Judicial Deference under the Human Rights Act

Judicial deference to the other branches of government has become a common judicial technique in cases arising under the Human Rights Act. The author outlines the current approach of British courts in deciding when to defer, arguing that it is flawed and unprincipled. The author goes on to argue that a principled approach to deference is necessary, and offers examples of when and how courts should defer to the other branches of government when considering constitutional claims.     

Adversarial Forum: Issues Concerning the Assessment of Juvenile Psychopathy

Law and Human Behavior -     

Introduction: Lifetime Contribution to Law and Psychology Award Presentation

Law and Human Behavior -     

Crime Reduction and the Length of Prison Sentences

The issue discussed is whether policies of imposing increasingly lengthy prison sentences on serious criminal offenders reduce crime. The empirical evidence for the deterrence and incapacitation effects of incarceration is first examined and found to be of limited help in answering the question whether lengthy prison sentences reduce crime. Conceptual and normative analysis of deterrence and incapacitation suggest that we have little reason to believe that the general use of lengthy prison terms produces more good than harm for society, especially if the burdens of and alternatives to such prison terms are taken into account.     

Knowledge and learning in online networks in development: a social-capital perspective

The authors examine whether the concept of social capital can facilitate our understanding of online networks in development. Much of the knowledge generation and social learning in development takes place in networks, which increasingly operate online. Although these networks are assumed to be a positive force in development, there are many unknown factors, partly because they are in their infancy. The concept of social capital has traditionally been applied to examine the functioning of groups and societies. More recently, it has also been applied to development and to online networks outside development. Three non-development approaches to examining social capital in online networks and communities are reviewed in the article. Elements of these approaches, combined with development-related aspects, are used to produce a framework to facilitate the analysis of social capital in online networks in a development context.