The Perversions of History: Constitutionalism and Revolution in Burke’s <Emphasis Type="Italic">Reflections</Emphasis>

Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France is one of the defining texts in the history of English constitutional thought. It is conservative in its overt defence of England’s ancient constitution, and in particular the twin bulwarks of Church and Crown. In more immediate terms, it was written against those who appeared to sympathise with the principles of the French revolution, men such as Joseph Price and Tom Paine. But the true ‘genius’ of Burke, as Wordsworth famously noted, does not lie in the surface defence of traditional conservative institutions and principles. It lies, rather, in an appreciation that constitutions are aesthetic expressions, their vitality dependent upon the strength of the political imagination which they strive to shape and to nurture. What is truly distinctive about Burke’s Reflections accordingly is that it was written as a poetic as much as a political treatise. The purpose of this essay is to explore this genius and this poetic.     

The electoral connection in Australia: Candidate roles,campaign activity,and the popular vote

Studies of representational roles usually examine elected representatives rather than election candidates and make little attempt to link roles with either behavior or the popular vote that candidates attract. In this paper, we use 1990 Australian data to examine all major party election candidates, and show that candidates identify with three types of representational roles:locals, who focus on articulating local concerns and interests;partisans, who see their role in party political terms; andlegislators, who emphasize the parliamentary role of an elected representative. Incumbents, especially party leaders, focus on the partisan role. Candidates in each of these three types have different views of the qualities that a candidate should possess and emphasize different forms of campaign activity. In turn, these roles have a modest impact on the popular vote that candidates attract, net of other factors. In Australia, incumbents rely on national partisan forces for reelection, while challengers rely much more on their own efforts.     

A. Reviews: general

i. The Arab Economy: Past Performance and Future Prospects. by Yusif A.Sayigh. Oxford University Press, 1982. pp. 175.

ii. The Arab Predicament: Arab Politics and Practice since 1967. By Fouad Ajami. Cambridge University Press, 1982. pp. 220. £4.95 (paperback of hardback edn., 1981).

iii. The Arabic Documents in the Archives of the British Political Agency Kuwait, 1904–1949 (IOR: R/15/5) ([ British Academy]Oriental Documents V). By Julia Ashtiany. London, India Office Library and Records (published under the auspices of the British Academy Oriental Documents Committee), 1982. pp.xxxi, 373, P1.4.

iv. Traditional Crafts of Saudi Arabia. By John Topham and others. London, Stacey International Publishers, 1982. pp.192, 275 illustrations (colour), 6 (black and white), 2 maps. £22.50.

v. Yemen: Political History, Social Structure and Legal System. By Isam Ghanem. London, Arthur Probsthain, pp.26. £4.00.

vi. Sidi Ameur: a Tunisian Village. By Nadia Abu Zahra. London, Ithaca Press, 1982. pp.238, 2 tables, 3 maps, 4 diagrams, 7 appendices. £11.50.

vii. Tchad/Lybie: La querelle des frontières. By Bernard Lanne. Paris, Editions Karthala, 1982. pp.251, 2 maps. FF 68.

viii. Women in Islam: Tradition and Transition in the Middle East. By Naila Minai. London, John Murray, 1981. pp.283. £8.95.

ix. Faith and Power: The Politics of Islam. By Edward Mortimer. London, Faber and Faber, 1982. pp.431. £10.50 (paperback £5.95).

xi. Pan‐Turkism in Turkey: A Study of Irredentism. By Jacob M.Landau. London, C.Hurst & Co., 1981. pp.219. £11.50.

xii. The Modernization of Turkey: From Atatürk to the Present Day. By Walter F. Weiker. New York & London, Holmes and Meier, 1981. pp.303.     

Human rights and health law

Important statutory and common law developments are changing the landscape of health law in Australia. Human rights considerations are formally included amongst the factors to be applied in the interpretation of statutory provisions and evaluating the lawfulness of actions on the part of government instrumentalities. The Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT) and the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) create limited bills of rights at State/Territory level in two Australian jurisdictions. Although neither is entrenched, they have the potential to make it more difficult for government to promulgate laws that are inconsistent with human rights, as defined. They will have important repercussions for the evolution of health law in these jurisdictions. The decision of Royal Women's Hospital v Medical Practitioners Board (Vic) [2006] VSCA 85 by the Victorian Court of Appeal has also provided a legitimation for parties to incorporate human rights perspectives in submissions about the interpretation of statutory provisions where health rights are in conflict.     

Insightlessness and an unscientific forensic expert

In Council for Regulation of Healthcare Professionals v General Medical Council [2005] EWHC 579 (Admin) Collins J heard an appeal relating to sanctions imposed on a medical practitioner who had provided medically unjustifiable opinions in relation to the person responsible for the death of a child in a notorious case for which a solicitor had been convicted of murdering her two sons. The author analyses and evaluates the considerations determined by Collins J to have justified the imposition of conditions rather than erasure of the practitioner from the Medical Register.     

Comparing sex offender risk assessment measures on a UK sample

The purpose of this study on 139 sex offenders was to consider the application of six measures of risk: Static-99, SACJ-Min (Structured Anchored Clinical Judgment Scale-Minimum), RRASOR (Rapid Risk Assessment for Sexual Offence Recidivism), Risk Matrix 2000-Sexual/Violent, and SVR-20 (Sexual Violence Risk-20) and to compare risk assessments conducted by a Regional Secure Unit (RSU) and the Probation Service. Levels of risk for the RSU sample ranged from 1% to 42% low risk to 1% to 66% high risk compared with the Probation sample of 8% to 43% low risk to 4% to 70% high risk. Offenders with adult victims obtained significantly higher scores using the RM2000/S and SACJ-Min than did those with child victims who obtained significantly higher scores on the RRASOR. Sex offenders referred to a RSU scored significantly higher on RRASOR and RM2000/S than did sex offenders supervised by the Probation Service. Forensic practitioners may be better served if risk measures assess specific subcategories of sexual offenders.     

A preliminary investigation of the stages of adipocere formation

Adipocere is a postmortem decomposition product which forms from a body's adipose tissue. This study aimed to chemically demonstrate the process of conversion from adipose tissue to adipocere. Samples of adipocere were collected from pig cadavers that were allowed to decompose for varying intervals. Samples of soil were collected from beneath the cadavers and analyzed to determine the leaching effect of adipocere. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used to quantify the fatty acid composition of pig adipocere. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used as a confirmatory test and to identify other components such as triglycerides and calcium salts of fatty acids. The study demonstrates the process of adipocere formation and the stages of formation through which the process passes using chemical techniques.