The Promise and Perils of Interpretivism in Australian International Relations

Australian International Relations (IR) was once a hybrid of American and European styles of political science, but today it is dominated by a British‐inspired post‐positivism which has its virtues – and its vices – and which utilises various interpretive and semi‐interpretive approaches. This paper welcomes the ‘interpretive turn’ in Australian IR, but recognises its weaknesses, and argues that, to overcome them, interpretivists must be clear about what interpretivism should and should not entail. It argues that a thoroughgoing interpretivism offers two things that qualitative work in Australian IR desperately needs: a revived focus on explaining international relations, as well as understanding it, and a renewed engagement with other fields and other modes of studying the field.     

A repository of 14 PCR-loci Italian gene frequencies in the World Wide Web

A collection of 6830 typing results produced by the Immunohematology Laboratory at the UCSC, pertaining to 11 STRs (FES/FPS, vWA31, HUMTH01, F13A1, MBP, D21S11, D7S460, D18S51, CD4, TPOX, CSF1PO) and 3 AmpFLPs (D1S80, APO-B, COL2A1), is publicly available as an electronic archive at a website.     

For the health of the economy and patent system: rationale and scope of patent attorney privilege

Legal context: There exists, in some countries, a patent attorney privilege.This privilege allows an actual or potential holder of patentrights to withhold from a court communications that it has hadwith its patent attorney. The privilege is not recognized inall jurisdictions and there is variation in the extent of theprivilege in those countries where it does exist. Key points: This article explores the rationale for the privilege in orderto see if there is a sound basis upon which to found it. Througha consideration of the justifications for other legal privileges,the article finds that patent attorney privilege is a justifiableprotection for communications between clients and their patentattorneys. If there was a possibility that the communicationswould have to be revealed in court, this may impact the fulland frank nature of the communications. Such communicationsassist patent attorneys, as professionals with expertise ina specialized field, to provide clients with appropriate andeffective advice. That advice goes directly to the maintenanceand benefit of the patent system and the overall economy. Practical significance: As a result of the variation in the extent of the privilegearound the world, there are moves afoot to reform its operation.This article reveals strong public policy reasons for the recognitionof a patent attorney privilege. These grounds also reinforcethe need to ensure that privilege is not unduly limited in itsoperation in any jurisdiction.     

Medical professionals convicted of accessing child pornography--presumptive lifetime prohibition on paediatric practice? Health Care Complaints Commission v Wingate

Health Care Complaints Commission v Wingate [2007] NSWCA 326 concerns an appeal from the New South Wales Medical Tribunal regarding its findings on professional misconduct outside the practice of medicine in relation to a doctor convicted of possessing child pornography. The latest in a number of cases on this issue in Australia, it highlights the complexity of such decisions before medical tribunals and boards, as well as the diversity of approaches taken. Considering both this case and the recent Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria case of Re Stephanopoulos [2006] MPBV 12, this column argues that Australian tribunals and medical boards may not yet have achieved the right balance here in terms of protecting public safety and the reputation of the profession as a whole. It makes the case for a position statement from Australian professional bodies to create a presumption of a lifetime prohibition on paediatric practice after a medical professional has been convicted of accessing child pornography.     

Barriers Inhibiting Industry from Partnering with Universities: Evidence from the Advanced Technology Program

This paper describes a small, unique set of project data that was assembled as part of a larger study on universities as research partners. Herein, we summarize, to the extent possible, our interpretation of what the project data reveal about barriers, intellectual property (IP) concerns in particular, inhibiting industry from partnering with universities.     

Betting shops in the public eye: A commentary

Betting shops are a familiar feature in towns and cities throughout the UK. However, in recent years, increasing social and political concerns have been expressed about the presence of betting shops in high streets and about the role of betting shops in encouraging gambling. Such concerns include the concentration of betting shops in areas of social deprivation, the impact of such shops on the vitality of and viability of town centres, the perceived links between betting shops and both anti‐social behaviour and criminal activity and the presence of Fixed Odds Betting Terminals in betting shops. This commentary paper outlines the origin and characteristics of betting shops, explores some of the recent concerns betting shops have attracted and offers some brief concluding reflections on the impact of policy responses to these concerns.     

Post-conflict justice in divided democracies: the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India

Abstract

Official figures claim that almost 3000 people were killed, and many more injured or displaced, in four days of rioting aimed at the Sikh population of Delhi in late October and early November 1984 following the assassination of Indira Gandhi. This article analyses the efforts made to address the human rights violations that occurred. It argues that as a divided democracy, India has struggled to do justice to the victims, despite multiple commissions of inquiry, compensation schemes and a prime ministerial apology. It argues that this has occurred not simply because of challenges commonly faced by democracies dealing with similar incidents, but also because of the particular problems faced in a context in which we see continuity of rule by a political elite allegedly implicated in the abuse and in which there is acute concern for the survival of a fragile divided polity.     

MEDIATION AND DIVORCE

This article describes the Danish system, tracing its roots from the days when the crown dealt with all matters involving the family. The role of the amtmen in granting divorce through this administrative process is described. A total of 94% of all divorces in Denmark are handled through this procedure.