The Uniform Civil Code: The Politics of the Universal in Postcolonial India

This article speaks of a debate in contemporary India: that surrounding the validity of enacting a civil code that applies uniformly to all communities and religions in the state. In certain feminist arguments, such a code is seen as possibly providing a sphere of rights to Indian women that is alternative to the rights – or wrongs – given to them by the plural religious laws, which form the basis of the civil law in India. India, however, is a heterogeneous polity, encompassing a diversity of cultures and religions, some dominant and others forming minorities. Given these differences, some critics see the feminist call for a Uniform Civil Code as an essentialist move that prioritises gender over other agendas and politics. They argue that the site of the ‚universal’ in this feminist move is a liberal site that inherently excludes marginalised Others and benefits the dominant subjects in India. In my article, I contest this critique and question whether the site of the universal and its authorial subject in postcolonial India is, in fact, an exclusionary liberal ruse of power. I draw insights from the history of the formation of the postcolonial nation-state in India to posit an experience of the state and the universal within it, which is alternative to the Western liberal model. The aim of this article is, therefore, not so much to debate the in/validity of a Uniform Civil Code, as to address certain contemporary post-structuralist critiques of the site of the universal in postcolonial India and posit a departure from them, based on perspectives drawn from history.     

I — Legislation

In this paper, the various challenges to the prosecutorial discretion of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) are identified. It deals with two distinct areas of prosecutorial discretion: first, the scope of judicial review relating to prosecutorial decision in the light of the Privy Council judgment of Mohit v The Director of Public Prosecutions [2006] UKPC 20; and secondly, the impact and implications of the decision of the Purdy case which imposes an obligation on the DPP to issue a policy statement as regards conduct which will not be the subject matter of a prosecution even though there may be sufficient evidence to prosecute such conduct under the relevant legislation.     

香港大律师公会主席林孟达致辞

今天各级司法人员，两大法律专业的成员，跟法律界在本地和海外的各方好友，在此齐首共聚一堂，我们正好趁着这个特别的场合，思考过去一年发生的事情和前瞻来年法律界、司法界将面对的挑战。去年，公会执行委员会比往常繁忙。公会就政府关於填补立法会因议员辞职的出缺安排的建议，五次发出声明，也对政府的谘询文件，提交了陈述书回应。     

律政司司长黄仁立龙致辞

去年十月我在巴黎出席在历史悠久、雄伟庄严的司法部大楼举行的庆祝《海牙取消认证公约》50周年的会议,并在会上发言。虽然这项公约仍未适用於内地,香港一向采用公约的原则,并使用公约规定的附加证明书超过40年。     

Examination of writings concealed by black pressure sensitive adhesive tape

Examination of concealed writing is often a challenge for forensic document examiners. Although the published literature describes many techniques, these are often only successful when the writing has been concealed by pencil, pen, or by spreading inks of different tint or by smearing of the writing with colored fluids. When black pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) tape is used, these procedures are ineffective. The present report describes the use of a straight chain hydrocarbon to remove the PSA tape and allow a comparison of the concealed writing with that of a suspect. The use of the solvent had no observable effect on either the writing or the substrate. The procedure is rapid and easy to use and is also effective with other colored PSA tapes.     

Missed Opportunities for Diagnosis of Post‐traumatic Thrombosis: A Case Series and Literature Review

Thrombosis is caused by abnormalities in the composition of the blood, the quality of the vessel wall, and the nature of the blood flow. Herein, we present four cases of fatal thrombus formation after a trauma, which were missed at clinical diagnosis as the symptoms were misinterpreted. We stress that a blunt trauma can be fatal because of its direct and indirect kinetic energy effects at the subacute phase. This report highlights the importance of considering thrombosis in the diagnosis of closed trauma, which is usually missed because of lack of awareness for early diagnosis and treatment or is detected too late for any therapeutic intervention, which can result in avoidable morbidity and mortality.     

Approaching Peace Through Health with a Critical Eye

It has been a privilege to be asked to edit this edition of Peace Review and to see such interests in the connections between peace and health. Peace through Health (PtH) was developed at McMaster University in Canada in the 1990s as a theoretical concept with practical applications such as field projects. Building on the Health as a Bridge to Peace (HBP) policy and planning framework of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in the 1980s, the framework encouraged collaboration on policy development, training, and service delivery across borders and lines in conflict, integrating peacebuilding “concerns, concepts, principles, strategies, and practices into health relief and health sector development.”