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An anonymous electronic survey was distributed to the members of the South Australian parliament and judiciary. Data was analysed to determine whether there were meaningful differences between parliamentarians and judicial officers in their experiences as victims of harassment. Responses were received from 28% of all members surveyed with 96% of participants reporting at least one form of harassment. Parliamentarians reported a higher prevalence of more serious forms of harassment relative to judicial officers. Parliamentarians reported experiencing harassment in both private and professional contexts whereas judicial officers almost exclusively experienced harassment in a professional context. Harassment caused significant psychological harm and social disruption across both cohorts. There were minor differences in the sources of help utilised by both cohorts; however, judicial officers reported greater satisfaction with help received relative to parliamentarians. The majority of respondents were in favour of receiving advice from a specialised service to mitigate future harassment behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the COVID-19 pandemic forced prisons into extended lockdowns, people-in-prison have been increasingly reliant on remote access technologies such as videoconferencing to interact with the outside world from their carceral context. During the pandemic, both corrective services and criminal courts found that these communication technologies could adequately facilitate court appearances, legal conferencing, health services and visitations. Now, despite the lessening panic regarding COVID-19, there are suggestions that authorities are keen to continue, if not increase, the usage of video links meaning that people-in-prison will experience decreasing human contact. The argument is that COVID-19 "successes" are being used as an excuse to cement remote hearings and visits. This points to a future of absolute confinement uninterrupted by "inconvenient" physical court attendance or human visitors. This article will focus on the "digital vulnerability" of people-in-prison, that is, the intersection between the vulnerabilities of incarcerated people with the use of remote communication technologies such as videoconferencing or video links, and the digital inequalities that may be provoked or solved. The article will draw on qualitative research – fieldwork interviews with judicial officers, lawyers and associated criminal justice professionals – that reveal critical perspectives on the impacts of digital transformation on vulnerable people-in-prison. For instance, when asked about the vulnerabilities of people-in-prison, one defence lawyer (DL1) expressed the view that "no one cares about defendants" or their vulnerabilities, nor their abilities to engage with video links, comprehend or play any role in their own remote legal matters. We analyse our source materials through a framework of vulnerability theory and the developing concept of digital vulnerability. In this way, we seek to offer new knowledge regarding prison digital transformation, specifically the relationship between digital technologies in correctional environments and the vulnerable incarcerated population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on Judge William H. Pryor Jr. through the lens of mentorship, emphasizing his roles as a writer, stalwart advocate, and Alabamian. It mentions Judge Pryor's mentorship extends beyond legal skills, imparting clarity in writing, unwavering principles, and a deep connection to Alabama, influencing the careers and lives of numerous law clerks, many of whom have gone on to significant legal and judicial roles nationwide.

Legislation permits or requires the use of audio-visual recordings and closed-circuit television where child witnesses give evidence in certain matters. Since its introduction, problems with the technology have been reported, such as poor audio-visual quality and connectivity issues, causing trial delays and exacerbating witness anxiety. This study analyses the perceptions of 18 professionals (n = 18) across 5 Australian jurisdictions (Queensland, the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Western Australia) who regularly work with the technology. We used non-directive prompts to determine what problems (if any) still exist in Australian courtrooms, the cause and impact of these problems, and potential solutions. Key themes emerged in the analysis. Problems were still commonplace, which included operator error, quality of the recordings, and issues with the recording technology and devices. The detrimental impacts of these problems included added stress to court employees and witnesses, extended and disrupted trial proceedings, poor quality evidence, and added costs of fixing problems. Tangible recommendations for change were provided by the participants, and the overall findings and their implications were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current work explores three potential facilitators of judicial performance. Participants in a state‐wide survey of judicial officers (response rate = 33.9 percent) completed self‐report measures of self‐efficacy, prosocial impact, and self‐legitimacy as well as subjectively perceived performance. Objective performance data collected by the state court administrative office were then merged with the survey data. Latent variable analysis confirmed the three predictor constructs' separability, and although all four concepts were correlated, self‐efficacy was the sole independent predictor of subjective performance. An unplanned mediation analysis suggested significant indirect effects of self‐legitimacy and prosocial impact on subjectively assessed performance through self‐efficacy. Regarding objective performance, self‐efficacy emerged as the only significant correlate or predictor. The research therefore empirically demonstrates the empirical distinctiveness