ADVISING THE GOVERNMENT: THE FAMILY LAW COUNCIL

Abstract: The Family Law Council was established in November 1976 with the responsibility of advising the Attorney-General on the operation of the Family Law Act 1975. This paper examines the role, membership and operation of the Family Law Council and its performance as a body providing policy advice to government. Statistical data is included on a number of matters. Although the paper draws mainly on the experience of the Family Law Council, some of the comments and suggestions made are possibly appropriate, in varying degrees, to other advisory bodies of a similar type. The paper suggests that such bodies are capable of offering inexpensive and representative advice to government and, if certain disadvantages can be overcome, more use of some existing advisory bodies may be desirable and this may even result in economies. It also suggests that there is a need to examine the whole advisory body field and that it is also desirable that the need for some ground rules for the creation and the operation of advisory bodies should be looked into.     

Privatization in British Columbia: lessons from the sale of government laboratories

Abstract: Among the more controversial privatizations that the Province of British Columbia announced in March 1987 were the sale of the soil, dairy and environmental laboratories. The last two performed testing to monitor private firms' compliance with provincial health and environmental regulations. A review of the three transactions offers lessons concerning both the process of privatization in British Columbia and the limits to privatization by contracting-out. Privatization of elements of government regulatory functions presents three problems: first, private sector contractors may be subject to conflict of interest; secondly, complex and costly contract-monitoring arrangements may be required to ensure the quality of work performed by contractors; and finally, failure of the contractual arrangements will have implications beyond the contract itself, ultimately affecting the government's ability to achieve its regulatory objectives. A striking feature of the privatization process was the inducements offered to government employees to get them to become private-sector contractors. The province even accepted uncompetitive bids from employee groups, contradicting its own primary objective of privatization, to increase efficiency based on competition. The case studies also demonstrate that transaction and transition costs of privatization may be substantial, particularly for small operations. Sommaire: L'une des privatisations les plus controversées annoncées par la Colombie-Britannique en mars 1987 fut la vente des laboratoires d'analyse des sols, des produits laitiers et de I'environnement. Il incombait aux deux derniers de ces établissements de procéder à des tests dans les entreprises privées pour s'assurer que les réglenients provinciaux sur la santé et l'environnement y étaient respectés. L'étude de ces trois transactions est révélatrice du processus de privatisation en Colombie-Britannique et des contraintes pouvant résulter de la sous-traitance. La privatisation de certains éléments de la fonction gouvernementale de réglementation présente trois probèmes: premièrement, les entrepreneurs du secteur privé peuvent se trouver en situation de conflit d'intérêt; deuxièmement, des dispositions complexes et coûteuses de surveillance des contrats peuvent s'avtrer nécessaires pour vérifier la qualité des travaux effectués par les entrepreneurs; et finalement, le manquement aux dispositions du contrat a des répercussions qui touchent non seulement celui-ci, mais nuit également à la capacité du gouvernement d'atteindre ses objectifs de réglementation. Un fait étonnant a accompagné le processus de privatisation: les employés du gouvernement ont t été invités à devenir des entrepreneurs privés. La province a même accepté des offres non concurrentielles de groupes d'employés, contredisant ainsi l'objectif premier de la privatisation, soit accroitre l'efficacité par la concurrence. En outre, les études de cas montrent que les coûts de transaction et de transition de la privatisation peuvent être considérables, surtout pour des opérations de petite emergure.     

Coming of age in peace,prosperity, and connectivity: Cambodia’s young electorate and its impact on the ruling party’s political strategies

Cambodia’s youthful population is significantly responsible for a recent unexpected decline in the popularity of the Cambodian People’s Party, which has governed since the end of the Khmer Rouge regime. This increasingly young electorate has lived through an era of peace and openness with regular multi-party elections and impressive economic growth resulting in rapid structural change in the economy. Compared to their parents’ generation, this younger generation is better educated, highly mobile, aspires to salaried employment, and is well connected to new sources of information and technology. Because of this, their expectations, aspirations, opportunities, as well as challenges they face are remarkably different from those of older generations. However, Cambodia’s institutions of governance, dominated by personalized and patron–client networks that have been propped up by the ruling elite, has effectively marginalized this emerging youth population. This marginalization from political and economic resources has produced alienation and discontent, which represents a significant political problem for the ruling party’s political strategies.     

