Presentence Reports

This study investigated the use made by judges of background information provided in presentence reports in reaching their sentencing decisions. The presentence reports were furnished in a number of modified forms during an experimental manipulation in a real-life setting. By obtaining judges' provisional decisions during their reading of the report, along with their indications of what they found useful, the influence of different sections of information in the report was determined. All sections. were used by judges to some extent. The recommendation section was analyzed in some detail; while there was high agreement between the probation officer's recommendation and the judge's final disposal, judges tended to rate the recommedation low in terms of usefulness. However, analysis of changes to intended disposals, which occurred during reading of the reports, indicated that these recommendations were in fact quite influential, and even when there was not perfect agreement the recommendation produced a high frequency of shifts in the final disposal, bringing it closer to the recommendation than a preliminary decision had been. Reasons for these inconsistencies are considered in terms of the different methods used.     

War,liberalism, and modernity: the biopolitical provocations of ‘Empire’

The relationships between war, liberalism and modernity remain heavily under‐theorised within international relations. Existing critiques emphasise the ways in which the developments of liberal societies have been facilitated by the deployment of instrumental forms of force and violence in the extension and control of spaces beyond the boundaries of the zone of ‘liberal peace’. Yet, the ordinary functioning of liberal societies themselves can also be understood in terms of the roles of war. This article utilises ideas derived from Michel Foucault and Antonio Negri to advance our understanding of the ways in which liberal powers pursue security through the creation of what this author terms a logistical order of relations between the subjects that they govern. Simultaneously, the strategisation of social relations within liberal societies fosters the development of new forms of antagonistic subjectivities that contest the logistical foundations of liberal societies. This dual set of developments poses problematic questions as to how we should understand the relationships between the organisation of liberal societies and the forms of resistance that emerge in their midst. As the author details, these questions are made all the more pressing by the current context of the War on Terror.     

Recovering Lost Years: British Foreign Policy After the War of the Polish Succession

A study of a neglected period in British foreign policy serves to question schematic approaches to the history of international relations and to underline the indeterminacy felt by contemporaries, and their sense of the roles of contingency and personality. The problems faced then in conceptualizing international relations can be mirrored today.     

Delicate balance or creative conflict?

In this issue Andrés Guadamuz explains the recent troubledhistory of the attempts that have been made to ensure the harmoniousoperation of Europe's software patent laws, and of the sad fateof those attempts. There is something paradoxical about thefact that the attempts at reform were scotched by two opposingcamps consisting of those who stood to gain most from thosereforms: on the one side those who want strong software patentsand on the other those who want no patents at all. At     

Demonstrating 'use' of an earlier registered mark in CTM opposition proceedings

An earlier registered trade mark may serve to oppose a laterapplication to register a Community trade mark, notwithstandingthat the earlier mark is not used in the form in which it isregistered, so long as the actual use had not destroyed thedistinctive character of the earlier mark.     

United Kingdom: Sisters and inheritance tax

Joyce and Sybil Burden are two sisters who have lived togethersince birth and currently occupy a UK farmhouse. When one ofthem dies the other will face a large inheritance tax bill andwill have to sell the     

Microcrystalline identification of drugs of abuse: stimulant street drugs

The microcrystallographic properties of the diliturate (5-nitrobarbituric acid) derivatives of certain stimulant drugs found in illicit street preparations have been determined. These microcrystallographic data can be used as a means of drug identification.