Family Court Judges' Training, Background, and Child Development Knowledge: Associations with Child Custody Decision Making

Family court judges are often asked to make inferences about - or directly interview children to ascertain - children's custody preferences and their maturity to express such preferences. These estimates of children's developmental maturity are important to the judges' considerations of children's "best interests" in custody cases. The research literature describing family court judges' background, education, training, and knowledge about child development is scant. With appropriate child development knowledge, judges should be better able to identify the developmental stages at which children have the cognitive and social capabilities to communicate directly their placement wishes or concerns. The current study is the first to examine judges' estimates of - and actual tests of - their child development knowledge, their training/education, and their application of this knowledge to their decisions to involve children as participants in contested custody cases.

Practice and Procedure. Self-executing order - construction - whether further judicial at required for self-executing order to take effect

In Mango Boulevard Pty Ltd v Spencer [2010] QCA 207, a self-executing order had been made in consequence of continuing default by parties to the proceedings in meeting their disclosure obligations. The case involved several questions about the construction and implications of the self-executing order. This note focuses on the aspects of the case relating to that order.

Wikipedia, collective authorship, and the politics of knowledge

This chapter considers the legal ramifications of Wikipedia, and other online media, such as the Encyclopedia of Life. Nathaniel Tkacz (2007) has observed: 'Wikipedia is an ideal entry-point from which to approach the shifting character of knowledge in contemporary society.' He observes: 'Scholarship on Wikipedia from computer science, history, philosophy, pedagogy and media studies has moved beyond speculation regarding its considerable potential, to the task of interpreting - and potentially intervening in - the significance of Wikipedia's impact' (Tkacz 2007). After an introduction, Part II considers the evolution and development of Wikipedia, and the legal troubles that have attended it. It also considers the establishment of rival online encyclopedia - such as Citizendium set up by Larry Sanger, the co-founder of Wikipedia; and Knol, the mysterious new project of Google. Part III explores the use of mass, collaborative authorship in the field of science. In particular, it looks at the development of the Encyclopedia of Life, which seeks to document the world's biodiversity. This chapter expresses concern that Wiki-based software had to develop in a largely hostile and inimical legal environment. It contends that copyright law and related fields of intellectual property need to be reformed in order better to accommodate users of copyright material (Rimmer 2007). This chapter makes a number of recommendations. First, there is a need to acknowledge and recognize forms of mass, collaborative production and consumption - not just individual authorship. Second, the view of a copyright 'work' and other subject matter as a complete and closed piece of cultural production also should be reconceptualised. Third, the defense of fair use should be expanded to accommodate a wide range of amateur, peer-to-peer production activities - not only in the United States, but in other jurisdictions as well. Fourth, the safe harbor protections accorded to Internet intermediaries, such as Wikipedia, should be strengthened. Fifth, there should be a defense in respect of the use of 'orphan works' - especially in cases of large-scale digitization. Sixth, the innovations of open source licensing should be expressly incorporated and entrenched within the formal framework of copyright laws. Finally, courts should craft judicial remedies to take into account concerns about political censorship and freedom of speech.

A narrative analysis of judicial attitudes towards sexual harassment in Japan

This study applies a narrative analysis of the first two judicial decisions on sexual harassment in Japan to test claims of a culture of gender bias in Japanese judicial attitudes towards victims of sexual violence. Although the results do not provide an unambiguous support or rebuttal of gendered justice in Japan, they do reveal some of the dangers of narrative analysis as a basis for making generalizable claims about how law functions in Japanese society.

El desempeño del abogado en el proceso judicial penal

Resumen: La actuación del abogado en el proceso judicial penal contribuye a la tutela del derecho a la defensa, a la intimidad, así como a la búsqueda de la verdad y de la justicia. Se presentan entonces los lineamentos centrales para tener en cuenta en el desempeño del abogado defensor, la importancia de su adecuada elección, considerando sus cualidades, experiencia y un fehaciente conocimiento del derecho canónico. Se recuerda que todo el proceso requiere de razonabilidad y proporcionalidad, en el que la actuación del abogado estará impregnada de las virtudes teologales para su correcto desempeño.

La técnica del interrogatorio judicial

[ES]Al escuchar la palabra interrogatorio, lo que normalmente sucede es que las personas asocien dicho término con el interrogatorio realizado por parte de la policía, debido a la gran cantidad de películas basadas en este tipo de interrogatorio. Lo que se ha pretendido a través de este trabajo es el estudio y análisis de las características y funciones que generalmente invaden el interrogatorio judicial, así como el examen de las distintas técnicas posibles a llevar a cabo para la consecución de su fin: la verdad sobre los hechos probados. Además, se ha querido subrayar la importancia e influencia que tiene la ciencia de la psicología en este campo, estableciendo y exponiendo diferentes claves psicológicas para realizar de una mejor manera el trabajo del abogado en el acto del interrogatorio judicial, ya que, aun siendo imprescindible el conocimiento de la ciencia del Derecho, ha de tenerse muy en cuenta y de hecho, no olvidarse de la ciencia de la Psicología.