Justice in Moscow?

The article explores Russians’ satisfaction with their experiences in court and with the legal system more generally. The analysis draws on a nationally representative survey of Russians, fielded by the Levada Center in 2010. The results show that most court veterans believe that the decision in their case was just, and that the judge treated them well. But these positive feelings do not extend beyond their case. Russians who have no court experience tend to have more favorable views about the legal system than do court veterans. These findings serve to remind us of the difficulty of building confidence in the legal system in post-Soviet Russia.     

Women College Students’ Reasons for Engaging in Psychological Dating Aggression: a Qualitative Examination

Dating violence frequently occurs within women college students’ relationships, but few examinations of their reasons for engaging in psychological aggression have been conducted. Accordingly, the current study investigated psychological aggression initiated by women undergraduates against their male partners using a qualitative methodology. Overall, 72 of the 206 participants responded to an open-ended question examining their reasons for initiating psychological aggression. Six domains of reasons were identified; the two most frequently reported precipitants were negative affect and a partner’s transgression. One domain, “self-soothing,” (i.e., aggressing to help oneself feel better) had not been observed in studies of women’s initiation of physical aggression. These reasons could be targeted in prevention and intervention programs for reducing dating aggression among undergraduates.     

Limited Liability Companies and Technology Transfer

This paper provides an introduction to a new organizational form of business in the United States, the Limited Liability Company (LLC), and explores the potential use of LLCs for technology-transfer arrangements. Favorable characteristics of LLCs are limited liability for all equity holders, avoidance of corporate double taxation, flexibility of organizational form and distributions of profit, and few restrictions on membership. An unfavorable characteristic is that shares in an LLC cannot be publicly traded. The paper argues that, overall, the LLC form promotes certain types of strategic alliances, including those dealing with technology transfer. In particular, LLC characteristics lend themselves well to strategic alliances that form to share risk, exploit complementary assets, reduce transactions costs, overcome investment barriers, exchange technology, speed innovation and development, and make international expansions. The paper also points out why technology-transfer arrangements can and will continue to take on other forms as well.     

The mentally retarded offender in the criminal justice system

The problem of the mentally retarded offender begins at the first encounter with the criminal justice system and continues through the correctional system. A recent survey compared attitudus of police and mental health professional. Police (78%) felt that disturbed person (including mentally retarded offenders) should be handcuffed when being transported. In contrast, mental health professionals (84%) felt no individual should be handcuffed. The mentally retarded offenders, once incarcerated, are a group that is confronted with problems beyond those usually associated with prison life. The authors examine the complex issued stemming from the special conditions of the MRO and suggest recommendations for developing rational attitudes and policies within the criminal justice system.     

Right to die,euthanasia, and community sentiment

Three questions guide this research: Would nullifications occur in active euthanasia cases where the right to die is asserted? What sentiments would the community express, and how would those sentiments relate to nullifications? What variables would best predict verdict? Mock jurors offered reasons for their verdicts for four cases where all elements of first degree murder appeared to be satisfied. The cases varied thecompetency of the patient, theintent of the patient—if the wish to die was expressed, and whether a living will was present, and whether the defendant soughtcourt approval. Sizable nullifications (25% not guilty verdicts) and partial nullifications (39% guilty to lesser offenses) resulted. Some subjects viewed this as not a legal matter, but a private matter; others acknowledged the law's place, but viewed the law's position as wrong; still others nullified by using a common sense rather than a legal definition ofmalice. In this life-and-death matter, black letter law and common sense justice were not only far apart, but, in the eyes of some, irreconcilably so.