The quiet crisis and the emergence of La Relève: A study of crisis perception and executive leadership within the Canadian federal public service, 1997–2002

Abstract: In 1997, then‐clerk of the Privy Council Jocelyne Bourgon reported to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien that a “quiet crisis” existed within the ranks of the federal public service. After years of restraint, privatization, deregulation, downsizing, pay freezes, salary cutbacks, hiring moratoriums and staff reductions, the clerk reported that the members of the public service were suffering from a crisis of identity and purpose. To address this problem, the Privy Council Office launched La Relève, a program of crisis management designed to resolve the immediate tensions faced by the public service and to promote the renewal and rejuvenation of the public service at the beginning of the 21st century as it dealt with a variety of mega‐trends affecting public‐service delivery. La Relève marked the beginning of a decade of close attention to human resource management within the federal public service. But was there actually a crisis within the federal government in 1997? Using in‐depth interviews with a wide variety of senior public‐service insiders, this article explores three schools of thought found in Ottawa respecting “the crisis” and assesses the use of crisis management in this case for framing public‐sector modernization policy. Sommaire: En 1997, Jocelyne Bourgon, alors greffière du Conseil privé, signalait au Premier ministre Jean Chrétien qu'il existait une «crise silencieuse» au sein de la fonction publique fédérale. Après des années de restriction, de privatisation, de déréglementation, de compression d'effectifs, de gel des salaires, de réductions de salaires, de suspension du recrutement et de réductions d'effectifs, la greffière signalait que les membres de la fonction publique souffraient d'une crise d'identité et de raison d'être. Pour s'attaquer à ce problème, le Bureau du Conseil privé a lancé La Relève, programme de gestion de crise conçu pour résoudre les tensions immédiates auxquelles faisait face la fonction publique et pour promouvoir le renouveau et le rajeunissement de cette dernière au début du XXI^e siècle alors qu'elle subissait diverses tendances majeures qui exerçaient une influence sur la prestation des services publics. La Relève a marqué le début d'une décennie au cours de laquelle on a porté une grande attention à la gestion des ressources humaines au sein de la fonction publique fédérale. Mais est‐ce qu'une crise régnait véritablement au sein du gouvernement fédéral en 1997? Grâce à des entrevues approfondies avec une grande variété de hauts fonctionnaires, le présent article examine trois écoles de pensée prévalant à Ottawa au sujet de «la crise», et évalue l'utilisation de la gestion de crise dans ce cas pour formuler une politique de modernisation du secteur public.     

Implementing Community obligations in the realms of intellectual property

Legal context. The various Acts of Parliament governing UK intellectualproperty law have been significantly amended to give effectto Community law. This article discusses the powers used bythe Secretary of State to implement Community obligations andthe Court of Appeal's recent clarification of the scope of thosepowers. Key points. This article describes the concerns expressed bysome commentators on the scope of the powers under the EuropeanCommunities Act 1972 and the key cases on that scope, includingOakley v Animal. The article uses the implementation of performers'moral rights as an example of where going beyond strict Communityobligations is necessary. Practical significance. The article will be useful to anyoneconsidering the validity of the changes made to domestic law,including amendments to primary legislation, to implement Directivesor other Community obligations.     

Curzon, Lloyd George and the control of British foreign policy, 1919-22: A reassessment

This article reappraises the complex relationship between Lord Curzon and Lloyd George in the years between the former's appointment as Foreign Secretary and the latter's fall from office as Prime Minister in 1922. It argues that the widely held view that Lloyd George held Curzon in contempt and marginalized him in the conduct of foreign affairs is not accurate. Their relationship is presented as being one of mutual respect and significant levels of cooperation. The article thus questions the extent to which the Foreign Office suffered an 'eclipse' in this period.     

