Rights,responsibilities and regulation – the three Rs of education: a consideration of the state's control over parental choice in education

Education is both a right and a responsibility. International instruments such as the International covenant on civil and political rights and the International convention on the rights of the child affirm the right of all children to education. This right is spelt out in the education legislation of all states and territories in Australia. Education is not only free but is compulsory for all children between certain ages. The obligation is imposed on parents (in accordance with definitions contained therein) to ensure that their children are both enrolled at and attend school. However, parental choice of education provider is allowed within each jurisdiction by way of state, private or church schools, all of which are registered and regulated to varying degrees by the state. The legislation of each jurisdiction also makes some degree of provision for parents who choose to opt out their children from any formal education setting and to educate them at home. Home education is also subject to state regulation. The assumption by the state of the responsibility for education guides this policy and legislation. The argument for state control of all education, no matter how and by whom it is provided, is that the state has an overriding interest in ensuring the economic well-being of its citizens and the growth of its intellectual capital. The state acknowledges that the responsibility for education is shared with parents, primarily by providing penalties for parents who fail to ensure enrolment and attendance of their children at a school. There is evidence that more and more parents in developed countries worldwide are choosing to educate their children at home, and anecdotal evidence suggests that Australia is part of this trend. To this end, this article critically examines the balance and relationship between the exercise of parental choice and responsibility in education, and state regulation and control. It does so by examining the means by which the legislation of different jurisdictions allows for choice in the exercise of the right to education, with particular reference to home education, places limitations on that choice and imposes control on the delivery of education outside state schools.     

The implementation of complex social policy: Institutional layering and unintended consequences in the National Disability Insurance Scheme

In this article, we identify the unfolding unintended consequences which flow from one instance of policy layering in Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). We show how use of a causal diagram, which highlights feedback loops and emergent properties, to map complex chains of causal factors can assist policy scholars and policy practitioners to understand the likely direction of change and possible responses. In the case of Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme, our analysis suggests that the likely direction of change will work against two of the fundamental design features of the NDIS: providing participants with more choice and control, and ensuring all eligible Australians are able to access appropriate services and supports regardless of where they live. Our analysis points to the use of price regulation as the site of potential intervention because of the role it plays in subsequent feedback loops and the development of the two, unwelcome, emergent properties.     

That’s Why the Lady Lost to the Trump: Demographics and the 2016 Presidential Election

I examine the relationship between demographics and vote choice using pre-election tracking polls, exit polls, and data on the American states. A number of important findings emerge: (1) there was a fair amount of preference stability in 2016; (2) Clinton underperformed Obama in 83% of demographic groups examined; (3) at the state level, the percent of whites with low levels of education and the size of the rural population had important effects on vote choice, and both of those variables were more strongly correlated with Democratic vote share in 2016 than in 2012; and (4) while state turnout rates were moderately correlated with Clinton’s vote share, changes in state turnout rates from 2012 to 2016 did not have a substantial impact on Clinton’s performance.     

CAN RATIONAL CHOICE BE CONSIDERED A GENERAL THEORY OF CRIME? EVIDENCE FROM INDIVIDUAL‐LEVEL PANEL DATA

In the last few decades, rational choice theory has emerged as a bedrock theory in the fields of economics, sociology, psychology, and political science. Although rational choice theory has been available to criminologists for many years now, the field has not embraced it as other disciplines have. Moreover, rational choice scholars have fueled this skepticism of the theory's generality by modeling offender decision making that is one‐sided—large on the costs of crime (sanction threats), short on the benefits of crime. In this article, we directly assess the generality of rational choice theory by examining a fully specified model in a population that is often presumed to be less rational—adolescents from lower socioeconomic families who commit both instrumental (property) and expressive crimes (violence/drugs). By using a panel of N = 1,354 individuals, we find that offending behavior is consistent with rational responses to changes in the perceived costs and benefits of crime even after eliminating fixed unobserved heterogeneity and other time‐varying confounders, and these results are robust across different subgroups. The findings support our argument that rational choice theory is a general theory of crime.     

Human Identification Using Automatic and Semi‐Automatically Detected Facial Marks

Continuing advancements in the field of digital cameras and surveillance imaging devices have led law enforcement and intelligence agencies to use analysis of images and videos for the investigation and prosecution of crime. When determining identity from photographic evidence, forensic analysts perform comparison of visible facial features manually, which is inefficient. In this study, we will address research efforts to use facial marks as biometric signatures to distinguish between individuals. We propose two systems to assist forensic analysts during photographic comparison: an improved multiscale facial mark system in which facial marks are detected automatically, and a semi‐automatic facial mark system that integrates human knowledge within the improved multiscale facial mark system. Experiment results employ a high‐resolution time‐elapsed dataset acquired at the University of Notre Dame between 2009 and 2011. The results indicate that the geometric distributions of facial mark patterns can be used to distinguish between individuals.     