of self‐efficacy, prosocial impact, and self‐legitimacy and provides some exploratory support for a causal model whereby self‐efficacy provides the proximal impact on performance but is itself facilitated by prosocial impact and self‐legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-judicial court personnel, critical to a well-functioning justice system, experience overloaded dockets and the responsibility of making significant decisions, contributing to cognitive stress. Understanding and mitigating their stress is essential for maintaining judicial efficiency. We adapted Miller and Richardson's Model of Judicial Stress to assess stress in a broad sample of non-judicial court personnel (n = 122), including judges, lawyers, and administrative staff. Participants responded to surveys about their stress levels, job performance, and health; they also completed cognitive performance tasks. The findings indicated that stress negatively affected employee outcomes including cognitive performance, job performance, job satisfaction, and health outcomes. Notably, perceived job performance had declined compared to the previous year, suggesting that the pandemic was an additional significant stressor. Based on the data, the Model of Judicial Stress is also applicable to other types of courtroom personnel, underlining its relevance across various judicial roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the stress, vicarious trauma, and burnout experienced by judicial officers and their need for protective skills. Compassion is one skill that can be incredibly beneficial. Compassion involves recognising a person's suffering, and 'turning towards' the sufferer. This has been said to be 'neurologically rejuvenating'. In contrast, empathy alone can lead to distress and generate burnout. There are three pillars of compassionate practice: (1) procedural fairness; (2) judicial engagement; and (3) other therapeutic jurisprudence approaches and court programs. The authors, both experienced judicial officers, have experienced how compassionate practice can inspire offenders to achieve rehabilitation goals. These practices can also be implemented in traditional court lists by judicial officers acknowledging the possibility of suffering of court users and empowering them by judicial engagement and granting them agency. A compassionate approach to justice can improve judicial effectiveness, health, and the fostering of a healthy work environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is developing, yet strong, evidence that judicial officers are seriously affected by exposure to traumatic material. The risk and prevalence of psychiatric injury to judges is now increasingly recognised. In the light of growing recognition by the High Court of Australia of the likelihood of psychiatric harm arising in people whose work exposes them to traumatic material in Kozarov v Victoria ('Kozarov'), we investigate through legal analysis the possibility that judicial officers may be entitled to compensation for such harm. This might seem straightforward after the High Court decided in Kozarov that the State was liable in negligence for trauma-related psychiatric injury to an employee lawyer caused in the court-related work environment. We argue in this article that, while there are strong arguments which support liability in negligence for judicial officers as non-employees, nevertheless such claims will be complex and will face a range of hurdles and barriers including those arising from judicial independence and judicial immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term 'vicarious trauma' refers to a range of cumulative and harmful effects from exposure to the trauma of others and is now recognised as a category of causation in the diagnostic criteria of post-traumatic stress disorder. Legal practitioners may be exposed to the risk of harm from vicarious trauma in a number of occupational contexts. This article reviews recent case authority, including a 2023 prosecution of Court Services Victoria for failing to provide a safe workplace in the Coroners Court of Victoria and the High Court decision in Kozarov v Victoria (2022) and the Victoria Court of Appeal decision in Bersee v Victoria (2022). It considers measures that should be taken to provide a workplace for both legal practitioners and judicial officers that is as safe and without risks to health as is reasonably practicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing evidence that judges and magistrates experience both high stress and high satisfaction in their work; however, the subjective experience of judicial stress and the cultural and professional factors shaping that experience remain largely unexamined. This qualitative study builds upon earlier quantitative research with the Australian judiciary, by exploring judges' and magistrates' perceptions of the sources and impacts of judicial stress and their ideas for court responses. Thematic analysis of 59 in-depth interviews with judicial officers from five Australian courts revealed eight themes pertaining to the better understanding and management of occupational stress within the judiciary. Implications for courts and individual judicial officers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of TURKAV Institute of Public Adminsitration Journal of Social Sciences / TÜRKAV Kamu Yönetimi Enstitüsü Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi is the property of TURKAV Institute of Public Adminsitration Journal of Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Antik Tanulmanyok is the property of Akademiai Kiado and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses George Isaac Maledon, a guard at the federal court for the Western District of Arkansas in the late 19th century. It mentions that he loved his family and friends, and was a war veteran, and his duties at the court were not always definitive due to poor record keeping, but he was reportedly a guard more often than an executioner.

