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Common-law judges frequently claim to apply the 'always speaking' principle. But they recognise that they are not clear on what it means, with Lord Leggatt recently calling the metaphor 'enigmatic'. In this article, I seek to clarify this by showing that the 'always speaking' metaphor is associated with at least four different types of principle, each of which responds to a distinct issue (although there is a common theme: change over time). I explore the origins of the 'always speaking' metaphor, distinguish the four issues and explain how they relate. I argue that it is important to disentangle the four types of 'always speaking' principle, with a focus on distinguishing principles of dynamic (versus originalist) interpretation from principles that empower judges to strain or 'recast' legislation to deal with new developments sensibly. In doing so, I analyse and critique the judgments in the recent UK Supreme Court case of News Corp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual violence against women is a human rights violation and public health concern, with serious implications for women's physical and mental health. Reducing non-partner sexual violence, including rape, sexual assault and other forms of non-contact sexual abuse, is one of the main indicators of the sustainable development goals. World Health Organization estimates, based on available prevalence data from 137 countries between 2000 and 2018, showed that, globally, 6% of women aged 15-49 years reported experiencing sexual violence in their lifetime from someone other than an intimate partner, with prevalence rates varying across regions. However, the reporting, measurement and documentation of the global extent of non-partner sexual violence against women is methodologically challenging, resulting in a gross underestimation of its magnitude and impact. To prevent and respond to this issue, policy-makers must consider interventions on education, access to relevant health-care services, public awareness, and effective and comprehensive legislation. To better estimate the prevalence of both sexual violence overall and non-partner sexual violence, it is essential to continue to strengthen the measurement of non-partner sexual violence, including the types of acts asked about and the mode of interviewing. Further research is needed to understand the cumulative impact of different forms of sexual violence on the lives of women and girls, including sexual violence during childhood and its associated risk with further exposure. Funding is required for more research and implementation of interventions to prevent and reduce all forms of violence against women and girls, including sexual violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a growing need for mental health services for adolescents, treatment access among adolescents remains poor. Psychologists practicing in the United States are subject to highly variable legal standards for consent and confidentiality of minor clients, which can further suppress treatment accessibility. States permit independent consent for minors according to a wide range of criteria, but whether these criteria are empirically derived remains unknown. Inconsistencies between the law and ethical obligations for psychologists can expose minor clients to harm and force psychologists to make disclosures that violate patients' rights and ethical standards. These harms may be particularly severe for clients from vulnerable populations such as sexuality and gender diverse youth (SGDY). To prevent ethical dilemmas, psychologists and professional organizations should work toward an empirical understanding of the adolescent capacity to consent to mental health care and use that understanding to promote uniform consent and confidentiality standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual violence is a world‐wide health problem that has begun to escalate in online and virtual spaces. One form of technology‐facilitated sexual violence that has grown in recent years is image‐based sexual abuse (IBSA), or the nonconsensual creation, distribution, and/or threat of distribution of nude or sexual images. Using a trauma‐informed and victim‐centered framework, we asked victim‐survivors for structural solutions to IBSA based on their own experiences. Using thematic analysis on 36 semi‐structured interviews with adult U.S. victim‐survivors of IBSA, we found that victim‐survivors proposed structural solutions to IBSA along five general dimensions: legal (creating/strengthening laws, enforcing laws, facilitating legal navigation), corporate (corporate responsibility/activism and solutions for employers), educational (IBSA education, outreach and advocacy, and developing communities of support), technological (more platform accountability, improved procedures for uploading images, better avenues for reporting and removing images, and enhanced platform policies), and cultural. Many solutions built on existing structures (e.g., sexual education in schools) and frameworks (e.g., creating support groups like those for people in recovery from alcohol abuse), enabling educational professionals, policy makers, victim‐support service providers, and corporations to readily implement them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutions of higher education have faced increasing pressure to comply with federal regulations and reform their response to campus sexual assault. This study explores institutions of higher education employees' perceptions on whether decoupling, or organizational resistance to change, is associated with the number and timing of campus sexual assault reforms adopted. Early captured reforms instituted before the "Dear Colleague Letter" in 2011, mid included reforms instituted after the Dear Colleague Letter in 2011 but before the 2015–2016 academic year and during the period of heightened attention to campus sexual assault, and late which included reforms instituted during or after the 2015–2016 academic year. A web‐based survey of institutions of higher education employees familiar with sexual assault policy implementation on their campuses asked about types of reforms, timing, decoupling, and campus characteristics. Correlations and t‐tests were run to examine the types of reforms across time periods, and regression assessed the degree to which decoupling was associated with the number and timing of reforms. Higher decoupling was associated with fewer reforms in the early period and more in the late period, though not with the overall number of reforms adopted. Findings highlight the importance of understanding factors that influence change on campuses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents dialectical themes that emerged from the grounded theory analysis of 42 focus groups about university sexual assault policies held at four universities in Nova Scotia, Canada. Fourteen cultural communities were represented. Data from female-identified focus groups representing five cultures is deployed to exemplify dialectical themes. When it comes to university sexual assault policies and services, students navigate conflicting needs for disclosure and privacy, justice, and protection. These tensions are intersectionally shaped by gender and culture. Our analysis and recommendations can inform practitioners, including social workers, as they support survivors/victims, particularly of campus sexual violence, in navigating the complexities of decisions about seeking support and/or justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principle of legal certainty serves as a crucial safeguard, preventing rights and freedoms from being lost in a vast, complex, and often unstable legal framework. This study delves into the gap