Australian domestic violence protection order legislation : a comparative quantitative content analysis of victim safety provisions

In Australia, protection orders are a key legal response to domestic violence, and are often viewed as a way of providing for victim safety. For instance, recently the joint Australian and New South Wales Law Reform Commissions recommended that a common core purpose of all state and territory domestic violence legislation should be ‘to ensure or maximise the safety and protection of persons who fear or experience family violence’ (2010:Recommendation 7-4). Drawing and building upon prior research in Australia and the United States (‘US’), this paper uses comparative quantitative content analysis to assess the victim safety focus of domestic violence protection order legislation in each Australian state and territory. The findings of this analysis show that the Northern Territory, South Australia and Victoria ‘stand out’ from the other jurisdictions, having the highest victim safety focus in their legislation. However, there remains sizeable scope for improvement in all Australian jurisdictions, in terms of the victim safety focus of their legislative provisions and the considerations of legislative inconsistency between jurisdictions.

Family law issues and schools : guidance for Australian educators

A substantial number of Australian children are now living in separated families, with many moving between their parents’ homes. This has led to educators being confronted with an increasing number of family law issues. This article discusses the key aspects of family law that involve children. It highlights the need for schools to be aware of all family law orders that relate to children in their care, including family court, domestic violence and child protection orders. It also provides guidance in relation to how schools can adopt child focused approaches in some common scenarios, where parents are in dispute. In particular, we will recommend that educators take a child-focused approach, consistent with the principal provision of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) that ‘the best interests of the child’ be the paramount consideration. We will highlight how this contrasts starkly with what can be described as a ‘parental rights’ interpretation, which has unfortunately been taken by some since the 2006 amendments to the Family Law Act, and is, in our view, directly at odds with the intention of the legislation.

Oral language competence, young speakers and the Law

Purpose: This paper highlights the forensic implications of language impairment in 2 key (and overlapping) groups of young people: identified victims of maltreatment (abuse and/or neglect) and young offenders.

Method: Two lines of research pertaining to oral language competence and young people's interface with the law are considered: 1 regarding investigative interviewing with children as victims or witnesses in the context of serious allegations of sexual abuse, and the other pertaining to adolescent offenders as suspects, witnesses, or victims. The linguistic demands that forensic interviewing places on these young people are also considered. Literature concerning the impact of early maltreatment on early language acquisition is briefly reviewed, as is the role of theory of mind in relation to the requirements of investigative interviewing of children and adolescents.

Implications: High-risk young people (i.e., those who are subject to child protection orders because of suspected or confirmed maltreatment, and those who are engaged with the youth justice system) face an elevated risk for suboptimal language development but may need to draw on their language skills in high-stakes forensic interviews. Implications for early intervention policy and practice are identified, and the need for greater speech-language pathology advocacy and engagement in forensic interviewing research is emphasized.

La violencia contra la pareja o expareja mujer: un estudio de la variable de la nacionalidad en la base de datos de la Guardia Municipal de Donostia/San Sebastian

[ES]Este Trabajo de Fin de Grado (TFG) está relacionado con las prácticas efectuadas en la Guardia Municipal de San Sebastián (País Vasco) y pretende analizar las órdenes de protección concedidas a víctimas de violencia de género inmigrantes y nacionales para comprobar si existe alguna diferencia en cuanto a su aplicación. Asimismo, se pretende analizar el procedimiento efectuado por este cuerpo policial y servicios sociales en estos casos, así como el perfil de la víctima y el agresor. Por otra parte, se procura analizar aspectos controvertidos de la Ley Orgánica 1/2004 de Medidas de Protección Integral de la Violencia de Género. Para ello, se utilizara una metodología mixta. Por una parte de corte cualitativo realizando cuatro entrevistas (a dos víctimas, una agente de policía y una trabajadora social) para ahondar más respecto a este tema. En segundo lugar, desde una perspectiva cuantitativa se explorará la base de datos de la Guardia Municipal en materia de violencia de género para realizar un análisis estadístico. Finalmente, se abordaran las conclusiones a las que se ha llegado con este trabajo y se propondrán mejoras de cara a futuras investigaciones y a la operatividad de la Guardia Municipal.

