The Unbearable Lightness of Being? Shifts Towards the Virtual Trial

This article examines the implications of allowing witnesses to give evidence in trials from other locations through the medium of ‘live link’. Academic commentary on this technological aid has to date focused on the impact it has on the defendant's right to cross‐examine or the ability to judge demeanour. Whilst these issues are important, this essay focuses on a less commented on implication of live link; its impact on our conception of where and how adjudication takes place. Particular emphasis is placed on the ways in which the courtroom as the prime site of legal practice is in danger of being dematerialized and the effect this is likely to have on the legitimacy of the trial as an authentic legal and public ritual.     

检察机关刑事审判监督实践窘境及其突围

刑事审判监督是检察机关法律监督职责的重要内容。在构建法治社会的时代环境下，如何对关乎基本人权的刑事诉讼特别是法院刑事审判活动进行监督，从而有力地维护司法公正，其意义举足轻重。但不容置疑的是，当前检察机关的刑事审判监督工作正面临着前所未有的困难局面，“抗的少，抗的难。抗不赢”是相当普遍的现象。仅就全国检察机关近年来对法院生效的错误刑事判决裁定进行事后监督——再审抗诉的案件数量变化来看，问题就差不多很清楚了。     

Future Public Service Capacity: Employment of Young People into Australian Public Services during the GFC

Public services face several workforce challenges, including impending retirements and austerity programs. Although employing more young people is a likely solution to balancing the demographic profile of public services, the literature and theory suggest that young people would have fared worse during the global financial crisis. This research tests propositions around the vulnerability of young people in selected Australian public services during the global financial crisis, in terms of quantity and quality of jobs obtained. Surprisingly, the findings suggest that many young people fared as well or sometimes better than other age cohorts during the global financial crisis in terms of both recruitment and access to ongoing jobs. There are several indications that perhaps public services provided a safe haven in a turbulent labour market.     

Beyond Enforcement: Welcomeness,Local Law Enforcement,and Immigrants

Studies of local law enforcement actions toward immigrants show that while some cities engage in enforcement, many others do not. The extent and determinants of enforcement have been assessed, but these studies have not evaluated the full range of practices, including welcoming practices, toward immigrants. This article introduces the concept of “welcomeness,” develops a framework for measuring it, and, using a nationwide survey of local police departments, examines how widely departments are welcoming (or unwelcoming) to immigrants. The data show that many police departments have consciously and deliberately developed practices intended to foster positive relationships between the police and immigrants and to encourage immigrants to call the police for assistance.

Practitioner Points

• Welcomeness encompasses a range of practices toward immigrants that are often intentionally created, thoughtfully implemented, and found in a variety of communities.
• The dimensions of welcomeness provide a framework for police departments to assess their practices and provide a model for police departments that want to engage positively with immigrants.
• Welcoming practices may improve interactions between police officers and immigrants and may improve immigrants’ perceptions of local law enforcement.
• Welcoming police departments often have a deeper commitment to community policing.

     

From “Unstable” to “Stable” Minority Government: Reflections on the Role of the Nationals in Federal Coalition Governments

In contrast to some other jurisdictions, in Australia, governments relying on minor parties and independents to enact policies and especially to hold power, are readily characterised by oppositions and commentators as unstable, even chaotic and an undesirable deviation from the stability of majority parliaments. The almost unremarked exception is the Liberals' long and frequent reliance on the National Party and its predecessors to form government. This paper explores the role of the National Party in minority Coalition governments and considers why this form of minority government attracts so little comment, noting the inter‐party and intra‐party systems and strategies that give the appearance of stability.