In this paper, I argue that the administration of the criminal law by Australian courts causes harm to trans people that compounds with that already experienced. Specifically, court staff and judicial officers can maintain harm when they engage with court forms and provide judicial judgments: court forms that limit descriptions of sex/gender prevent self-identification and increase the potential for misgendering; further, judicial judgments often disregard, dismiss or deny the experiences of trans people through including inappropriate gendered terminology, deadnames and other problematic expressions. I conclude by highlighting three transformations that may disrupt these harms through allowing court staff and judicial officers to become aware of how they perpetuate harm against trans people. These transformations include reviewing and amending forms, educating and training staff and implementing additional supports. Importantly, to effectively disrupt harm, any transformation must be informed, and led, by trans people with lived, intersectional, experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Love v Commonwealth; Thoms v Commonwealth (2020) 270 CLR 152 has been celebrated as recognising the special relationship of First Nations to this continent now known as Australia, with the effect that First Peoples cannot be deported in circumstances where they are not Australian citizens. While some have argued the High Court's decision represents an implied recognition of First Nations sovereignties, this article argues that the Court has effectively denied First Nations sovereignties, and that this denial is inconsistent with United Nations human rights bodies calls for colonial courts to give full and fair consideration to First Nations' sovereignties. This article concludes that the judicial denial of First Nations sovereignty raises questions about the legitimacy of state sovereignty, which can only be remedied through treaties. The challenge for judicial officers is to imagine a time when the common law, "in truth had always recognised" First Nations sovereignties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This quasi-experimental, pre-post study investigated the sustainability of risk-needs assessment (RNA) and the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) practices in five juvenile probation offices across two states 7 years after rigorous implementation. The study evaluated adherence to practices and facilitators of sustainability via interviews with leadership (N = 10) and probation officers (N = 84) and a seventh-year cohort of youth propensity score matched to a cohort from the first year of implementation (n = 730 per state cohort). Probation officers in both states reported relatively high adherence to RNR-based practices, and one state significantly improved adherence to its RNA administration policies and the risk principle. Adherence to the risk principle in placement and service referral decisions regressed in the other state. Essential ingredients for sustainment included maintaining staff training and monitoring, evolving RNR practices through the adoption of complementary evidence-based practices, and having court personnel who enable best practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many countries invest in the modernization of court systems and use information and communication technologies to enhance their functioning, quantitatively and qualitatively. This paper presents an evaluation of the quality of the services offered by the Greek Judicial authorities based on the perceptions of 2 target groups: lawyers and court employees. The quality was examined in terms of the existence of up-to-date equipment and ICT applications, the Courts' ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately, the Court employees' knowledge and willingness to help customers and provide prompt services as well as their ability to convey trust and confidence to customers. The results were presented and analysed with the use of various statistical tools. The main findings revealed the level of Courts' service quality and the degree of Court's digitalization in Greece, but they can also provide evidence on the prioritization of future service improvement activities which could be used to inform attempts of improvements and innovations in other countries too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Europarecht (05312485) is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In AI pandemic applications, the online automatic AI recording apparatus for official councils such as court trials, business conferences and commercial meetings will become imperative because it could let the opinion identification and consensus of participants be synchronically available to implicitly diminish social costs such as follow-up disputes and controversies. Hence, in this study, an automatic on-line multi-dialogue recording system is completely constructed, where the unbounded interleaved-state recurrent neural networks (UIS-RNN) with proposed crux improvements is exploited to achieve confident speaker-diarization. For keeping the systematic robustness, a denoising spectral-LSTM, which is precisely modified from the dual-signal transformation LSTM (DTLN), can strengthen its subsequent crux-improved UIS-RNN and automatic speech recognition (ASR). Finally, the MacBERT model is set to rectify the possible wrong words in conversed sentences according to the learned rational context. For making our system being a practical software apparatus in the use of unmarked multi-person councils, we have also completed the convenient interfaces for the operations of ASR and speaker-diarization, which can exhibit on-line denoising efficacy and speaker-diarization results as well as offer real-time hand-crafted rectifications to common users. In extensive experiments, the proposed recording system can promise high accuracy rates of online speaker diarization and speech-separated ASR. Our proposed system had been examined by the cooperated law court staffs, who offered the noise-embedded speeches of practical court field to test our system. Since the tight recording burden had been indeed noticeably alleviated in their legal-action councils, the court staffs had endorsed that the proposed entire system could be a friendly labor-saving AI apparatus for on-line automatic multi-dialogue recording. