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In recent years, policymakers have begun to problematize how legislation stands in the way of the digitalization of the public sector. We are witnessing the emergence of a new phenomenon, digital-ready legislation, which implies that, whenever possible, new legislation should build on simple rules and unambiguous terminology to reduce the need for professional (human) discretion and allow for the extended use of automated case processing in public-sector organizations. Digital-ready legislation has potentially wide-ranging consequences because it creates the conditions for how public organizations are digitalized. The processes, practices, choices, and responsibilities for drafting digital-ready legislation, however, are not well-described or debated. Digital-ready legislation is a dormant issue. This paper develops the notion of the “double darkness” of digitalization to account for this. Based on a qualitative study, the paper investigates how digital-ready legislation as a sociotechnical arrangement is shaped by policy tools and by a complex, collaborative process where responsibility for legislation is fragmented. It argues that although the policy tools are aimed at making actors responsible for digitalization and creating clarity about the process, actors seem to be reluctant to take on the responsibility for making political decisions related to digitalization.

Nurses in advanced practice roles have existed in Canada for over 100 years, yet only in the last two decades, have nurse practitioners (NPs) been recognized as advanced practice nurses (APNs). During this time, NP educational programs have increased and transitioned from post-baccalaureate level to graduate level. Legislation and national NP regulatory approval processes have contributed to existing barriers to NP role implementation and full scope of practice. While regulation is mandatory and focused on public safety, an emphasis towards quality has led to the introduction of a national voluntary NP program accreditation process. The purpose of this paper is to initiate a discussion between Canadian NP regulators and educators related to proposed regulatory approaches and accreditation processes that balance public safety while promoting quality and excellence in NP education. Having two separate and costly processes has led to tension during a time of provincial fiscal restraint on university budgets coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on nursing education. An integrated pan-Canadian approach of regulation and accreditation may ensure public safety, continuity, and consistency in quality NP education, enhance mobility of the NP workforce, and systematic planning to guide successful future NP role development and practice.

The effective implantation of the circular economy (CE) presents a great challenge to the industrial sectors, mostly in those of greater environmental impact, such as construction industry. In Brazil, this industry has been growing over the last 20 years; however, such growth was based on an extractivist economy without any consideration to the end of its products lifespan. Only in 2017, 45 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste were generated in the country. This paper presents the current context of public policies in the Brazilian construction industry and proposes initiatives to introduce principles of CE. An exploratory study was developed, and all the 45 references presented in Appendix A of the review paper of Benachio et al. were considered to draw new ideas. These ideas are related and compared to key points in Brazilian regulations. Twelve opportunities for the improvement are listed and organized by construction stages (planning and design, materials manufacturing, construction processes, use and demolition). The ones related to design and planning using Green building information modelling, and materials manufacturing with recycled waste are highlighted due to the existing actions, standards, and Federal legislation. It was found that some sectors and the government already have actions related to CE (based on the 3R principle), but still there are several initiatives needed for its effective implementation in the Brazilian construction industry.

Canada and the United States have recently evaluated the decriminalization of drugs as multiple provinces and states put motions forward to consider drug decriminalization legislation. The influence of factors such as demographics, substance use, perceived substance use risk, and personality have not been widely studied in predicting attitudes toward drug decriminalization. A total of 504 participants were drawn from university ( n = 269, 53.37%) and community samples ( n = 235, 46.63%) through online social media groups and posts (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc). Analyses indicated that male gender, single or non-married relationship status, living outside of Atlantic Canada, higher problematic alcohol use scores, lower Extraversion, higher Open-mindedness, and lower perceived risk of using substances emerged as significant predictors of support for drug decriminalization. These findings have important implications as public attitudes toward a substance influence drug policy.

This exploratory study, the first attempt at capturing the experiences of victims of DV with the criminal justice system in Iran, explores their plight in the absence of legislation that defines and criminalizes DV. Drawing on 15 in-depth interviews with Iranian women who turned to police departments and courts, we demonstrate the flaws inherent in Iran's judiciary and law enforcement organizations, suggesting they reinforce the integrity of the family as a patriarchal unit through readings of religious commands, stabilize the boundary between public and private, and dissuade women from claiming their rights. We provide suggestions for future research for reform, given the growing influence of feminist movements toward gender equality.

