State Legislative Solutions to Silica/Mixed-Dust Claims

Ohio has enacted comprehensive silica and mixed-dust legislation in an effort to prevent these claims from becoming the latest mass tort. The legislation attempts to eliminate the use of experts who spend the majority of their professional time providing medical and exposure consulting services to the plaintiffs' bar. By avoiding the worst abuses of the asbestos tort system and requiring individuals to establish certain minimum medical criteria before pursuing a personal injury claim, the Ohio legislation serves as a model for comprehensive state and federal tort reform legislation.     

Lingering environmental pessimism and the role of government in Hong Kong

Based on data from two opinion surveys conducted in 2000 and 2008, this study shows that Hong Kong people have been consistently highly aware of the seriousness of different environmental problems and relatively pessimistic about the future resolution of these problems. Such pessimism is arguably related to their lack of confidence in the government's enforcement of environmental protection. Through an analysis of the environmental policy‐making and enforcement agency and three selected enforcement cases, the study further finds that the people's lack of confidence can be traced to the government's failure to bring about a comprehensive, integrated, far‐sighted environmental strategy with sophisticated institutional support and detailed enforcement mechanisms. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is consent required to use registered trade marks on model replica cars?

A car manufacturer that is a proprietor of a trade mark registeredfor toys cannot prohibit use by a third party of its trade markon model replica cars unless such use affects the functionsof the trade mark or takes unfair advantage of, or is detrimentalto, the distinctive character or repute of the mark.     

Entrenching Bills of Rights

The entrenchment of a bill of rights, and the consequent removalof the matters covered in the bill from the domain of the legislature,is commonly thought to constitute a transfer of power from thelegislature to the courts. Yet the simple answer to this thoughtis that, strictly speaking, no such transfer takes place, forin acquiring power to determine the content of a bill of rightsthe courts do not acquire the power to legislate that the billdenies to the legislature. The more complex response is thatwhat the courts acquire when a bill of rights is entrenchedis the power to set a constitutional agenda, a power that thelegislature may never have had and so has not necessarily lost,a power the political significance of which depends on the formand content of what is entrenched and the value and characterof the power it leaves in the hands of the legislature. In particular,the entrenchment of a project of governance (as typified bythe positive duties conventionally associated with economicand social rights) raises concerns about the power exercisedby courts that are not raised by the entrenchment of a projectof non-governance (as typified by the negative duties conventionallyassociated with civil and political liberties). Non-governancemay be objectionable, but not because the courts secure it.Governance, however, may be objectionable just because the courtssecure it.     

Investigating the Postmortem Molecular Biology of Cartilage and its Potential Forensic Applications

This study investigated the postmortem molecular changes that articular cartilage undergoes following burial. Fresh pig trotters were interred in 30‐cm‐deep graves at two distinct locations exhibiting dissimilar soil environments for up to 42 days. Extracts of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint cartilage from trotters disinterred weekly over 6 weeks were analyzed by Western blot against the monoclonal antibody 2‐B‐6 to assess aggrecan degradation. In both soil conditions, aggrecan degradation by‐products of decreasing molecular size and complexity were observed up to 21 days postmortem. Degradation products were undetected after this time and coincided with MCP/MTP joint exposure to the soil environment. These results show that cartilage proteoglycans undergo an ordered molecular breakdown, the analysis of which may have forensic applications. This model may prove useful for use as a human model and for forensic investigations concerning crimes against animals and the mortality of endangered species.