, and turpentine are reported. Samples of soil spiked with 20 μL of the liquids were stored at room temperature for up to 7 days. The ignitable liquids were then recovered using passive headspace concentration onto charcoal strips followed by solvent elution using pentane. Microbial degradation of tiki torch fuel resulted in the loss of the n-alkanes relative to the branched alkanes. Changes in the profile of the lamp oil were minor due to the highly branched nature of its alkanes. Microbial degradation of turpentine resulted in the selective loss of limonene and o-cymene. Overall, significant degradation by microbial action could result in the inability to identify the presence of an ignitable liquid or misclassify the ignitable liquid found.     

Officer attitudes towards intra-group aggression in young people and young adults: does the reported motivation of an aggressor impact on intervention and support?

The present study aims to assess whether global and context specific attitudes influence the ability to correctly identify the motivation for aggression and selection of appropriate intervention strategies. A sample of 105 prison officers completed a measure assessing global attitudes towards prisoners, one assessing context specific attitudes towards aggression, and also a case vignette. Officers were asked to consider the motivation for aggression and to select an appropriate intervention. It was predicted that sex, age and level of experience would impact on global and context specific attitudes. Officers expressing positive global attitudes and non-aggressive context specific attitudes were expected to be more able to identify the motivation for aggression and more likely to adopt a rehabilitative approach. There was evidence to indicate sex differences in global and context specific attitudes but no impact of age. Level of experience of aggression impacted both on global and context specific attitudes. Global or context specific attitudes did not influence the ability to interpret aggression, but aggression type did. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.     

European national news

The regular article tracking developments at the national level in key European countries in the area of IT and communications - co-ordinated by Herbert Smith LLP and contributed to by firms across Europe. This column provides a concise alerting service of important national developments in key European countries. Part of its purpose is to compliment the Journal’s feature articles and briefing notes by keeping readers abreast of what is currently happening “on the ground” at a national level in implementing EU level legislation and international conventions and treaties. Where an item of European National News is of particular significance, CLSR may also cover it in more detail in the current or a subsequent edition.     

European national news

The regular article tracking developments at the national level in key European countries in the area of IT and communications - co-ordinated by Herbert Smith LLP and contributed to by firms across Europe. This column provides a concise alerting service of important national developments in key European countries. Part of its purpose is to compliment the Journal’s feature articles and briefing notes by keeping readers abreast of what is currently happening “on the ground” at a national level in implementing EU level legislation and international conventions and treaties. Where an item of European National News is of particular significance, CLSR may also cover it in more detail in the current or a subsequent edition.     

Judith N. Shklar and American citizenship

It is claimed that although the European debate about social rights has concentrated on the formation of citizenship, American political and social theory has focused almost exclusively on civil liberties and individual rights. The specific characteristics of American history – the Declaration of Independence, slavery, the Civil War, the persistence of the race issue and the civil rights movement – explain this fundamental difference. This article explores some of the exceptions to this claim in the work of sociologists and political scientists such as W.E. DuBois, Talcott Parsons, Morris Janowitz, Rogers Smith and Michael Schudson, but the contrast between individual rights and social rights remains important. The American tradition is explored primarily through the work of Judith N. Shklar whose approach to cruelty, misfortune and inequality represented a major and innovative approach to what we might call the phenomenological foundation of justice and rights. She emphasised the importance of earning a living to the basic American understanding of dignity and responsibility. The article concludes by speculating that the credit crunch and more importantly the endemic character of unemployment and under-employment in the modern economy radically undermine access to rewarding employment for the majority of the population. These economic and social changes – ‘the financialization of capitalism’ – make the defence of social citizenship more rather than less important.