The Ontario Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Individual Privacy Act: an analysis of its application to school boards

In Canada freedom of information must be viewed in the context of governing -- how do you deal with an abundance of information while balancing a diversity of competing interests? How can you ensure people are informed enough to participate in crucial decision-making, yet willing enough to let some administrative matters be dealt with in camera without their involvement in every detail. In an age when taxpayers' coalition groups are on the rise, and the government is encouraging the establishment of Parent Council groups for schools, the issues and challenges presented by access to information and protection of privacy legislation are real ones. The province of Ontario's decision to extend freedom of information legislation to local governments does not ensure, or equate to, full public disclosure of all facts or necessarily guarantee complete public comprehension of an issue. The mere fact that local governments, like school boards, decide to collect, assemble or record some information and not to collect other information implies that a prior decision was made by "someone" on what was important to record or keep. That in itself means that not all the facts are going to be disclosed, regardless of the presence of legislation. The resulting lack of information can lead to public mistrust and lack of confidence in those who govern. This is completely contrary to the spirit of the legislation which was to provide interested members of the community with facts so that values like political accountability and trust could be ensured and meaningful criticism and input obtained on matters affecting the whole community. This thesis first reviews the historical reasons for adopting freedom of information legislation, reasons which are rooted in our parliamentary system of government. However, the same reasoning for enacting such legislation cannot be applied carte blanche to the municipal level of government in Ontario, or - ii - more specifially to the programs, policies or operations of a school board. The purpose of this thesis is to examine whether the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 1989 (MFIPPA) was a neccessary step to ensure greater openness from school boards. Based on a review of the Orders made by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario, it also assesses how successfully freedom of information legislation has been implemented at the municipal level of government. The Orders provide an opportunity to review what problems school boards have encountered, and what guidance the Commissioner has offered. Reference is made to a value framework as an administrative tool in critically analyzing the suitability of MFIPPA to school boards. The conclusion is drawn that MFIPPA appears to have inhibited rather than facilitated openness in local government. This may be attributed to several factors inclusive of the general uncertainty, confusion and discretion in interpreting various provisions and exemptions in the Act. Some of the uncertainty is due to the fact that an insufficient number of school board staff are familiar with the Act. The complexity of the Act and its legalistic procedures have over-formalized the processes of exchanging information. In addition there appears to be a concern among municipal officials that granting any access to information may be violating personal privacy rights of others. These concerns translate into indecision and extreme caution in responding to inquiries. The result is delay in responding to information requests and lack of uniformity in the responses given. However, the mandatory review of the legislation does afford an opportunity to address some of these problems and to make this complex Act more suitable for application to school boards. In order for the Act to function more efficiently and effectively legislative changes must be made to MFIPPA. It is important that the recommendations for improving the Act be adopted before the government extends this legislation to any other public entities.

Determinants of bankruptcy protection duration for Canadian firms

The present thesis examines the determinants of the bankruptcy protection duration for Canadian firms. Using a sample of Canadian firms that filed for bankruptcy protection between the calendar years 1992 and 2009, we fmd that the firm age, the industry adjusted operating margin, the default spread, the industrial production growth rate or the interest rate are influential factors on determining the length of the protection period. Older firms tend to stay longer under protection from creditors. As older firms have more complicated structures and issues to settle, the risk of exiting soon the protection (the hazard rate) is small. We also find that firms that perform better than their benchmark as measured by the industry they belong to, tend to leave quickly the bankruptcy protection state. We conclude that the fate of relatively successful companies is determined faster. Moreover, we report that it takes less time to achieve a final solution to firms under bankrupt~y when the default spread is low or when the appetite for risk is high. Conversely, during periods of high default spreads and flight for quality, it takes longer time to resolve the bankruptcy issue. This last finding may suggest that troubled firms should place themselves under protection when spreads are low. However, this ignores the endogeneity issue: high default spread may cause and incidentally reflect higher bankruptcy rates in the economy. Indeed, we find that bankruptcy protection is longer during economic downturns. We explain this relation by the natural increase in default rate among firms (and individuals) during economically troubled times. Default spreads are usually larger during these harsh periods as investors become more risk averse since their wealth shrinks. Using a Log-logistic hazard model, we also fmd that firms that file under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) protection spend longer time restructuring than firms that filed under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA). As BIA is more statutory and less flexible, solutions can be reached faster by court orders.