in Algerian law between the constitutional text ensuring the legal certainty of rights and freedoms and the lack of detailed measures to implement this provision. By examining how each certainty requirement of rights legislation is applied within the national legal landscape, the study uncovers significant deficiencies in ensuring citizens' easy access to legislation encompassing their rights and freedoms. Addressing these challenges necessitates the implementation of various legal and technical measures. Furthermore, ensuring the clarity of these laws demands a systematic review process to rectify any drafting flaws. Legislative stability, closely linked to legality in the Algerian constitution, benefits from relatively reliable guarantees in the field of fundamental rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any society is governed by a set of laws. In modern democratic nations, especially nations governed by post-war constitutions, such laws are enacted by an elected legislature. The legislature is bound by the constitution itself, both in procedure and in substance. In India, such protection exists in the forms of legislative competence, fundamental rights, and other provisions of the constitution. However, India lacks a direct say of the people in the law-making process which governs the citizenry. The recent controversy in India, including the farm laws reform undertaken in 2020, highlights the need for the participation of stakeholders, experts, and the public in general in the law-making process. The Supreme Court of India has interpreted the right to participation in a limited sense and majorly in cases relating to environmental pollution. There exists a lacuna in the rights-based framework with respect to the right to participate in law-making. India has had a Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy in place since 2014 that mandates publishing the bill thirty days prior to introduction in the parliament for public comments. However, data reflects disregard of the policy by the Government. Furthermore, there is a downward trend in the number of bills being referred to parliamentary committees for scrutiny. This impacts negatively in two ways—first, leading to a lacuna in legislative drafting, and second, depriving the stakeholder and public of the opportunity to submit their comments on a bill under consideration. The extra-parliamentary avenues like the Law Commission of India, which have a significant impact on the legal framework in the country, are under a shadow. The authors argue that there is a need to incorporate a binding consultation policy ensuring public consultation in the process of law-making. This will have both an intrinsic as well as instrumental value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents and critically assessed the implementation of the executive state model in Greek law-making, and identifies the elements of the model that are transferable elsewhere. The first four years of extensive legislative reforms in application of the executive state model have produced tangible innovations fertile to better law-making. But the real challenge, the change of legislative mentality, resists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using mixed methods, we looked into USA children's reasons behind their non‐participation in the 2018 Parkland school shooting protests from newsletters of randomly sampled 57 middle (MS) and high schools (HS) across USA. We found five themes of reasons that point to non‐protesting children's concern about protest method and issues. The MS and HS non‐protesters' concerns overlapped and differed. The reasons reveal the protests to pose adherence issues to most CRC articles on and almost all of the basic requirements of child participation. We attribute the adherence issues to problems on assigning duties in non‐adult‐provided child participation spaces like protests. To identify protest as child participation necessitate propping children's freedom of expression as the animating force behind child participation's first key element and children's right to information a prerequisite for both. In this reframing, organizing/leading children become duty‐bearers while adults primarily remain so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives Care partners of persons living with dementia perform complex legal planning tasks. The purpose of this study was to survey care partners in the United States to understand their confidence and experience in performing legal planning tasks. Research Design and Methods This study used a parallel mixed-methods research design. We administered a web-based survey to 318 adults who self-identified as care partners of persons living with dementia. The survey contained Likert scale questions and open-ended questions about legal planning tasks. Multivariate linear regression was used to analyze quantitative data and inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. Results Care partners were, on average, 53 years of age and 78% female. The three topics in which participants were least confident were: protecting oneself legally as a care partner; options when legal documents are not in place and a family member is not legally competent; and circumstances when legal documents should be updated or renewed. We observed significant differences in legal planning confidence between newer and more experienced care partners (p  < .001); lower- and higher-income care partners (p  = .01); and adult child versus spousal care partners (p  < .001). Thematic analysis revealed that legal planning challenges include initiating a conversation with the person living with dementia, understanding and using legal materials, and accessing materials that accommodate individual differences. Discussion and Implications It is vital to develop legal planning interventions that are tailored to specific subgroups of care partners, and to maximize the clarity, comprehensiveness, and accessibility of available legal planning education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In the article, the author reveals the features of the current state of scientific understanding of the phenomenon of law-making. It was noted that law-making occupies a special place in the activity of the state, the main purpose of which is the adoption, change and cancellation of legal norms formalized in the relevant forms of law. For law-making as a special form of legally significant activity carried out by authorized subjects (the people, subjects of public authority, public organizations), the question of its understanding remains important from a scientific point of view, which will allow a more accurate and comprehensive answer to the question of: 1) what exactly is created as a result of law-making; 2) what purpose it pursues; 3) what is its significance at the current stage of development of the legal system. Despite the fact that law-making has a long history of its scientific research and is currently represented by a wide range of approaches to understanding, it is worth noting that a clear doctrinal understanding of this phenomenon has not been developed in legal science. The presence of various approaches to its scientific understanding proves the multifacetedness of the studied phenomenon and requires strengthening the conceptualization of such scientific results. The above proves the relevance of the scientific development of law-making through the prism of its doctrinal understanding and the characteristics of the current state of its development. On the basis of a critical analysis of the views of scientists presented in legal science, which relate to the understanding of law-making, the author concluded that modern researchers justify the expediency of an expanded understanding of lawmaking, which