Termination of tenancies for tenant default: Law Commission's draft Bill

Reviews key proposals of a draft Bill set out in Command Paper: The Law Commission: Termination of Tenancies for Tenant Default (Cm.6946), aimed at replacing the existing law on forfeiture of tenancies. Summarises the main elements of the proposed termination action by landlords, the events justifying such an action, the time limits for serving default notices, the revised range of court orders available and the considerations influencing which type of order to make. Examines the position of qualifying interest holders and the circumstances in which summary termination notices are prohibited.

Permanent draft genomes of four new coccolithoviruses: EhV-18, EhV-145, EhV-156 and EhV-164

Coccolithoviruses infect the marine coccolithophorid microalga Emiliania huxleyi. Here, we describe the genomes of four new coccolithoviruses isolated from UK coastal locations. Of particular interest, EhV-18 and EhV-145 encode serine palmitoyltransferase function via two distinct genes, whereas all other coccolithoviruses have SPT as a gene fusion of LCB1/LCB2 domains.

Punishment, blame and stigma after conflict: the experience of politically motivated former prisoners in Northern Ireland

This paper examines the relationship between the politics of blame in post-conflict Northern Ireland and the treatment of politically motivated former prisoners. Using the examples of direct and indirect discrimination in the areas of employment and access to mental health services, the paper considers how the discursive operation of blaming produces evasions and attributions of guilt. It argues that such blaming practices have very real material consequences for the allocation or withholding of goods and burdens in the community. The paper notes also that the ‘cause of victims’ is often appropriated by the press and other political actors for their own purposes, frequently to block the provision of public goods to one particular group of ex-combatants: ex-politically motivated prisoners. It concludes by posing a series of questions about blaming, justice and the moral authority of the victim in a transitional justice context. The claim of the paper is simply to offer some starting points for understanding the relationship between processes of blame, stigma and social exclusion.

The Role of Self-Help Efforts in the Reintegration of ‘Politically Motivated’ Former Prisoners: Implications from the Northern Irish experience

Self-help (or mutual aid) processes play a substantial role in the reintegration of stigmatized individuals, in particular, a substantial self-help movement has developed around addiction recovery. Prisoners and ex-prisoners have also established self-help groups around the world. This paper focuses in particular on the role of self-help principles and practices among “politically motivated” former prisoners from all sides of the Northern Irish conflict. The concept of self-help and its application to former prisoners are analysed theoretically, then applied to the Northern Irish case study through a series of interviews with ex-prisoners whose incarceration has been related to the conflict in Northern Ireland. We draw on the implications of this case study for wider issues of reintegration for politically motivated and ordinary prisoners.