Re Lavigne and Ontario Public Service Employees Union: public administration and remedial decree litigation under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Abstract: Analysts studying the political impact of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms have tended to focus on the role of the Supreme Court of Canada and on the formulation of remedies for Charter violations under s. 52(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982 (judicial nullification) and s. 24(2) of the Charter (exclusion of evidence). Without denying the importance of the Supreme Court, or the impact of nullification and exclusion of evidence, it is important to recognize that s. 24(1) of the Charter provides a remedial alternative whose implementation is likely to occur primarily within lower courts, and whose potential policy consequences are vast. What makes s. 24(1) so potentially important is that it provides courts the opportunity to shape and administer social policy directly through positive and prospective remedies. This article offers a preliminary exploration of this phenomenon by utilizing a model of remedial decree litigation developed in the United States to examine the most interesting s. 24(1) case yet considered by lower courts: Re Lavigne and Ontario Public Service Employees Union. The aim of the article is to explore the extent to which Canadian courts are restructuring their decision-making processes to undertake the institutional obligations imposed on them by remedial decree litigation under the Charter. Sommaire: Les analystes qui étudient l'impact politique de la Charte des droits et Iibertés axent leurs travaux sur le rôle de la Cour suprême du Canada et sur la formulation des sanctions pour violation de la Charte en vertu de l'art. 52(1) de la Loi constitutionnelle de 1982 (invalidation judiciaire) et de l'art. 24(2) de la Charte (exclusion de preuve). Sans nier ni l'importance de la Cour suprême, ni celle de l'impact de l'invalidation ou de l'exclusion de preuve, il est important de reconnaître que l'art 24(1) de la Charte fournit un mode de sanctions dont l'application est plus susceptible de se produire de-vant les tribunaux inférieurs et dont les conséquences politiques éventuelles sont nom-breuses. L'importance de l'art 24(1) tient à ce qu'il donne aux tribunaux la possibilité de formuler et d'appliquer directement des politiques sociales par le biais de sanctions positives et prospectives. Cet article étudie ce phénomène en utilisant un modéle de jugement réparateur élaboré aux États-Unis pour examiner au titre de l'art. 24(1) un tribunal inférieur: Re Lavigne et le Syndicat des employés de Infection publiyue de l'Ontorio. L'objet de cet article est d'étudier dans quelle mesure les tribunaux canadiens restructuring leurs procédures de prise de décisions pour mettre en oeuvre les obligations institutionalism qui leur sont attribuées par les recours réparateurs qu'autorise la Charte.     

Defining and classifying serial murder in the context of perpetrator motivation

The last several decades have seen increased research attention to the subject of serial murder. Unfortunately, an empirical understanding of serial homicide continues to be impeded by difficulties in establishing a working definition for serial murder. Current definitions for serial homicide tend to focus on frequency and timing of homicide behaviors, and thus leave some confusion as to which groups of individuals should be included under the heading of serial murders. This article suggests alterations to the definition of serial murder, which focus not only on frequency and timing of homicide behaviors, but also on the motivation and context of those behaviors.     

From inter-regionalism to trans-regionalism? Future challenges for ASEM

  At the fundamental level, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) framework represents an endeavour by the European Union and a group of East Asian states to forge closer inter-regional relations between them. This paper examines the global and tripolar contexts in which ASEM emerged, and its position in the new post-Cold War architecture of international relations. It more specifically considers the prime motivating factors of both the EU and East Asia for initially promoting the ASEM idea. The main purposes, structures, processes and achievements of ASEM inter-regional diplomacy are then studied. Regarding the latter, it is argued that ASEM's achievements can be broadly judged by the extent it has fostered micro-networking and macro-networking linkages between both regions. Micro-networking primarily relates to ASEM's various socialisation processes and functions on which wider macro-networking ties between the peoples of Europe and East Asia can be further built. However, Eurasian links are still relatively under-developed in comparison to their transpacific and transatlantic counterparts. As such, ASEM faces many challenges ahead along the long path to establishing East Asia – EU trans-regionalism.     

