Lost in translation? Teaching law to non‐lawyers: Reviewing the evidence from social work

Abstract

This paper considers pedagogical questions surrounding the teaching of law to non‐lawyers. It draws on research into the teaching, learning and assessment of law in social work education. The research comprised a systematic review of international literature, a practice survey, focus groups with students and practice teachers, and two stakeholder conferences. The evidence suggests that law teaching in social work education is of particular interest in highlighting key dimensions of education practice that affect students’ learning. The paper provides some signposts towards research‐informed organisation of teaching, learning and assessment, and highlights important areas for further study.     

A Critical Assessment of Using Children to Participate Actively in Hostilities in Lubanga Child Soldiers and Direct Participation

The first judgment of the International Criminal Court, delivered on 9 March 2012, raises a pivotal and equally controversial issue of what constitutes ‘active participation in hostilities’ for the purpose of the child solider offences under the Rome Statute in the case against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. The Majority (Judge Fulford and Judge Blattmann) adopted a broad definition of the notion of ‘active’ participation and the Minority (Judge Benito) an even more ample one. This was achieved by distinguishing between ‘active participation in hostilities’ and ‘direct participation in hostilities’ and by recourse to the travaux préparatoires of the Rome Statute and to human rights norms. The purpose of this contribution is to demonstrate that the meaning of ‘active participation in hostilities’ under Articles 8(2)(b)(xxvi) and 8(2)(e)(vii) of the Rome Statute is not ambiguous or obscure, but is the same as that of ‘direct participation in hostilities’ under international humanitarian law. Recourse to supplementary means of interpretation by the Trial Chamber, be it to the travaux préparatoires, or to human rights norms, was unnecessary and misguided. The contribution will also draw some conclusions on how criminal liability before the ICC may be excluded for Articles 8(2)(b)(xxvi) or 8(2)(e)(vii) of the Rome Statute on the basis of the broad definition adopted by the Trial Chamber of the notion of ‘active participation in hostilities’ and will discuss other consequences arising from the judgement at hand.     

An anthropological analysis of gunshot wounds to the chest

This analysis of gunshot trauma to the bony thorax examines 87 handgun and rifle wounds from documented cases in an effort to corroborate an earlier report and to provide the forensic community with additional literature in this area. Specifically, this study tests whether the trauma signatures associated with gunshot wounds in the bony thorax are useful in determining the direction of fire. Because the ribs occupy a significant portion of the bony thorax, they are struck more frequently than other bones and, consequently, they are the focus of this report. This study confirmed that bullets can leave distinctive markers on ribs that indicate the direction of fire, including depressed fractures, bone fragments displaced in the direction of the bullet's path, and beveling. Although forensic anthropologists can determine the direction that a bullet was traveling when it struck a given rib, they cannot give a definitive statement about the number or sequence of gunshots without supporting soft tissue evidence.     

Die Grundwasserrichtlinie

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Improving Sex Estimation from Crania Using a Novel Three‐dimensional Quantitative Method,,

This study utilizes an innovative 3D approach to discover metric variables that obtain the highest classification rates for sex estimation from the cranium. Models were constructed from 222 cranial CT scans of U.S. Whites from the Bass Donated Collection. These models were used to create a statistical bone atlas that captures the primary shape variation in the skull and facilitates rapid computer‐automated analyses. The bone atlas showed that important size‐related sex variables are bizygomatic breadth, maximum cranial length, cranial base length, and mastoid height. Shape‐related variables capture sex differences in the projection of the glabellar region, inclination of the frontal, and cranial base flexion. In addition, vault thickness is highly dimorphic, with females having on average thicker vaults in the frontal region, and males having thicker vaults in the occipital region. Cross‐validated linear discriminant analysis obtained >95% accuracy (97.5% with 11 variables and 95.5% with eight variables).     

Effectiveness of Risk-Needs-Responsivity-Based Family Violence Programs with Male Offenders

The following presents the outcome of an evaluation of family violence prevention programs for male offenders. The moderate and high intensity programs were designed and implemented to conform to the Risk-Needs-Responsivity (RNR) principles. Results showed that program participation significantly reduced attitudes that supported violence against women and improved pro-social skills related to non-abusive relationships; treatment effects were moderate to high. Parole officer feedback generally reported positive changes in behavior and attitude associated with treatment. A post-release follow-up indicated that program completion significantly reduced spousal violence and general violent recidivism. Program participation did not, however, have a significant impact on non-violent crime. Results indicate that domestic violence programs respecting the RNR principles may be effective in reducing partner violence.     

Spheno-occipital synchondrosis fusion in modern Americans

This study examines spheno-occipital synchondrosis fusion in the modern American population and presents age ranges for forensic use. The sample includes 162 modern individuals aged 5-25 years. The basilar synchondrosis was scored as open, closing, or closed via direct inspection of the ectocranial site of the suture. Transition analysis was used to determine the average ages at which an individual transitions from unfused to fusing and from fusing to fused. The maximum likelihood estimates from the transition analysis indicate that females are most likely to transition from open to closing at 11.4 years and males at 16.5 years. Females transition from closing to closed at 13.7 years and males at 17.4 years. The probability distributions associated with these maximum likelihood estimates were used to derive age ranges for age estimation purposes. These results reflect sexual dimorphism in basilar synchondrosis fusion and agree approximately with average age at pubertal onset.     

Diversity of dental patterns: application on different ages using the Brazilian National Oral Health Survey

Methods of individual identification using human remains are widely used in forensic anthropology; however, there are few studies that use statistical methods in order to obtain a correct definition of parameters. The objectives of the study were to verify the diversity of dental patterns in the Brazilian population and analyse its application on different ages. Data from the Brazilian National Oral Health Survey were used to verify the presence and absence of dental treatment among 35,613 individuals of several age groups: 15-19, 35-44 and 65-74. Information referring to every dental element was described: higid (H), decayed (D), filled (F), missing (M) and prosthesis (P). Coincidences that were observed in pairs of homologous teeth were analysed according to clinical situation, gender and age. Ordinary findings (presented in more than 10% of pairs) and extraordinary ones (presented in less than 10% of pairs) were described. Total and conditional diversity estimates were performed. Among adolescents, H were the most frequent teeth, and the first molar teeth were the ones presenting less frequency of H. Among adults, the frequency of M teeth among females ranged from 15.17% to 71.59%, and among males they ranged from 9.00% to 87.20%. Among the elderly, M teeth were observed in the largest frequency, and anterior teeth presented fewer losses than posterior ones. M was the condition that most coincided with both sides in the elderly. In adults, some pairs of teeth presented H, but mostly pairs of teeth presented as M. Among adolescents, there was more concordance of the H component. Among male and female adolescents, we observed extraordinary findings in DMFP dental conditions in most of the teeth. Among adults, the less frequent dental condition was P, which was found in several teeth. The extraordinary findings among elderly male teeth were codes H, D, F and P; among females, they were H, D, F and P codes. The high prevalence of healthy teeth in adolescents and a high rate of edentulism in the elderly interfered with the analysis performed. However, when an estimation of diversity that corrects those distortions was used, all of the groups presented satisfactory results that were homogeneous in the performed analysis.