'Leaving Nothing to Chance'?: Joint Tenancies, The 'Right' of Survivorship and Unilateral Severance

The joint tenancy with its inherent right of survivorship is the most prevalent form of co-ownership in the common law world today. Most couples will be joint tenants of a family home, while relations (such as siblings) who purchase property together may opt for this arrangement. Inter vivos acquisitions aside, the huge intergenerational transfer of wealth within families on death can result in a joint tenancy, and it may also be a convenient estate planning device. The fact that property automatically vests in the surviving joint tenants on death is the reason why many people choose this form of co-ownership. However, there is one serious disadvantage. A joint tenancy is an inflexible form of landholding where relationships sour or family circumstances change over time, and co-owners want their respective `shares' of the property to pass to someone else on death. Where consensual severance is not possible, one joint tenant can sever unilaterally. The latter mechanism is vital in terms of giving effect to the wishes of the severing joint tenant, especially in situations of discord or a breakdown in relations with their fellow co-owners. However, unilateral severance also has serious implications for the non-severing joint tenant(s) who expected to inherit property through survivorship, and can impact significantly on ownership of the home and other family property. This article looks at unilateral severance as a means of subverting the right of survivorship. The focus is on personal and inter-family relationships, and the various legal issues and policy considerations associated with unilateral severance across the common law jurisdictions of Britain, Ireland, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. It assesses the various methods of effecting unilateral severance and proposes specific measures, as well as considering novel arguments for preventing unilateral severance based on contractual agreements to the contrary and proprietary estoppel.

Shyness and face scanning in children

Contrary to popular beliefs, a recent empirical study using eye tracking has shown that a non-clinical sample of socially anxious adults did not avoid the eyes during face scanning. Using eye-tracking measures, we sought to extend these findings by examining the relation between stable shyness and face scanning patterns in a non-clinical sample of 11-year-old children. We found that shyness was associated with longer dwell time to the eye region than the mouth, suggesting that some shy children were not avoiding the eyes. Shyness was also correlated with fewer first fixations to the nose, which is thought to reflect the typical global strategy of face processing. Present results replicate and extend recent work on social anxiety and face scanning in adults to shyness in children. These preliminary findings also provide support for the notion that some shy children may be hypersensitive to detecting social cues and intentions in others conveyed by the eyes. Theoretical and practical implications for understanding the social cognitive correlates and treatment of shyness are discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High-velocity features: A ubiquitous property of Type Ia supernovae

Evidence of high-velocity features (HVFs) such as those seen in the near-maximum spectra of some Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia; e. g., SN 2000cx) has been searched for in the available SN Ia spectra observed earlier than 1 week before B maximum. Recent observational efforts have doubled the number of SNe Ia with very early spectra. Remarkably, all SNe Ia with early data ( seven in our Research Training Network sample and 10 from other programs) show signs of such features, to a greater or lesser degree, in Ca II IR and some also in the Si II lambda 6355 line. HVFs may be interpreted as abundance or density enhancements. Abundance enhancements would imply an outer region dominated by Si and Ca. Density enhancements may result from the sweeping up of circumstellar material (CSM) by the highest velocity SN ejecta. In this scenario, the high incidence of HVFs suggests that a thick disk and/or a high-density companion wind surrounds the exploding white dwarf, as may be the case in single degenerate systems. Large-scale angular fluctuations in the radial density and abundance distribution may also be responsible: this could originate in the explosion and would suggest a deflagration as the more likely explosion mechanism. CSM interaction and surface fluctuations may coexist, possibly leaving different signatures on the spectrum. In some SNe, the HVFs are narrowly confined in velocity, suggesting the ejection of blobs of burned material.

Non-Trade Mark Use

Examines the extent to which the approach of the EU and UK courts towards the enforcement of trade mark rights is contrary to the public interest in the sense that it diminishes non-commercial interests and the freedom of expression. Comments on the European Court of Justice ruling in Arsenal Football Club Plc v Reed (C-206/01) on whether the trade mark rights over the name ARSENAL prevented its use on unofficial merchandise as a sign of club affiliation. Assesses the sufficiency of the infringement exceptions provided by Directive 2008/95 (Trade Mark Directive) art.6.

Polynomial Functions and the Riesz Interpolation Property

Building on a proof by D. Handelman of a generalisation of an example due to L. Fuchs, we show that the space of real-valued polynomials on a non-empty set X of reals has the Riesz Interpolation Property if and only if X is bounded.

Organised Criminals as 'Agents of Obligation': The Case of Ireland

Relying on Brown’s (2005a, b) thesis that contemporary shifts in penal policy are best understood as a reprisal of colonial rationality, so that offenders become ‘non-citizens’ or ‘agents of obligation’, this article argues that this framework finds support in developments in Irish criminal justice policy. Recent legislation aimed at offenders suspected of involvement in ‘organised crime’ is examined through this lens. These offenders have found themselves reconstituted as ‘agents of obligation’ with duties to furnish information about their property and movements, report to the police concerning their location and, importantly, refrain from criminal activity or face extraordinary sanctions. It is therefore argued that this paradigm is a useful heuristic device through which to understand recent developments in Irish criminal justice and elsewhere. In light of the trends observed in Ireland, certain refinements and extensions to Brown’s argument are put forward for consideration.