is aimed not only at the creation of normative legal acts, but also other forms of law, in particular judicial precedents and international legal contracts and acts. It is proven that law-making is primarily a socio-cultural phenomenon, which is carried out in accordance with the interests of society, the state, etc. Therefore, the concept of «politics» plays an important role in understanding law-making, which characterizes law-making from the point of view of an independent sphere and direction of activity, which: 1) determines the content of law-making; 2) directs the work of responsible entities; 3) and most importantly, it ensures the gradual, objectively determined development of the legal system, statehood and civil society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research examines the results of exercising the existing state supervision powers over local self-government bodies in combating crimes for the protection of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The aim is to assess the state-legal mechanisms for combating crimes to ensure the country's territorial integrity based on the control functions over local self-government in Ukraine. The research employed methods of graphic analysis, sociological survey on issues of supervisory powers and local self-government, and content analysis of legislation related to state control over the activities of local authorities. The practical application of enhanced state supervision over local self-government bodies is complicated by the economic shortcomings of supervisory institutions and political contradictions with local authorities. It was established that effective countermeasures against crime for the preservation of territorial integrity depend not only on the nominal organisational structure of supervision but also on the formation of mutual relations with local communities through the governance channels with the involvement of the public. Detailed state supervision should effectively strengthen the protection of sovereignty while preserving the elements of self-governance that are an example of the state's legitimacy for citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The administration of campus climate surveys has proliferated across the United States at institutions of higher education to help respond to sexual misconduct. This study reviews existing state legislation related to campus climate surveys and compares it to the recent federal mandate outlined in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2022. Just under one-third of all states in the US have state laws mandating the use of campus climate surveys to assess sexual misconduct, with wide variability in laws' scope, comprehensiveness and clarity and potential gaps in aligning with federal requirements. This has significant implications for what surveys IHE select regarding the type of research design, frequency, reporting, and cost. Keywords (3-10) campus climate, sexual misconduct, legislative mandates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a scoping review on the implementation of Article12 in health care. The scoping review will provide a summary and overview of the key concepts and published literature on this topic internationally. Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) states that children have a right to express their views, to have them heard and for their views to be given due weight in all matters that affect them. Despite increased calls for Article 12 to be given attention in health care, there is little evidence to suggest this has been well implemented and embedded in Australian health-care delivery. The scoping review was undertaken to provide a summary and overview of the key concepts and published literature on this topic internationally. Design/methodology/approach: A five-step methodological framework described by Arksey and O'Malley (2005) was used to undertake the scoping review. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis was used as a guideline for undertaking the study selection. Findings: Children are still not routinely involved in health-care decision-making, are frequently left out of service planning and evaluation and the perception that they lack the capability to make rational decisions persists. Originality/value: While there has been a focus on research that investigates children's participation in health-care decision-making in recent years, there is little that directs attention specifically to the implementation of Article 12, particularly in Australian health care. Recommendations are made for further research in these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Although biobanks have become fundamental to many research centers and contribute to medical development, they generate many ethical and legal issues that may discourage patients from donating. Materials and Methods To understand patients' perception of ethical and legal issues related to biobanks we conducted a survey among 548 Polish patients with cancer. Results While 93.1% of patients with cancer declared themselves willing to donate biospecimens left over after a medical procedure to a biobank, most opted for one-time consent or study-specific consent, blanket consent being less frequently preferred. Many patients believed that future use of previously collected tissues require second contact. Most patients preferred pseudonymization over anonymization of the data, and supported donors' right to withdraw informed consent at any given moment. Finally, while personal health information was the most expected form of compensation for donation, most patients suggested that all parties, including the biobank concerned, the sponsors of the research, and the donors, should own the rights to cancer tissues donated and profit from the biobank research. Patients' opinions on the ethical and legal issues related to biobank research were associated with age, sex, religiosity, education level, and place of residence. Conclusions Since biobanks generate ethical and legal issues related to informed consent, data protection and storage, as well as the sharing of biosamples, tissue ownership, and profit sharing, that may discourage patients from donation, when asking a patient for a donation, healthcare professionals should communicate in a donor-centered manner and address patients' ethical and moral concerns related to donation and offer resources to help manage these concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. To demonstrate the spatially uneven effects of abortion restriction laws in Texas. Methods. We used network analysis to determine the change in distance to the nearest surgical abortion provider for 5253 Texas neighborhoods after the passing of Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB8; 2021) and the US Supreme Court's Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022) decision. We identified associations between key measures of neighborhood socioeconomic context and change in distance to providers using multivariable linear regression models. Results. After the Dobbs decision, Texas residents experienced an average change in distance to the nearest provider of 457 miles (SD = 179). Neighborhoods of concentrated disadvantage experienced the greatest increase in distance to abortion providers after SB8's passing, and neighborhoods with high levels of income inequality experienced the greatest increase in distance after the Dobbs decision. Conclusions. We document the rapidly changing abortion landscape in a highly restrictive state and show that women living in more disadvantaged and unequal areas are most affected by the increasing distance to providers. Public Health Implications. Our methods and findings will continue to be relevant in understanding the burden placed on women in areas where medical abortion has been restricted because of the Dobbs decision. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(10):1024–1033. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307652) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is widespread scientific evidence that validates tonic immobility (TI) as part of the trauma response in victims of rape, and criminal justice practitioners are increasingly trained in trauma-informed approaches. Yet, legal and policy definitions of consent do not fully recognize TI during the incident as evidence of nonconsent. Using a systematic review of U.S. law and policy regarding sexual violence and consent, this paper analyzes the substantial legal reform of rape law and definitions of consent, suggesting ways to further integrate TI into existing law and legal practices to improve public health approaches and justice responses for victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of rapidly changing information space and digital technologies, research on the effectiveness of registration procedures is essential to ensure fairness, protect the interests of citizens and entrepreneurs, and improve the efficiency of public administration. The study aims to identify the main difficulties arising in the registration of civil law contracts in Kyrgyzstan in the context of modern changes in legislation and the introduction of digital technologies, as well as to develop practical recommendations to improve the registration process. To achieve this purpose, a comprehensive approach was used, including an analysis of the legal framework, a statistical analysis method, and a questionnaire survey. The study results identified several key problems in the system of registration of civil law contracts in Kyrgyzstan. Firstly, the registration process was found to be lengthy, which slows down economic transactions and creates uncertainty for the parties. Secondly, a lack of transparency of procedures is present, which may encourage corrupt practices. The study revealed limited use of digital technologies in the registration of civil law contracts in Kyrgyzstan, which hinders the optimisation and automation of the process. This is related to insufficient integration of databases, outdated systems and insufficient development of information infrastructure, which hinders the effective implementation of modern technologies and slows down the modernisation of the registration system. In addition, solutions to these problems are proposed, which include improving legislation to speed up the registration process, increasing transparency and ccessibility of information, and actively introducing digital tools such as electronic signatures and online platforms to simplify procedures and reduce administrative barriers. The results of this study can be used to develop and implement effective measures to improve the system of registration of civil law contracts in Kyrgyzstan, which in turn contributes to increasing transparency and accessibility of legal services for citizens and businesses

The article analyzes the problems and trends of modern law, the emergence of which is due to the widespread use of new digital technologies. The article shows the factors causing the creation of high-tech law, capable of influencing the speed of consideration of cases in courts and the effectiveness of norms of procedural executive law. The emerging terminological problems are noted, in particular, it is concluded that the current legislation of the Russian Federation does not provide legal definitions of the concepts of «high technology», «digital environment», «digital law», «information technology». This leads to incorrect doctrinal interpretation and difficulties in applying the rules of law. The thesis is revealed that digital innovations can be widely introduced into the practice of lawmaking and law enforcement on the basis of the Federal Law «On experimental legal regimes in the field of digital innovations in the Russian Federation». It is noted that in the Russian Federation there is no effective mechanism for stimulating innovation processes, which should affect not only producers of innovative technologies, but also their consumers. The article analyzes the legislation on innovation and concludes that there is an imbalance between digital rights in the virtual absence of norms on the digital responsibilities of citizens and organizations. Based on the study of legislative and law enforcement experience of a number of countries in Europe and the USA, the author concludes that the branch of executive (judicial) law and especially evidence law has become the most receptive to new digital technologies, which can serve as a guideline for other areas of legal regulation. It is also concluded that the effectiveness of innovations in the digital environment in general and in law in particular is hampered by the unwillingness of participants in public relations to competently implement new digital technologies into everyday practices of the legal process. The theoretical conclusions of the present study are obtained through the application of the methods of ascent from the abstract to the concrete, deduction, analysis and transformation of concepts. In the legal aspect, the results related to the interpretation of the current legislation are due to the application of the method of comparative law and method of interpretation of legal norms.

The correlation between international regulations and domestic regulations in the field of human rights and freedoms” analyses the relationship and mutual impact between international human rights norms and standards and the domestic legislation of the States. The paper investigates the importance and ways in which international regulations influence and are implemented in the domestic legislation of States to ensure the protection and observance of human rights. First of all, States have to pass appropriate domestic legislation to implement and give practical effect to international human rights norms and standards. This means that domestic regulations must be consistent with States’ international obligations and ensure the protection and respect of human rights at a national level. Secondly, international human rights regulations can serve as instruments for interpreting and applying domestic law. States can use international standards as references for interpreting and applying their domestic laws, thereby ensuring that human rights are duly observed and protected.

Since the end of 2019, the President and the House of Representatives had performed different legislative functions. Since the Law on the Commission Eradication Commission was amended, legislation had dramatically been transformed. Several laws have been passed and amended quickly. This study discusses three legal issues. First, the conceptual limitation of fast-track legislation in Indonesia. Second, the rationale behind fast-track legislation under Joko Widodo's administration. Third, the impact of fast-track legislation under Joko Widodo's administration. In this socio-legal study, a qualitative analysis is conducted. This study has identified that (1) fast-track legislation in Indonesia can only be adopted through Perpu with all its exemptions and exceptions; (2) the transformation of law-making under Joko Widodo's administration is associated with political pragmatism, political personalization, the elimination of the opposition, and cartel parties; and (3) the transformation of law-making under Joko Widodo's administration is detrimental to the future of Indonesia's democracy. The transformation has degraded the quality of deliberation in law-making. Besides, it does not adhere to law-making procedures, resulting in elitist and conservative laws.

