Assisting a suicide : potential succession law consequences

The recent criminal law decisions where people have been convicted of aiding suicide raise important legal and ethical issues in relation to whether euthanasia should be legalised. These cases also raise issues of great significance for succession lawyers. Where, as in cases such as Nielsen and Justins, the person convicted of aiding a suicide is a principal beneficiary under the will of the deceased, various legal consequences, such as: forfeiture of the interest under the will; liability for breach of fiduciary obligation; and/or a finding of undue influence, may follow which may result in loss of such benefit.

Peer assisted learning, skills development and Generation Y : a case study of a first year undergraduate law unit

The majority of current first year university students belong to Generation Y. Consequently, research suggests that, in order to more effectively engage them, their particular learning preferences should be acknowledged in the organisation of their learning environments and in the support provided. These preferences are reflected in the Torts Student Peer Mentor Program, which, as part of the undergraduate law degree at the Queensland University of Technology, utilises active learning, structured sessions and teamwork to supplement student understanding of the substantive law of Torts with the development of life-long skills. This article outlines the Program, and its relevance to the learning styles and experiences of Generation Y first year law students transitioning to university, in order to investigate student perceptions of its effectiveness – both generally and, more specifically, in terms of the Program’s capacity to assist students to develop academic and work-related skills.

Skill development and social inclusion via peer assisted learning in first-year higher education : an evaluation of student experiences across two law units

Because professions seek graduates who can 'collaborate, share skills and knowledge, and communicate' (Kruck and Reif, 2001, p 37), it is important that university graduates are not equipped solely with the content knowledge of their discipline, but also with prospective employment skills. Furthermore, when students 'interact more in positive ways with their teachers and peers, they gain more in terms of essential skills and competencies, such as critical thinking, problem~solving [and] effective communication' (NSSE, 2000, p 2)./n this way, peer assisted fellowing has the potential to enhance students' professional development, and provide the social inclusion and engagement necessary for effective learning. This session describes two peer assisted learning models embedded within first year QUT Faculty of Law units. Through a partnership between teaching staff, student mentors and mentees, the models aim to facilitate student socialisation whilst supplementing understanding of substantive law with the development of academic and work·related skills. Mentor and mentee perceptions, and program implications, are considered.

Understanding Indigenous Australian women’s social and emotional wellbeing and wellness through yarning

This paper explores Indigenous Australian women’s understanding of wellness, through the lens of social and emotional wellbeing. The authors use a “yarning” approach to explore how wellness is important to Indigenous women who live in North Brisbane (Australia). They discuss the benefits of yarning and its strength as a methodology for conducting research and building activism within Indigenous Australian communities. They argue that, for Indigenous Australian women, wellness is linked to a sense of wholeness and strongly related to the feeling of connection that women get from meeting together and having time for women’s business. They describe the way that their research project developed into a community summit focused on Indigenous women’s wellness.

Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW) : costs agreement between law practice and client - whether binding on non-associated third party payer

The decision in the New South Wales Supreme Court in Boyce v McIntyre [2008] NSWSC 1218 involved determination of a number of issues relating to an assessment of costs under the Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW). The issue of broad significance was whether a non-associated third party payer must pay the fixed fee that was agreed between the law practice and the client. The court found that the client agreement did not form the basis of assessing costs for the non-associated third party payer.

Meta-regulation approach of law : a potential legal strategy to develop socially responsible business self-regulation in least developed common law countries

In the corporate regulation landscape, 'meta-regulation' is a comparatively new legal approach. The sketchy role of state promulgated authoritative laws in pluralized society and scepticism in corporate self-regulation's role have resulted in the development of this legal approach. It has opened up possibilities to synthesize corporate governance to add social values in corporate self-regulation. The core of this approach is the fusion of responsive and reflexive legal strategies to combine regulators and regulatees for reaching a particular goal. This paper argues that it is a potential strategy that can be successfully deployed to develop a socially responsible corporate culture for the business enterprises, so that they will be able to acquire social, environmental and ethical values in their self-regulation sustainably. Taking Bangladeshi corporate laws as an instance, this paper also evaluates the scope of incorporating this approach in laws of the least developed common law countries in general.

Juveniles in detention in Australia, 1981-2008

The Australian Institute of Criminology’s (AIC’s) national Juveniles in Detention Monitoring Program was established to contribute to the evidence base on juvenile detention in Australia, with a particular focus on Indigenous juveniles. Findings date back to 1981 and have been reported annually. This report provides an overview of the numbers and rates of juveniles in detention in Australia since 1981 and juveniles in detention for the financial year 2007–08. As with the AIC’s previous report on juveniles in detention (Taylor 2009), it also provides contextual information on young people sentenced in the children’s courts. The collation of data for these reports is supported by statutory juvenile justice agencies in each of Australia’s jurisdictions, as well as the NSW Department of Corrective Services. As described in more detail in this report, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) administers the Juvenile Justice National Minimum Data Set and also reports annually on juveniles in detention. Given this development, the AIC is conducting a review of the Juveniles in Detention Monitoring Report in 2010–11, to ensure that AIC’s research and monitoring does not duplicate the AIHW’s work and that it makes a useful contribution to the field and enables more in-depth analysis of key issues.

Non-Newtonian natural convection flow along an isothermal horizontal circular cylinder using modified power-law model

Laminar two-dimensional natural convection boundary-layer flow of non-Newtonian fluids along an isothermal horizontal circular cylinder has been studied using a modified power-law viscosity model. In this model, there are no unrealistic limits of zero or infinite viscosity. Therefore, the boundary-layer equations can be solved numerically by using marching order implicit finite difference method with double sweep technique. Numerical results are presented for the case of shear-thinning as well as shear thickening fluids in terms of the fluid velocity and temperature distributions, shear stresses and rate of heat transfer in terms of the local skin-friction and local Nusselt number respectively.

The OO files : providing online formative feedback on Contract Law learning in a narrative setting

Feedback, both formative and summative, enables students to reflect on their understandings and to restructure their thinking to develop their capabilities. It can also encourage positive motivation and help boost self-esteem. Online multiple choice questions can be an efficient and effective means of providing timely formative feedback. At the same time, locating learning in a narrative environment can facilitate engaging and effective learning experiences. Narratives can help learners to navigate through information and support cognitive and imaginative engagement. This article will discuss The 00 Files, an online suite of modules containing multiple choice questions situated in the narrative of a fictional law firm. It notes student responses to the program and discusses lessons that may be learnt from its development which may be of assistance to academics considering the development of similar programs for their courses.

Teaching journalism students how to tell Indigenous stories in an informed way : a work integrated learning approach

Australian journalism schools are full of students who have never met an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island person and who do not know their history. Journalism educators are ill-equipped to redress this imbalance as a large majority are themselves non-Indigenous and many have had little or no experience with the coverage of Indigenous issues or knowledge of Indigenous affairs. Such a situation calls for educational approaches that can overcome these disadvantages and empower journalism graduates to move beyond the stereotypes that characterize the representation of Indigenous people in the mainstream media. This article will explore three different courses in three Australian tertiary journalism education institutions, which use Work-Integrated Learning Approaches to instil the cultural competencies necessary to encourage a more informed reporting of Indigenous issues. The findings from the three projects illustrate the importance of adopting a collaborative approach by industry, the Indigenous community and educators to encourage students’ commitment to quality journalism practices when covering Indigenous issues.