The feasibility of a brief evaluation of mental state at the time of the offense

If psychological evaluations of criminal defendants could be performed in the community on an outpatient basis rather than in a distant state hospital on an inpatient basis, substantial savings could result and defendants' rights to speedy trial, bail, and the least restrictive alternative would more likely be respected. The authors thus developed a protocol, the mental state at the time of the offense screening evaluation (MSE), designed to enable outpatient evaluatiors to “screen out,” in the course of a brief interview, those defendants whose alleged criminal conduct clearly was not caused by “significant mental abnormality.” They tested the validity of the MSE by having pairs of mental health professionals use the MSE to evaluate 36 criminal defendants. The professionals' conclusions were then compared with the conclusions of state hospital professionals who performed a comprehensive evaluation of each defendant. They were also compared to court adjudications of the defendant's criminal charges. They found that the MSE screened out a large proportion of defendants (sufficient to suggest an improvement in cost-efficiency) without prejudice to those defendants who might have a valid legal defense.     

丹参注射液治疗不稳定型心绞痛的临床研究

目的：研究不稳定型心绞痛（UAP）患血清中可溶性细胞间粘附分子－1（SICAM－1）和白介素－6（IL－6）的水平与正常人的差异，及其在丹参注射液治疗前后的变化，并且观察临床疗效。方法：随机将44例UAP患分为单硝酸异山梨酯注射液治疗组（欣康组）和丹参注射液治疗组（丹参组），观察治疗前后SICAM－1和IL－6水平的变化，并与21例正常对照组对比分析，结果：（1）UAP患SICAM－1和IL－6水平的变化，并与21例正常对照组对比分析，结果：（1）UAP患SICAM－1和IL－6水平较正常对照组明显升高（P＜0．01）；（2）欣康组，丹参组治疗后SICAM－1和IL－6水平较治疗前明显降低（P＜0．01），且丹参组下降幅度较欣康组明显治疗后SICAM－1和IL－6水平较治疗前明显降低（P＜0．01），且丹参组下降幅度较欣康组明显（P＜0．01）；（3）丹参组的临床疗效与欣康组近似。结论：（1）血清SICAM－1和IL－6水平可作为急性冠脉事件（包括不稳定型心绞痛和急性心肌梗死）发生的预测指标；（2）丹参注射液能显降低UAP患血清SICAM－1和IL－6水平，从而降低冠脉事件的再发生率。     

The Dead Hand of the Past? Toward an Understanding of “Constitutional Veneration”

Some observers argue that excessive veneration of the U.S. Constitution has blinded Americans to its flaws and made them reluctant to consider necessary reforms. In this paper, we test the assumptions that underlie these claims. We report the results of two survey experiments that examine the existence and effects of constitutional status quo bias at both the state and federal levels. Our findings support the notion that a proposed policy involving constitutional change imbues the constitutional status quo with normative value and, in turn, disposes individuals to resist the proposal. These results hold even at the state level. In addition to the institutional obstacles to constitutional amendment, therefore, we find evidence of another, psychological barrier to constitutional change that is based specifically in a sense of constitutional attachment.     

Applications of Blue Light‐curing Acrylic Resin to Forensic Sample Preparation and Microtomy

This study discusses the results of an evaluation of a one‐part blue light‐curing acrylic resin for embedding trace evidence prior to the preparation of thin sections with a microtome. Through a comparison to several epoxy resins, the physical properties relevant to both trace evidence examination and analytical microscopy in general, including as viscosity, clarity, color, hardness, and cure speed, were explored. Finally, thin sections from paint samples embedded in this acrylic resin were evaluated to determine if, through smearing or impregnation, the resin contributed to the infrared spectra. The results of this study show that blue light‐curing acrylic resins provide the desired properties of an embedding medium, generate high‐quality thin sections, and can significantly simplify the preparation of paint chips, fibers and a multitude of other types of microscopic samples in the forensic trace evidence laboratory.