Delineating and derogating constitutional rights in Trinidad and Tobago

This article examines the approach taken by courts in Trinidad and Tobago when analysing the Parliament’s power under section 13 of the Constitution to derogate from constitutionally guaranteed rights protected under section 4. The author analyses inconsistencies in the tests applied by the courts over the years in various cases and considers a different approach that could be adopted in order to protect citizens’ rights while having due deference to the Parliament’s power to legislate.     

The Politics of the Minimum Wage in Hong Kong

This article provides an account of the recent introduction of a minimum wage in Hong Kong in 2011. Traditional welfare state theories had their origins in rich democracies. We refine the theoretical arguments in accordance with the semi-democratic nature of Hong Kong. We argue that the legislation was initiated reluctantly by the business-friendly government under unfavourable economic conditions. Any subsequent concessions to labour were not attributable to labour strength or political oppositions, which were very weak. Instead, multiple miscalculations by the politically dominant business side allowed the labour movement to gain limited grounds throughout the struggle. We also apply our arguments to the case of Singapore, illustrating how welfare state theories can be adapted to less democratic systems.     

China in the dynamic Asia‐Pacific region

The Chinese economy has experienced spectacular growth in recent years. Despite its huge trade and investment potential, China today remains an insignificant player in the world economy. But the emerging Chinese economy has already profoundly changed the pattern of trade and investment flows in the Asia‐Pacific region. Over the years, the Chinese economy has been steadily integrated with its neighbouring economies of Japan, the NIEs and ASEAN, which are all well known for their dynamic growth. The growing integration of the Chinese economy, with its huge economic potential, into the Asia‐Pacific region will enhance the region's prospects for further growth. Most Asia‐Pacific economies take a positive view of China's increasing economic involvement in the region as a new source of economic opportunity. It is in such a regional rather than the global context that the immediate effects of China's recent economic upsurge should be gauged.     

Hong Kong follows ECJ's 'genuine trade mark use' approach

In two applications for revocation of the two Regal trade marks,the Hong Kong Trade Marks Registry recognized trans-shipmentof goods through Hong Kong by an importer and manufacturer asbeing sufficient to establish use of a trade mark under section52(3) of the Trade Mark Ordinance; however, the use of the markmust be in the form as registered or in a form which differsin elements which do not alter the distinctive character ofthe mark and would require use of any prominent devices withinthe mark.     

Does E‐Government Promote Accountability? A Comparative Analysis of Website Openness and Government Accountability

Under the global pressure of information technology, the adoption of web-based technologies in public administration has created a new government-and-citizen interface. However, whether e-government will unambiguously lead to a more transparent, interactive, open and hence, accountable, government remains a central question. Applying a framework of global pressure effects on bureaucratic change, this paper conducts an empirical study on website openness and accountability in fourteen countries. Even when overall accountability levels rise, the accountability gap between different national bureaucracies often remains intact as web-based technologies typically maintain or reinforce the existing practices. The question of whether e-government promotes accountability depends on what kind of bureaucracy one is referring to in the first place. In the current debate about global convergence and national divergence on the effect of globalization on public bureaucracies, the spread of e-government provides a case of convergence in practice rather than in results.     

村治与村民的婚姻家庭生活变迁模式研究——以1949—2009年间的L村为例

婚姻是男女两性的合法结合,这种结合的结果便产生了当时社会制度所认可的夫妻关系。在传统体制下,江汉平原的L村由于政府对民众的全面管理、人民公社对村民的全面监督,村民的婚姻关系相对稳定。体制转型时期,因为村级治理权限的大幅收缩,村民婚姻生活出现重大变化,个人价值极大凸显,传统家庭伦理道德发生变更,亲子关系疏远。总的来说,婚姻生活因国家政治环境的影响而变化。     

Knowing your audience: How the structure of international relations and organizational choices affect amnesty international’s advocacy

While research has addressed the effects of international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) advocacy on human rights outcomes, less is known about how INGOs choose advocacy targets and tactics. We combine insights from political economy and constructivism to understand how INGOs come to choose targets and tactics through the concepts of information and leverage politics, first articulated by Keck and Sikkink (1998), and salience politics, or the need to select cases that energize organization members and donors. INGOs select potential targets for advocacy and choose their tactics based on considerations of leverage potential and political salience, both of which are a function of potential target states’ aid, trade, and security linkages with major Western powers. Using data on Amnesty International’s written advocacy efforts - background reports, press releases, and new data on Urgent Actions - we find robust evidence that Amnesty International accounts for these linkages with Western powers in choosing targets for its advocacy campaigns.     

Dental age assessment of southern Chinese using the United Kingdom Caucasian reference dataset

Dental age assessment is one the most accurate methods for estimating the age of an unknown person. Demirjian's dataset on a French-Canadian population has been widely tested for its applicability on various ethnic groups including southern Chinese. Following inaccurate results from these studies, investigators are now confronted with using alternate datasets for comparison. Testing the applicability of other reliable datasets which result in accurate findings might limit the need to develop population specific standards. Recently, a Reference Data Set (RDS) similar to the Demirjian was prepared in the United Kingdom (UK) and has been subsequently validated. The advantages of the UK Caucasian RDS includes versatility from including both the maxillary and mandibular dentitions, involvement of a wide age group of subjects for evaluation and the possibility of precise age estimation with the mathematical technique of meta-analysis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of the United Kingdom Caucasian RDS on southern Chinese subjects. Dental panoramic tomographs (DPT) of 266 subjects (133 males and 133 females) aged 2-21 years that were previously taken for clinical diagnostic purposes were selected and scored by a single calibrated examiner based on Demirjian's classification of tooth developmental stages (A-H). The ages corresponding to each stage of tooth developmental stage were obtained from the UK dataset. Intra-examiner reproducibility was tested and the Cohen kappa (0.88) showed that the level of agreement was 'almost perfect'. The estimated dental age was then compared with the chronological age using a paired t-test, with statistical significance set at p<0.01. The results showed that the UK dataset, underestimated the age of southern Chinese subjects by 0.24 years but the results were not statistically significant. In conclusion, the UK Caucasian RDS may not be suitable for estimating the age of southern Chinese subjects and there is a need for an ethnic specific reference dataset for southern Chinese.     

Service providers' reactions to intimate partner violence as a function of victim sexual orientation and type of abuse

In this online vignette study, a national sample of domestic violence shelter service providers (N = 282) completed a 10-item questionnaire about a woman experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). Scenarios varied in terms of couple sexual orientation (heterosexual or lesbian) and type of abuse (physical or nonphysical). Results indicate that although participants did not overtly discriminate against a woman in a lesbian relationship, they were less likely to perceive her as a victim, and their acceptance of a lesbian as a client was more dependent on their comfort with her than was the case for a woman in a heterosexual relationship. Type of abuse, as expected, had a main effect on many questions, with physical abuse taken more seriously than nonphysical abuse. Scores on the Attitudes Toward Lesbians subscale (Herek) were unrelated to responses. Implications for service providers are discussed.