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This article examines the often-affirmed link between access to justice (AtoJ) and the rule of law. Section 2 offers an account of what we mean by AtoJ, arguing that the most plausible account of that idea has three components. Section 3 examines the rule of law. The article distinguishes between the concept and conceptions of the rule of law and argues that there is a plausible and widely shared concept of the rule of law. It shows that, on that core sense of the rule of law, there are connections, some more direct than others, between the rule of law and AtoJ. Section 4 argues that other alleged connections between the rule of law and AtoJ are not made out. The article shows that we should be circumspect about the assumed link between AtoJ and the rule of law, since it is almost always too glibly and quickly asserted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article attempts to defend two claims - first, that there is at least one intelligible and coherent concept of juridical equality extant in the law. This concept, I argue, has three components and two aspects and is found in an interestingly diverse range of doctrinal contexts. The fact that it is well rooted in doctrine, and that it applies to law application rather than just law creation, sets it apart - in a virtuous way - from other available accounts of juridical equality. The second claim is that this concept of juridical equality, despite the many complaints that might be made against it, is normatively significant and (possibly) normatively respectable. It is argued that this concept of juridical equality, construed as an inclusionary claim, can flourish only in a limited range of normative environments, one of which is a community of principle. The paper is a qualified defence of an allegedly 'formal,' supposedly uninteresting and institutionally embodied concept of equality, a concept often overlooked by contemporary political philosophers and regarded as anachronistic by many contemporary jurists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review article discusses the various conceptions of the legal person delineated and evaluated in Ngaire Naffine's recent book, Law's Meaning of Life. The article argues that, of the four conceptions Naffine examines, her treatment of one—the rationalist legal person—is perhaps the most problematic. The primary problem is an exaggeration of both the power and range of the rationalist legal person. This problem is not insignificant. However, the book as a whole is a lively and stimulating example of legal philosophy that is engaged with general questions about the nature of law, while also being rooted in historic and contemporary features of particular legal systems. It is a contribution to jurisprudence which both strives to be, and actually succeeds in being, interesting. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article tackles two issues: the nature of law's judgment and what, if anything, might be said in its favour. As to the first issue, the article reminds lawyers of the obvious, namely, that law's judgment is abstract, elucidating both what this entails and why it may be thought problematic. The main burden of the article is to consider what might be said in favour of law's abstract judgment. Only one family of arguments, part of a wider but still not all-encompassing class, are considered here: arguments from the rule of law ideal. Three different arguments from the rule of law are examined, the conclusion being that two of three cannot provide unproblematic and unambiguous support for law's abstract judgment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay offers a general account of the idea of impartiality and examines the senses in which adjudication is and is not impartial. Against those who would derive an account of impartiality from more general moral or political theories, the essay shows that ordinary thought embodies a coherent and reasonably rich conception of impartiality, some of the principal features of which are also in play in adjudication. Against those who claim that impartiality in adjudication is impossible or illusory, it is argued that there are some meaningful senses in which adjudication is indeed impartial. The essay concludes that in the adjudicative context impartiality might even be considered a virtue, albeit a limited one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. I analyzed traffic fatalities and homicides related to leaving home for routine activities, and considered connections between these fatalities and the built environment. Methods. I analyzed city, county, state, and federal data for traffic fatalities and homicides by strangers for 15 metropolitan areas, and classified deaths as occurring in the central city, in inner suburbs, or in outer suburbs (exurbs). Results. Traffic fatality rates were highest in exurban areas. Combined traffic fatality and homicide-by-stranger rates were higher in some or all outer counties than in central cities or inner suburbs in all of the metropolitan areas studied. Conclusions. Traffic fatalities are largely unrecognized as a danger to be factored into residential location decisions. Land use controls that deter sprawl along narrow exurban roads can reduce the mortality risks associated with leaving home. (Am J Public Health. 2003 ;93:1564--1569) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors propose a set of general tests of equity for local administrators to use in distributing public services. Four service categories are distinguished, and the problems of analyzing equitable service delivery for each category are discussed. A methodology for geographic analysis of service distribution is proposed. Emphasis is placed on the importance of analyzing service distribution equity using measures of combinations of indicators of resources, activities, results, and opinions. Departures from equal treatment need to be justified, in part, by using service measures. Despite the difficulties of measurement, officials in large local governments will have a much sounder basis for decisions about service distribution, if analysis of equity becomes part of operating routines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses planning educators and professionals' view of urban and regional planning. Discussion of three themes in urban and regional planning; View of policy analysts and public administrators; Guiding principle; Types of connections between people and place; Physical design and community sustainability.

Examines three levels of value talk as they arise within 'heretical' accounts of adjudication. Analysis of heretics account of the role and nature of values within adjudication; Heretical positions on the nature and basis of values; Extreme value skepticism; Moderate value skepticism; Ethics of destruction.