This article traces the journey of Nordic health data requested for developing a healthcare algorithm. We focus on the legal requirements and highlight that differences in the legislation of Denmark, Norway and Iceland, and the interpretation thereof by responsible bodies, can pose a barrier for scientific researchers. In addition, non-legal institutional requirements or practices may hamper data access. First, despite some European harmonization, the mandate of research ethics committees and the data protection authorities vary in the three countries. Second, domestic institutions impose tailored requirements, sometimes only allowing domestic or affiliated researchers to access data sets. Third, the manner in which a dataset is collected, catalogued and stored has implications for data access. We make several recommendations for increasing transparency in Nordic data access, such as, increasing knowledge sharing regarding interpretation of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) criteria, adopting clearer regulations and pursuing greater citizen engagement in secondary use of health data.

Zambia has within the last two decades enacted several pieces of legislation aimed at enhancing equality in the labour market and the workplace. However, despite being one of the countries that has been severely devastated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Zambia does not yet have specific legislation targeted at HIV-related stigma and discrimination in the labour market and workplace. Apart from the general prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of health or social status, it remains to be seen whether concepts such as reasonable accommodation have a place in the fight against discrimination and stigma of HIV/AIDS in the Zambian workplace. The purpose of this article is not to argue for the enactment of HIV/AIDS specific legislation in Zambia but to instead argue that despite the absence of such legislation, HIV/AIDS discrimination and stigma can be addressed within the context of the Country’s existing disability discrimination law. The arguments advanced in this article are considered largely within the context of the Zambian High Court case of Stanley Kingaipe & Another v The Attorney General.

A controversial part of the Adam Walsh Act (AWA) mandates that states require minors adjudicated of certain sexual offenses to be on the sex offender registry, but not all states have complied. Our article examines how far the public in one Midwestern state that has not complied with the AWA is willing to go to manage juvenile sex offenders. We use a statewide survey of adults to examine attitudes toward applying adult sex offender penalties to minors adjudicated of a sex crime (residency restrictions, prohibitions from public schools, school zones, public parks, and social networking sites). Results indicate more than half (60%) of participants agreed that juveniles should be on the public sex offender registry. However, there was less consensus on how punitively juveniles should be treated compared with adult sex offenders. Results indicated which demographics in this state were more likely to hold punitive views toward juvenile sex offenders.

Despite being a human rights violation, child marriage still takes place across the globe. Prior scholarship has shown early marriage to be associated with an increased risk of intimate partner violence (IPV). Drawing on data from the nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys—conducted in developing and transitional nations where rates of child marriage tend to be higher—the current study provides a cross-national examination of individual-, community-, and national-level predictors of child marriage and their association with physical and emotional IPV. The sample of ever married women includes 281,674 respondents across 46 developing and transitional nations. Findings reveal the prevalence of child marriage was largely consistent with worldwide estimates. Over half of the sample (59.97%) were over the age of 18 when they married and about 1 in 10 women were married at age 14 or younger. A later age at marriage, measured continuously, was associated with lower odds of physical and emotional IPV. When considering the 18 and over cutoff traditionally used to operationalize child marriage, the odds of physical and emotional IPV were lower for women who married over the age of 18 than women who were 14 and younger when they married. However, there was a confounding effect when considering age at marriage as 18 and over when community-level predictors were not included in the model estimating physical abuse. This underscores the need to consider the nested nature of respondents’ experiences. Further, national legislation that protects against child marriage was not associated with risk of physical or emotional IPV. However, population size increased the odds of physical IPV and lowered the odds of emotional IPV. Such findings can be interpreted in light of opportunity theory and provide direction for prevention and intervention programming.

This paper assesses state efforts to both restrict and enable local government discretion by using data from Project Vote Smart's “Key Votes” database. The results show that state legislation, both successful and unsuccessful, is more likely to limit local autonomy than to enhance it, although both tendencies occur. Republican legislators are more likely to support efforts to restrict discretion than Democrats are. Further, preemption attempts are particularly evident on “hot button” issues, such as guns, sexuality and gender roles, and immigration, although such initiatives are not necessarily more likely to successfully become law, especially under conditions of divided government.

