Positive,Normative and Functional Schools in Law and Economics

During its relatively short history, the law and economics movement has developed three distinct schools of thought. The first two schools of thought, often referred to as the Chicago or positive school and the Yale or normative school, developed almost concurrently. The functional school of law and economics, which developed subsequently, draws from public choice theory and the constitutional perspective of the Virginia school of economics to offer a third perspective which is neither fully positive nor fully normative. Various important methodological questions have accompanied the debate between these schools concerning the appropriate role of economic analysis in the institutional design of lawmaking and the limits of methods of evaluation of social preferences and aggregate welfare in policy analysis. These debates have contributed to the growing intellectual interest in the economic analysis of law.JEL Classification: K00, B0, B5, B25, B41     

Suicide Case Due to Phosphoric Acid Ingestion: Case Report and Review of Literature

Ingesting caustic substances represents a common event which may result in serious injuries of the gastrointestinal system. Severity of injury depends on the type of ingested substance: Caustic burns are more frequently associated with acid ingestion and their severity depends on type, concentration, time of exposure, and amount of the ingested substance. We report a case of phosphoric acid ingestion leading to death in a patient with depressive disorder. While reports ingestion of other acids and organophosphates can be found in the literature, there are no reports detailing a death due to phosphoric acid ingestion. We hope that presenting the findings in this case can aid death investigators in future cases that may involve ingestion of such a substance. After autopsy pH, phosphate and calcium ions concentration in the blood were analyzed. The cause of death was due to systemic effects: metabolic acidosis, hypophosphatemia, hypocalcemia, and hyperkalemia.     

A comprehensive model for the evaluation of standard expenditure needs and standard level of local services

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses the problem of the simultaneous evaluation of local governments’ standard expenditure needs together with the related level of standard public services proposing a new approach to fiscal equalisation based on quantitative methods. Standard expenditure needs are estimated using quantile regression, moreover robust non-parametric methods are employed for the computation of composite indicators of demand and supply factors. Data from English local authorities over the period 1997–2006 have been used to test the internal and external validity of the model.     

Visualization of Fingermarks Deposits on Untreated Thermal Paper Exploiting the Near Infrared Luminescence

Thermal paper is widely used as a print medium for different applications but it constitutes a tricky substrate for fingermark visualization. An earlier work (J Forensic Sci 2015; 60 :1034) reported how to visualize fingermarks on untreated thermal paper by illuminating the item with a UV-A light source. In the present paper, the potential of the near infrared (NIR) luminescence has been tested on thermal paper compared to the mentioned method. A controlled study was carried out utilizing eccrine enriched fingermarks. The promising outcomes obtained were further confirmed by performing a pseudo-operational trial. Data clearly showed that the use of the NIR filter gave better results. Finally, preliminary tests suggested a different mechanism of reaction induced by fingermarks with respect to the one behind the thermal printing. Thus, NIR luminescence represents a refinement to the suite of optical examination processes, including the potential to increase the number of marks recovered in a noncontact, nondestructive way.     

EU VAT frauds

The paper analyzes the VAT frauds issues in the European Union after the abolition of the internal customs. All the suggested solutions based on the origin principle create distortions in the “one market” and have a doubtful efficiency. The reverse-charge regime for all business to business transactions joint with VAT at the last stage also creates heavy discriminations. The current system based on the destination principle joint with ad hoc measures—such as specific reverse-charge, rebate and margin regime under evidence that VAT due has been paid, joint/several liability…—and a consistent information-exchange-system may provide a less distorting solution.     

Massive lesions owing to motorcyclist impact against guardrail posts: analysis of two cases and safety considerations

Two motorcycle riders lost control of their vehicle, fell, and hit a guardrail, which acted as a blade and led to a rapid, fatal outcome. In one case, the high velocity of the body at the time of the impact resulted in complete detachment of the trunk. Reconstruction of the accident dynamics enabled the guardrail post to be identified as the means of injury in both cases. The two accidents occurred over a short period of time, highlighting a dangerous phenomenon that in less severe cases is presumably associated with different degrees of survivor disability. The accidents deserve mention, because a different design of the impact surface of the guardrail post might have prevented the lethal outcome. There is an urgent need for legislators to pass regulations that modify crash barrier homologation criteria, which have been devised primarily for the safety of car passengers but fail to protect motorcyclists.     

Handwriting evidence evaluation based on the shape of characters: application of multivariate likelihood ratios

A novel Bayesian methodology has been developed to quantitatively assess handwriting evidence by means of a likelihood ratio (LR) designed for multivariate data. This methodology is presented and its applicability is shown through a simulated case of a threatening anonymous text where a suspect is apprehended. The shape of handwritten characters a, d, o, and q of the threatening text was compared with characters of the true writer, and then with two other writers, one with similar and one with dissimilar characters shape compared to the true writer. In each of these three situations, 100 draws of characters were made and the resulting distributions of LR were established to consider the natural handwriting variation. LR values supported the correct hypothesis in every case. This original Bayesian methodology provides a coherent and rigorous tool for the assessment of handwriting evidence, contributing undoubtedly to integrate the field of handwriting examination into science.