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Legal Proceedings (legal + proceeding)
Selected AbstractsThe Treating Physician as Expert Witness: Ethical and Pragmatic ConsiderationsPAIN MEDICINE, Issue 5 2006Ben A. Rich JD ABSTRACT Objective., The objective of this analysis is to apprise pain physicians of the ethical concerns and practical considerations that arise when a treating physician is called upon to testify as an expert witness in a legal proceeding involving his or her own patient. The provision of expert testimony in medico-legal proceedings has come under heightened scrutiny in recent years. When a physician testifies as an expert witness, such testimony is considered to be the practice of medicine, and hence subject to the same ethical and professional obligations as patient care. Increasingly, medical professional organizations have promulgated guidelines for such activities, and even implemented oversight mechanisms to review complaints concerning expert testimony by their members. Additional issues are raised when the expert witness is also the treating physician for the patient who is a party to the legal proceeding in which the expert testimony is offered. Conclusions., While it is not categorically unethical or inadvisable for a physician to testify as an expert witness in a medico-legal proceeding involving his or her own patient, such activity raises special issues and concerns. Prospective expert witnesses in such situations should be cognizant of these issues and insure that they have been adequately addressed before and during the testimony. [source] Legal and technical defensibility of data and the Triad approachREMEDIATION, Issue 2 2005Robert Howe The Triad approach was developed primarily to limit decision uncertainty during cleanups at hazardous waste sites. The fundamental principles of the Triad approach include development of a site characterization model and use of emerging technologies, which can provide data at a higher density than could be affordably collected using traditional data collection methodologies, to refine the model in essentially real time. New data formats are used collaboratively with data in traditional formats to iteratively pin down the relative concentration, nature, and extent of contaminants, thus minimizing decision uncertainties. This article examines the potential admissibility as evidence in legal proceedings of data collected by technologies designed to improve the density of information that are commonly used during the course of Triad-type projects. The article explains that such criteria may vary depending on the purpose for which the evidence is to be used (e.g., as direct evidence to prove site conditions or as support for the testimony of an expert witness) and the court in which the legal proceeding would take place (e.g., federal court or state court). Admissibility in federal courts of data both as direct evidence and as support for expert witness testimony is covered. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] ALGONQUIN NOTIONS OF JURISDICTION: INSERTING INDIGENOUS VOICES INTO LEGAL SPACESGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2006Bettina Koschade ABSTRACT. Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal notions of geography, nature and space sometimes compete, and these differences can create barriers to joint environmental problem-solving. This paper examines the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation and Allies (AAFNA) and the strategies they used in juridical and legislative settings to make their voices heard. In the Tay River Ontario Environmental Review Tribunal (2000,2002), AAFNA attempted to introduced their knowledge of the environmental deterioration which would be caused by a Permit To Take Water issued to a multinational corporation by the Ontario Ministry of Environment. The paper is divided into two parts: first, it describes the concepts of Algonquin knowledge, jurisdiction and responsibility; second, it explores the strategies used to integrate their perspective into legal proceedings constructed by the Canadian government. This case reveals how some Algonquin people conceive of space and responsibility in deeply ecological, rather than narrowly juridical, terms. It establishes that their broad concepts of knowledge, land and jurisdiction are incompatible with existing Euro-Canadian divisions of legal responsibility and ecological knowledge, but at the same time can serve as the means by which they challenge the current structure of Aboriginal and Canadian relations. [source] Content Validation Is Useful for Many Things, but Validity Isn't One of ThemINDUSTRIAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2009KEVIN R. MURPHY Content-oriented validation strategies establish the validity of selection tests as predictors of performance by comparing the content of the tests with the content of the job. These comparisons turn out to have little if any bearing on the predictive validity of selection tests. There is little empirical support for the hypothesis that the match between job content and test content influences validity, and there are often structural factors in selection (e.g., positive correlations among selection tests) that strongly limit the possible influence of test content on validity. Comparisons between test content and job content have important implications for the acceptability of testing, the defensibility of tests in legal proceedings, and the transparency of test development and validation, but these comparisons have little if any bearing on validity. [source] A qualitative analysis of mock jurors' deliberations of linkage analysis evidenceJOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND OFFENDER PROFILING, Issue 2 2010Angelina Charron Abstract Evidence about a suspect's behavioural similarity across a series of crimes has been presented in legal proceedings in at least three different countries. Its admission as expert evidence, whilst still rare, is becoming more common thus it is important for us to understand how such evidence is received by jurors and legal professionals. This article reports on a qualitative analysis of mock jurors' deliberations about expert linkage analysis evidence. Three groups of mock jurors (N = 20) were presented with the prosecution's linkage analysis evidence from the USA State v. Fortin I murder trial and expert evidence for the defence constructed for the purposes of the study. Each group was asked to deliberate and reach a verdict. Deliberations were video-recorded and subject to thematic content analysis. The themes that emerged were varied. Analysis suggested that the mock jurors were cautious of the expert evidence of behavioural similarity. In some cases they were sceptical of the expert. They articulated a preference that expert opinion be supported using statistics. Additional themes included jurors having misconceptions concerning what is typical offender behaviour during rape which suggests there is a need for expert linkage analysis evidence regarding behavioural similarities and the relative frequencies of crime scene behaviours. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Pathways to false allegations of sexual harassmentJOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND OFFENDER PROFILING, Issue 1 2006William O'Donohue Abstract A sexual harassment allegation is either true or false. Whether specific allegations are true or false is important to questions of epidemiology, clinical diagnosis and treatment, administrative and legal proceedings, as well as the welfare of actual victims and innocent alleged perpetrators. It is naïve and harmful to operate with the heuristic: ,All claims are true'. However, the truth of many allegations is very difficult to determine, particularly as is often the case when there are no witnesses, no conclusive hard evidence, and the presence of a situation where both parties have divergent accounts of the alleged occurrence. There has been little theoretical or empirical work on what would cause a person to make a false allegation of sexual harassment. This paper gives an overview of the intricacies associated with sexual harassment investigations and enumerates 14 possible pathways to false allegations: lying; borderline personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, psychosis, gender prejudice, substance abuse, dementia, false memories, false interpretations, biased interviews, sociopathy, personality disorders not otherwise specified, investigative mistakes, and mistakes in determination of the degree of harassment. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Governance through Publicity: Anti-social Behaviour Orders, Young People, and the Problematization of the Right to AnonymityJOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIETY, Issue 3 2007Neil Cobb Since the early twentieth century, young people under eighteen involved in legal proceedings have been granted a degree of protection from the glare of media publicity. One controversial consequence of recent reforms of the anti-social behaviour order (ASBO), however, is the incremental reduction in the anonymity rights available to those subject to the mechanism, together with calls by the Home Office for details of such individuals to be publicized as a matter of course. Numerous commentators have criticized the government accordingly for reinstating the draconian practice of ,naming and shaming'. This paper contends that these developments can be usefully analysed through the lens of Foucault's work on state governance. It explores, in particular, how challenges to the right reflect both the fall of anonymity and the rise of publicity in the governance of what I term ,ASBO subjects', together with the communities in which they live, under ,advanced liberal' rule. [source] The institutionalisation of public opinion: Bentham's proposed constitutional role for jury and judgesLEGAL STUDIES, Issue 2 2007Oren Ben-Dor Jeremy Bentham's constitutional writings are innovative and radical. Unlike constitutional arrangements that sought to attain virtue though the institutional complexity entailed by the doctrine of Separation of Powers, Bentham's constitution was socially dynamic and designed to facilitate constant and efficient interaction between amorphous public opinion and officials. Furthermore, it was in constant and free interaction between public opinion and officials that Bentham envisioned the determination and effectuation of constitutional limits, namely both the justification and limitation of coercion. The paper begins by outlining Bentham's principles for a good constitution. It then discusses in detail Bentham's proposals for incorporating public opinion into legal proceedings through radical reform to the jury. Such incorporation, he believed, would intensify and help to focus public gaze by which officials' aptitude, and as a result a good government, would be attained with the minimal expense. The proposed institutionalisation of public opinion enabled Bentham to entrust the judiciary with a constitutional role. Judges were conceived as the interface between officialdom and focused manifestations of popular sovereignty. So entrusted, judges could determine constitutional limits, thus protecting against abuse of power. The reforms discussed in this paper are a testimony of the extent to which Bentham saw virtue both in the people and in free public debate. [source] Legal and technical defensibility of data and the Triad approachREMEDIATION, Issue 2 2005Robert Howe The Triad approach was developed primarily to limit decision uncertainty during cleanups at hazardous waste sites. The fundamental principles of the Triad approach include development of a site characterization model and use of emerging technologies, which can provide data at a higher density than could be affordably collected using traditional data collection methodologies, to refine the model in essentially real time. New data formats are used collaboratively with data in traditional formats to iteratively pin down the relative concentration, nature, and extent of contaminants, thus minimizing decision uncertainties. This article examines the potential admissibility as evidence in legal proceedings of data collected by technologies designed to improve the density of information that are commonly used during the course of Triad-type projects. The article explains that such criteria may vary depending on the purpose for which the evidence is to be used (e.g., as direct evidence to prove site conditions or as support for the testimony of an expert witness) and the court in which the legal proceeding would take place (e.g., federal court or state court). Admissibility in federal courts of data both as direct evidence and as support for expert witness testimony is covered. