The ‘Hybrid Order’: origins and usage

The hospital direction (Hybrid Order) was inserted into the Mental Health Act (MHA) in 1997 (Crime (Sentences) Act, 1997). It enables higher courts to direct hospital admission for offenders, whilst still imposing a prison sentence. The origins of the ‘Hybrid Order’ and its patterns of usage are examined. Comparisons are made with its Scottish equivalent, Section 59A of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. Both the ‘Hybrid Order’ and Section 59A have been used infrequently. This may reflect the fact that they were strongly resisted on ethical grounds at their point of inception and that they force the psychiatrist into the position of ‘punisher’, rather than ‘treater’. Since the 2007 Amendment of the MHA in England and Wales which expanded the remit of the ‘Hybrid Order’ to include all legal categories of mental disorder, not solely psychopathy, its use has unsurprisingly increased – this article delineates the considerations that need to be given in its recommendation.     

The Pacific Rim

Korea: Managing the Industrial Transition, Vol. 1: The Conduct of Industrial Policy. By D.M. Leipziger and others (World Bank Country Study). Washington: World Bank, 1987. Pp.xiv + 182. US$10. ISBN 0 8312 0887 4.

Public Intervention and Industrial Restructuring in China, India and the Republic of Korea. By Amiya Kumar Bagchi. New Delhi: International Labour Organization (Asian Employment Programme, ARTEP), 1987. Pp.xii + 162. US$8. ISBN 92 2 105774 7.

Policy Options for the Singapore Economy. By Lim Chong Wan and Associates. Singapore: McGraw Hill, 1988. Pp.xv + 499. US$29.95. ISBN 0 07 099133 2.

The Political Economy of the New Asian Industrialism. Edited by Frederic C. Deyo. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1987. Pp.252. US$32.95 + $14.25. ISBN 0 8014 9449 4.

Financing East Asia's Success: Comparative Financial Development in Eight East Asian Countries. By Michael T. Skully and George J. Viksnins. London: Macmillan Press in association with the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1987. Pp.xii + 242. £29.50. ISBN 0 333 42655 X.     

Book reviews

Ephraim Maisel, The Foreign Office and Foreign Policy 1991–1926 (Brighton: Sussex Academic Press 1994), £35. ISBN 1–898723–04–4.

Timothy P. Maga, The World of Jimmy Carter: U.S. Foreign Policy 1977–1981 (West Haven, CT: University of New Haven Press, 1994). 189 pp. ISBN 0–936385–23–0.

Michael Leifer, Dictionary of the Modern Politics of South‐East Asia (London and New York: Routledge, 1995), xii + 271pp. £45. ISBN 0–415–04219–4.

Christopher C. Harmon and David Tucker (eds.), Statecraft and Power: Essays in Honor of Harold W. Rood (Lanham and London: University Press of America with the National Institute for Public Policy, 1994), 284pp ISBN 0–8191–8718–6.     

Hanging the Kaiser: Anglo‐Dutch relations and the fate of Wilhelm II, 1918–20

The flight of the German Kaiser to the Netherlands at the end of the First World War led to a crisis in Anglo‐Dutch relations. Prime Minister David Lloyd George made the trial of the Kaiser a key issue in the British general election campaign of December 1918. Article 227 of the Treaty of Versailles called for the Kaiser's surrender by the Netherlands government for trial before an international tribunal, a request the Dutch repeatedly refused during the period January to March 1920. Using both British and Dutch sources, this article highlights the internal Dutch debate over the fate of the Kaiser, and the confusion and hypocrisy with which the problem was handled by the British government.     

The identification of individuals by observational gait analysis using closed circuit television footage

This study investigated the ability of individuals with experience in gait analysis to identify people by observing features of gait recorded by closed circuit television cameras (CCTV). Seven experienced analysts each viewed five samples of footage. Each sample showed a “target walker” and five “suspect walkers.” The task of the experienced analysts was to determine which, if any, of the “suspect walkers” was the “target walker.” All of the participant “walkers” wore identical loose fitting clothing to mask anatomical and body contour features, and balaclavas to obscure facial features. The overall results showed that the experienced analysts made a correct decision in 124 of 175 cases (71%), significantly better than would have been expected to have occurred by chance (p < 0.05). A significant variation in correct decisions (p < 0.05) was shown to occur between the various angles from which the footage was recorded, footage recorded in the saggital plane showing the highest number of correct decisions. Significantly more correct decisions (p < 0.05) were also shown to occur when the footage of the “target walker” and that of the “suspect walker” were taken from the same angle. The results suggest that individuals with experience in gait analysis perform well in the comparative identification of suspects from CCTV footage, and therefore do have a role to play as expert witnesses in this field.     

Developing Countries and the Implementation of CITES: The Mexican Experience

A key issue for the success of international conventions regulating biodiversity conservation is to understand the different philosophical positions of each party for initially acceding to that convention, and for the measures each party takes to implement that convention. This paper documents policies for wildlife trade regulation in Mexico from the early 1980s to the early 2000s, with emphasis on the process of CITES implementation. Mexico was slow to adopt environmental policies, but when Mexico did recognize wider environmental concerns, the prospect of acceding to CITES was not considered because of existing bans on all wildlife trade in native species. However, Mexico could not control the illegal trade of wild species during the 1980s. Mexico acceded to CITES in 1991 mainly in response to international pressure and to bilateral pressure while seeking to join a free trade agreement. The step of joining CITES was taken without clear analysis about the consequences of being a party to the Convention. Between 1992 and 1996, Mexico had no clear policy about its role within CITES. The period from 1997 to 2001 witnessed an improved legal and administrative structure and a greater internal coordination between the institutions involved with CITES. Mexico has now improved its policy toward international wildlife trade.     

Sexual orientation,political trust,and same-sex relationship recognition policies: evidence from Europe

Public Choice - This study uses data from the European Social Survey to analyze the impact of same-sex relationship recognition policies on the political trust of sexual minorities. We exploit...     

Australia's National Broadband Network – A cybersecure critical infrastructure?

In 2009 the Australian National Broadband Network (NBN) began to be rolled out across Australia. The Australian NBN is the largest infrastructure project in Australia's history since the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme from 1949 to 1972 and it has a projected cost of between AU$37 billion and AU$43 billion. Its purposes are to provide high speed broadband connectivity to 93% of Australia's homes and businesses, to enhance productivity, to improve the delivery of education, tele-medicine and regional connectivity and to form the basis of the Australian telecommunications network for the 21st Century. However, the project does not have bi-partisan support and has been affected by high-level management changes and anticipated cost over-runs.