Legislative courts doctrine has become terribly tangled. When an area of law is summarized as one in which the "precedents are horribly murky, doctrinal confusion abounds, and the constitutional text is by no means clear," that area of law has become a Gordian Knot. Attempts to untangle it will prove futile. For over a century and a half, the Supreme Court has repeatedly tried to make sense of legislative courts, but to no avail. These attempts, ranging from pure formalism to functional balancing tests, have proven detrimental to individual litigants. That is where due process comes in. Despite the fundamental constitutional principle of due process and its promise of a neutral adjudicator, the Supreme Court has failed to consider the legislative courts doctrine from this perspective. The Supreme Court has provided a robust body of jurisprudence under the Due Process Clause about unacceptable pressures and influences on adjudicators. But no one has thought to introduce the two. So rather than continue to try to untangle legislative courts doctrine, we need to use the sword of due process to cut the knot. This piece aims to begin that conversation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To understand the COVID‐19 pandemic's impact on abortion care‐seeking in Maryland, a state with Medicaid coverage for abortion, high service availability, and laws supporting abortion rights. Methods: We conducted semi‐structured telephone interviews with 15 women who had an abortion between January 2021 and March 2022 at a hospital‐based clinic in a mid‐sized Maryland city. We purposively recruited participants with varied pandemic financial impacts. Interview questions prompted participants to reflect on how the pandemic affected their lives, pregnancy decisions, and experiences seeking abortion care. We analyzed our data for themes. Results: All participants had some insurance coverage for their abortion; over half paid using Medicaid. Many participants experienced pandemic financial hardship, with several reporting job, food, and housing insecurity as circumstances influencing their decision to have an abortion. Most women who self‐reported minimal financial hardship caused by the pandemic indicated they sought an abortion for reasons unrelated to COVID‐19. In contrast, women with economic hardship viewed their pregnancies as unsupportable due to COVID‐19 exacerbating financial instability, even when they desired to continue the pregnancy. All participants expressed that having an abortion was the best decision for their lives. Yet, when making decisions about their pregnancy, the most financially disadvantaged women weighed their desires against the pandemic's constraints on their reproductive self‐determination. Conclusions: The pandemic changed abortion care‐seeking circumstances even in a setting with minimal access barriers. Financial hardship influenced some women to have an abortion for a pregnancy that—while unplanned—they may have preferred to continue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why you should read this article: • To better understand the areas of risk that may become apparent across the life course of dementia • To recognise the ethical issues posed by trying to eliminate the risk of harm for people living with dementia • To consider how the principles of safeguarding apply to risk management in dementia care. What constitutes a risk for a person living with dementia may be perceived and prioritised differently by nurses from varying clinical backgrounds. Furthermore, risk may be perceived differently according to the context. This article outlines some of the social, psychological and physical risk factors relevant to people living with dementia across the life course of the condition. It is important that nurses understand their role in identifying, assessing and managing risk and are aware of the resources, policies, legislation and processes designed to support decision-making and minimise the risk of harm to people living with dementia, their families and carers. The authors hope that this article will support nurses to become more confident in identifying risk while encouraging them to adopt a proactive and person-centred approach to risk assessment and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due process of law involves matters of fundamental fairness to litigants in civil and criminal proceedings. Due process rights include the opportunity to develop, obtain, inspect, present, and challenge evidence in legal proceedings. Psychologists' opinions often depend upon information that is sensitive and should not be publicly disclosed in a manner that would undercut the utility of psychological tests. There have been strident discussion and policy statements opposing nonpsychologists' access to sensitive test information by providing them with copies of test materials or by video recording examinations that include psychological tests. Notably absent from these statements has been any discussion of the legal system's demand for due process and its corresponding requirement for access to facts and data, including opinion testimony of experts. We argue that the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct and the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology are congruent with due process requirements for reasonable judicial scrutiny and adequate discovery by all parties, and we believe that a judge's protective order is an acceptable remedy for the disclosure of sensitive test information in a litigated matter. Public Significance Statement: Our article argues that when psychology operates within the legal system, it is important for psychologists to recognize that the manner in which they attempt to resolve the ethical problems of their own profession can impact the constitutional rights of civil litigants and criminal defendants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on a 2023 report on attacks on health issued by the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC) and Security Insight in May 2024. Topics include the number of incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care in conflicts in 2023 identified in the report, incidents documented which occurred in 30 countries or territories, and the use of drone attacks to target health facilities globally.

