Ink Dating Using Thermal Desorption and Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry: Comparison of Results Obtained in Two Laboratories

An ink dating method based on solvent analysis was recently developed using thermal desorption followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and is currently implemented in several forensic laboratories. The main aims of this work were to implement this method in a new laboratory to evaluate whether results were comparable at three levels: (i) validation criteria, (ii) aging curves, and (iii) results interpretation. While the results were indeed comparable in terms of validation, the method proved to be very sensitive to maintenances. Moreover, the aging curves were influenced by ink composition, as well as storage conditions (particularly when the samples were not stored in “normal” room conditions). Finally, as current interpretation models showed limitations, an alternative model based on slope calculation was proposed. However, in the future, a probabilistic approach may represent a better solution to deal with ink sample inhomogeneity.     

From Form to Function to Sustainable Solutions? Reforming Public Sectors in Low Income Countries: New Approaches and Available Evidence of “What Works”

The article reviews the evidence about success of public sector reforms in low and middle income countries, external support for such reforms, and recent ideas of how such support could be better designed and implemented. Enthusiasm for supporting public sector reforms has decreased over the past decade, and available data suggest that there has been little overall improvement. However, it also indicates that a small number of countries have significantly strengthened their public sectors over the past 10 to 20 years. The article then reviews five new approaches that have been proposed for better supporting public sector reforms. It looks at how they diagnose what has not worked and the implications of what should be carried out differently. Furthermore, it explores to what extent the available evidence of overall stagnation as well as of success cases fits with these proposed alternatives, to gauge to what extent they are likely to make a difference. The final section sets out the implications. Development agencies should seek to deliberately test a combination of the proposed alternative approaches, particularly in more difficult contexts, taking political feasibility as a basis and adding other elements. The urgency to make progress remains high. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sub-state diplomacy and the foreign policy-development nexus in South Africa

This article examines the role of sub-state diplomacy, defined as the transnational linkages of sub-national governments, in bridging the gap between foreign policy and the domestic development agenda in South Africa. It argues that, as territorial sub-state actors, provinces and municipalities are strategically positioned to use their international relations to make foreign policy more responsive to domestic socio-economic priorities. In the South African case, however, this potential is yet to be fully realised, mainly because of institutional fragmentation of the foreign policy apparatus, but also owing to enduring challenges in the foreign activities of sub-national governments. The article concludes by making the case for a new diplomatic paradigm in South Africa, one that actively promotes and harnesses the foreign activities and capacities of different national stakeholders, including those of sub-national governments, in the interest of the domestic development agenda.     

Empirical Objections to Torture: A Critical Reply

Those who support torture in ticking-time-bomb cases are often criticized as failing to consider empirical objections to torture; however, torture's critics often wield this charge uncritically, doing little more than throwing out platitudes without considering the role of those platitudes in the dialectic. I agree with the critics that more empirical engagement is owed than is typically on offer, but deny that such engagement vindicates their position. This article therefore considers various stock objections to the actual use of torture, while ultimately arguing that those objections fail to undermine the use of torture in exceptional cases. In particular, we will consider the efficacy and reliability of torture, the institutional requirements for torture, the nefarious spread of torture, and whether there are better alternatives to torture. In each of these discussions, let us frame them against the associated contentions made by critics regarding the inapplicability of ticking-time-bomb cases to the real world. The last two sections of the article consider where the burden of proof falls in this debate and, in particular, whether the proponent of torture needs real-world ticking-time-bomb cases to defend exceptional torture, as well as what such cases might be.     

The German Berufsgenossenschaften (institutions for statutory accident insurance and prevention): organisation, mandate and activities in the area of mental health

The present article first describes the institution of the German Berufsgenossenschaften (BGs, the institutions for statutory accident insurance and prevention) and their mandate. Besides rehabilitation and compensation, these comprise the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases, and work-related hazards. The main focus within the area of mental health is the prevention work, but rehabilitation and compensation within the German social insurance system in general, and with respect to mental health, will also be explained. Furthermore, the prevention-rehabilitation interface will be illustrated and the cooperation with the health insurance institutions will be described. In the second part, selected results of a survey regarding mental health and stress will be presented.     

Europastrafrecht im Wandel

Die Arbeit gibt einen Überblick über die Ergebnisse von 15 Jahren Rechtsetzung der EU im Strafrecht. Die bisherigen Rechtsakte der EU im Strafrecht umfassen iW Angleichungen von Straftatbeständen (vereinzelt auch von Strafdrohungen) und gegenseitige Anerkennung und Vollstreckung von Entscheidungen (als neue Bezeichnung für die zwischenstaatliche Zusammenarbeit). Inhaltlich fällt die fast ausschließlich repressive Orientierung auf. Zu nennenswerter Angleichung von Verfahrensrecht, insb von Beschuldigtenrechten, ist es bisher nicht gekommen. Der Beitrag stellt die intergouvernementaler Zusammenarbeit (im Rahmen der "dritten Säule" der EU) ausgearbeiteten Rechtsakte dar, legt aber auch besonderes Augenmerk auf die in letzter Zeit auch im Strafrechtsbereich zunehmende Bedeutung von Urteilen des EuGH. Vor dem Hintergrund, dass der Vertrag von Lissabon – sollte er in Kraft treten – den institutionellen Sonderweg der Rechtsetzung im Strafrecht beenden wird, eröffnet der Beitrag auch die Perspektive auf die künftige Entwicklung.     

Governance and Coercion

The present article departs from the assumption often found in literature concerning governance, which is that coercion is the quintessence of government and that, therefore, the growing importance of new forms of governance in policy formulation and implementation will lead to the adoption of softer policy instruments. This hypothesis will first be discussed in the wider context of the instrument choice literature, whereby an opposing view is derived. The two competing hypotheses are then tested in a comparison of the alcohol control policy designs of the Swiss member states, i.e. the cantons. The results of a multivariate regression analysis show that strong governance structures understood as networks embracing both public and private actors lead to the adoption of restrictive policy designs that must be enforced by public authority and as such cannot be employed by non-public governance actors. It is concluded that in their evaluation of policy instruments, governance actors follow a logic of consequentiality rather than a logic of appropriateness.     

Are the social sciences really inferior?

Fritz Machlup, at the time of his death in 1983, was emeritus professor of economics at Princeton University and professor of economics at New York University. A former president of the American Economic Association and the International Economic Association, his many influential publications included A History of Thought on Economic Integration, Methodology of Economics and Other Social Sciences,and The Production and Distribution of Knowledge in the United States.This article, which was a favorite of Machlup’s, is reprinted from The Southern Economic Journalof January 1961, with the permission of that journal.     

The Last Word in Court—A Hidden Disadvantage for the Defense

In the legal systems of most western countries, defense attorneys present their sentencing recommendation after the prosecution has presented its sentencing demands. This procedural sequence for criminal cases is intended to balance the impact of both parties on the judge's final decision. Especially the positioning of the defense's plea at the end of the trial follows the fundamental legal principle “in dubio pro reo.” Research on judgmental anchoring, however, suggests that the standard procedural sequence may in fact work against this principle. Consistent with this implication, the present studies demonstrate that the defense's sentencing recommendation is anchored on, and consequently assimilated toward, the preceding recommendation by the prosecution. This influence prevents the defense attorney from effectively counterbalancing the prosecutor's demand. Instead, the biased defense attorney's recommendation partially mediates the impact of the prosecutor's demand on the judge's decision. These findings suggest that the standard procedural sequence in court may place the defense at a distinct disadvantage.