Truth Skepticism: An Inquiry into the Value of Truth in Times of Transition

Truth commissions have become so fashionable in times of transitionthat one can readily recognize what might be called a ‘truthcascade.’ The commissions, and the reports they produce,are reputed to promote many of the goals at the heart of thetransitional justice project: helping victims to heal, promotingaccountability, drawing a bright line between the past and thepresent, promoting reconciliation and so forth. And yet, a closerlook at the truth-seeking enterprise suggests that it may notbe able to deliver on these promises. This article exploresboth the intrinsic and instrumental reasons why truth commissionsmay not be effective in promoting the goals attributed to them.The article does not argue that transitional governments shouldnot pursue the truth, but it does urge governments to use cautionand careful planning when they do so.     

Oversight of HMRC soft law: lessons from the Ombudsman

An investigation of the role which the Ombudsman plays in tax law, on which comparatively little has been written, reveals that the body makes an important and distinct contribution. There is now almost universal acceptance that tax law is overly complex and indeterminate. If the primary law offers few answers to the taxpayer, then HMRC’s role as administrator of the system becomes apparent. Soft law elaborating upon how HMRC will apply the primary law to a given class of taxpayers is rendered indispensable. In practice however, HMRC soft law has often been found to be deficient. Analysis of the current oversight arrangements for HMRC soft law immediately reveals the genesis of these issues. Select committees exercise Parliamentary control, whilst an independent body performs external audits. These entities however only incommensurately examine the soft law. Into this void steps the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, a body which has ‘carved for itself a distinctive niche’ in the public law framework. The paper accordingly seeks to elaborate upon the important role that the Ombudsman plays in scrutinising HMRC soft law and the lessons which can be derived from this analysis.     

TO REGULATE OR NOT TO REGULATE: THE NEED FOR COMPLIANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL NORMS BY GUATEMALA AND COOPERATION BY THE UNITED STATES IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTIONS

The United States will be entering into force the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption by the end of 2007. At this time, all intercountry adoptions that occur between the United States and one of the 70 other countries that also have entered the Hague Convention into force must be done according to Hague protocol. Guatemala has entered the Convention into force but its adoption practices do not currently align themselves with Convention requirements. The U.S. State Department has threatened that intercountry adoptions between the United States and Guatemala will come to a complete stop if Guatemala's conditions are not reformed. One out of every 100 children born in Guatemala is adopted by an American family and in the 2006 fiscal year, the United States adopted 4,135 Guatemalan babies. This high number placed Guatemala as the second country from which the United States adopted the most children in 2006 second only to China. A structured compromise must be established between the United States and Guatemala in order to ensure the continued provision of homes to Guatemala babies in America while Guatemala reforms its malignant adoption practices.     

The Swedish approach to investing public pension funds: Some lessons for Canada ?

Abstract. Unlike the Canada Pension Plan, which is financed largely on a pay-as-you-go basis, Sweden's national earnings-related pension scheme is designed to accumulate a large reserve fund. The degree to which the scheme is funded and the consequent size of its reserve fund means that the Swedish system presents public policy-makers in Canada with a unique opportunity to observe some of the methods, consequences and problems that arise as a result of funding a large earnings-related public pension plan. Of particular interest is the administrative structure of the fund and its investment activities. The National Pension Insurance (ap ) Fund, as it is called, has aroused considerable attention abroad because it plays a major role in Sweden's capital market, and is frequently cited as an example of how a partially funded public pension plan might invest its assets in the private sector of the economy. This paper describes the role of the AP Fund and its autonomous sub-funds. Particular attention is paid to the Fourth Fund which invests in equity shares. Somrnaire: Contralrement au Régime de pensions du Canada, qui est financé au fur et à mesure, le régime national suédois, qui offre une retraite proportionnelle aux revenus, a été conçu pour permettre l'accumulation d'un fonds de réserve important. Le degré d'approvisionnement du fonds, et par conséquent son importance, offrent aux organismes canadiens chargés d'établir les programmes une occasion unique d'observer quelques méthodes, quelques résultats et quelques problèmes qui découlent de l'approvisionnement d'un pareil régime. La structure administrative du fonds et ses politiques d'investissement sont particulièrement intéressantes. Le Fonds national d'assurance-retraite (ap ), comme on l'appelle, a suscité beaucoup & d'attention à l'étranger, car il joue un rôle important sur le marché suédois des capitaux. Bien souvent, c'est l'exemple dont on se sert pour décrire comment un régime de retraite public, partiellement approvisionné, pourrait investir ses avoirs dans le secteur privé de l'économie.     

Is outcome fairness used to make procedural fairness judgments when procedural information is inaccessible?

In a study of relocation decisions at seven different sites, procedural fairness was shown to be more sensitive to outcome fairness when respondents had less time to gather information about decision procedures. We interpret this finding to show that inaccessibility of information about decision procedures moderates the influence of outcome fairness judgments on procedural fairness judgments, such that outcome recipients rely more heavily on outcome fairness as a basis for forming procedural fairness judgments when information about decision procedures is not available. A second, laboratory study is reported that confirms the information inaccessibility explanation in the first study. When procedural information is available, procedural characteristics may be the primary bases for procedural fairness judgments, but when such information is unavailable, procedural fairness will likely be more sensitive to self-interest concerns. Future research should therefore take contextual factors such as accessibility to procedural information into account, given that there are likely to be differences on that dimension between organizational settings on the one hand and legal, political, and dispute resolution settings on the other. Information about decision procedures, generally accessible in legal, political, and dispute resolution settings, is often much less accessible in organizations.