Protection, Parity, or Promotion: Public Attitudes to Cohabitation and the Purposes of Legal Reform

Cohabitation law reform may be informed by different purposes. Three are considered in this paper: protection of parties at risk when relationships break down, parity of treatment between different forms of partnership, and the promotion of particular family forms. These are considered in relation to the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 in the context of recent evidence about public attitudes towards cohabitation. Public attitudes and the approach adopted in the 2006 Act are juxtaposed, raising questions about the alignment of public attitudes and the direction of law reform on cohabitation.     

Kant and the Transnational Order: Towards a European Community Jurisprudence*

Abstract. This paper seeks to suggest a jurisprudential grounding for the European Community, and seeks to do so by using a specifically Kantian philosophy of law. Kant's observations on the nature of transnational orders, like so much of his political theory, have tended to be overlooked. To do so is to overlook one of the great political and jurisprudential treasures in modern western thought. It will be suggested that a proper understanding of a Kantian normative order, and the application of such a model to the European Community will serve to dispel much of the confusion and sometimes near histrionic commentaries which have characterised recent attempts to understand the jurisprudence of the Community.     

Transparency of Risk and Reward in U.K. Public–Private Partnerships

Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs) are an increasingly common mechanism for the renewal of public sector infrastructure, although in the United Kingdom, these have been criticized as representing poor value for money. An inherent assumption of much of this criticism is that a corollary of detriment for the public sector is benefit for the private sector. This paper highlights the difficulty of objectively verifying the many criticisms and assumptions regarding risk and reward associated with PPPs. Public and private sector disclosure policies and systems are analyzed and we conclude that neither sector practices openness and transparency. This results in a democratic accountability deficit in the public sector and a lack of meaningful data being made available to stakeholders in private companies.     

Court Orders and County Correctional Expenditures: Power of the Purse?*

Despite much speculation that court orders against correctional facilities have adversely impacted government finances, little empirical investigation has been conducted. Counties, already experiencing severe fiscal crisis, may increasingly allocate more of their budget toward local jails to comply with court-ordered improvements. This hypothesis was tested by examining time series data, case histories, and interviews with government, corrections, and justice officials in three counties. In addition, cross-sectional data from two constructed samples of matched counties compared expenditures in counties under and not under court order. Results suggested that judges were sometimes persistent in seeking reform, even ordering direct expenditures on jails. However, statistical investigation revealed that the effects of judicial intervention were relatively strong in some cases, but weak in others. The effects of court orders on correctional policy are heterogeneous, and the judicial “power of the purse” is limited by various legal and pragmatic constraints.     

THE SCUNTHORPE ENTERPRIZE ZONE: AN EXAMPLE OF MUDDLED INTERVENTIONISM

The article examines the case of the Scunthorpe Enterprize Zone (EZ) and the extent to which it is consistent with the Conservative Government's emphasis on the market mechanism. It also looks at the likely impact of this EZ on the local and sub-regional economy. The article concludes by observing that Scunthorpe District Council was quick to take advantage of its EZ status, which has already generated a significant number of jobs for the town, but at the possible cost of jobs in other parts of the sub region. Finally the Scunthorpe case would appear to support the view that the implementation of the policy has been in contradiction to the original objectives of central Government.