'Dedicating' Copyright to the Public Domain

This article explores whether authors can dedicate their copyright to the public domain. Such dedications are becoming increasingly relevant as authors now see the expansion of the public domain as value in itself. This is facilitated by organisations providing pro forma documents for dedicating works to the public domain. However, there has been no real consideration of what, if any, legal effect a dedication to the public might have. This article suggests that such dedications are no more than copyright licences which, in English and US law at least, can be revoked at will. This means that users of such works must rely on estoppel alone to enforce any dedication to the public domain.     

Does Interrater (Dis)agreement on Psychopathy Checklist Scores in Sexually Violent Predator Trials Suggest Partisan Allegiance in Forensic Evaluations?

Many studies reveal strong interrater agreement for Hare's Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) when used by trained raters in research contexts. However, no systematic research has examined agreement between PCL-R scores from independent clinicians who are retained by opposing sides in adversarial legal proceedings. We reviewed all 43 sexual-offender civil-commitment trials in one state and identified 23 cases in which opposing evaluators reported PCL-R total scores for the same individual. Differences between scores from opposing evaluators were usually in a direction that supported the party who retained their services. These score differences were greater in size than would be expected based on the instrument's standard error of measurement or the rater agreement values reported in previous PCL-R research. The intraclass correlation for absolute agreement for the PCL-R Total score from a single rater (ICC 1,A = .39) was well below levels of agreement observed for the PCL-R in research contexts, and below published test-retest values for the PCL-R. Results raise concerns about the potential for a forensic evaluator's "partisan allegiance" to influence PCL-R scores in adversarial proceedings.     

Revisiting Kantian Retributivism to Construct a Justification of Punishment

The standard view of Kant’s retributivism, as well as its more recent reworking in the ‘limited’ or ‘partial’ retributivist reading are, it is argued here, inadequate accounts of Kant on punishment. In the case of the former, the view is too limited and superficial, and in the latter it is simply inaccurate as an interpretation of Kant. Instead, this paper argues that a more sophisticated and accurate rendering of Kant on punishment can be obtained by looking to his construction of the concept of justice. In so doing, not only is a superior account of Kant furnished, but also one up to the task of resolving the vexed issue of justifying legal punishment.

Functional MRI Detection of Deception After Committing a Mock Sabotage Crime*

Abstract: Using Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) functional MRI (fMRI) to detect deception is feasible in simple laboratory paradigms. A mock sabotage scenario was used to test whether this technology would also be effective in a scenario closer to a real‐world situation. Healthy, nonmedicated adults were recruited from the community, screened, and randomized to either a Mock‐crime group or a No‐crime group. The Mock‐crime group damaged and stole compact discs (CDs), which contained incriminating video footage, while the No‐crime group did not perform a task. The Mock‐crime group also picked up an envelope from a researcher, while the No‐crime group did not perform this task. Both groups were instructed to report that they picked up an envelope, but did not sabotage any video evidence. Participants later went to the imaging center and were scanned while being asked questions regarding the mock crime. Participants also performed a simple laboratory based fMRI deception testing (Ring‐Watch testing). The Ring‐Watch testing consisted of “stealing” either a watch or a ring. The participants were instructed to report that they stole neither object. We correctly identified deception during the Ring‐Watch testing in 25 of 36 participants (Validated Group). In this Validated Group for whom a determination was made, computer‐based scoring correctly identified nine of nine Mock‐crime participants (100% sensitivity) and five of 15 No‐crime participants (33% specificity). BOLD fMRI presently can be used to detect deception concerning past events with high sensitivity, but low specificity.     

Identifying predictors of negative psychological reactions to stalking victimization

Victims of stalking often experience a number of negative psychological problems including such things as fear, symptoms of depression, and anger. However, research on factors that lead to these outcomes is limited. The goal of this study was to first identify distinct subgroups of stalking victims based on measures of psychological problems resulting from being stalked. Once identified, the next step was to examine the influence of demographic and stalking-related variables on the probability of subgroup membership. The results revealed that respondents who were female, had a prior relationship with the stalker, experienced a greater variety of stalking behaviors, were divorced/separated, and reported receiving government assistance were more likely to be classified into subgroups characterized by a high probability of experiencing multiple negative outcomes.