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As more groups consider how AI may be used in the legal sector, this paper envisions how companies and policymakers can prioritize the perspective of community members as they design AI and policies around it. It presents findings of structured interviews and design sessions with community members, in which they were asked about whether, how, and why they would use AI tools powered by large language models to respond to legal problems like receiving an eviction notice. The respondents reviewed options for simple versus complex interfaces for AI tools, and expressed how they would want to engage with an AI tool to resolve a legal problem. These empirical findings provide directions that can counterbalance legal domain experts' proposals about the public interest around AI, as expressed by attorneys, court officials, advocates and regulators. By hearing directly from community members about how they want to use AI for civil justice tasks, what risks concern them, and the value they would find in different kinds of AI tools, this research can ensure that people's points of view are understood and prioritized, rather than only domain experts' assertions about people's needs and preferences around legal help AI. This article is part of the theme issue 'A complexity science approach to law and governance'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Medical malpractice claims in our country, which ranks among the nations with a high frequency of esthetic interventions according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), have been on the rise. This study aims to evaluate the claims of medical malpractice related to medical interventions for esthetic purposes. Materials and Methods: Files belonging to esthetic medical interventions which were referred from the court and the official institutions or were applicant individually for the purpose of identifying the malpractice between 2011 and 2022 to our institution were reviewed. Results: One hundred cases (82% - female, 18% - male, average age: 35.6) were evaluated. It was determined that 57% of the cases were sent from the consumer court, 33% from the court of first instance, and 7% of them were individual applications. Eighty percent of the cases were operated in operating room conditions, while 20% were office-type interventional procedures. It was determined that 84% of medical practices were performed by doctors and 16% by nonphysicians. After 2016, 85% of cases were referred from the consumer court. Above half of the whole cases (54.2%) had medical malpractice. The most important reason for medical malpractice was the lack of or insufficient informed consent. Conclusion: To prevent errors in esthetic medical interventions, it is necessary to comply with the legal regulations, to have a responsible physician in office-type interventions, to duly prepare and obtain (sign and hide) informed consent, to make the surgery/intervention plan, and to manage complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2012, California's voters passed a ballot initiative that scaled back the state's "Three Strikes" sentencing law and permitted certain individuals who were serving 25‐to‐life prison terms to petition for resentencing and potentially release. Using analysis of original qualitative interview data supplemented with court administrative records, this study examines how characteristics of courtroom workgroup members; their intergroup dynamics; political, professional, and administrative considerations; and allocated resources were perceived by court officials to facilitate or impede the implementation of this reform in county courts. Availability of staff and budget was associated with a higher proportion of completed case dispositions in the first 2 years of implementation, but resources were not the only factor associated with timely case processing. Courtroom actors' seniority, experience, and professional security facilitated agreement on processes, schedules, and other details. Small, stable, close‐knit groups established routine procedures and developed expertise more quickly, but could not always avoid bottlenecks or delays. Less stable workgroups had higher rates of denial of petitions for resentencing. Positions toward Proposition 36 shaped by political, professional, or other priorities were perceived to influence some elected DAs' positions and line prosecutors' behavior, manifesting in cooperation, opposition, or mixed messages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dargāhqolī Khān, also known as Moʿtaman-al-Dawla Moʿtaman-al-Molk Sālār-J̌ang and Khān-e Dawrān Navāb, was a high-ranking Iranian official at the court of the Neżāms of Hyderabad and Awrangābād for several generations, best known for his description of Delhi. He was descended from Khāndānqolī Khān Δ olqadr, a member of the Bōrbōr sub-tribe who had joined the line of Torkman chiefs in the region