Countries are managed based on accurate and precise laws. Enacting appropriate and timely laws can cause national progress. Each law is a textual term that is added to the set of existing laws after passing a process with the approval of the assembly. In the review of each new law, the relevant laws are extracted and analyzed among the set of existing laws. This paper presents a new solution for extracting the relevant rules for a term from an existing set of rules using semantic similarity and deep learning techniques based on the BERT model. The proposed method encodes sentences or paragraphs of text in a fixed-length vector (dense vector space). Thereafter, the vectors are utilized to evaluate and score the semantic similarity of the sentences with the cosine distance measurement scale. In the proposed method, the machine can understand the meaning and concept of the sentences by using the BERT model coding method. The BERT model considers the position of the entities in the sentences. Then the semantic similarities of documents, calculating the degree of similarity between their documents with a subject, and detecting their semantic similarity are done. The results obtained from the test dataset indicated the precision and accuracy of the method in detecting semantic similarities of legal documents related to the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran, as well as the precision and accuracy of performance above 90%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The statutory social work role in England and Wales regularly involves assessment and 'best interests' decision making under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. Legal frameworks that permit substitute decision making have, however, been challenged as a contravention of the human rights of people with disabilities. This article aims to answer the question: 'Can mental capacity be theorised for social work assessment in England and Wales in a way that is compatible with social work ethics and values?' Findings are that mental capacity is a complex and disputed concept best described using a constructivist 'social model' which situates it as a property of an individual's relationships. Such a model suggests that assessments are a joint endeavour and that the quality of the relationship between assessor and assessed is crucial. The present legal framework disincentivises but does not prevent capacity assessment based on a social model. The existing literature suggests that further research might identify ways in which social work capacity assessment could enhance rather than diminish the autonomy of the people involved. These findings have implications for social work research, education and post qualification training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To examine the influence of varying articulations of the right to health under domestic constitutions, legislation and jurisprudence on the scope of legal protection for health. Methods We investigated legal recognition of the right to health, by conducting a three-level search. First, we searched databases containing constitutional texts. Second, we did a thematic analysis of those constitutional texts with explicit constitutional recognition of health rights, employing NVivo for coding. For the 54 World Health Organization (WHO) Member States without explicit constitutional provisions, we explored statutory paths, judicial constructions and instances where both methods contributed to the acknowledgement of health rights. Lastly, we confirmed evidence of jurisprudence constructing a right to health based on a combination of domestic law and international human rights norms incorporated directly into the text. Findings We identified 140 WHO Member States with a constitutionalized right to health. Our analysis suggests there are notable variations in the legal scope of protection for health, including breadth of entitlements and the possibility of enforcing these rights through the legal system. We also highlight the critical importance of constitutional acknowledgement, legislative measures, and judicial interpretations in shaping the legal entitlements to health-care services, affecting their accessibility and financial support. Conclusion The analysis offers insights for policy-makers to assess different approaches to health-related entitlements, with implications for health financing and the evaluation of Member States' strides towards universal access to comprehensive care. This analysis also illuminates how distinct formulations of the right to health have varied effects on reducing health disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preclinical xenotransplantation research using genetically engineered pigs has begun to show some promising results and could one day offer a scalable means of addressing organ shortage. While it is a fundamental tenet of ethical human subject research that participants have a right to withdraw from research once enrolled, several scholars have argued that the right to withdraw from xenotransplant research should be suspended because of the public health risks posed by xenozoonotic transmission. Here, we present a comprehensive critical evaluation of the claim that xenotransplant recipients should be required to waive their right to withdraw from lifelong biosurveillance. We conclude that if xenotransplantation requires participants to waive their right to withdraw, then clinical trials may not be justifiable, given the ethical and legal obstacles involved with doing so. Consequently, if clinical trials are permitted with a right to withdraw, then they may pose a significant public health risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the lack of research on geographic variations in advance care planning (ACP) engagement, this study examined whether there were 1) regional variations in engagement in ACP and 2) racial and ethnic differences in ACP by regions of the United States. The sample included 2,015 Medicare beneficiaries in the U.S. from the 2012 National Health and Aging Trends Study that asked respondents about ACP engagement (i.e., discussed end-of-life treatments, had a durable power of attorney for health care, or completed a living will). Results from logistic regression analysis showed that older adults living in the West (OR = 1.66, p =.003) and the Midwest (OR = 1.39, p =.032) were more likely to engage in ACP than those living in the South. Furthermore, logistic regression analyses that examined racial and ethnic differences by region revealed that Blacks were less likely to be engaged in ACP than Whites in the Northeast, Midwest, and South. Hispanics were less likely to participate in ACP than Whites in the West and the Northeast. The findings provide an insight into disparities in ACP in different regions in the U.S., suggesting target areas for interventions to improve engagement in ACP among non-dominant racial and ethnic populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite vast levels of underreporting, sexual assault remains an issue at scale in the UK, necessitating the presence of statutory and voluntary organisations in the support of victims. Understanding the experiences of all parties within this context is important for the resilience of support that can be provided at a systems level. This study examines the barriers faced by service providers when working with victims of sexual assault. Methods: Semi-structured interviews took place with eleven