Equal access to justice

Conclusion My concerns are unlikely to strike a note amongst those senior judges delivering “big justice” who will operate in the multi-track. They seldom encounter disabled people in their courts and when they do access, communication and representation problems are likely to have been sorted out at an earlier stage. But for those of us who have to deal with those earlier stages or are to (and already do) deliver “bulk justice” in the fast track and small claims courts, coping with disabled litigants is already a problem. Hitherto we have responded with insufficient care to their needs, but is it too late to hope that we may be encouraged (or better still constrained) to take into account their disclosed needs when managing cases so that civil proceedings may be conducted in a manner that is fair to all. If we do not face up to this now we could find ourselves and our courts in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 which is intended to impose the new culture on society (including our courts). The message from society is clear: a change in the culture of civil justice is required but we must not overlook the “disability factor”. A District Judge at Preston on the Northern Circuit.     

The NGO sector as an alternative delivery system for agricultural public services

In many less developed countries (LDCs) that are undergoing economic adjustment, the promotion of the agricultural sector is constrained by limitations on resources that include finance, and human and institutional capacity. The inability of the state to provide essential agricultural services (for example, agricultural extension and research) leaves a void that could be filled by specialised organisations within the non-governmental sector (NGOs). NGOs as a whole need not fear the loss of other advantages, but rather welcome the contracting out to specialist agencies of those activities that hitherto have been the domain of inefficient and ineffective government services.     

Use and Abuse of the Internet in Fraud and Money Laundering

The Internet provides an ideal opportunity for defrauding those who are less technologically advanced or who are enthralled by the technology. Yet the frauds and other financial crime which are perpetrated on the Internet are, in principle, no different from those which have been committed over time. The advantages to the criminal of the Internet as against most other media are that there is an opportunity to make vast numbers of cold calls at a cost which borders on the free, the opportunity to create credibility by the use of legitimate imagery from reputable sources and to secure the proceeds of the crime not only anonymously but also in jurisdictions where the pursuit of the offender is difficult. There is also the fact that the prospective victims have been conditioned to believe that which appears on a computer screen: the suspension of incredulity and caution is deeply engendered. For that most pure of financial crimes, money laundering, there is the advantage of ease of communication, the simplicity of setting up schemes, with ready access to otherwise remote geographical and legislative locations. Yet there is another issue which does raise serious concerns, but which is not generally regarded as an offence: the provision of information and advice where there is an element of transfer pricing, with the consequent avoidance of taxes. The challenge is to bring about a system of regulation which enables free exchange of information whilst limiting the opportunity to trick people who are already conditioned to believe what they see on a computer monitor. The Internet does not create new frauds nor new money laundering schemes. It is merely a facilitator that has a high level of credibility. And it creates opportunity for the export at low prices of high value added services to the detriment of local economies, for the first time making onshore facilities fully available via offshore centres, with the consequence that it will become increasingly difficult tell the good from the bad.     

Reviews

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