Climate Change and a Just Transition to the Future of Work

Rapidly growing concerns about the adverse effects of climate change are prompting a re-thinking of how companies view their strategies and operations and spurring legal and regulatory responses around the world. The overarching objective of these efforts is to facilitate and accelerate the transition to a more sustainable economy. The green transition will have substantial distributional and structural implications for workers and the workplace across companies and economic sectors. Indeed, the future of work will be significantly shaped by climate change. However, relatively scant scholarly attention has been devoted to the forward-looking legal implications of climate change for work. Similarly, legal scholars writing on climate change have largely neglected the laws governing employment. This article seeks to help fill that gap. How can companies, workers, and society respond to the green transition in a manner that enables better jobs, a safe and stable workplace, and more resilient companies? To answer this question, this article draws on the theory of just transition, which is rooted in environmental justice and labor rights. We offer an interpretation and application of just transition that expands its scope to serve as a blueprint for ethical business conduct and legal reform to improve the world of work and the lives of workers.     

Responding to COVID-19 through Surveys of Public Servants

Responding to COVID-19 presents unprecedented challenges for public sector practitioners. Addressing those challenges requires knowledge about the problems that public sector workers face. This Viewpoint essay argues that timely, up-to-date surveys of public sector workers are essential tools for identifying problems, resolving bottlenecks, and enabling public sector workers to operate effectively during and in response to the challenges posed by the pandemic. This essay presents the COVID-19 Survey of Public Servants, which is currently being rolled out in several countries by the Global Survey of Public Servants Consortium to assist governments in strategically compiling evidence to operate effectively during the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Financial Condition and Internal Control Deficiencies: Evidence From New York Counties

In recent years, significant attention has been given to measuring the financial condition of local governments, predicting when those governments will experience fiscal distress, and understanding how public managers navigate financial shortfalls. Researchers have given less focus, however, to understanding how financial condition affects other financial management practices—such as the administrative systems used to ensure financial accountability. This study uses a 19-year panel of county-level data from New York State to examine whether financial condition affects the likelihood of internal control deficiencies. The findings indicate that the incidence and severity of internal control deficiencies increase as financial condition deteriorates.     

Using Spaced Learning Principles to Translate Knowledge into Behavior: Evidence from Investigative Interviews of Alleged Child Abuse Victims

The present study assessed the progress of 13 investigative interviewers (child protection workers and police officers) before, during, and after an intensive training program (n = 132 interviews). Training began with a 2-day workshop covering the principles of child development and child-friendly interviewing. Interviewers then submitted interviews on a bi-weekly basis to which they received written and verbal feedback over an 8-month period. A refresher session took place two months into training. Interestingly, improvements were observed only after the refresher session. Interviews conducted post-refresher training contained proportionally more open-ended questions, more child details in response to open-ended questions, and proportionally fewer closed questions than interviews conducted prior to training and in the first half of the training program. The need for ‘spaced learning’ may underlie why so many training programs have had little effect on practice.     

SANE/SART Services for Sexual Assault Victims: Policy Implications

A study of 530 sexual assault cases from three jurisdictions tested the efficacy of sexual assault nurse examiner/sexual assault response team (SANE/SART) programs as a tool in the criminal justice system. Policy implications from the findings recommend a SANE training curriculum for the rape examination and biological evidence collection; SANE/SART programs for a multidisciplinary effort in the investigation and prosecution of cases, alternative disposition for cases whereby the victim and offender know each other, and a risk management plan for combating recidivism.     

Decision theory and standards of proof

Conclusion What is important about Kaplan's thesis is not whether his model succeeds in particular applications and in its present form, but that it indicates a method for analyzing the legal system which could improve it. This is not inconsistent with the lesson to be learned from Tribe.What is important in Tribe's position is the realization that the possible consequences of changing long-established and deeply entrenched social institutions should not be taken lightly. At the same time, avoiding problems by formulating principles vaguely enough that conflicts are simply not apparent is in no sense a solution. The lesson to be learned is not halt, but proceed with caution.     

Race against timekeeper: big cat can't stop non-competing registration of identical mark

The Irish High Court dismissed an appeal by Jaguar Cars againstthe rejection of its opposition to the registration of the trademark JAGUAR by Montres Jaguar.     

Ostseepipeline “Nord Stream” – ein meeresumweltrechtliches Problem?

Ausgangsfrage und gleichzeitig Titel des Beitrags ist, ob das von einem russisch-deutschen Konsortium geplante Gaspipelineprojekt in der Ostsee, der sog. “Nord Stream”, so wie in der internationalen Presse vielfach diskutiert, ein meeresumweltrechtliches Problem für das Ostseegebiet darstellt. Nach Auffassung der Autorin ist diese Frage zu verneinen. Vor dem Hintergrund der Hauptverschmutzungsquellen der Ostsee erscheinen die potentiellen Meeresumweltbelastungen durch die Pipeline eher gering, denn potentielle meeresumweltrechtliche Belastungen kommen nur in einem vorübergehenden Zeitraum, n?mlich ausschlie?lich in der Bauphase vor, die von der Phase nach der Inbetriebnahme abzugrenzen ist. Im Beitrag werden die potentiell gef?hrdeten Schutzgüter identifiziert und beispielhaft wird aufgezeigt, wie w?hrend des derzeit noch laufenden und deswegen flexiblen Planungs- und Entwicklungsprozesses geeignete Ma?nahmen zur Vermeidung oder Verminderung erheblicher nachteiliger Auswirkungen des Projekts auf die Umwelt getroffen werden.     

Determining distinctiveness in infringement proceedings

In determining the distinctiveness of a trade mark in infringementproceedings, a court must look at the perception of the relevantpublic at the time when use of the infringing sign commenced;an order to cease using the infringing sign may often be appropriatewhere loss of distinctive character derives from the defendant'sactions.