“Take My License n’ All That Jive,I Can’t See … 35”: Little Hope for the Future Encourages Offending Over time

A very small number of studies has observed that persons who perceive an early age-at-death report a higher risk of offending. This literature, however, is limited by the use of general population samples, cross-sectional data, and the failure to consider both the determinants of perceived age-at-death, as well as some of the mediating processes associated with the relationship between perceived age-at-death and offending. Using data for a large sample of serious youthful offenders from two urban cities and who were followed for seven years, the current study attends to these concerns. Results show that gender, race/ethnicity, and adverse neighborhood conditions influence the perceived age-at-death; this perception distinguishes between distinct trajectories of offending, and such perceptions also influence both perceived risks and perceived rewards as well as one’s impulse control.     

Traits and states at work: lure,risk and personality as predictors of occupational crime

This study linked individual characteristics to proximate factors operating in the moment of decision-making to predict occupational crime. We distinguished between people’s task-related conscience, as embodied by the Conscientiousness personality trait, and a more general moral conscience as embodied by the Honesty-Humility trait, hypothesizing that both traits are differentially related to the way situational characteristics, such as costs and benefits, are perceived. We operationalized the concept of ‘felt lure’ emanating from the benefits of a crime, defining it as an affective state that tempts people to commit a criminal act, and examined it next to perceived risk of sanction as a proximate predictor of criminal choice. In line with our predictions, Conscientiousness and Honesty-Humility significantly predicted occupational criminal choice as did felt lure and perceived risk. Specifically, perceived risk and felt lure mediated the relations between Conscientiousness and Honesty-Humility on the one hand, and occupational criminal choice on the other.     

《民法典》背景下跨国姓名权法律选择的完善

自然人姓名问题涉及不同的法律领域。2020年我国《民法典》第四编第三章为自然人姓名问题提供了最新的实体法保护规则。早在11年前,我国《涉外民事关系法律适用法》(以下简称《法律适用法》)就已对自然人姓名问题作出了规定。在国际私法中,个人姓名面临的基本问题是法院地国应适用何种连结点以确定涉外个人姓名的准据法。我国《法律适用法》第15条和第46条分别对涉外姓名确定和变更问题、涉外姓名侵权问题规定了法律选择规则,同时第5条对涉外姓名法律选择设立了不得违反我国公共秩序的最低界限。然而,我国对姓名国际私法规则采取“归并”的立法模式,没有对跨国姓名权法律选择和其他涉外人格权法律选择进行区别处理,未回应我国《民法典》姓名权在人格权领域的特殊性,而且忽略了《民法典》第1056条婚后夫妻姓名的平等价值和第1112条允许灵活选择被收养儿童姓名的立法意旨。虽然我国《法律适用法》姓名国际私法规则与《民法典》姓名实体法规则存在明显的差异,但二者互为补充。我国《法律适用法》有必要随着《民法典》的实施而对涉外姓名国际私法规则予以相应的变革。     

论公司法与民法典的良性互动关系

《公司法》与《民法典》无缝对接、有机衔接、同频共振、相辅相成《民法典》中的基本原则普适于公司法律关系,诸项具体制度也可补充适用。《公司法》对特定事项有规定、而《民法典》无规定时,应适用《公司法》。两法对特定事项均有规定、但相抵触时,应优先适用《公司法》。两法对法人制度的规定详略不同、但不相抵触时,应优先适用《公司法》。两法在很多公司法案件中可兼容并用,协同共治,互不排斥。平等、自愿、公平、诚信、公序良俗、绿色、关怀弱势群体和禁止权利滥用共同构成民法八项基本原则。而公司法有其独特原则,如等价有偿、尊重与保障公司的生存权与发展权、慎重解散公司、坚持商业模式的包容性、促进公司的三重营利性、弘扬股权文化、鼓励公司社会责任和构建新型亲清政商关系原则。要尊重《公司法》的特别法地位,必须切实扭转司法实践中的“轻公司法化”现象。修改《公司法》和解释《民法典》应着眼于消除规范冲突,预防制度真空,铸造制度合力。     

我国未成年人教养保护制度的立法选择

关于未成年人的教养保护,大陆法系国家和英美法系国家分别采取了亲权与监护并行以及由监护吸收亲权两种立法模式。应在对亲权和监护制度进行比较研究以及对我国现行未成年人保护教养制度进行评估的基础上,关注大陆法系国家亲权制度的现代发展,借鉴亲权制度现代发展的成果,就父母对未成年子女的教养保护设立父母照顾制度,与监护制度一起实现未成年人的民法保护。