Fraud against European Public Funds

This article considers the approach adopted towards the fight against fraud within the European Union. It considers the role(s) of the various agencies at both a transnational and national level. It concludes that it is impossible to effectively fight transnational fraud across fifteen different legal systems. There is an urgent need for the “Corpus Juris” proposals to be adopted so that a defined European legal space can be created which is able to deal with crimes against the European budget. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Historical changes in the Canadian university presidency: An empirical analysis of changes in length of service and experience since 1840

The number of Canadian university presidents terminated by their Boards of Governors has increased dramatically. Examining this phenomenon requires situating it in its historical context, yet there has been little empirical work. This study examines the total length of service and the average years of experience of presidents at 102 Canadian institutions. The analysis runs from 1840 until 2011 and shows that presidents spend much less time in office than was historically the case. The percentage of women serving in these roles increased during the 1980s reaching approximately 20% in the mid‐1990s and has since remained at that level. The recent increase in terminations and early departures are discussed in light of the changing nature of the university presidency.     

Navigating Risk: Understanding the Impact of the Conflict on Children and Young People in Northern Ireland

Twenty years on from the 1994 cease-fires, Northern Ireland is a markedly safer place for children and young people to grow up. However, for a significant number, growing up in post-conflict Northern Ireland has brought with it continued risks and high levels of marginalization. Many young people growing up on the sharp edge of the transition have continued to experience troubling levels of poverty, lower educational attainment, poor standards of childhood health, and sustained exposure to risk-laden environments. Reflecting on interdisciplinary research carried out since the start of the “transition” to peace, this article emphasizes the impact that embedded structural inequalities continue to have on the social, physical, mental, and emotional well-being of many children and young people. In shining a light on the enduring legacy of the conflict, this article moves to argue that greater attention needs to be given to the ongoing socioeconomic factors that result in limited lifetime opportunities, marginalization, and sustained poverty for many young people growing up in “peacetime” Northern Ireland.     

Implementing the Mental Health Act 2007 in British general practice: Lessons from Ireland

Changes in mental health legislation (e.g. Mental Health Act 2007 in England and Wales, Mental Health Act 2001 in Ireland) have generally improved adherence to international human rights standards, but also present challenges to primary care providers. When mental health legislation was substantially reformed in Ireland, 62.9% of general practitioners (GPs) felt the new legislation was not user-friendly. Majorities of GPs who felt the legislation affected their practice reported increased workloads (85%) and various other difficulties (53%). GPs who had received training about the legislation were more likely to find it user-friendly (43% versus 30.9%), and informal training (e.g. from colleagues) was just as likely as formal training to be associated with a GP finding it user-friendly. With similar changes to mental health legislation being introduced in England and Wales, it is significant that informal training is just as good as formal training in helping GPs work with new mental health legislation.     

Issues surrounding a reduction in the use of internal autopsy in the coronial system

In 2003 it was estimated that 2,700 full internal coronial autopsies were performed in Queensland at a cost of approximately A$5.3 million. This large number of internal coronial autopsies (almost 95% of all matters referred to the coroner) is of concern not only due to the economic cost but also because of the public heath risks, availability of specialist staff and significant religious and cultural sensitivities surrounding internal autopsies. In 2005 the authors began research funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) to determine if unnecessary internal autopsies are being performed in Queensland and to establish guidelines for when an internal autopsy is required. This article highlights areas of potential concern when the issue of autopsy is reviewed within the coronial system through an examination of international literature on the issue of autopsy diagnosis and error rates more generally, and through preliminary discussion of the data obtained. The article considers the role and purpose of the autopsy generally as well as within the coronial system specifically; compares diagnostic error rates in hospital autopsies with those in the coronial system; the current situation internationally with regard to internal autopsies; and finally the specific circumstances existing in Queensland.     

Unmarried Cohabitation and Parenthood in Britain and Europe

This paper focuses on cohabitation and unmarried parenthood across a range of European nations. It includes a brief outline of the history of cohabitation, reviews recent trends in cohabitation and unmarried parenthood, compares the stability of marital and cohabiting unions, examines the extent to which cohabiting couples are regarded as families, and the final sections include a review of the policy responses to date, as well as a discussion of the impetuses that may lie behind the rise in cohabitation and unmarried parenthood.     

The Limits to Coercive Consociationalism in Northern Ireland

The merits of consociation as a means of solving the Northern Ireland conflict are presented through contrasting it with other ways of stabilizing highly divided political systems. Why voluntary consociation has been unsuccessful in Northern Ireland and unfortunately is likely to remain so is explained. The signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA) must be understood against the background of the failure of previous consociational experiments. The AIA partly represented a shift in British strategy from voluntary to coercive consociationalism. The prospects for this coercive consociational strategy and variants on it are evaluated.