Contractual Limitations on the Auditor's Liability: An Uneasy Combination of Law and Accounting

Operative as from 6 April 2008, sections 532–538 of the Companies Act 2006 create a new liability limitation regime in contractual relationships between audit firms and companies in relation to the statutory audit function which overturns an almost eighty years old fundamental principle of company law. This new regime is the product of continuing pressure by the audit profession for liability reform and concern by Government regarding the market structure for audit services. This commentary critically evaluates the regime from law and accounting perspectives. It concludes by reflecting on its longer term implications for audit quality, perceptions of the audit profession and the evolution of a future research agenda.     

Problems of female patients in a secure psychiatric hospital

Abstract

The problems experienced by a sample of 30 female offender-patients in a secure psychiatric hospital were surveyed using the Behavioral Coding System (BCS). Common problems are emotional difficulties, antisocial behaviors, auditory hallucinations, and self-injury. Problem profiles derived from medical records, key workers' reports, and patients' self reports differed. The survey revealed the necessity of revising the BCS better to identify relevant concerns in this particular population.     

Drug trafficking, corruption, and violence in Mexico: mapping the linkages

Drug trafficking, drug-related violence and drug-related corruption have come to dominate Mexican politics in the late 2000s. Most consider corruption central to both the illicit trade and to the government’s war on it. But such relationships have yet to be fully examined and raise a number of questions. This paper explores the links among these variables. The opening section grapples with the theoretical puzzle. It lays out the different types of drug-related corruption and violence and explores in detail the three binary relationships with particular attention to plomo o plata and the possible inverse connection between corruption and violence. Noting that corruption was once associated with relatively peaceful drug trafficking under the PRI but today is tied to violence, the second section addresses the historical puzzle and asks how the complex relationship among these variables has changed in recent years. The final section explores the various dynamic linkages between drug-trafficking violence and corruption. The theoretical discussion is supplemented by examples from Mexico during the current period.     

Modified cobalt thiocyanate presumptive color test for ketamine hydrochloride

A new presumptive color test for ketamine hydrochloride is reported. The test is a modification of the cobalt thiocyanate test currently used for cocaine and involves basifying samples rather than acidifying them. The two-step procedure for liquids and three-step procedure for powdered samples are straightforward, definitive, and utilize reagents commonly used in forensic drug analysis. The test works on ketamine hydrochloride in both powder and liquid form and has a sensitivity of c. 1.25 mg. Performing the test with numerous other controlled substances and related chemicals demonstrates the test to be highly selective.     

Statistical Inference and Forensic Evidence: Evaluating a Bullet Lead Match

This experiment tested the ability of undergraduate mock jurors (N=295) to draw appropriate conclusions from statistical data on the diagnostic value of forensic evidence. Jurors read a summary of a homicide trial in which the key evidence was a bullet lead "match" that was either highly diagnostic, non-diagnostic, or of unknown diagnostic value. There was also a control condition in which the forensic "match" was not presented. The results indicate that jurors as a group used the statistics appropriately to distinguish diagnostic from non-diagnostic forensic evidence, giving considerable weight to the former and little or no weight to the latter. However, this effect was attributable to responses of a subset of jurors who expressed confidence in their ability to use statistical data. Jurors who lacked confidence in their statistical ability failed to distinguish highly diagnostic from non-diagnostic forensic evidence; they gave no weight to the forensic evidence regardless of its diagnostic value. Confident jurors also gave more weight to evidence of unknown diagnostic value. Theoretical and legal implications are discussed.