Is There Room for Optimism in China’s 2010 Exclusionary Rule and Its 2012 Revision?

The 2010 exclusionary rule in China and its 2012 revision has led to a spate of scholarly writings about the efficacy of the rule in the country. Divergent points have been expressed as to the viability of the rule. This paper weighs in the discussion and provides optimism for the rule’s application in China. Using a document textual analysis, the paper examines the current debate about the rule and concludes by advancing recommendations on how the rule can be better applied in the country. The authors of the paper caution against hasty decisions about the effectiveness of the law given that cultural practices and not the law itself may impede the effectiveness of the law.     

Last-ditch attempt to improve the EU patent system

The European Commission has proffered a compromise seeking torevitalize the ongoing debate on the patent system in Europeby enabling Member States to reach a consensus.     

Professional Minimalism? The Ethical Consciousness of Commercial Lawyers

This article investigates empirically, through semi‐structured interviews, what shapes the professional ethical consciousness of commercial lawyers. It considers in‐house and private practice lawyers side by side, interrogating the view that in‐house ethics are different and inferior to private practice to suggest as much similarity as difference. In both constituencies, and in very similar ways, professional ethical concepts are challenged by the pragmatic logics of business. We examine how their ethical logics are shaped by these pragmatic logics, suggesting how both groups of practitioners could sometimes be vulnerable to breaching the boundary between tenable zeal for the client and unethical or unlawful conduct. Although they conceive of themselves as ethical, the extent to which practitioners are well equipped, inclined and positively encouraged to work ethically within their own rules is open to question. As a result, we argue professional ethics exert minimal, superficial influence over a more self‐interested, commercially‐driven pragmatism.     

Sex offender notification: An exploratory assessment of state variation in notification processes

Prior research suggested that when community members are notified that a sex offender is residing in their neighborhood they are likely to engage in precautionary behavior to prevent potential victimization. Since states employ different processes in notifying community members of the presence of a sex offender, it is important to examine the advantages and disadvantages of the various notification processes. The current exploratory study compared the proactive sex offender notification process in Hamilton County, Ohio, with the passive notification process in Jefferson County, Kentucky. Not surprisingly, study findings indicated that the proactive sex offender notification process used in Ohio resulted in better community dissemination of information.     

Jersey trusts and foreign divorce proceedings: The H Trust (2007) JRC 187

This is a second and important judgment in the H Trust litigation,which was first before the Royal Court in April 2006. At thathearing, the Royal Court directed the Jersey resident trusteeof the H Trust not to take any part in English divorce proceedingsbetween a husband and wife, both of whom were beneficiariesunder the H Trust, but to provide full information to the partiesfor use in the English High Court. The husband was the settlorof the H Trust. The Royal Court also encouraged the trusteeto assist in giving effect to any reasonable arrangement     

The urban household in Russia and the Soviet Union, 1900–2000: Patterns of family formation in a turbulent century

Starting from census data on co-residence and household composition, the authors analyse principles of family organisation and family formation in twentieth-century urban Russia and the Soviet Union. The article uses an adapted version of the classification of households developed by Peter Laslett and Eugene Hammel to study variation in household structure for successive population censuses. Changes in this variation between cross-sections are explained with the help of additional quantitative and qualitative data and are linked to the fundamental demographic, social and economic shifts which took place in Russian society in the course of the twentieth century. The article finds a family system characterised by a tendency towards nuclear family formation, but incorporating a fairly stable element of household extension. Co-residence of three generations was both an answer to a perennial housing problem and offered important advantages in the sphere of childcare and care for the elderly. Variation and fluctuation in household structure are found to be most pronounced during the turbulent first half of the century. After a period of stability during the post-war decades of Soviet rule, post-Soviet transformations provoke new changes.