Declaratory relief: don't be afraid to ask

Legal and practical context. Declaratory relief has the widestscope of any judicial remedy and its flexibility in providingguidance makes it the perfect judicial salve. Yet the remedyis under-used and receives little practitioner commentary. Key points. The Court's power to issue interim or final declarationsis discretionary. Furthermore, courts are more willing to grantan application for a declaration where there is a genuine dispute,in contrast with a purely theoretical issue. Specific statutoryprovisions for IP rights include declarations of non-infringementand unjustified threats. Intellectual property practitionersshould note that declaratory relief can be attractive becauseof its flexibility, efficiency and perception. It is less antagonisticthan a claim for damages. Conclusion. Declarations are a useful option for intellectualproperty practitioners. Although declaratory relief is commonlyregarded as a defensive measure, it can in reality be used asa "sword or a shield".     

Using pre- and post-surgical foot and ankle radiographs for identification

An evaluation of the effect of surgical intervention on foot and ankle radiographic comparisons was performed. In this study, 34 sets of pre-surgical ("premortem") and post-surgical ("postmortem") foot and ankle radiographs were retrospectively evaluated simulating a postmortem identification. In each radiographic set, the films were separated by a surgical event to reproduce the effects of an alteration in the anatomy. The radiographs included both matches and mismatches. This study also presents a numerical representation of the reliability of a radiographic match following a surgical procedure. Results indicate that surgical intervention with subsequent healing does not preclude positive identification in foot and ankle radiographic comparisons.     

Is the Rule of Law an Essentially Contested Concept (in Florida)?

Law and Philosophy -     

Administrative reform and the politics of management training in the People's Republic of China

Abstract: Since 1978 China has attempted to modernize its administration and to train and recruit younger and more professional managers, both in the state administration and in economic enterprises. Despite important efforts in this direction, this has created tensions in the traditional methods of recruitment and training of personnel by the Chinese Communist party. Traditional ideological training institutes, such as party schools have attempted to appropriate management training to preserve their prestige and primacy in recruitment despite their lack of adequately trained instructors. As a result, management education has been diluted by strong admixtures of ideology. As well as providing professional training, cadre training institutes become an important means to promote political favourites, whereas educated professionals may lack sufficient political influence to exercise their skills. The current crackdown in China represents one phase in a conflict over the objectives of political reform which has been going on for some years. Sommaire: Depuis 1978, la Chine tente de moderniser son administration, de recruter et de former des cadres plus jeunes, plus professionnels, B la fois pour I'administration de I'Etat et des entreprises. Des efforts considérables ont été déployés en ce sens, mais il en est résulté des tensions quant aux méthodes traditionnelles de recrutement et de formation du personnel par le Parti com-muniste chinois. Les instituts traditionnels de formation idéologique, comme les écoles du Parti, cherchent B s'approprier cette formation des cadres pour sauvegarder leur prestige et conserver leur rôle prépondérant en matière de recrutement, bien qu'ils ne disposent pas de suffisamment d'enseignants dûment formés. Résultat: de fortes composantes idéologiques viennent atténuer la force educative des programmes. Non contents d'assurer la formation professionnelle, les instruits d'éducation servent à placer les favoris politiques, alors que de leur côté, les gens instruits et dotés d'une formation professionnelle ne jouissent pas toujours de I'influence politique nécessaire pour exercer et tirer parti de leurs compétences. La répression qui sévit actuellement en Chine constitue I'une des étapes d'un conflit qui dure depuis plusieurs années à propos des objectifs de la réforme politique.     

Post-Industrial Changes in Policy Style

The article discusses central characteristics of the way in which western democracies formulate their public policy. This is done by presenting a preliminary typology of policy styles. An attempt is made to classify some European countries according to their dominant policy style as well as according to changes in this respect during the post-industrial period. Overcrowding and unconventional participation are identified as two important factors behind this development. The essay, which is mainly based on British and Swedish data, concludes with a discussion of the question of whether societies are able to exercise any choice in determining their policy style.     

Organizational Justice and Job Satisfaction: A Test of Three Competing Models

Using nationally representative data, we test three theories about distributive and procedural justice and their relation to job satisfaction. Our results support the group-value model more than the personal outcomes model by showing that procedural justice is a more important predictor of job satisfaction than is distributive justice. Furthermore, although other research has supported the psychological contract model by showing that experiences with downsizing alter how procedural justice and distributive justice are related to organizational commitment, we find that downsizing does not alter their relationship with job satisfaction.