The Al-Mashat affair: administrative accountability in parliamentary institutions

Abstract: The article approaches the Canadian federal government's handling of the Al-Mashat affair in May and June of 1991 as a case study in direct administrative accountability. The author begins with a discussion of the main lines of political control under responsible government, writing as a partisan for the traditional doctrines of collective and individual ministerial responsibility. A number of questions emerging from this discussion are then posed as probes into the case: was an important minister effectively shielded; was blame ever allocated in a convincing way; were the criteria of natural justice respected in both internal actions and in the House of Commons' Standing Committee on External Affairs and International Trade; were democratic controls over political and administrative action respected? It is the author's conclusion that the government's strategy to deflect its accountability onto a senior career official and a political chief of staff failed on all these counts and several more, as well. Perhaps the most important of these is the politicization of officials. Another disturbing element that the case reveals is a willingness to arrogate new powers and liberties to the executive. Sommaire: Cet article examine la reaction du gouvernement fédéral Canadian dams I'af-faire Al-Mashed, en mai et juin 1991, pour faire une étude de cas fort intéressante sur I'imputabilité administrative directe. L'auteur discute tout d'abord des grandes lignes du contrôle politique du gouvernement responsible, du point de vue d'un partisan des doctrines traditionnelles de responsabilité ministérielle collective et individuelle. L'auteur arrive alors à un certain nombre de questions qui permitting d'explorer plus loin ce cas: un minister important a-t-il en fait été protég? Le blâime dans cette affaire a-t-il jamais été attribué de manière convaincante? Les critères de la justice naturelle ont-ils été respectés aussi bien dans le cadre des mesures internes qu'au Comité permanent de la Chamber des Communes chargé des affaires extérieures et du commerce international? Les contrôles déocratiques régissant les activités politiques et administratives ont-ils été appliqués? L'auteur en arrive à la conclusion que, à tous ces égards et sur bien dautres points encore, la stratégie suivie par le gouvemement pour rejeter ses respon-sabilités sur un haut fonctionnaire et sur un chef de personnel politique fut un échec. L'élément le plus important est peut-être la politisation des fonctionnaires. L'autre élément contestable revélé dans cette affaire est l'inclination à attribuer de nouveaux pouvoirs et Iibertés à 1'Exécutif.     

Crimes of the State: The Persecution and Protection of Refugees

When refugees arrive at the borders and on the shores of the Global North they are increasingly criminalised and subject to a range of law and order type rhetoric and practices. This paper outlines an alternative criminological engagement with the condition of refugeehood that shifts the focus from the refugee to the practices of the state. First, it splices definitions of state crime with the highly legalistic refugee definition to offer alternative conceptualisations of persecution in the determination of who is accorded the legal status of refugee. Second, it applies state crime frameworks to the increasingly restrictive and punitive refugee policies of countries in the Global North. It concludes by locating theorisations of state crime within the broader project of reconceptualising notions of sovereignty.Sharon Pickering BA(Melb), MA(Soton), PhD(Melb) lectures in Criminal Justice and Criminology at Monash University Australia. She has worked with refugees and written on forced migration issues for the past five years including her recent book Refugees and State Crime (2005 Institute of Criminology Monograph Series/Federation Press).     

Large‐Scale Social Protest: A Business Risk and a Bureaucratic Opportunity

The public versus private nature of organizations influences their goals, processes, and employee values. However, existing studies have not analyzed whether and how the public nature of organizations shapes their responses to concrete social pressures. This article takes a first step toward addressing this gap by comparing the communication strategies of public organizations and businesses in response to large‐scale social protests. Specifically, we conceptualize, theorize, and empirically analyze the communication strategies of 100 organizations in response to large‐scale social protests that took place in Israel during 2011. We find that in response to these protests, public organizations tended to employ a “positive‐visibility” strategy, whereas businesses were inclined to keep a “low public profile.” We associate these different communication strategies with the relatively benign consequences of large‐scale social protests for public organizations compared with their high costs for businesses.     

The potency of cannabis in New Zealand from 1976 to 1996.

The potency of cannabis plant and cannabis products seized in New Zealand over the period of 20 years is studied. The earlier part of the study includes mainly imported cannabis oil and cannabis resin, and both imported and locally grown cannabis plant, that was seized by the police. The later part of the study includes little imported material. Cannabis plant is now locally grown, cannabis oil is locally manufactured and imported cannabis resin is rarely seized. The average potency of the cannabis plant available to the user has not increased over the 20 years period. Cannabis leaf contains on average 1% THC and the female flowering heads on average 3.5% THC. The average potency of cannabis oil has dropped from its peak at 34% THC in 1985 to 13% THC in 1995.     

The information-based organization: new dimensions for the public manager

Public management education should reflect the tremendous organizational changes brought about by information technologies and their applications. Increasing penetration of information technologies and the need for well-considered approaches to use those technologies will pose new opportunities and obstacles for public managers. This paper describes three key skill areas for curriculum consideration: information technology management, information management, and human resource management.     

Anti-triad legislations in Hong Kong: issues, problems and development

One way to tackle triad societies is through effective legislation. The present article first describes and reviews the legislation dealing with triad activities in Hong Kong – The Societies Ordinance – and highlights the main issues and problems. Four issues are discussed, namely ambiguity in the definition of triad membership, doubtful neutrality of triad experts, outdated triad-related literature cited in the court, and the contradiction with human rights and freedom of expression. The article further examines the effect of the ordinance in suppressing triad activities and argues that the law is not very effective in penalizing senior triad members, thus justifying the need for a new legislation to contain the growth of triad activities and organized crime.     

Homicide and serious sexual offences committed by children and young people: Findings from the literature and a serious case review

This article is based on the findings from a Part 8 Case Review (Serious Case Review) conducted by The Bridge Child Care Development Service, and the subsequent overview report entitled ‘Childhood Lost: A Part 8 Case Review Overview Report DM’ (2001). The review concerns the case of a young male aged 18 (DM) who was convicted for the rape and murder of a child aged 11 (WN). The article highlights the key themes that have emerged from the case review. These include the complex issue of predicting and managing risk; effective inter-agency collaboration in reducing the risk of serious sexual and violent offending in young people; and the provision of specialist residential treatment facilities for serious juvenile sexual offenders. The key issues are located within the broader context of contemporary literature and research. It is established that children and young people who commit homicide and other very serious offences are highly likely to have experienced multiple and severe traumatic events during childhood. In addition without appropriate intervention, children with persistent risk characteristics have a high likelihood of committing further acts of aggression and violence. The review into the case of DM recommends that there should be a national strategy for the management and treatment of serious juvenile sexual offenders, and other young offenders at significant risk of serious and violent offending.     

The filtered encounter: online dating and the problem of filtering through excessive information

Technologies are meant to enable us to contact more people, more often, and in this way “network” with others. Applied to dating, this would appear to be a good thing, as people would thereby benefit from having additional choice. However, the flip side of the coin is that because of the increased choice we get a case of too much information, too many choices, too many potential (and potentially unsatisfying) mates. We find in a qualitative study of online daters that filtering through the many options, partners and choices offered by online dating sites is a prime concern in online dating. Our aim in this paper is to characterize these filtering techniques, and also to discuss their potential social impact. We find that filtering begins at the initial screening process as daters try to “catch out” incongruous behaviour before investing too much energy in someone unsuitable. Participants quickly become increasingly technologically literate of the code-based features of the site in their quest for greater filtering efficiency. They also come to rely on the cultivation of their own filtering “instinct”. In the end, however, the prevalence and ongoing practice of filtering creates what can only be termed a shopping culture of dating, which often serves to sap the dating energies of participants.