of Mašhad and had migrated to India in 1048 A.H./1638 A.D. The paper presents a brief note on the biography of this prominent Indian politician of Iranian descent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Despite the emergence of alternative models to traditional Batterer Intervention Programs (BIPs) to address domestic violence (DV), little research has explored stakeholders' perceptions and experiences of various treatment approaches. Therefore, this study, guided by the stakeholder engagement framework, explored the experiences, attitudes, and beliefs of court personnel and clinicians involved in mandated treatment for those convicted of DV crimes. Method: Two focus groups and nine semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with court personnel and clinicians and were analyzed using an interpretative phenomenological approach. Findings: Five themes emerged: (1) "Capturing a true batterer": The discrepancy between common perceptions of DV batterers, the legal definition of DV offenses, and the standard treatment approach for DV crimes; (2) A "cookie-cutter" approach: The controversy over the one-size-fits-all approach of court-mandated treatment; (3) "I don't have the tools": Professionals' frustration with policy and practice limitations; (4) The need for more inclusive treatment: Broadening the range of participants involved in the DV treatment process, and (5) A call for a shift in pedagogy: A new paradigm for DV and DV treatment. Overall, various stakeholders (i.e., court personnel and clinicians) expressed a sense of helplessness while attempting to navigate current DV statutes, court-mandated BIPs/DV treatment, and the realities of DV. Conclusion: The narratives of stakeholders point to the desire and the need for a new treatment paradigm to address the various types of DV crimes, the needs of those convicted of misdemeanor DV crimes, and the broader impact of DV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some people claim that the United States Supreme Court--which is currently dominated by a conservative supermajority--is in a legitimacy crisis. Unsurprisingly, many people are, therefore, calling for institutional reform. Several types of reform proposals have been presented over the years. This Note evaluates and presents a normative claim concerning a particular group of reform proposals: "personnel" or "composition" reform proposals-- those reform proposals that directly address the number of Justices, when Justices get replaced, how seats on the Court are allocated, and which Justices hear cases. This Note proceeds in three Parts. Part I provides an overview of the legal background, including the constitutional provisions and the corresponding doctrine, understandings, and norms concerning the Supreme Court. Part II discusses and evaluates current personnel and composition reform proposals, including altering the number of Justices, introducing term limits, allocating seats on the Court based on partisanship, and mandating that the Court decide cases as panels. Part III discusses the problems common to these personnel and composition reform proposals that emerge after evaluating them. This Note then concludes that reformers should jettison the notion that personnel and composition reform proposals can solve all of the Court's legitimacy problems on their own. Instead, reformers should consider and develop other, more neutral types of reform proposals that do not fetishize directly changing the Court's personnel and composition in order to reduce its politicization. Reformers' fixation on the Court's current personnel and composition is understandable, but focusing long-term institutional reform efforts on changing the same is misguided and counterproductive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Franciscan Order was one of the most important missionary orders in China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. While rooted in the local communities, they also engaged in various forms of interactions with Chinese literati. This article will begin by briefly discussing the issue of the Franciscans changing from religious habit into Chinese dress as well as their evolving attitude towards Confucianism and Chinese rituals, aiming to illustrate the process of shaping their "Western Confucian" image and their adaptation to Chinese culture. Subsequently, the focus of this paper will be shifted to exploring the modes of interactions between the Spanish Franciscans and the Chinese literati. The author argues that the interactions between the two sides were primarily power-based. These power-based interactions entailed establishing connections with officials and leveraging their influence to safeguard missionary activities. It can be further categorized into three types. The first type involved socializing with officials, while the second type included interaction with Jesuit officials in court, and the third type was direct involvement in official positions. In their engagement with literati, the Franciscans demonstrated a thorough understanding of and adaptation to Chinese societal and cultural norms, thereby facilitating the development of their mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines lawyers working in the federal appellate courts who represent immigrants seeking relief from deportation. By analyzing over 23,000 appellate cases during the Trump and Obama Administrations, the research here uncovers crucial findings. To begin, there was a statistically significant difference in the win rates of lawyers working pro bono and coming from the largest and most profitable corporate “Big Law” firms compared to lawyers based in