Nicaragua has the dubious distinction of being one of the only countries in the world that has intentionally weakened its existing legislation penalizing the crime of femicide ( femicidio), the murder of women due to their gender. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and content analysis of over 250 newspaper articles, this study examines how these legal changes occurred and their implications for women’s access to legal justice in Nicaragua. Through an analysis of the competing claims of state officials and feminist actors, I demonstrate how femicidio became a contested legal and political category in Nicaragua, to the detriment of women’s lives.

A powerful legal tool in evolving solid waste management (SWM) systems is extended producer responsibility (EPR). It is a mechanism that shifts the responsibility of a product to manufacturers/importers at the ‘end-of-life’ stage. Yet, implementation of the EPR concept has faced difficulties in developing countries. In Iran, as one such country, the principle of EPR system was issued in executive regulation of SWM in 2005, however, so far, it has been limited to a voluntary scheme. The problem merits further investigation. Therefore, this study aims to shed light on the obstacles in the path of developing EPR system for product packaging. The research examines the current SWM systems in four functional classified frameworks: legal, institutional, financial and technical. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the system are elaborated through semi-structured interviews with a senior executive in the Ministry of Interior (MoI). Then, viable methods to increase resource efficiency and sustainable waste treatment are suggested. The change in the financing mechanism in the Budget Law 2020 forces the manufacturers/importers of products containing recyclable components to pay the revenue from one in 1000 products to MoI for developing recycling facilities and incinerators through partnerships with the private sector. This new strategy would promote proper management of product packaging, create more jobs and a market for international cooperation. However, poor source-separation of wet/dry waste, informal sector activities, exclusive focus on the economic aspect of waste management, lack of expertise and public awareness campaigns are the barriers in this regard.

Employment legislation intended to establish scheduling standards in hourly jobs is spreading across US cities. Yet the well-documented role that cost-focused business models play in shaping manager practices forecasts uneven compliance. Joining perspectives from labor and public policy studies, the authors examine variation in the organizational arena—local workplaces—where implementation of scheduling regulation is set to play out. Analyses draw on surveys and interviews with 52 retail and food service managers on the eve of enactment of Seattle’s Secure Scheduling Ordinance. By capturing the full range of variation in managers’ scheduling practices prior to enactment, and their distance from legal compliance, the authors contribute unique insight into the prospects of establishing universal work hour standards in service industries and the varying pathways employers will likely pursue toward regulatory compliance. Findings suggest targets for enforcement and manager training and offer insight into the implementation challenges posed by municipal-level regulation.

It is now widely recognized that victims of crime in general, and victims of sexual offences in particular, commonly experience secondary victimization resulting from dismissive, poor, and sometimes retraumatizing treatment when they encounter the formal criminal justice system. However, little is known about victims’ experiences when initially reporting crime outside of the formal justice system, for example crime that occurs during cruise ship holidays. The cruise industry is the fastest growing tourism sector. The total number of passengers onboard cruise ships internationally was expected to reach 30 million in 2019. There is limited reliable data about how many people experience crime onboard cruise ships, though crime victimization does occur. While victimization onboard cruise ships has received some attention, there is a dearth of evidence about when and how victims report crime, how victims are treated when they report their experience of crime to cruise ship companies, or the justice outcomes. Nor does the available data address whether victims of crime from diverse social groups are treated differently by cruise companies. Drawing on qualitative accounts produced by primary and secondary victims of crime onboard cruise ships, it is argued that as well as the known challenges that victims face, the addition of brand protection can compound cruise ship victims’ experiences of secondary victimization. Secondary victimization refers to additional, or compounded harms experienced because of social or systemic responses to their experience of crime. There are three key implications of these findings: greater understanding of crime victims’ experiences should be developed via refined, mandatory reporting of crime onboard cruise ships, and robust qualitative research; cruise ship staff need improved specialized training in responding to victims of crime, and legislation should be considered mandating an independent authority onboard cruise ships to receive, investigate and monitor victimization reports and responses.

