Book reviews and notes

FRENCH‐ENGLISH GLOSSARY OF FRENCH LEGAL TERMS IN EUROPEAN TREATIES. [Prepared by R. J. B. ANDERSON and R. J. DECKERS. Sweet &; Maxwell/Langenscheidt. 1972. 64 pp. £1.50.]

THE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE OF THE NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COURT. By ROGER W. RIDEOUT. [Sweet &; Maxwell. 1973. xvi and 94 pp. (inc. index). £1.75 (paperback).]

SWEET &; MAXWELL'S EUROPEAN COMMUNITY TREATIES. Edited by Sweet &; Maxwell's Legal Editorial Staff, Advisory Editor, K. R. SIMMONDS. [1972. xii and 334 pp. £2.85 (paperback).]

REVENUE LAW. By BARRY PINSON. Sixth Edition. [Sweet &; Maxwell. 1972. lxx and 690 pp. (inc. index). £4.25 (paperback).]

SWEET &; MAXWELL'S GUIDE TO ESTATE DUTY STATUTES. By G. S. A. WHEATCROFT. Second Edition. [1972. xiv and 170 pp. (inc. index). £1.90 (paperback).]

ACCOUNTING IN BUSINESS. By R. J. BULL. Second Edition. [Butterworths. 1972. viii and 279 pp. (inc. index). £2.20 (paperback); £3.60 (bound).]

GORE‐BROWNE ON COMPANIES. Edited by A. J. BOYLE and RICHARD SYKES. [Jordan &; Sons. 1972. cxlii and 1232 pp. £12.60.]

COMMUNITY LAW THROUGH THE CASES. By NEIL ELLES assisted by J. H. VALLATT. [Stevens &; Sons. 1973. xxviii and 411 pp. (including an index and tables of treaties and cases). £7.50 (bound).]

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LAW AND INSTITUTIONS OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES. By D. LASOK AND J. W. BRIDGE. [Butterworths. 1973. 314 pp. £5.40 (hardback); £3.20 (paperback).]

THE E.E.C. RULES OF COMPETITION. By W. ALEXANDER. [Kluwer Harrap Handbooks. 1973. £4.90.]

EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS. By A. H. ROBERTSON. [Stevens/Matthew Bender. 1973. 3rd ed. xix and 478 pp. (inc. index). £6.00 (hardback); £3.75 (paperback).]

COOPER'S OUTLINES OF INDUSTRIAL LAW. By J. C. WOOD. Sixth edition. [Butterworths. 1972. lxxx, 512 and 41 (index) pp. £4.60 (limp); £6.80 (cased).]

CRACKNELL'S LAW STUDENTS’ COMPANION: CRIMINAL LAW. By T. CORE and C. L. MAUNDY. Second edition. [Butterworths. 1973. vi and 171 pp. (inc. index). £1.80.]     

Urban homicide: Still the same

We use 1984–1986 data to estimate lifetime risks of being murdered in each of 50 large American cities and then compare these projections to others made earlier from 1971–1972 and 1976–1977 data. We find strong constancy over time in the average urban resident's murder risk (essentially a 1 in 68 chance of eventually being slain). Moreover, we find a high stability in the dispersion of risk by region, race, and city size and in the relative rankings of the 50 cities by murder risk. We comment briefly about such recent phenomena as the proliferation of crack and the resumption of capital punishment.Throughout this paper, we use the words murder, homicide, killing, and slaying interchangeably, meaning in all cases murder and nonnegligent manslaughter as defined by the FBI.     

Functional anonymisation: Personal data and the data environment

Anonymisation of personal data has a long history stemming from the expansion of the types of data products routinely provided by National Statistical Institutes. Variants on anonymisation have received serious criticism reinforced by much-publicised apparent failures. We argue that both the operators of such schemes and their critics have become confused by being overly focused on the properties of the data itself. We claim that, far from being able to determine whether data is anonymous (and therefore non-personal) by looking at the data alone, any anonymisation technique worthy of the name must take account of not only the data but also its environment.This paper proposes an alternative formulation called functional anonymisation that focuses on the relationship between the data and the environment within which the data exists (the data environment). We provide a formulation for describing the relationship between the data and its environment that links the legal notion of personal data with the statistical notion of disclosure control. Anonymisation, properly conceived and effectively conducted, can be a critical part of the toolkit of the privacy-respecting data controller and the wider remit of providing accurate and usable data.     