other, typically more specialized immigration practice settings. Specifically, during the Trump Administration, Big Law lawyers won at nearly three times higher a rate than non-Big Law lawyers in the federal appellate courts. During the Obama Administration, Big Law lawyers won over three times more often. To supplement these quantitative results, interviews with Big Law and non-Big Law lawyers were conducted. As this study makes clear, it is not that those from Big Law firms are necessarily smarter or better at understanding immigration than non-Big Law practitioners. Indeed, there are certainly those lawyers in the latter cohort who do well in the appellate courts. Still, because of their enormous resource advantages, Big Law lawyers, on average, perform better because they have the luxury of selecting cases they believe are more likely to win. Additionally, Big Law firms have appellate specialists. They also have available personnel who can readily assist on these cases, as well as access to diverse research technologies and a keen familiarity with the federal courts’ norms—all of which are vital in preparing Big Law lawyers during the appeals process. Of course, Big Law firms are only involved in a fraction of federal appellate deportation cases. Nevertheless, their relatively high win rate, and the reasons behind it, have serious implications for how immigrants who do not have this type of representation are able to obtain justice. Otherwise put, Big Law’s greater success rates sadly perpetuate the already existing inequalities within our immigration system and highlight the unfortunate reality that firms with resources are able to procure advantages and benefits that others may not be able to enjoy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative partnerships between criminal justice agencies and universities offer several benefits for all involved. This article describes an interdisciplinary researcher-practitioner partnership between the Will County Problem-Solving Courts and the University of St. Francis's Departments of Criminal & Social Justice and Social Work. Collaborators reflect on the mutually beneficial relationship that produced policy-informed research, new internships, and enriched classroom experiences. The collaboration also encountered challenges such as staff turnover, COVID-19, and access to data. Finally, we encourage others to engage in collaborative efforts and provide recommendations to inform future partnerships on building and sustaining researcher-practitioner collaborations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores a new justice paradigm for victims within the context of international accountability mechanisms, referred to as the transnational network model. Topics discussed include the "add victims and stir" approach by global judicial actors, modifications recommended in the current scheme, the conceptual or historical phenomena that explain the paradigm's notional coherence and relevance, and the history of grassroots bottom-up victim justice advocacy campaigns.

This study provides insight into the total duration of litigation from the perspective of litigants. It examines commercial court cases with claims between 1 million and 5 million EUR in the Netherlands. It focuses on cases in which first instance judgments are appealed. In many of these cases other related procedures ensue. Using detailed data of the case administration system of the courts in the Netherlands, cases are followed as they wind their way through the court system. The results show that court statistics do not reflect the time taken for disposition from the litigant's perspective. A substantial number of high value cases are not concluded within a reasonable time and there is a wide spread of the time taken for disposition. For prospective litigants, it is not easy to predict the duration of litigation. The ensuing uncertainty makes it harder for them to assert their rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Neue Kriminalpolitik is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The use of words to portray gender and therefore apportion benefits or disadvantages is true in both verbal and written communication. This is even truer in legislative drafting, as the use of gendered language may depict a more serious problem of sexism, discrimination and paternalism in the society. Using the doctrinal approach, this paper examined gendered language in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 relating to the qualification and appointment of judicial officers, to analyse the effect of such gendered language on the interpretation of the constitution and the likelihood of the female gender suffering disadvantage thereby. The paper found that the gendered language used in the 1999 constitution of Nigeria in the qualification and appointment of judicial officers, is gender insensitive, ambiguous and capable of excluding the female gender from consideration for appointment to such offices. It also found that the gendered language in the relevant constitutional provisions exhibit masculinity and does not promote the required gender equality in a legal draft. The paper recommended amendment to reconstruct the language of the constitution to achieve gender neutrality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author presents a tribute to Judge John Stegner and relates his privilege of clerking for him from 2012 to 2013 in Latah County, Idaho. He discusses the theory of judicial self-restraint, some of judicial history in Idaho that was important to establishing the legitimacy of Idaho's judiciary, and examples of Judge Stegner exercising restraint.