Interpreting Judgements using Knowledge Representation Methods and Computational Models of Argument

The goal of the present research is to define a Semantic Web framework for precedent modelling, by using knowledge extracted from text, metadata, and rules, while maintaining a strong text-to-knowledge morphism between legal text and legal concepts, in order to fill the gap between legal document and its semantics. The framework is composed of four different models that make use of standard languages from the Semantic Web stack of technologies: a document metadata structure, modelling the main parts of a judgement, and creating a bridge between a text and its semantic annotations of legal concepts; a legal core ontology, modelling abstract legal concepts and institutions contained in a rule of law; a legal domain ontology, modelling the main legal concepts in a specific domain concerned by case-law; an argumentation system, modelling the structure of argumentation. The input to the framework includes metadata associated with judicial concepts, and an ontology library representing the structure of case-law. The research relies on the previous efforts of the community in the field of legal knowledge representation and rule interchange for applications in the legal domain, in order to apply the theory to a set of real legal documents, stressing the OWL axioms definitions as much as possible in order to enable them to provide a semantically powerful representation of the legal document and a solid ground for an argumentation system using a defeasible subset of predicate logics. It appears that some new features of OWL2 unlock useful reasoning features for legal knowledge, especially if combined with defeasible rules and argumentation schemes. The main task is thus to formalize legal concepts and argumentation patterns contained in a judgement, with the following requirement: to check, validate and reuse the discourse of a judge - and the argumentation he produces - as expressed by the judicial text.

Arquitectura judicial en Aragón en la última centuria

La arquitectura judicial puede considerarse como la manifestación construida de uno de los aspectos fundamentales que definen una cultura, periodo histórico, o ámbito geográfico, que es la administración de justicia en cada sociedad. La Ley y el Derecho requieren unos ámbitos espaciales singulares en los que desarrollar los procesos que culminan con el acto judicial, el contraste de versiones e investigaciones que tienen como objetivo la búsqueda de la verdad por encima de todo. La arquitectura se configura como el escenario en el que tiene lugar el juicio, y ha de contribuir en este noble cometido. El conocimiento de la arquitectura judicial requiere -en primera instancia- un análisis arquitectónico, pero además esta visión se puede y se tiene que enriquecer con los enfoques que la propia práctica jurídica ha de aportar, y que en gran medida condicionan su creación y proyecto, en todo lo relativo a funcionalidad y simbología. Sin olvidar que nuestra formación es fundamentalmente arquitectónica, cabe plantear que el área de conocimiento a la que va dirigida esta investigación también se abre en diversas vías, que parten de la confluencia de aspectos legales, arquitectónicos, urbanos, y simbológicos. Además, todos estos aspectos son planteados en relación con las particularidades de una región concreta, Aragón, donde la ley ha tenido sus propias manifestaciones y códigos, donde la arquitectura y la ciudad se han contextualizado en un lugar concreto, y donde la simbología ha tenido su manera particular de transmitirse. Respecto a los objetivos que esta tesis plantea, podemos plantear en un primer estadio el análisis del carácter de la arquitectura judicial, como concepto y expresión amplia que manifiesta la función del edificio y su traducción en una simbología propia, y que queda vinculado, por lo tanto, a la funcionalidad de los procedimientos que en él tienen lugar y a la solemnidad alegórica de la Justicia. Para llevar a cabo este estudio se pretende establecer una metodología de estudio propia, que surge de considerar como valores formativos del tipo de arquitectura judicial a la tríada de valores urbanos, funcionales, y simbólicos. En primer lugar se evaluará la repercusión urbana de la arquitectura judicial, conforme a su consideración de equipamiento publico representativo de una sociedad. Se analizará, por lo tanto, si se dan posiciones urbanas concretas o arbitrarias, y si éstas se pueden tratar como una constante histórica. En segundo lugar, la especificidad y delicadeza de los usos que alberga llevan consigo planteamientos funcionales absolutamente complejos y específicos. Se considera que merece la pena analizarlos para evaluar si son propios de este tipo de arquitectura, así como su posible origen e implicación en la construcción del espacio judicial. En tercer lugar, se analizarán los edificios judiciales desde su consideración de soporte de una gran cantidad de materializaciones de simbológicas, no sólo desde un punto de vista iconográfico, sino además vinculadas a los procesos y ordenamientos judiciales, que se traducen en la construcción de espacios con una fuerte carga simbólica y escenográfica. En un segundo estadio se analiza la validez de la aplicación de dichos valores en el estudio de una serie de casos concretos de la arquitectura judicial en el territorio de Aragón en el siglo XX. Se buscará con ello la posibilidad de establecer variantes geográficas y temporales al tipo propias de esta comunidad, con unas particularidades forales que pueden dar lugar a ellas, así como posibles líneas evolutivas, o por el contrario, la imposibilidad de establecer pautas y relaciones a partir del análisis de los casos concretos y su valoración global. ABSTRACT Judicial architecture can be seen as the built manifestation of one of the key aspects that define a culture, a historical period, or a geographic scope, which is the administration of justice in every society. Law requires specific spaces to develop its own proceedings, that culminate with the judicial act. It is the contrast of versions and investigations that have an objective, the search for the truth. Architecture is configured as the stage in which the trial takes place, and has to contribute to this noble task. The knowledge of the judicial architecture requires -in the first instance - an architectural analysis, but in addition this vision can be enriched by some questions from the legal practice. They determine project decissions, specially functional and symbologycal aspects. Our main visión of the theme is architectural, but this research is also opened in many ways, that com from the confluence of legal, architectural, urban, and simbologic aspects In addition, all these questios are considered in relation to the peculiarities of a specific region, Aragon, where the law has its own manifestations and codes, where the architecture and the city have been contextualized in a particular way, and where the symbology has its particular way to be transmitted. About the objectives that this thesis purposes, we can suggest in a first stage the analysis of the character of the judicial architecture, as a concept that expresses the function of a building, and its translation into a particular symbology, allegorical to the solemnity of the Justice. To carry out the investigation proccess is neccesary to define a new methodology. It comes form considering the formative values of the judicial architecture, developed on the triad of urban, functional, and symbolic, values. Firstly, we analyse the urban aspects of judicial architecture, according to its consideration as a main public equipment of a society. Therefore we can search for specific or arbitrary urban locations of the courts, and if they can be considered as historic constants. Secondly, we analyse the specificity an complexity of the judicial uses, their possible origin, and involvement in the construction of judicial space. Thirdly, we analyse the court as scenographic stage, that support lots of symbolic elements and aspects linked to legal system. The second stage applies the values methodology on judicial architecture in Aragon in the twentieth century, with the possibility of establishing geographical and temporal variants os the court type in this community, or on the contrary, the inability to establish patterns and relationships from the analysis of specific cases and their overall rating.

