A Web-based Decision Support System for Divorce Lawyers

This paper discusses the design and development of a prototype web based expert system for calculating financial provision awards when a couple divorce in Scotland. The function of the system is primarily to help trainee lawyers to understand the structure and content of the matrimonial property and divorce domain, and to access case law available on the web in a systematic fashion. The system currently focuses on evaluating what property belonging to the parties should be included in "matrimonial property". We felt that an expert systems approach was appropriate for the domain of financial provision on divorce, since the modelling and application of expertise by an expert system is thought to be helpful in promoting "active learning". An e-commerce style interface was used for gathering information, and the complete text of the Family Law (Scotland) 1985 is also available in the system, often with hyperlinks to the main narrative body of the system. The system is designed to support an advisory, negotiating or mediatory role, rather than an adversarial one, since Scottish solicitors have a preference for seeking consensual negotiated settlements. A practical and useful future extension to the system would be to permit the drafting of electronic documents resulting from negotiated settlements, such as minutes or joint minutes of agreement.     

城市父母对青少年子女性教育知识和态度的调查

本文通过对北京、上海和西安三个城市的841位有青少年子女的父母的问卷调查,了解他们的性知识水平和对性及对青少年性教育的态度。调查发现,大多数父母具备一定的性生殖、艾滋病和性保健及性行为等方面的知识;对性持较为开放的观念;对在家庭和学校开展对青少年的性教育持肯定态度。调查还发现,父母的教育程度越高,性知识水平越高;父母性知识水平越高,对性及对青少年性教育的态度也越积极。     

Decentralization as a Post‐Conflict Stabilization Tool: The Case of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone's experience with decentralization as a post‐conflict stabilization tool highlights both the value of making and keeping a promise to empower citizens through local government and the importance of fully implementing that promise over a longer time horizon. The emergence of the country from civil conflict into peace and stability is one of the greatest success stories of post‐conflict stabilization. Although the nation has enjoyed over a decade of peace (and peaceful transitions from party to party), many of the conditions that laid the groundwork for conflict remain, especially in rural areas, due to the partial implementation of the decentralization framework. Based on a post‐conflict perspective, we review the re‐emergence of local governments in Sierra Leone following the civil war, the institutional and legal framework within which they exist, and some of the remaining challenges the nation faces. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Santa Clara County Greenbook Story: From Theory to Transformation

This article is an overview of the past 20 years, from a judicial perspective, of how a discreet selection of Greenbook recommendations were implemented in Santa Clara County, California. This historical overview shows that it is possible to take a guidebook written by national experts from many jurisdictions and tailor the intervention to a particular location with the assistance of local leadership. We applied a theoretical framework to government agency interventions and to the very real needs of families, and that process resulted in a profound transformation of practice.     

Laws that are Made to be Broken

Criminal laws are created to achieve various ends. These include (1) reducing the incidence of wrongdoing, and (2) holding wrongdoers responsible for their wrongs. Some criminal laws are created to further the first of these ends by means of compliance. The second end is to be furthered only if, regrettably, some fail to comply. These criminal laws are made to be followed. Other criminal laws are not created with compliance in mind. Conviction, in these cases, is no regrettable fallback. It is the primary means by which the law is to contribute to ends (1) and (2). Laws of this second kind are made to be broken. My concern in this paper is with the creation of such laws. Section 1 sharpens the contrast drawn above, and considers some arguments for enacting laws that are made to be broken. The following sections develop an argument against. Section 2 introduces what I call the identification principle. It argues that the principle is an implication of the ideal of the rule of law, and that it binds state officials who make, apply and enforce criminal laws. Section 3 argues that when laws are made to be broken, the identification principle is violated. Section 4 concludes.