Addressing the curious black spot that is the separation between the principle of legality and sentencing

The principle of legality has evolved into a clear and entrenchedjurisprudential mechanism for protecting common law rights and freedoms. It operates as a shield to preserve the scope of application of fundamental rights and fre edoms. In recent years it has been increasingly applied by the courts to limit the scope of legislative provisions which potentially impinge on human rights and fundamental freedoms. Yet there is one domain where the principle of legality is conspicuously absent: sentencing. Ostensibly, this is paradoxical. Sentencing is the realm where the legalsystem operates in its most coercive manner against individuals. In thisarticle, we argue that logically the principle of legality has an importantrole in the sentencing system given the incursions by criminal sanctionsinto a number of basic rights, including the right to liberty, the freedom ofassociation and the deprivation of property. By way of illustration, we setout how the principle of legality should apply to the interpretation of keystatutory provisions. To this end, we argue that the objectives of generaldeterrence and specifi c deterrence should have less impact in sentencing. It is also suggested that judges should be more reluctant to send offenders with dependants to terms of imprisonment. Injecting the principle of legality into sentencing law and practice would result in the reduction in severity of a large number of sanctions, thereby reducing the frequency and extent to which the fundamental rights of offenders are violated. The methodology set out in this article can be applied to alter the operation of a number of legislative sentencing objectives and rules.

Excessive criminal punishment amounts to punishing the innocent : an argument for taking the parsimony principle seriously

Punishing the innocent is incontestably repugnant. Punishing offenders more harshly than is justified is a form of punishing the innocent, yet this practice is commonplace in the United States. This Article sets out a normative argument in favor of less severe penalties for many forms of offenses. There is already an established principle, which limits punishment to the minimum amount of hardship that is required to achieve the objectives of sentencing. The principle is termed “parsimony” and is widely endorsed. Yet, in reality, it is illusory. It has no firm content and in its current form is logically and jurisprudentially incapable of grounding a persuasive argument for more lenient sentences. This Article gives content to the principle of parsimony. It is argued that application of the principle will result in a considerable reduction in the number of offenders who are sentenced to imprisonment and shorter sentences for many offenders who are jailed. The recommendations in this Article will enhance the fairness and transparency of the sentencing system. The argument is especially important at this point in history. The United States is experiencing an incarceration crisis. The principle of parsimony, properly applied, is an important key to ameliorating the incarceration problem. The Article also examines the operation of the parsimony principle in Australia. Unlike sentencing courts in the United States, Australian judges enjoy considerable discretion in sentencing offenders. Despite the vastly different approach to sentencing in Australia, it too is experiencing a considerable increase in the incarceration rate. It emerges that the courts in a tightly regimented sentencing regime (the United States) and a mainly discretionary system (Australia) effectively ignored the parsimony principle. It is not the strictures in the United States that curtail the imposition of parsimonious sentences; rather, it is the absence of a forceful rationale underpinning the principle and a lack of clarity regarding the attainable objectives of sentencing. This Article addresses these shortcomings. In doing so, it paves the way for fundamentally fairer sentencing outcomes in the United States and Australia.

Principle and prejudice : attitudes toward ethnic minorities in Quebec

L’intégration des nouveaux immigrants pose un défi, et ce, particulièrement dans les nations infra-étatiques. En effet, les citoyens vivant dans ces contextes ont davantage tendance à percevoir les immigrants comme de potentielles menaces politiques et culturelles. Cependant, les différents groupes ethniques et religieux minoritaires ne représentent pas tous le même degré de menace. Cette étude cherche à déterminer si les citoyens francophones québécois perçoivent différemment les différents groupes ethniques et religieux minoritaires, et s’ils entretiennent des attitudes plus négatives envers ces groupes, comparativement aux autres Canadiens. Dans la mesure où ces attitudes négatives existent, l’étude cherche à comprendre si ces dernières sont basées principalement sur des préjugés raciaux ou sur des inquiétudes culturelles. Se fondant sur des données nationales et provinciales, les résultats démontrent que les francophones Québécois sont plus négatifs envers les minorités religieuses que les autres canadiens mais pas envers les minorités raciales, et que ces attitudes négatives sont fondées principalement sur une inquiétude liée la laïcité et à la sécurité culturelle. L’antipathie envers certaines minorités observée au sein de la majorité francophone au Québec semble donc être dirigée envers des groupes spécifiques, et se fondent sur des principes de nature davantage culturelle que raciale.

Maximum Principle for Elliptic and Parabolic Equations

Nel primo capitolo si riporta il principio del massimo per operatori ellittici. Sarà considerato, in un primo momento, l'operatore di Laplace e, successivamente, gli operatori ellittici del secondo ordine, per i quali si dimostrerà anche il principio del massimo di Hopf. Nel secondo capitolo si affronta il principio del massimo per operatori parabolici e lo si utilizza per dimostrare l'unicità delle soluzioni di problemi ai valori al contorno.