Ateliê biográfico de formação profissional: prática socioeducativa em Escola Judicial

In recent decades, debates have intensified about (auto) biographical narratives as devices of socio-educational practices, aligned to the educational setting of the XXI century which have stimulated a new educational perspective woven with epistemological and methodological training throughout life. Towards that scenario, the continued training in Judicial School has occupied important space for constitutional effectiveness and, on the other hand, has grown the demands of expanding knowledge and enhancing training practices, in turn, judicial practices. The aim is to analyze the reflective Group through "Professional Training biographical Workshop" with Bailiffs such as socio-educational practices in socio Judicial School, in the city of Natal /RN. It has highlighted the questions that guided this study: 1. What paths of experiences and knowledge shared by the Law Officials, Federal Appraisers in "Professional Training biographical Workshop" as reflective Group? 2. How is organized the reflective Group as practice in socio-professional training setting? 3. What contributions narratives of themselves bring to the bailiff in reflective Group on Judicial School? The theoretical assumptions are supported in the lifelong training in methodological and epistemological dimension of (auto) biographical knowledge (JOSSO, 2008, 2010, 2012; PINEAU, 2005, 2006; DOMINICÉ, 2010; DELORY-MOMBERGER, 2006, 2008; FREIRE, 1987, 1996, 2001; PASSEGGI, 2008; 2010; 2011; 2012). In 2009, 09 (nine) civil servants in post of Federal Appraiser Justice Official, law graduates participated in this research through eight (08) "Biographical Workshops of Professional Training", consisting of biographical practices and scenarios, enabling oral and written narratives about a memory that has meaning, relationship and tessituras between files, facts and feelings that reveal the perception of self and other, as well as mobilize and weave the training process. The experiences of speaking, writing and reading were constituted of spaces that facilitating the reconstruction of the trajectory of training and career awareness-making, helping to re-signify labor relations and lead to their own professional design. From this study, the reflective properties of groups have emerged, consisting of Reflexivity, Experience, Historicity, Reversibility, dialog and formability processes, with paths to social and educational practices in which professionals identify the meaning and significance of self and of the profession that are exercising. The expectation is to continue with the spirit of research to emerge from the participants responses to training practices in Judicial School, aligned with the new knowledge of understanding the human being, not only an object of his work, but also a social subject, co-participant in the process of re-signifying life and work in a permanent way.