Civil protection order legislation is the primary mechanism in each of Australia’s eight jurisdictions’ system-based response to domestic and family violence (DFV). There are many differences across the states’ and territories’ legislation, with each amended numerous times since their inception in the early 1980s. The latter is exemplified by the new Australian Capital Territory (ACT) legislative framework, the Family Violence Act 2016 (ACT) (the Act), which was introduced in 2017, following a number of high-profile intimate partner homicides. The aim of the Act was to better protect those who fear, experience or witness family violence (FV). This article reflects on whether that aim is being achieved, from the perspective of those with lived FV experience. We conducted in-depth interviews with eight people who identified as having lived experience (LE) with the Act. The open-ended questions were designed to elicit their observations, experiences, and suggestions concerning the black letter provisions and their implementation. The theme of safety emerged strongly as issues were revealed, including waiting for orders to be served, their duration, the exclusion of children, limits of the definition of FV, such as the omission of cultural and technology-facilitated abuse, as well as inadequate interagency cooperation and information sharing. Their reflections highlight that, while some improvements have indeed been made, there often remains a lack of protection for victims. Drawing on these experiences, we put forward recommendations for amendments to the current regime, which may further promote victim and community safety and reiterate the importance of listening to the voices of those at the coalface of experiencing FV.

BackgroundMultiple deficit causal models have begun to replace single deficit models in accounting for developmental dyslexia. These models argued that multiple factors combine and/or interact to cause the severe reading difficulties that characterize this disorder. In this paper, we introduce a cumulative risk and protection model that highlights various factors that influence reading achievement in children at risk for dyslexia. MethodsCurrent literature is reviewed that examines risk and resilience factors that increase or decrease the likelihood of severe reading difficulties in children with dyslexia. These factors are organized within a cumulative risk and protection model.ResultsEvidence indicates that deficits in phonological processing, oral language, visual processing, attention, as well as exogenous factors such as trauma increase the probability of dyslexia. Whereas research concerning protective factors is more limited, evidence does suggest that cognitive and socio-emotional resilience and family/peer support can limit the impact of risk factors. ConclusionsA cumulative risk and protection model provides a useful framework for understanding the causal basis of dyslexia. It also has implications for the early identification and intervention of the disorder.

When it comes to welfare in general, Sweden’s legislation is certainly one of the most comprehensive in the world. Living up to the ideal of supporting its citizens and residents from the cradle to the grave, this Scandinavian country has expanded its laws exponentially in the last century to cover all aspects of individuals’ and families’ lives. Thus, it comes, then, as a particular surprise to discover that the notion of basic income has been - and still is - almost completely absent from the Swedish political debate (and has consequently remained off the agenda of the Swedish legislative bodies), while being one of the hottest topics around the European continent. The purpose of this article is to investigate the possible reasons why the idea of basic income is missing from Swedish legislative agenda and to draw some brief general conclusions that may be valid for all legislative actors operating in advanced capitalistic societies.

Kinship care is a global phenomenon with a long history, which in high-income countries (HICs) at least, is being increasingly formalized through legislation and policy. There are many benefits to kinship care, including improved child mental health and well-being when compared to other types of out-of-home care. Despite this, kinship care is not without its risks with a lack of support and training for kinship carers putting children at an increased risk of abuse and neglect. This scoping review was conducted across 11 databases to explore the breadth and depth of the literature about abuse and neglect within kinship care in HICs and to provide initial indications about the relationship between kinship care and abuse. Of the 2,308 studies initially identified, 26 met the inclusion criteria. A majority of studies were from the United States, and most used case review methods. From the included studies, rates of re-abuse, and particularly rates of physical and sexual abuse, appear to be lower in kinship care settings when compared to other out-of-home care settings, but rates of neglect are often higher. This review has demonstrated that a small but significant number of children living in kinship care experience neglect or abuse.