Principle and prejudice : attitudes toward ethnic minorities in Quebec

L’intégration des nouveaux immigrants pose un défi, et ce, particulièrement dans les nations infra-étatiques. En effet, les citoyens vivant dans ces contextes ont davantage tendance à percevoir les immigrants comme de potentielles menaces politiques et culturelles. Cependant, les différents groupes ethniques et religieux minoritaires ne représentent pas tous le même degré de menace. Cette étude cherche à déterminer si les citoyens francophones québécois perçoivent différemment les différents groupes ethniques et religieux minoritaires, et s’ils entretiennent des attitudes plus négatives envers ces groupes, comparativement aux autres Canadiens. Dans la mesure où ces attitudes négatives existent, l’étude cherche à comprendre si ces dernières sont basées principalement sur des préjugés raciaux ou sur des inquiétudes culturelles. Se fondant sur des données nationales et provinciales, les résultats démontrent que les francophones Québécois sont plus négatifs envers les minorités religieuses que les autres canadiens mais pas envers les minorités raciales, et que ces attitudes négatives sont fondées principalement sur une inquiétude liée la laïcité et à la sécurité culturelle. L’antipathie envers certaines minorités observée au sein de la majorité francophone au Québec semble donc être dirigée envers des groupes spécifiques, et se fondent sur des principes de nature davantage culturelle que raciale.

Voluntariado y satisfacción vital

Con el objetivo de analizar la relación existente entre el voluntariado y la satisfacción vital, 401 voluntarios cumplimentaron un cuestionario donde se les solicitaba información sobre su satisfacción vital, el tiempo previo que llevaban como voluntarios y la probabilidad de que siguiesen como tales en el futuro. Los resultados encontrados muestran que existen diferencias significativas en los niveles de satisfacción experimentada en función del tipo de voluntariado estudiado: los voluntarios socioasistenciales manifiestan una mayor satisfacción vital que los voluntarios ambientales. La satisfacción vital está asociada al tiempo previo como voluntario y únicamente en el caso de los voluntarios socioasistenciales se relaciona con la probabilidad de continuar a los dos años.

The principle of legality and contemporanea exposition est optima et fortissima in lege

If the principle of legality operates to obscure from Parliament the common law (rights) backdrop against which it legislates, the clarity or rights-sensitivity of that legislation cannot be improved. This undercuts, rather than promotes, the democratic and rule of law values that underpin the modern conception of the principle and its contemporary normative justification. So the courts must strive to give Parliament the clearest possible picture as to the content of the fundamental common law rights it seeks to protect and, depending on the right, freedom, or principle in legislative play, the strength with which the principle will be applied in order to do so. Parliament (and parliamentary counsel) can only ‘squarely confront’ those fundamental rights the existence and content of which was known at the time of legislating. The proposition which, necessarily, follows is that the rule of contemporanea exposition est optima et fortissimo in lege must be revived when judges apply the principle of legality to the construction of statutes. If the courts are to maintain and take seriously the normative justification for the principle then its application to the construction of statutes can only operate to protect from legislative encroachment those fundamental rights existing at the time the statute was enacted.

Análisis de las sanciones internacionales en el marco del tratado de no proliferación nuclear. Estudio de caso: energía atómica en Irán (2006-2015)

El presente trabajo de Grado tiene como propósito examinar la incidencia de las sancionesinternacionales en el marco del régimen de no proliferación nuclear en el caso de Irán durante el periodo 2006-2015, teniendo en cuenta factores históricos de años anteriores. Se analiza y explica cómo las sanciones internacionales pueden ser una medida persuasiva por violar ciertos artículos del Tratado de no Proliferación Nuclear. Finalmente identifica y analiza los tipos de sanciones económicas, financieras y comerciales que los Estados y el Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas le han impuesto a Irán, así como la manera en que estas han incidido en la esfera política iraní y mundial.

Autoethnography : critical appreciation of an emerging art

In this article, the author discusses how she applied autoethnography in a study of the design of hypermedia educational resources and shows how she addressed problematic issues related to autoethnographic legitimacy and representation. The study covered a 6-year period during which the practitioner’s perspective on the internal and external factors influencing the creation of three hypermedia CD-ROMs contributed to an emerging theory of design. The author highlights the interrelationship between perception and reality as vital to qualitative approaches and encourages researchers to investigate their reality more fully by practicing the art of autoethnography.

Automated Feedback for 'Fill in the Gap' Programming Exercises

Timely feedback is a vital component in the learning process. It is especially important for beginner students in Information Technology since many have not yet formed an effective internal model of a computer that they can use to construct viable knowledge. Research has shown that learning efficiency is increased if immediate feedback is provided for students. Automatic analysis of student programs has the potential to provide immediate feedback for students and to assist teaching staff in the marking process. This paper describes a “fill in the gap” programming analysis framework which tests students’ solutions and gives feedback on their correctness, detects logic errors and provides hints on how to fix these errors. Currently, the framework is being used with the Environment for Learning to Programming (ELP) system at Queensland University of Technology (QUT); however, the framework can be integrated into any existing online learning environment or programming Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

Equity management strategies in the Australian private sector

This paper outlines the methods and outcomes of a study into equity management strategies in Australian private sector organisations reporting to the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency. Reports from 1976 organisations indicate eleven key factors characterising equity management in Australia. The study highlights differences within previously identified social structural policies, temperamental and opportunity policies and identifies a further policy type, categorised as “support policies”. Differences have also been identified in relation to distribution structures, suggesting that gender is not the sole consideration in determining equity management strategies. The principle of distribution also figures strongly in equity management implementation.