Restricting loans of money to Hong Kong civil servants: social censure or violation of human rights?

Obtaining a loan is an individual’s private business and such a right should be free from interference. However, if Government officers obtain a loan from undesirable persons, they may be lured into committing an act which they would not otherwise have done but for the favours having been shown by the lenders. Section 3 of Hong Kong’s Prevention of Bribery Ordinance attempts to limit such behaviour of Government officers. Since the power of this provision is draconian, it may possibly violate human rights. This paper attempts to use a Social Censure perspective to explain why this provision was put in place in the 1970s and why it was not repealed in the 1990s in line with the rise of human rights standards in Hong Kong. It argues that the then British colonial government used a high-hand legal code to fight against corruption in the civil service to win its legitimacy in face of the rise of Red China in the 1970s. A review of twenty-one Section 3 cases suggests that most of the loans were not distributed for mere friendship but involved a wide range of culpability. Thus the coercion generated by Section 3 was approved by the masses, resulting in the reinforcement of a draconian but efficient legal provision in the service of the colonial administration.     

Bromadiolone poisoning: LC-MS method and pharmacokinetic data

Abstract:  Poisoning with superwarfarins, like bromadiolone, is a growing public health problem, and the mortality is high. Pharmacokinetic data on bromadiolone in humans are however scarce, and there are no reports following repeated exposures to bromadiolone. We have developed a method for quantification of bromadiolone in whole blood, using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The analytical method is reported. Limit of detection was 0.005 mg/L and limit of quantification was 0.01 mg/L. The concentrations of bromadiolone in whole blood and plasma in serial samples from a 62-year-old woman were measured. The half-life of bromadiolone in blood was estimated to be about 6 days in the initial phase of elimination and about 10–13 days in the terminal phase. The mean plasma/blood ratio of bromadiolone was 1.7 ± 0.6. Stability testing of bromadiolone in whole blood samples after two cycles of freeze and thaw revealed that bromadiolone concentrations decreased.     

The Common Travel Area between Britain and Ireland

Despite its endorsement by the Treaty of Amsterdam, the origins and content of the 'common travel area' between Britain and Ireland remain largely unknown. This article relies upon published and archive material in order to provide a comprehensive analysis of the common travel area. It shows that the common travel area has been founded upon administrative agreements (in 1922 and 1952), that it has influenced the special status of Irish nationals in British law and vice versa, and that it has been reflected in the law on entry to each state from the other and in the enforcement by each state of the other's immigration policy. It goes on to argue that the existence of a land border between the two states has been the primary reason for the common travel area. The implications for the common travel area of the recent increase in immigration to Ireland are then examined. Here, it is shown there have been significant changes to Irish immigration law relating to the common travel area since 1997, and it is suggested that these new circumstances may result in further reform of laws and practices in both Britain and Ireland.     

Criminal law

The close temporal coincidence of International Human Rights Day 2010 (10 December 2010) and the tenth anniversary of the Human Rights Act 1998 (2 October 2010) stimulates some reflections on the progressive scope and influence of this domestic statute of towering importance. In addition, it seems especially appropriate to examine how Article 2 of the European Convention, which protects the individual’s right to life and is a cornerstone of this treaty, has featured in the jurisprudence of both the European Court and domestic courts. This article considers the celebrated Conjoined Twins case, together with other challenging issues which have confronted the courts – termination of pregnancy, medical prolongation of life, assisted suicide and so-called ‘mercy killing’.     

Comparisons among electoral systems: Distinguishing between localism and candidate-centered politics

Carey and Shugart (1995) offer a four component composite index of “incentives to cultivate a personal vote.” We argue that this index, while tapping important aspects of electoral system choice, is best regarded as encompassing two distinct dimensions: degree of party-centeredness of the electoral system, on the one hand, and incentives for “parochial” behavior on the part of legislators, on the other. Also, while we have no problem with the three indicators used by Carey and Shugart to measure party-centeredness; to measure parochial incentives we prefer to use a new measure, E (Grofman, 1999a) of the size of a legislator's electoral constituency, rather than using district magnitude, m, as a proxy for a the size of a legislator's geographic constituency, as Carey and Shugart do. In the conclusion to the paper we argue that the degree of similarity between any two electoral systems will depend upon the research question at issue, and that the expected degree of proportionality of election results is only one of the many political consequences of electoral laws to which we ought to be paying attention.     

A critique of Mark Colvin's, crime and coercion: An integrated theory of chronic criminality

Colvin (2000) argues that thepropensity for chronic criminal behaviorresults from developmental andsocialization processes that ultimatelyoriginate in the application of erraticcoercive control. He further argues thatthis process operates at multiple levels(i.e., individual, group, andorganizational). In addition, he arguesthat the relationship between the types ofcontrol and criminal behavior is mediatedthrough intergenerational and developmentaleffects, suggesting that the control typethat has the greatest effect on behavior isone that will be passed on to the nextindividual, group, or organization.In this paper, we critique the theoryproposed by Colvin. First, we summarizethe theory. Second, we categorize it interms of its relationship to other types ofcriminology theories. Third, we criticizeit for failing to sufficiently specify itsempirical assertions in order to facilitateempirical testing, and we suggest sixhypotheses that we think capture at least asmall portion of the theory itself.