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Distribution by Scientific Domains

Law and Criminology	50%

Selected Abstracts

The Vanishing Trial: An Examination of Trials and Related Matters in Federal and State Courts

JOURNAL OF EMPIRICAL LEGAL STUDIES, Issue 3 2004
Marc Galanter
This article traces the decline in the portion of cases that are terminated by trial and the decline in the absolute number of trials in various American judicial fora. The portion of federal civil cases resolved by trial fell from 11.5 percent in 1962 to 1.8 percent in 2002, continuing a long historic decline. More startling was the 60 percent decline in the absolute number of trials since the mid 1980s. The makeup of trials shifted from a predominance of torts to a predominance of civil rights, but trials are declining in every case category. A similar decline in both the percentage and the absolute number of trials is found in federal criminal cases and in bankruptcy cases. The phenomenon is not confined to the federal courts; there are comparable declines of trials, both civil and criminal, in the state courts, where the great majority of trials occur. Plausible causes for this decline include a shift in ideology and practice among litigants, lawyers, and judges. Another manifestation of this shift is the diversion of cases to alternative dispute resolution forums. Within the courts, judges conduct trials at only a fraction of the rate that their predecessors did, but they are more heavily involved in the early stages of cases. Although virtually every other indicator of legal activity is rising, trials are declining not only in relation to cases in the courts but to the size of the population and the size of the economy. The consequences of this decline for the functioning of the legal system and for the larger society remain to be explored. [source]

Reflections on Lack of a Patent System throughout China's Long History

THE JOURNAL OF WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, Issue 2 2009
Deming Liu
The accepted wisdom is that the patent system originated in Europe and that China did not have such an indigenous system throughout its history. The reasons for the lack of such a system are not often explored among legal scholars although, for decades, historians have debated on a related matter of why the Industrial Revolution did not start in China after its centuries' lead in science and technology. It appears that legal scholars generally accept that Confucian philosophy precluded an intellectual property system in China including a patent system. The article aims to dispute this belief by showing that socioeconomic and geographical factors underscored the main reasons for the lack of a patent system in ancient China. [source]

Contraception: a new practical learning package

MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 8 2000
Suzanne Abraham
Background A new self-directed learning package was developed to assist medical students learn the counselling and practical skills to enable them to communicate with men and women about contraception and related matters. Objectives This paper describes the package and the way it was facilitated, the students' ratings of the package and their feedback about the session on the first time it was presented at four teaching hospitals. Results The students rated the contraception package as average. The reasons given were: no introduction to the contraception session, lack of a trained person to conduct and facilitate the contraception learning session, poor organization at one of the hospitals and too little emphasis on self-assessment. The assumption that the students had a basic hormonal knowledge prior to the contraception sessions was incorrect. Discussion The results suggest the contraception learning package needs a person with contraceptive knowledge, patient,doctor skills and experience with self-directed learning to be present throughout the 3-hour session and for tools to be available that emphasize self-assessment during the session. Outcome The modifications to be made to the learning package include pairing male and female students, a reduction in duration of the learning stations, an additional learning station relating to hormonal contraception, and inclusion of pregnancy and ovulation testing. These modifications were suggested by the participating students. [source]

Responsibility, accountability and governance

BUSINESS ETHICS: A EUROPEAN REVIEW, Issue 4 2002
John Kaler
,Responsibility', ,accountability' and ,governance' are key terms within business ethics. This paper aims to construct a framework to help us understand the relationships between these terms. I first of all analyse the concept of responsibility to show the place of accountability within it, then move to analyse accountability as a sub,concept of responsibility, then finally attempt to show how accountability along with responsibility in general figures within governance structures. While obviously not as complex as the concept of responsibility of which it is part, the sub,concept of accountability is somewhat more complex than often seems to be supposed. The view taken of governance is that as a concept it is relatively straightforward. It acquires complexity only with the involvement of responsibility along with accountability and other aspects of responsibility. The vexed questions as to how these are to be applied lie at the heart of disputes about corporate governance. Though not offering a solution to those disputes, the fact that they arise from the involvement of responsibility, accountability and related matters means that the analysis of concepts given here does offer a framework for thinking about these disputes more clearly. [source]