Transferring custody from birth parents to foster parents – an ambiguous matter

In this study, we analyse 32 district court decisions regarding custody transfers from the birth parents to the foster parents in Sweden. When a child has been in foster care for three years, in order to enhance stability for child, the local social welfare committee considers a transferral of custody to the foster parents following an application to the district court. Although all but one of the decisions in our study favoured a custody transfer, the courts acknowledge different reasons for this. Specifically, there is vagueness about whether or not functioning contact between the child and birth parents is a hindrance in custody transfer. Our findings stress the need for clarification in the law regarding the criteria for custody transfer in order to reach a more unified judgment. Furthermore, the district courts do not sufficiently acknowledge children’s views, and we suggest that children and young people should be made more visible in the decision-making process.     

RETHINKING CHINESE EVIDENCE THEORIES AND RECONSTRUCTING SYSTEM OF EVIDENCE: “A THREAD FOR THE PEARLS OF CHINESE EVIDENCE”

This article analyses Chinese traditional evidence theories that have evolved over a long period of time, to explore which theory, between objectivity and relevancy, best represents the basic attribute and logical thread of evidence. These theories are considered in the context of issues arising in evidential adjudication, including: the “Mirror of Evidence,” truth, the probability of proof standard, the choice between a notion of pursuing 100-percent certainty in adjudication and that wrongful acquittals are better than wrongful convictions, and the statutory proof doctrine comparedwith the system of free proof. Finally, the article presents the framework of and methods for drafting provisions of procedural evidence of the People’s Court.     

The legal geographies of transnational cyber-prosecutions: extradition,human rights and forum shifting

This article describes legal and human rights issues in three cases of transnational online offending involving extradition requests by the United States (US). These cases were selected as all suspects claimed the negative impacts of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) were sufficient to deny extradition on human rights grounds. We demonstrate how recent developments in UK and Irish extradition law raise human rights and prosecutorial challenges specific to online offending that are not met by established protections under domestic and internationally sanctioned approaches to extradition or human rights law. In these cases, although the allegedly unlawful conduct occurred exclusively online and concurrent jurisdiction enables prosecution at both the source and location of harm, we demonstrate why national courts hearing extradition challenges are extremely reluctant to shift the trial forum. We conclude by discussing the implications of the new geographies of online offending for future criminological research and transnational criminal justice.     

Retrospection and Perspective of Foreign Investment Legislation in China (1979–2009)

Thirty years have passed for foreign investment legislation in China since the promulgation of the first foreign investment law in 1979. The remarkable achievements in the past 30 years under the China’s reform and open policy have benefited from introduction of foreign investment to a large extent as the result of foreign investment legislation and its changes. This paper starts with a retrospection of foreign investment legislation in China since 1979, followed by a discussion on the features and motives of changes in such legislation, and makes conclusions on the experience and lessons from the legislation, which will be conducive to further improvement of foreign investment legislation in China.     

On Music,Censorship, and Globalization

Malik Bendjelloul’s music documentary, Searching for Sugar Man (2012), uses the narrative of its central figure, American rock “n” roll musician Sixto Rodriguez, to allegorize South Africa’s emergence from censorship and isolationism to a post-apartheid and increasingly transnational dispensation. I look at the cultural politics of apartheid-era censorship in attempt to account for Rodriguez’s cult appeal in South Africa, despite his artistic shortcomings and his obscurity in the USA. I then focus on the film’s final concert sequence, featuring Rodriguez’s first South African performance, which Bendjelloul subtly positions as a moment of celebration over the new possibilities enabled by the demise of apartheid and the rise of an increasingly integrated global culture.     

The Revolution and its Discontents: Grenadian Newspapers and Attempts to Shape Public Opinion during Political Transition

Abstract

What role did the newspaper play in attempting to influence public opinion in the early stages of the Grenada Revolution and what are the terms in which printed discourses on the revolution were conceptualised? The Grenada Revolution was a discursive political process where branding and narration were necessary elements in securing the revolution’s authority and legitimacy. This paper argues that Cuba functioned as a metonym through which the revolution was translated in Grenadian periodicals. Even before the coup of 13 March 1979 Grenadian media represented the New Jewel Movement—the revolutionary party—as Cuban-inspired and socialist. In order to examine how socialism in general, and the socialist character of the People’s Revolutionary Government (PRG) in particular, was narrated, a comparison is staged between two newspapers—the government-run Free West Indian and the privately owned The Torchlight. Competing discourses on Cuban communism are analysed for the ways in which they stood-in for the Grenadian people’s hopes, aspirations and anxieties in the midst of radical political change. Issues including race, gender equality, property ownership, freedom of religious practice and freedom of travel are examined in relation to capitalism and socialism, and the PRG’s efforts to maintain narrative authority of the revolution.     

Intent to Exit: Why Do US Federal Employees Leave?

This study examines factors that may influence an employee to exit an organization. Factors that are considered to influence exit are derived primarily from Hirschman’s model of exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect. Other variables considered are public service motivation, job satisfaction, pay satisfaction, gender, race, supervisory status, and agency. The study evaluates the relationships between these variables using data obtained from the United States’ 2010 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. Overall, the data suggest that there is a slight tendency of public employees to be intrinsically motivated.     

与犯罪形态有关的三个特别问题

由于分别直接关联着共同犯罪、罪数形态和犯罪的阶段形态,故＂片面共犯＂、罪数标准和＂意志以外的原因＂,构成了与犯罪形态有关的三个特别问题。基于事物的真相,＂片面共犯＂问题应按共同犯罪定性或处置,而罪数标准问题应以＂犯意与刑法特别规定结合说＂予以解答。至于＂意志以外的原因＂对犯罪阶段形态的影响,应立足于＂意志以外的原因＂作用于犯罪意志的程度及最终结果予以解答。     

干部学院学风建设的机制构建与实践

良好学风是干部教育培训质量的保证。加强学风建设,倡导优良学风,历来是我们党高度重视并着力解决的重要问题。2013年2月,中组部针对学员管理中存在的突出问题,下发了《关于在干部教育培训中进一步加强学员管理的规定》,意在通过强化学员管理带动学风建设。中国延安干部学院结合培训管理工作实际,从今年3月份开始,对所有培训班次在入学动员会上都发出＂弘扬延安精神,树立优良学风＂的倡议书。     

Missed opportunities: learning from the mistakes at Attica

The Attica prison riot was the culmination of years of increasing tension between the urban, racial, and ethnic minorities held at the prison and the rural, white officers, and administrators responsible for incarcerating them. While race was certainly an important factor in the riot, there were also a number of problems at the prison that prompted inmates of all races to unite against the New York State Department of Correctional Services and the state government. Inmates’ frustration increased as they waited for reforms that were promised but never materialized. As inmates’ patience waned, the prison administration made a number of decisions that damaged its ability to maintain peace and respond to problems. A review of the circumstances leading to the riot at the Attica Penitentiary in September 1971 is included as well as an analysis of some more recent riots where similar conditions and warning signs were present.