professionals working in or in conjunction with a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) in Southeast England, which were subsequently analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Five themes were identified exploring SARC staff's experiences with (i) communication breakdowns with external services; (ii) delivering support in an underfunded system; (iii) tailoring support to survivors' needs; (iv) the Criminal Justice System fails victims of sexual assault; and (v) reckoning with burnouts and vicarious trauma. Conclusion: Significant gaps in UK service provision for sexual assault victims are identified, particularly within the criminal justice system, where legal and investigative processes are cited as retraumatizing. The results emphasize the urgency of enhanced training, coordination, resources, and trauma-informed practices across organizations to better serve victims and support overwhelmed providers. Prioritizing systemic improvements is crucial to address the complex needs of both victims and service professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many equal protection challenges to the recent onslaught of anti-transgender legislation ask courts to determine the constitutional limits of the state’s ability to define sex. In these cases, transgender plaintiffs argue that the state violates constitutional guarantees of sex equality when its definition of sex coercively assigns them to a sex category against their will. The canon of constitutional sex discrimination, however, does not directly raise or answer definitional questions of sex. The canonical cases addressed the state’s ability to treat men differently from women—not the state’s ability to define “men” and “women.” This difference between the canonical cases and what this Article calls “sex-defining” cases does not necessitate any monumental shifts in equal protection doctrine, but it does require courts to tweak their intermediate scrutiny analyses. The canonical cases tested the fit between the state’s important interests and the law’s differential treatment of men and women, but sex-defining cases require courts to test the fit between the state’s important interests and the law’s definition of sex. In most sex-defining cases, however, courts ignore this essential question. This failure has produced pro-trans decisions that are correct in their conclusions but flawed in their reasoning. As the likelihood of a grant of certiorari in one of these sex-defining cases rises, so do the stakes of these mistakes. This Article uses the pro-trans bathroom cases to illustrate what can go wrong when courts fail to examine the connection between the state’s definition of sex and its proffered justifications for the law. These decisions deem trans-exclusionary bathroom rules unconstitutional for reasons that have little to do with the state’s definition of sex, and instead, employ rationales that are fact-bound, narrow, and doctrinally questionable. Anti-trans courts, therefore, can and have upheld these laws with superficial and circular reasoning, without rebutting counter-analyses from pro-trans decisions. The second half of this Article is prescriptive and urges courts to adopt a contextual approach to sex when analyzing challenges to sex-defining laws. It makes clear how this approach flows directly from equal protection doctrine and how it lends itself to more doctrinally disciplined and normatively sound conclusions in sex-defining cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Federal Title IX policy requires institutions of higher education (IHEs) to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct. Based on 23 in‐depth interviews, this study explores California Title IX coordinator experiences at a critical policy juncture—the recension of the Obama‐era guidance and the implementation of the Trump administration Title IX rules and regulations—to understand how they responded to, implemented, or resisted federal mandates. Most California Title IX officers reported that the recension of Obama guidelines had limited impact on their daily operations because they lived in a state with more progressive social policy. Participants singled out California case law, state statues, the California Education Code and university system mandates as protective legislation to ensure survivors' rights. By contrast, the new Title IX regulations that became law in August 2020 were perceived as more consequential. The tight implementation time frame, combined with the complicated and unfunded policy directives, imposed heavy burdens on their administrative offices. Title IX officers foresaw implementation consequences to campus safety, survivors' willingness to report, and to the credibility of the Title IX office. Taken together, their experiences lend support to progressive state legislative action, restorative justice approaches and for a survivor bill of rights as important counterpoints to federal Title IX policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides states unprecedented flexibility to alter federal health policy. The authors analyze state waiver activity from 2019 to 2023, applying a comparative approach to understand waivers proposed by Georgia, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada. Much of the waiver activity during this period focused on reinsurance programs. During the Trump administration, the most innovative waiver application was from Georgia, which sought to restructure and decentralize its individual market, moving away from the framework established by the ACA. While the Biden administration suspended Georgia's efforts, Democratic-led states have focused implementing waiver programs supporting and expanding on the ACA. This has included adopting public-option insurance plans offered by private insurers and expanding eligibility for qualified health plans for previously ineligible groups. The authors' analysis offers insights into contemporary health politics, policy durability, and the role of the administrative presidency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The False Claims Act is the US federal government's primary tool for identifying and penalizing pharmaceutical fraud. The Department of Justice uses the False Claims Act to bring civil cases against drug manufacturers that allegedly obtain improper payment from federal programs. Methods: The authors searched the Department of Justice website for press releases published between 2006 and 2022 that announced fraud actions brought against drug companies. They then used the World Health Organization's Anatomical Therapeutic Classification index to identify the classes of prescription drugs implicated in fraud actions. Findings: During fiscal years 2006–2022, payments by six manufacturers amounted to more than 28% of total payments made as a result of federal False Claims Act actions. Nervous system and cardiovascular drugs were the classes of medications most commonly implicated in alleged fraud. Federal officials most frequently alleged that companies improperly promoted nervous system drugs and paid kickbacks to increase revenues from cardiovascular, antineoplastic and immunomodulating, and alimentary tract and metabolism drugs. Conclusions: Despite frequent pharmaceutical fraud settlements and penalties, incidence of alleged fraud among drug companies remains high. Alternative methods for preventing and deterring fraud could help safeguard our health systems and promote public health, and policy makers should ensure that effective fraud enforcement complements preventive public health regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fulfilling of justice and hence political justice as the primary goal of the Islamic Republic of Iran faces challenges as it is perceived as a significant obstacle to achieving this goal and, on the other hand, poses a threat to the efficiency of the system. Therefore, the present study focuses on the topic of law in response to the main question: ‘What challenges does the Islamic Republic of Iran face in achieving political justice in the legal sphere?’ By utilizing the conceptual framework of political justice and employing a descriptive-analytical method, the research aims to evaluate the progressive challenges of the Islamic Republic based on the current status of political justice. The findings indicated that while the conditions for equality at the level of legislation are relatively favorable, the elements of equality are not well realized at the levels of implementation and monitoring. The failure to apply and promote the element of competence in lawmaking is considered a barrier to achieving political justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consent is an essential part of healthcare practice, allowing patients to make autonomous decisions. However, this changes when a patient has mental incapacity or is unable to make decisions for themselves for a duration of time. This month's Policy column looks at some of the key principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and how this can be applied in community nursing practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Актуальність цього дослідження полягає у необхідності детально розглянути правові основи державного регулювання процесів міграції в Киргизькій Республіці у зв’язку з можливим розвитком міграційної кризи у країнах Близького Сходу та Європи. Мета дослідження – вивчити законодавство Киргизької Республіки щодо повного та належного закріплення правових норм, спрямованих на регулювання міграції відповідно до міграційної політики держави, заснованої на національних інтересах, міжнародних стандартах та сучасних міграційних тенденціях. Для проведення дослідження було використано такі загальнонаукові та спеціальні методи: формально-юридичний аналіз, догматичний метод, синтез, дедукція та узагальнення. У процесі дослідження було розглянуто базу національного законодавства у сфері регулювання міграційних процесів. Відповідно до ключових елементів також було виділено три аспекти законодавчого регулювання міграційних процесів у Киргизькій Республіці. До них були віднесені такі аспекти, як: конституційне, міжнародне та національне законодавство. За результатами проведеного дослідження визначено, що нині правове регулювання міграційних процесів у Киргизькій Республіці, з урахуванням великого масиву нормативно-правових джерел, перебуває у стадії розробки та реформування. Деякі законодавчі акти не містять правового закріплення державного захисту прав громадян Киргизької Республіки, які перебувають за межами держави. Механізми забезпечення такої підтримки для громадян-мігрантів також не було виявлено. Були зроблені висновки, що слід приділити увагу розробці продуманої міграційної політики держави, оскільки від політичних рішень залежить подальший вектор розвитку міграційного законодавства Киргизької Республіки

The efficient functioning of the labour market is impossible without ensuring equal opportunities for all agents involved in the system of labour and economic relations. It is especially important to study the role of the state in this process as the main regulator of social relations. The purpose of this study was to analyse the possibilities of preventing inequality in the labour market with the help of legal instruments, in particular legislation. The main research methods used were analysis, modelling and forecasting. The study examined the dynamics and global trends of labour market inequality, emphasising the changes resulting from globalisation and liberalisation. It also assessed the impact of migration on employment, particularly in view of the movement of people from war-torn regions. To describe the current trends, supply and demand in the current labour market were studied. The legislation of North Macedonia was assessed in the context of combating inequality and discrimination in the labour market. It is concluded that, despite the existence of a certain set of laws and acts, there are still problems related primarily to gender discrimination. Certain recommendations are offered to improve the situation both in the legal framework and in some other areas: economic, social, and cultural. It was concluded that the use of a comprehensive policy, the key approaches to which were proposed in this study, would achieve significantly better results in terms of ensuring equality in the labour market in North Macedonia. The findings can be used to improve public policies and legislation to combat labour market inequality in North Macedonia. In addition, the information described can also be used by entrepreneurs to create long-term development strategies

This study systematically investigates the primary issues and obstacles impeding the establishment of a functional and credible judiciary in Kosovo, adopting an international perspective. The research methodology includes a combination of qualitative and empirical analytical approaches to concrete actions based on a review of relevant literature, reports, and legal documents. This paper concludes that Kosovo should be ready to reach compromises, strengthen the independence, pro­fessionalism, transparency and accountability of judges and prosecutors, and increase public confidence in justice, to achieve a successful reform in the judicial system. The paper offers several recommendations for improving the quality and efficiency of justice in Kosovo, such as promoting cooperation and coordination with international factors in this field.

The continuous improvement of the legislation, especially when the issue concerns the disposal of the property owned by the juvenile, should be evaluated as an expression of public and private interests. After all, the well-being of each participant in the civil turnover, including juveniles, significantly depends on the perfection of the legal framework, the correct formation, and the implementation of which guarantees the stability and satisfaction of their interests. In modern legal systems, each subject of law should have the opportunity to analyze the norms and, as necessary, use the means of protection of the rights. Despite this, the substantive regulation of the issue in Georgia, as well as the provision of fast and accessible forms of solution to the issue in the relevant direction from the procedural point of view, remains a challenge. Therefore, it is considered essential to improve the norms of the Civil Code of Georgia, which increases the risks of non-uniform interpretation of the norms related to the disposal of property owned by the juvenile. This significantly leads to eliminating both legislative gaps and indistinctness in practice. In addition, procedural legal regulation harmonized with international development trends about issues related to the disposal of juvenile property will significantly determine the proper functioning of the court system, contributing to the perfection of the system of the means of dispute resolution existing throughout the state.