Pluralism or State Autonomy? The Case of Amnesty International (British Section): the Insider/Outsider Group

This paper presents a case study of Amnesty International's relationship with the British Government. It demonstrates that Amnesty has a close working relationship with the Foreign Office over human rights violations abroad but is excluded from policy formation with regard to human rights in Britain. The differential treatment accorded to this legitimate group within different policy networks is discussed with regard to pluralist and state autonomy theories. It concludes that present accounts of pluralism cannot be empirically differentiated from reasonable theories of state autonomy.     

Service at the pleasure of the crown: the law of dismissal of senior public servants

Abstract: The old law that public servants serve at the crown's pleasure has a modern-day meaning for senior members of the public service facing dismissal in the wake of reorganization, cutbacks and the downsizing of governments' operations, Others discover that their services are not “politically compatible” in the judgment of a new minister or the cabinet of a new government. This paper reviews the law and practice of dismissal as they affect the nonunion career public servants who are told by their government employer that they no longer serve at Her Majesty's pleasure. Despite adverse judicial comment and some legislative constraints, the old law persists and recent dismissals in Saskatchewan and British Columbia confirm that government employers are quite prepared to take a very strict legal approach when it serves their immediate interests in dealing with the senior public service. The longer-run implications of these developments, and the recent interest in placing senior personnel on personal service contracts, raise important questions about the prospects for a career, non-partisan public service. Sommaire: Le vieux principe voulant que les fonctionnaires soient soumis au bon plaisir de la Couronne presente une signification fort actuelle pour les cadres supérieurs de la fonction publique qui se voient menacés de renvoi par suite d'une réorganisation, de coupures ou d'une “rationalisation” des programmes gouvernementaux. Certains découvrent alors que leurs fonctions ne sont pas “politiquement compatibles”, selon l'opinion du nouveau ministre ou du nouveau cabinet. Cet article fait le point sur le droit et les pratiques touchant le congédiement des fonctionnaires de carrière lion syndiqués que leur employeur gouvernemental, juge ne plus faire le bon plaisir de Sa Majesté. En dépit de critiques judiciaires et de contraintes législatives, le vieux principe subsiste. Et les congédiements effectués récemment en Saskatchewan et en Colombie-Britannique confirment que les employeurs gouvernementaux sont prêts à adopter une approche très légaliste si cela sert leurs intérêts immédiats dans leurs transactions avec les hauts fonctionnaires. Les répercussions à long terme de ces événements et les récentes suggestions d'offrir aux cadres supérieurs des contrats personnels de service soulèvent d'importantes questions quant à l'avenir de la fonction publique en tant que corps professionnel et non-partisan. “… if you live by the order in council, you die by the order in council.”^l Saskatchewan cabinet minister, 1982 “… the members want to know if they can be fired, what compensation they can get …, whether they can be forced to transfer, and whether they must accept lower paying jobs.”²     

Organizational structures and the development project planning sequence

Variants of the project planning sequence or cycle are widely employed to provide the conceptual framework for investment in developing countries. However, the current models attempt to generalize activity sequences across a range of projects with differing objectives. They also tend to abstract project planning from its institutional context, and to make little allowance for the possibility that alternative approaches to organizational and managerial problems may be available. The article outlines a technique that facilitates the analysis of active-organization patterns. Commencing with the classical tripartite system, a number of standard forms are identified and described. A series of observations are then offered on the organizational choices and control procedures that are available for public sector projects. The paper concludes with some remarks on the relationship between project planning and strategies for the development of indigenous institutional capacity in developing countries.     

Selection bias in human rights tribunals: an exploratory study

Abstract: Quasi-judicial tribunals are bound by the principle of natural justice, including the obligation to avoid bias or the apprehension of bias in the selection of adjudicators, as was affirmed for human rights commissions in the McBain case. This paper statistically analyses all decisions rendered by Canadian human rights tribunals, both federal and provincial, in the years 1956 to 1984. The main conclusion is that there is a tendency toward the reappointment of adjudicators whose decisions are favourable to complainants. This calls into question the neutrality of the appointment procedures used in these years, namely appointment by a minister or by a human rights commission. The system recently adopted by the Canadian Human Rights Commission, involving appointment by the chairman of a panel of adjudicators, is proposed as a model worthy of imitation to the extent that it minimizes the apprehension of bias. Sommaire: Les tribunaux quasi-judiciaires sont tenus d'appliquer le principe de la justice naturelle, y compris l'obligation d'éviter de soulever une crainte raisonnable de partialité lors du choix des arbitres, comme l'arrêt McBain l'a affirmé en ce qui concerne les commissions des droits de la personne. Cet article comporte une analyse statistique de toutes les décisions prises par les tribunaux canadiens des droits de la personne, tant provinciaux que fédéraux entre 1956 et 1984. Il conclut qu'on a eu tendance à renouveler le mandat des arbitres dont les décisions étaient favorables aux plaignants. Cette conclusion interpelle la neutralité du système de nomination en vigueur durant cette période, en particulier lorsque c'était un ministre ou une commission des droits de la personne qui nommait les arbitres. Le système, récemment adopté par la Commission canadienne des droits de la personne, en vertu duquel c'est le président d'un tribunal d'arbitres qui noninie chaque comité d'arbitre, est proposé comme modèle digne d'être imité dam la mesure où il réduit la crainte raisonnable de partialité.