Due in part to their involvement with social activities on campus, college students experience an increased risk of dating violence. Recent legislation such as the Campus SaVE Act (which requires U.S. colleges to offer training on sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, and sexual harassment to all incoming students) has contributed to the increase in prevention programming offered across postsecondary campuses, as well as subsequent research examining the effectiveness of these prevention efforts. The current study provides a systematic review and meta-analysis of college dating violence prevention programs. A systematic search of 28 databases and numerous gray literature sources identified an initial 14,540 articles of which 315 were deemed potentially eligible for inclusion. Studies were selected if they (1) evaluated a college dating prevention program/campaign, (2) reported one of five outcomes (knowledge, attitudes, or bystander efficacy, intentions, or behavior), (3) had a minimum sample size of 20 in the treatment group, (4) used a pre/post and/or comparison group design, and (5) were published in English or French between January 2000 and October 2020. We calculated 53 effect sizes from 31 studies and conducted separate meta-analyses on various categories of outcome measures. Findings suggest that college dating violence prevention programs are effective at increasing knowledge and attitudes toward dating violence, as well as bystander skills, but are not effective at increasing bystander behaviors. Findings from moderator analyses suggest that several program components influence the strength of treatment effects. Implications for improving the effectiveness of college dating violence prevention programs are discussed.

In 2020, a Dutch court passed judgment in a case about a digital welfare fraud detection system called Systeem Risico Indicatie (SyRI). The court ruled that the SyRI legislation is unlawful because it does not comply with the right to privacy under the European Convention of Human Rights. In this article we analyse the judgment and its implications. This ruling is one of first in which a court has invalidated a welfare fraud detection system for breaching the right to privacy. We show that the immediate effects of the judgment are limited. The judgment does not say much about automated fraud detection systems in general, because it is limited to the circumstances of the case. Still, the judgment is important. The judgment reminds policymakers that fraud detection must happen in a way that respects data protection principles and the right to privacy. The judgment also confirms the importance of transparency if personal data are used.

This article investigates why it took over 20 years of trade union struggle before workers in Swedish elder care were granted the right to free workwear. How did the Swedish Municipal Workers’ Union (Kommunal) tackle the problem; what obstacles did the union face; and why was the matter finally regulated by the state (in 2015 and 2018) and not by collective agreement in line with the Swedish model of self-regulation? The study draws mainly on an analysis of important court cases. The results indicate that the process was protracted mainly because of the unclear legal basis for pursuing demands concerning workwear, municipalities’ (local authorities’) opposition to a general obligation to provide workwear, mainly for financial reasons, and the fact that the issue was deadlocked between the remits of two government authorities, representing patient safety and work safety respectively. The main reason why the union eventually preferred to fight for a legislative solution was that a negotiated solution would probably have come at the expense of other urgent union demands in this female-dominated low-wage sector. When Kommunal intensified the struggle for free workwear in the 2010s, the union also stepped up its struggle against the structural gender differences in wages in the municipal sector.

Background/Aims: The Pediatric Research Equity Act and Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act are intended to promote the conduct of clinical trials that generate pediatric-specific evidence about drug safety and efficacy. This study assesses the quality of evidence generated through Pediatric Research Equity Act–mandated and Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act–incentivized clinical trials of hematology/oncology drugs and characterizes subsequent changes in pediatric drug utilization rates. Methods: Trial characteristics (blinding, randomization, and comparator group) were determined for clinical trials that supported pediatric label changes. Using data from OptumLabs® Data Warehouse, a de-identified administrative claims database, we calculated pediatric utilization rates for each drug. We calculated monthly utilization rates from January 2003 (or from the first month in which data were available) to December 2018. Results: We identified 11 hematology/oncology drugs that underwent pediatric label changes under the Pediatric Research Equity Act Pediatric Research Equity Act and/or Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act, and we identified 15 trials supporting these changes. Of these trials, 36% (5/14) were randomized, 31% (4/13) were blinded, and 36% (5/14) used a comparator group. A median of 49 children (interquartile range 29.5) received the drug under investigation across these trials. Pediatric label changes were not associated with subsequent changes in pediatric drug utilization. Although some drugs saw increased pediatric use after gaining new pediatric indications, this pattern was not consistently observed. In addition, there was no evidence to suggest that drugs were utilized less frequently after they failed to receive pediatric indications. Conclusions: Clinical trials of hematology/oncology drugs conducted under the Pediatric Research Equity Act Pediatric Research Equity Act and Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act generally have low methodological rigor, and the resulting label changes are not consistently associated with changes in pediatric utilization. Alternative regulatory strategies and study designs may be necessary to maximize the impact of newly generated knowledge on drug utilization.