Increasing Canada's Foreign Intelligence Capability: Is it a Dead Issue?

Despite the fact that the issue of whether Canada should develop a greater foreign intelligence capability has been broached numerous times, in various guises, over more than a century, those who have followed the development of the country's intelligence architecture will know it has never had a foreign intelligence service like its close allies. They will also be aware that on each occasion on which the issue has been raised, the Canadian government has declined to proceed. If history is any guide, there is a strong likelihood that the idea of Canada developing a more robust capability will again engage politicians, former intelligence officials, academics, the media, and think tanks in the not too distant future. The view adopted in this paper is that the public discourse has become sterile, and that if it is to advance, aspects of the counterfactual case – why has a foreign Humint capability not been developed? – may prove more fruitful.     

Law Enforcement Advocate Program: An Interagency Collaboration to Enhance Community‐Police Relations and Improve Outcomes for Substance‐Using Offenders

Justice system involvement is highly correlated with substance‐use issues. Untreated, substance‐using offenders are likely to continue to use drugs, commit crimes, and pose a public safety risk. Strategies to address substance use in the criminal justice system often fall short in terms of integrating services and sustaining engagement among high‐risk adult and juvenile populations. Law enforcement can help to bridge identified gaps by offering a community‐based solution to the interrelated challenges of substance use, crime, and recidivism for offenders. The Law Enforcement Advocate Program has been effective in improving probationer compliance and outcomes, facilitating problem solving and interagency coordination, and improving community‐police relations.     

Correspondence

For many years, Iranian views of Britain have been unfavourable. Yet, perhaps counter-intuitively, very positive impressions of Britain were formed by the first small group of Iranians to visit London, nearly two hundred years ago. They commented on everything; constitutional monarchy, politics, foreign policy, economics, society and social issues. In many cases their views of Britain contrasted with their unfavourable views of their own country, reflecting an eagerness to see Iran emulate Britain and embrace Modernisation/Westernisation. Yet their views were not uncritical and they were as accurate and as well-founded as the views of Iran put forward by British observers of Iran like Curzon.     

A Slow and Painful Death? Political Parties and Local Democracy in Two Northern Towns

This paper assesses the state of local political parties in the UK, using case study material generated via a comparative study of local democracy in Burnley and Harrogate. It considers the challenges facing local political parties arising from the transition from local government to local governance and the ‘diversification’ of mechanisms through which local residents relate to local public agencies. The paper argues that local parties have reached an advanced state of decline, reflected in the erosion of third parties and, in the case of Burnley, the rise of the British National Party. The paper concludes with proposals for reinvigorating local parties, as part of a broader agenda of reviving local democracy in the UK.     

Reducing crime by remediating vacant lots: the moderating effect of nearby land uses

Journal of Experimental Criminology - Place-based blight remediation programs have gained popularity in recent years as a crime reduction approach. This study estimated the impact of a citywide...     

Patent construction after Amgen: are patent claims construed more widely or narrowly than previously?

Legal context. This article considers the UK Courts' approachto patent construction since the House of Lords' decision inKirin-Amgen Inc v Hoechst Marion Roussel Limited, which washanded down in October 2004, and seeks to examine whether theUK Courts' construction of patents is wider or narrower thanpreviously. Key points. The available data appear to suggest that thereis little difference in outcome, whether the old Improver testis applied or the new Kirin-Amgen test; of more significanceremains the nature of the wording of the patent claims themselvesand the correct identification by the trial judge of the inventionunderlying the patent. Practical significance. By eschewing a literal approach andrefining the test used in order to ensure both compliance withthe EPC and consistency with courts in other European countries,the UK Courts continue to provide an attractive forum for resolutionof patent disputes.