La protection de l'animal en droit constitutionnel

L'étude porte sur une norme juridique déterminée, identifiée par sa valeur ­ constitutionnelle ­ et par son objet ­ qui est de protéger l'animal pour lui-même. La recherche a été conduite sans délimitation a priori du champ des pays étudiés. Il n'y a pas eu à proprement parler de choix des pays puisque tous ont été intégrés à la présente étude, sans critère d'exclusion ou de discrimination (tel que le niveau de développement ou le type de système juridique dont ils relèvent). Les Constitutions actuellement en vigueur de tous les Etats unitaires ou fédéraux ont été passées au crible de l'analyse. En revanche, les Constitutions des entités fédérées n'ont pas fait l'objet d'une analyse systématique mais seulement d'une étude sélective. L'objectif de la recherche était de réaliser une étude générale en apportant des réponses aux interrogations suivantes : quelles sont les normes constitutionnelles de protection de l'animal ? Pourquoi et comment ont-elles été adoptées ? Quelle est leur portée dans les ordres juridiques concernés ? De cette recherche ressortent principalement trois enseignements. Premièrement, le phénomène de la consécration de normes constitutionnelles de protection de l'animal est récent et en plein développement. Deuxièmement, ces normes présentent des formulations différentes et procèdent de deux considérations distinctes : le respect de l'animal en Inde, la prise en compte de sa sensibilité dans les autres pays (essentiellement les pays occidentaux). Troisièmement, ces normes revêtent le plus souvent la nature d'objectif constitutionnel, ce qui leur permet de justifier au nom du respect, du bien-être ou de la protection de l'animal les limitations apportées aux droits constitutionnels, notamment la liberté du commerce, la liberté artistique et la liberté de la recherche.

Risk assessment of sexual offenders for extended supervision orders in New Zealand : basic principles and current practice

A growing number of jurisdictions in North America, the United Kingdom, and Australasia have enacted legislation allowing for special sentencing, civil commitment, and community supervision options for high risk sexual offenders. In New Zealand, one example of this concern for public protection is the Parole (Extended Supervision) Amendment Act 2004, which provides for additional supervision of sexual offenders with child victims for up to 10 years after their release from prison. Recent experience with expert evidence and judicial decision making in such cases suggests that those involved in the process might benefit from a more thorough understanding of the current state of sexual offender risk assessment that can be provided by mental health professionals.

Corrosion protection of stainless steel by polysiloxane hybrid coatings prepared using the sol-gel process

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Human and ecological risk assessment of a crop protection chemical: a case study with the azole fungicide epoxiconazole.

Conventional risk assessments for crop protection chemicals compare the potential for causing toxicity (hazard identification) to anticipated exposure. New regulatory approaches have been proposed that would exclude exposure assessment and just focus on hazard identification based on endocrine disruption. This review comprises a critical analysis of hazard, focusing on the relative sensitivity of endocrine and non-endocrine endpoints, using a class of crop protection chemicals, the azole fungicides. These were selected because they are widely used on important crops (e.g. grains) and thereby can contact target and non-target plants and enter the food chain of humans and wildlife. Inhibition of lanosterol 14α-demethylase (CYP51) mediates the antifungal effect. Inhibition of other CYPs, such as aromatase (CYP19), can lead to numerous toxicological effects, which are also evident from high dose human exposures to therapeutic azoles. Because of its widespread use and substantial database, epoxiconazole was selected as a representative azole fungicide. Our critical analysis concluded that anticipated human exposure to epoxiconazole would yield a margin of safety of at least three orders of magnitude for reproductive effects observed in laboratory rodent studies that are postulated to be endocrine-driven (i.e. fetal resorptions). The most sensitive ecological species is the aquatic plant Lemna (duckweed), for which the margin of safety is less protective than for human health. For humans and wildlife, endocrine disruption is not the most sensitive endpoint. It is concluded that conventional risk assessment, considering anticipated exposure levels, will be protective of both human and ecological health. Although the toxic mechanisms of other azole compounds may be similar, large differences in potency will require a case-by-case risk assessment.

Legal compilation; statutes and legislative history, executive orders, regulations, guidelines and reports

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