Neonatal facial and cry responses to invasive and non-invasive procedures

Evaluation of pain in neonates is difficult due to their limited means of communication. The aim was to determine whether behavioural reactions of cry and facial activity provoked by an invasive procedure could be discriminated from responses to non-invasive tactile events. Thirty-six healthy full-term infants (mean age 2.2 h) received 3 procedures in counterbalanced order: intramuscular injection, application of triple dye to the umbilical stub, and rubbing thigh with alcohol. Significant effects of procedure were found for total face activity and latency to face movement. A cluster of facial actions comprised of brow bulging, eyes squeezed shut, deepening of the naso-labial furrow and open mouth was associated most frequently with the invasive procedure. Comparisons between the 2 non-invasive procedures showed more facial activity to thigh swabbing and least to application of triple dye to the umbilical cord. Acoustic analysis of cry showed statistically significant differences across procedures only for latency to cry and cry duration for the group as a whole. However, babies who cried to two procedures showed higher pitch and greater intensity to the injection. There were no significant differences in melody, dysphonation, or jitter. Methodological difficulties for investigators in this area were examined, including criteria for the selection of cries for analysis, and the logical and statistical challenges of contrasting cries induced by different conditions when some babies do not always cry. It was concluded that facial expression, in combination with short latency to onset of cry and long duration of first cry cycle typifies reaction to acute invasive procedures.

Intellectual Property and the EU’s Deep Trade Agenda

The EU is considered to be one of the main proponents of what has been called the deep trade agenda—that is, the push for further trade liberalization with an emphasis on the removal of domestic non-tariff regulatory measures affecting trade, as opposed to the traditional focus on the removal of trade barriers at borders. As negotiations on the Doha Development Round have stalled, the EU has attempted to achieve these aims by entering into comprehensive free trade agreements (FTAs) that are not only limited exclusively to tariffs but also extend to non-tariff barriers, including services, intellectual property rights (IPRs), competition, and investment. These FTAs place great emphasis on regulatory convergence as a means to secure greater market openings. The paper examines the EU's current external trade policy in the area of IP, particularly its attempts to promote its own regulatory model for the protection of IP rights through trade agreements. By looking at the IP enforcement provisions of such agreements, the article also examines how the divisive issues that are currently hindering the progress of negotiations at WTO level, including the demands from developing countries to maintain a degree of autonomy in the area of IP regulation as well as the need to balance IP protection with human rights protection, are being dealt with in recent EU FTAs.

3D Morphable Model Construction for Robust Ear and Face Recognition

Recent work suggests that the human ear varies significantly between different subjects and can be used for identification. In principle, therefore, using ears in addition to the face within a recognition system could improve accuracy and robustness, particularly for non-frontal views. The paper describes work that investigates this hypothesis using an approach based on the construction of a 3D morphable model of the head and ear. One issue with creating a model that includes the ear is that existing training datasets contain noise and partial occlusion. Rather than exclude these regions manually, a classifier has been developed which automates this process. When combined with a robust registration algorithm the resulting system enables full head morphable models to be constructed efficiently using less constrained datasets. The algorithm has been evaluated using registration consistency, model coverage and minimalism metrics, which together demonstrate the accuracy of the approach. To make it easier to build on this work, the source code has been made available online.

Beyond Attribution: Responsibility of Armed Non-State Actors for Reparations in Northern Ireland, Colombia and Uganda

This chapter explores the responsibility of armed non-state actors for reparations to victims. Traditionally international law has focused on the responsibility of the state, and more recently the responsibility of convicted individuals before the International Criminal Court, to provide reparations for international crimes. Yet despite the prevalence of internal armed conflict over the past few decades, there responsibility of armed groups for reparations has been neglected in international law. Although there is a tentative emerging basis for armed groups to provide reparations under international law, such developments have not yet crystallized into hard law. However, when considering the more substantive practice of states in Northern Ireland, Colombia and Uganda, a greater effort can be discerned in ensuring that such organizations are responsible for reparations. This paper finds that not only can armed non-state actors be held collectively responsible for reparations, but due to the growing number of internal armed conflict they can play an important role in ensuring the effectiveness of reparations in remedying victims’ harm. Yet, finding armed groups responsible for reparations is no panacea for accountability, due to the nature of armed conflicts, responsibility may not be distinct, but overlapping and joint, and such groups may face difficulties in meeting their obligations, thus requiring a holistic approach and subsidiary role for the state.

Women into Non-Traditional Sectors: Addressing Gender Segregation in the Northern Ireland Workforce

The horizontal segregation of the workforce along gender lines tends to assign women to lower paid, lower status employment. Consequently, schemes to address segregation have focused on preparing women to enter non‐traditional occupations through training and development processes. This article examines models to encourage women into non‐traditional employment, focusing on the Women into Non‐Traditional Sectors (WINS) project in Belfast, Northern Ireland. However, changing women to suit a hostile work environment assumes women to be the problem, whereas it is the barriers that women face in undertaking non‐traditional jobs that need to be changed. It is concluded, therefore, that while models such as WINS can be successful in assisting women into non‐traditional sectors, change processes to make workplaces more accessible are a more pressing and appropriate approach to de‐segregating the workforce.