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] DELINQUENCY AND BEING TAKEN INTO CARE: A THREE-GENERATIONAL STUDYBRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHOTHERAPY, Issue 4 2000Tom Pitt-Aikens ABSTRACT Therapeutic experience has suggested that there may be an association between parental loss and delinquency. Losses experienced by boys in care and their families were compared with losses experienced by control boys and their families. Boys in care had experienced significantly more losses through the death, divorce or separation of their parents than had control boys. The mothers of boys in care had also experienced significantly more losses when they were minors than any other group, including their sons. Maternal losses are significantly associated with boys being taken into care following legal proceedings. [source] Litigation in Canadian referendum politicsCANADIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION/ADMINISTRATION PUBLIQUE DU CANADA, Issue 3 2003Gregory Tardi The Canada-wide referendum on the Charlottetown Constitutional Accord in 1992, the Quebec sovereignty referendum in 1995, and the British Columbia referendum on aboriginal treaty negotiations in 2002 are the most interesting and the most significant examples. The core issue in each case was determining the political direction a government or a jurisdiction should follow. In each of these instances, interested citizens representing a segment of public opinion sought court injunctions to stop the vote. The focus of this article is the use of the courts on the political process. In each of the three cases, the applications for injunction were denied and the referendum proceeded. Nevertheless, the legal proceedings highlighted the increasing impact of law in politics under the Charter, as well as the greater willingness of political actors to use litigation to achieve political goals. These trends point out lessons for democracy that public administrators ought not ignore. Sommaire: Au cows de la demière dénnie, divers governments au Canada ont organisé des référendums pour déterminer leurs options concemant des questions faisant l'objet de séneuses controversies. Le référendum Canadian de 1992 sur l Accord constitutional de Charlottetown, le référendum de 1995 sur la souverainets du Québec et le refbrendurn qui s'est tenu en 2002 en Colombie-Britan-nique sur les négociations des droits issus de traités des Autochtones sont les référendums les plus intéressants et les plus marquants. Dans chaque cas, le point essential consistait à determiner l'orientation politique que le gouvemement ou une juridiction devrait adopter. Dans chacun de ces examples, des citoyens concernés représentant un segment de l'opinion publique ont tenté d'empêcher la tenue du vote en solicitant des injunctions auprès des tribunaux. Le present article porte sur le recours à des moyens légaux pour influer sur le processus politique. Dans chacun des trois cas, les demandes d'injonctions ont été refusées et le réféerendum a eu lieu. Néanmoins, les actions en justice ont souligné l'impact grandissant du juridique dam le domaine des politiques, sous l'influence de la Charte, et une plus grande acceptance de la part des responsables politiques à recourir à des litiges pour atteindre des objectifs politiques. Ces tendances soulignent pour la démocratie des leçons que les administrateurs publics ne devraient pas ignorer. [source] Representing children's views and best interests in court: an international comparisonCHILD ABUSE REVIEW, Issue 4 2005Andy Bilson Abstract This paper provides a comparison of a number of alternative models of international practice in relation to the appointment and organization of guardians ad litem and other children's representatives in child care and family proceedings. The paper notes that, in their attempts to address the need for children to have representation in matters affecting their welfare, English-speaking countries have tended to conflate the two salient Articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, that is, Article 3, which deals with the child's best interests, and Article 12, which deals with their right to express their wishes and feelings. Where systems other than ,stand alone' legal representation have been put in place, the child's representative is charged with both assessing their best interests and, often as a secondary duty, communicating their views. The paper concludes that for some groups of children in public or private law proceedings, an advocate (rather than a best interest oriented guardian, and where necessary in addition to a legal representative) may enable better representation of the child in the courts and greater participation by children in legal proceedings, an increased role for children as citizens and a fuller implementation of their rights. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The evaluation of retractions in sexual abuse casesCHILD ABUSE REVIEW, Issue 2 2002Bryan Tully Abstract In some cases of alleged sexual abuse, the child or adult retracts allegations made. This poses problems for both civil and criminal legal proceedings. It is argued that the collection and examination of retraction statements often does not receive the same careful attention as is the case with the investigation of the original allegations. Logically, depending on whether the original complaints were true or false or a mixture, so the meaning of a retraction may vary. Where retractions are examined and evaluated with care they may be shown to add to the confidence of the final conclusion rather than simply throwing doubt on that. A systematic approach is described, followed by three cases where such application assisted and paradoxically added to the probative value of earlier statements. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||