ASEAN and transboundary haze pollution in Southeast Asia

In recent decades the countries of Southeast Asia have been affected by air pollution (commonly called haze) arising from the burning of vegetation by small holders, plantation owners and logging companies. This is done in order to clear or rejuvenate the land for cultivation and planting and can occur at particular times during the year, most noticeably in the periods March to May and August to October. The burning has resulted in widespread forest fires and has been particularly intense in years when the weather has been noticeably dry due to the effects of the El Nino phenomenon. By far the main source of forest fires caused by small holders and plantation owners has been Indonesia. The smoke from the forest fires has not only caused widespread air pollution in Indonesia itself but also in neighbouring countries, resulting in what is termed as transboundary air pollution. This has affected, amongst other things, public health, bio-diversity, tourism, air transport, and agricultural production. So serious have the effects been that the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were prompted from 1990 to collaborate in tackling the problem and to embark upon a series of joint initiatives for that purpose. After discussing the extent of forest burning in Indonesia, its causes and effects, the article will examine and assess the initiatives mentioned above, culminating in the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, which came into effect in November 2003. The paper will then examine a crucial impediment to the effective implementation of the initiatives: viz. the standards of governance and administration in Indonesia. In conclusion, the paper will consider the challenges to be overcome to enable the aims of the ASEAN initiatives to be realised, and also, by examining these initiatives, what conditions are necessary to ensure that international agreements affecting domestic policy and administration in signatory states, have a genuine impact and achieve their goals.This article is an updated and amended version of an earlier article by the author entitled ‘ASEAN Initiatives to Combat Haze Pollution: An Assessment of Regional Cooperation in Public Policy-Making’, Asian Journal of Political Science, vol. 12, no.2 (December 2004):59–77.

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An organization's waiver of the attorney-client privilege and/ or the attorney work product protection to obtain leniency in federal court sentencing: what is the brouhaha all about?

The guidelines controlling the sentencing of organizations provide for the reduction in an entity's culpability score for self-reporting, cooperation, and acceptance of responsibility. What an organization must do in order to receive the reduction in culpability score changed dramatically in 2004 when additional language was added to Application Note 12 of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual Section 8C2.5(g) stating that "waiver of the attorney-client privilege and of work product protections is not a prerequisite to a reduction. ... However, in some circumstances waiver of the attorney-client privilege and of work product protections may be required in order to satisfy the requirements of cooperation." Following months of hearings and public comment, the United States Sentencing Commission reversed its position on whether a sentencing court should consider an organization's waiver of the attorney-client privilege and/or of the attorney work product protection in evaluating the organization's "cooperation" as a sentencing factor by proposing to retract the language added by the 2004 amendments. Although that proposal has become effective, it is yet to be determined what the response of the three branches of government will be on the issue of privilege waivers in the context of federal criminal law. This Article gives readers an overview of the development of the use of privilege waivers by organizations seeking credit for cooperation at the time of sentencing for federal crimes, the reaction of both corporations and their lawyers to the waiver issue, and the events leading up to the Commission's change of position.     

Wrist slashing in a detention center. Case report and review of the literature

Suicides that occur in custody are rare and thus require extensive forensic analysis. Asphyxia by hanging is the most common means of suicide: at least 87.5% of successful suicides are committed in this way. A unique case of suicide in custody is presented in which a prisoner slashed his wrist with an eyeglass lens. The evidence and proceedings that led to this suicide are reviewed and the data are compared with known behavioral patterns. The world literature concerning suicide while incarcerated is reviewed.     

Phases of recognition and management of financial crisis in public organizations

Abstract: This article provides a model of the manner in which public organizations recognize and attempt to manage financial crises and prolonged financial stress. It presents some cutback management options and provides an approach for assessing the severity of financial crises. Issues and management approaches discussed include program reduction and termination costs and benefits, organizational planning, evaluation and decision participation, centralization of decision-making and improvement of public sector marketing. Among the conclusions drawn are that (a) greater investment in market research and marketing is needed in the public sector; (b) management of financial crises must take into account the rigidities arid constraints which characterize bureaucratic organizations; and (c) inability to adapt to environmental change aid new social conditions reduces the probability of survival for public agencies. Sommaire: Cet article fournit un modèle de la façon dont les organismes publics admettent l'esistence de crises financières oil de contraitites inonétaires prolongées et essaierit d'y faire face. Il présente certaines options de retranchement ainsi qu'une approche permettant d'évaiuer la gravité des crises financières. Les problèmes et les concepts de gestion envisagés incluent l'analyse coût-bénéfice de la réduction et de l'annulation des programmes, la planification organisationnelle, l'évaluation et la décision participative, la centralisation de la prise de décision et l'amélioration du marketing. Parmi les conclusions qu'en tire l'auteur, citons le hesoin d'un plus grand investissement dans la recherche et le marketing pour le secteur public, la nécessité de traiter et de gérer les crises financières en fonction des rigidités et des contraintes qui caractérisent les organisations bureaucratiques et, finalement, la conscience que l'incapacitéà s'adapter aux changements de l'environnement et aux nouvelles conditions sociales réduit les chances de survie de ces organismes publics