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。     

Public Policy and Social Science Training in Israel: The Impact of Structural Change on the Constitution of Knowledge

Recent reforms instituted in the network of higher education in Israel have focused on two elements: adjusting the managerial structure of the universities to make it more amenable to market criteria of efficiency and reducing the proportional weight of state funding to the universities compared to that allotted to the technical and professional colleges. The main elements of this process—increasing power of managers in academic institutions, shifting universities toward entrepreneurialism, the idea of the service university, and the massification of the system of higher education—are characteristic of similar changes in higher education in the U.K., the U.S.A., Canada, and Australia.This article examines the impact of organizational and structural changes on the categories of knowledge produced, and by extension on the production of knowledge itself. By examining changes in the organization of higher education in Israel and in particular in the social sciences, the article suggests that institutional and academic diversification have influenced the categorization of legitimate knowledge pertaining to society, the economy, and the political arena—the traditional terrain of the social sciences—and hence what is considered knowledge worth knowing about these subjects. Finally, the article points to certain political interests that have motivated this change, and examines their larger impact upon Israeli society.     

Associations Between Police Work Stressors and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms: Examining the Moderating Effects of Coping

The role of coping in the association between stress and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is not clear. We investigated the effects of active and passive coping strategies on the associations between police stress (administrative and organization pressure, physical and psychological threats, and lack of support) and PTSD symptoms in 342 police officers. Linear regression model was used in the analyses. The association between physical and psychological stress and PTSD symptoms was stronger in officers who used lower active coping (B?=?4.34, p?<?0.001) compared to those who utilized higher active coping (p_-interaction?=?0.027) (B?=?1.79, p?≤?0.003). A similar result was found between lack of support and PTSD symptoms (p_-interaction?=?0.016) (lower active coping, B?=?5.70, p?<?0.001; higher active coping, B?=?3.33, p?<?0.001), but was not significantly different comparing the two groups regarding the association between administrative and organizational pressure and PTSD symptoms (p_-interaction?=?0.376). Associations of total stress, administrative and organizational pressure, and physical and psychological stressors with PTSD symptoms were significantly stronger in officers who utilized higher passive coping (p_-interaction?=?0.011, 0.030, and 0.023, respectively). In conclusion, low active or high passive coping methods may exacerbate the effect of work stress on PTSD symptoms.