The Police and the New Magistracy: Independent Members and the New Police Authorities

Independent appointed members to police authorities were introduced as part of the reforms brought about by the Police and Magistrates' Courts Act 1994. This radical change to the make-up of police authorities was defended by government ministers as a necessary reform in order to broaden the expertise and experience available in such bodies. Critics, by contrast, saw the change as a move to further centralise control, and as a means of reducing local democratic input, over policing. Using data from a national telephone survey of police authority clerks, and case studies of three police force areas, this article examines the role of `independent' appointed members to local police authorities. We argue that the early signs are that the new members are becoming well integrated into police authorities, although such bodies have been significantly depoliticised as a result of this and other changes. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Working together: local and global imperatives for women in Mongolia

Mongolia is a country in transition. Domestic violence has just begun to reach the public and political agenda, due in large part to the activism and lobbying of women’s groups within Mongolia. State attention to domestic violence accords with Mongolia’s declared democratic and human rights agendas which are driven by political and economic shifts within society, the influence of trans-national feminism and the activities of two of the most influential non-governmental organisations (NGOs), each of which focus on violence against women. Local, feminist campaigning intersects with the global imperatives of treaty obligations and has resulted in the introduction of new legislation on domestic violence in 2004. Since then it has become apparent that there is a gap between the rhetoric of the law the reality of implementation. Women’s groups are battling this lack of political will to effectively implement changes.

Differentiating writing inks using direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry

Writing ink analysis is used in establishing document authenticity and the sources and relative ages of written entries. Most analytical methods require removing samples or visibly altering the document. Nondestructive, in situ analysis of writing inks on paper without visible alteration is possible using mass spectrometry with a new ion source called Direct Analysis in Real Time. Forty-three different black and blue ballpoint, black fluid, and black gel inks were examined. Both dyes and persistent but thermally labile components of the inks contribute to the mass spectra, principally as protonated molecules [M+H](+). Numerous ink components were identified from the spectra. The spectra were placed in a searchable library, which was then challenged with two spectra from each of the 43 inks. The best match for each of the challenge spectra was correct for all but one ink, which matched with a very similar ink by the same manufacturer.     

Controllership in the public sector.

Ineffective or incompetent controllership is, perhaps, the most common managerial failure found in the public sector. This failure affects outcomes and achievements in every area of public policy--often profoundly. Controllers design and operate management control systems. The effectiveness of alternative control system designs depends upon the cost and production behavior of the good or service in question. But control strategies are seldom consciously or effectively matched to circumstances. As a consequence, public programs are too often simultaneously overcontrolled and out of control.     

Disappearance rate of alcohol from the blood of drunk drivers calculated from two consecutive samples; what do the results really mean?

Based on a large material (N = 2354) of double blood specimens from drunk drivers apprehended in The Netherlands, we selected 1314 cases for further evaluation. The difference BAC2-BAC1 was used as index of alcohol elimination rate from the blood. The results ranged from below 0.10 to 0.64 mg/ml/h, with a mean of 0.22 mg/ml/h. At least about 2% of drivers were still absorbing alcohol as indicated by a rising BAC. Some likely mechanisms are discussed that might account for the wide range of alcohol elimination rates observed.     

Physiological variations in blood ethanol measurements during the post-absorptive state

Specimens of arterial plasma and venous whole blood were obtained at 3-10 min intervals during the post-peak phase of ethanol metabolism in healthy volunteers. The concentrations of ethanol in blood and plasma were determined by headspace gas chromatography. This method had a standard deviation of 0.28 mg/dl for whole blood and 0.26 mg/dl for plasma and the coefficients of variation were 0.43% and 0.79% respectively. The physiological variation from time-to-time, expressed as the residual standard deviation after fitting the ethanol concentration-time regression relationships, ranged from 0.43-3.7 mg/dl (0.65-16%). The time-to-time variations in concentrations of ethanol were maximum when there were problems in getting an unimpeded flow of blood through the indwelling catheters. The results do not support the existence of sporadic fluctuations or spiking in the blood alcohol concentration-time profile during the post-absorptive state. Instead, this study underscores the need to control carefully the method of sampling blood and in this way keep pre-analytical sources of variation to a minimum.     

Can international law improve mental health? Some thoughts on the proposed convention on the rights of people with disabilities

This paper examines the promise of the proposed Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities to improve the position of people with mental illness. Proponents of the new Disability Convention argue that the state of human rights abuses experienced by people with disabilities is intolerable, that the existing international law is inadequate, that additional international law will increase the visibility of people with disabilities and will clarify the fundamental entitlement to equality, and that, as a result, the position of people with disabilities will be greatly enhanced. This paper questions the value of international law to achieve real change and warns against placing too much faith in the law. The potential of a new international law to rectify the wrongs experienced by people with psychiatric disabilities will depend on whether the new law specifically displaces the existing international law which undermines the rights of people with mental illness and on the final terms of the Convention with respect to recognition and enforcement. Ironically, it is the process of developing the Convention which has been empowering, and the utility of the new law will ultimately turn on the continuation of the momentum built through this process.     

Commodities and Terrorist Financing: Focus on Diamonds

Commodities, trade, and natural resources have long been part of the political economy of conflict, as soldiers and militants usually employ accessible means and methods to raise funds unless there is a clash with honestly held religious or ideological positions. Reports about the role of commodities in the financing of terrorist groups cover many areas of legal and illicit trade, foremost among these diamonds. A brief background to the diamond industry, with particular attention to vulnerabilities and their exploitation in conflict areas, provides the necessary context for two case studies about al-Qaeda (AQ) and Hezbollah. These utilize primary and secondary data to explore the linkages between diamonds and these particular groups. We found conflicting and weak evidence as well as vague language to describe interfaces between terrorist groups and the diamonds trade. We conclude that while there is cause for concern that this industry can be used to support terrorist activity, deeper factual grounding, meaningful context, and a more nuanced understanding of the diamond industry are necessary to fully inform policy makers and law enforcement about the connections between terrorist finance and the commodities trade.Research on which this paper is based was sponsored by a National Institute of Justice (NIJ) grant for a study of "Terrorist Finance and the Nexus with Transnational Organized Crime: Commodities Trade and the Social Organization of al Qaeda Groups," grant no. 2003-DT-CX-0001. We would like to thank Christian Dietrich and an anonymous peer reviewer for their very constructive comments.