‘Everybody Did It’—or Did They?: The Use of Oral History in Researching Women’s Experiences of Smoking in Britain, 1930–1970

From having been predominantly a masculine habit in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, cigarette smoking was adopted by flappers and film stars in the 1920s and 30s, symbolising new types of femininity. However, it was not until the economic and social dislocation of the Second World War that substantial numbers of women began to smoke cigarettes. This article draws on oral history material to explore the reasons why women took up smoking during and following the Second World War. It suggests that smoking among women became more acceptable in a wider range of circumstances following the War, reflecting the adaptability of the cigarette and its role in negotiating an increasingly diverse range of femininities. The article examines the impact of current anti‐smoking discourse on smoking narratives, as interviewees set up opposing discourses of social acceptance in their youth and awareness of the health risks today.     

Constrained majoritarianism: Westminster constitutionalism in Malta

This article discusses Malta's constitutional system as a variation on the ‘Westminster model’. Despite proportional representation, Malta maintains a strictly majoritarian (Lijphart, 1999 Lijphart, A. (1999). Patterns of democracy: Government forms and performance in thirty-six countries. Yale: Yale University Press. [Google Scholar]) core of ‘delegation and accountability’ (Strøm et al., 2005), from the people, through Parliament, to the Government, structured through a two-party system. This majoritarian core is balanced, however, by peripheral institutions (such as the Constitutional Court, Ombudsman, President, and Electoral Commission), which partially constrain the exercise of majoritarian power. Using a typology developed by Glover and Hazell (2008 Hazell, R. (2008). Conclusion: Where will the Westminster model end up? In R. Hazell (Ed.), Constitutional futures revised: Britain's constitution to 2020 (pp. 285–300). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), Malta is presented as an example of a ‘Westminster Constitutionalised’ polity, combining majoritarian rule and concentrated powers with entrenched, legal constitutionalism.     

A preliminary investigation of insect colonisation and succession on remains in New Zealand

A preliminary, systematic field study on the process of decomposition and associated insects was conducted, for the first time, in New Zealand. Using pig carcasses as an animal model for human decomposition, insect colonisation and succession was monitored in three different habitats in the Auckland region where remains are likely to be found. A significant difference in the rates of decomposition was found among the three different habitats of an open field, coastal sand dune area and native bush during the autumn/winter season. The primary colonisers of all carcasses were Calliphora stygia Fabricius (Calliphoridae), Chrysomya rufifacies Macquart (Calliphoridae) and Hydrotaea rostrata Robineau-Desvoidy (Muscidae). Two species were identified as possible representatives of the habitats in which they were found; Fannia sp. (Fanniidae) in the open field habitat and Calliphora hilli Patton (Calliphoridae) in the native bush habitat. Also identified was Sylvicola sp. (Anisopodidae) as a possible indicator of damp habitats as well as a likely indicator of a longer postmortem interval. This preliminary investigation presents a broad outline of the insects associated with remains and the order in which they appear in the Auckland region.     

Uber in Queensland: From policy fortress to policy change

Emerging technologies are challenging the regulatory systems and industry policy settings that were settled during the microeconomic reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. In 1994, in the absence of credible competition in the taxi industry, Queensland legislation constructed a protective ‘policy fortress’ that benefited taxi licence holders in return for specific service standards. This entrenched a policy–industry nexus upheld by all political parties for two decades. But in 2014–2016, using disruptive digital platforms, Uber and similar organisations directly challenged the policy regime by rapidly expanding their unlicensed operations for personalised passenger bookings. Queensland policy-makers were eventually shocked into establishing a major review, leading to the termination of the protective regime. Drawing on interviews and policy documents, we identify the contextual and ideational factors that facilitated the unlocking of policy change. As consumers became more ‘tech-savvy’, the policy ideas championed by powerful new agents of change came to highlight consumer convenience, flexibility, and the ‘sharing economy’. Such narratives reframed the economic disruptions flowing from new technologies as opportunities to lower service costs.     

A psychological perspective on moral reasoning,processes of decision-making,and moral resistance

ABSTRACT

This article presents a psychological approach on the development of social and moral judgments that has relevance for the topics of public justification and world politics. In contrast with approaches assuming that morality is primarily determined by emotions and non-rational, the research discussed shows that moral development involves the construction of thinking about welfare, justice, and rights. In parallel with judgments in the moral domain, individuals construct judgments about conventions in the social system and areas of personal jurisdiction. Research documents that moral and social decisions involve processes of coordination, or weighing and balancing, moral and non-moral considerations and goals, as well as different moral goals. Processes of coordination are also involved in decisions about cultural practices that include social inequalities and relationships between those in dominant and subordinate positions in social hierarchies. Judgments about the fairness of practices entailing inequalities produce social opposition and moral resistance.