In this Article, Judge Epps and Ms. Kaitlin Minkler collect an unrivaled amount of information about the first openly gay judges confirmed for life to federal courts of general jurisdiction in the United States. The Article references interviews with the judges about their trailblazing journeys. It examines the experiences of these twenty-two judges as they shape the judiciary from within and inspire future generations of LGBTQIA+ lawyers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is virtually a tenet of modern federal jurisdiction that judges, at least when they are acting as judges, are inappropriate defendants in civil suits. Yet on rare but salient occasions, state judges might be the sole or primary party responsible for violating the constitutional rights of citizens, for instance by imposing excessive bail or by opening their courtrooms to oppressive private suits like those under Texas’s Senate Bill 8 bounty regime. In such cases, injunctive relief against judicial officers may be the only or most effective remedy against constitutional violations, but federal courts from the trial level up to the Supreme Court treat state judges as if they are immune to suits seeking prospective relief [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relatives of missing persons in Mexico have denounced the slowness with which a court prosecution file is created by the justice administration system. Theoretically, the search is immediate, but many cases must wait 72 h to build an investigation folder as a legal criterion. This standard has been copied from the UK and Australian police reports without adapting to the Mexican context. The analysis of disappearance reports between 2006 and 2018 shows that this timing criterion in Mexico is not supported. The analyzed database (the National Center for Planning, Analysis, and Information to Combat Crime, CENAPI) showed that in the 72-h range, only 34.53% of the people had been found alive or dead; figure far from 50% to 80% of Europe or Australia. This fact shows that those searching officers or the judicial bureaucracy can act as a factor that limits the search for missing persons. Additionally, there is a random pattern in the geospatial distribution of disappearance, with non-homogeneous frequencies per year. Results highlight the participation of families, the adoption of an evidence-based model, and the generation of geospatial forensic intelligence analysis to generate evidence-based public policies. The social demand of families to the government for not considering them takes relevance in forensic practice in Mexico, and the disappearance data support this assertion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business–government relations play a crucial role in China's economic development and policy implementation. Situated in an asymmetric dependency nexus, local officials court business investments to facilitate policy and boost their political careers, while under Xi Jinping private firms are increasingly incentivised to support party-state goals to gain access to political capital. In this study, we use the case of football development to show how private business actors and government officials enter reciprocal relationships based on the exchange of respective financial and political capital. Using insights from semistructured interviews with practitioners and macro-level data, such as investors' characteristics and financial data, we explore the role of political capital in state–business exchanges, specifying the mechanisms of this interaction (motivations, forms, and perceived benefits) and three distinct investment scenarios in the case of football. Besides insights into the sector, the article contributes to the understanding of the modus operandi of private business and local government in the Chinese political economy at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We may sharpen our understanding of legislation by juxtaposing it with other types of legal act. John Gardner attempts to differentiate legislation from legal rulings – an unusual juxtaposition in itself – and his claims about the difference are surprising. Legal rulings are legally binding pronouncements issued by judges – eg 'A owes B $50 in compensation'. The article queries the analysis advanced by Gardner and endorsed by other accounts. It instead offers an alternative distinction, and in so doing seeks to clarify what legislation is by what it is not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family Treatment Drug Courts (FTDCs) have been implemented to assist families involved with the child welfare system due to substance use. This article describes an enhanced version of a Family Treatment Drug Court intervention which builds on the traditional FTDC model but includes adaptations that add theoretically driven components to the basic FTDC model that aim to strengthen not only permanency outcomes but also address child well‐being including several precursors to child well‐being: parent well‐being and family well‐being so that the additional child welfare outcome of child well‐being can be met. The enhanced FTDC model described in this paper offers three phases of treatment but also utilizes data gathered for evaluation purposes as continuous quality improvement information to inform providers regarding participant engagement so that targeted re‐engagement efforts can occur to reduce dropouts. Thus, this paper also describes the measures utilized in the comprehensive evaluation. Data include 33 standardized scales from multiple sources, including clients, therapists/treatment providers, court personnel, and child welfare workers, at multiple points ranging from weekly to quarterly. Implications are discussed regarding how this enhanced FTDC model and use of evaluation/CQI data impact client engagement and multiple outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature and status of the relationship between judicial officers and the judicial service commissions in the Commonwealth appears to be understudied. Is it an employer-employee relationship or not? With respect to Nigeria, the relationship between the National Judicial Council (NJC) and judicial officers in Nigeria is a matter of serious controversy. This issue has continually led to jurisdictional questions. This paper appraises the legal and institutional framework for the regulation of judges in Nigeria. It examines the extent of control exerted by the National Judicial Council and contends that there exists not only an administrative relationship, but a master/servant relationship between Nigerian Judicial Officers and the NJC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing research has analyzed quantitative patterns of bail decisions and outcomes, but we know far less about how court officials justify their bail decisions. To enhance understanding of how bail decisions—and their resulting pretrial outcomes—are generated, we interviewed 104 judges, prosecutors, and public defenders in a northeastern state. Court officials in our study reported three primary justifications at bail: ensuring defendants return to court, preventing crime, and lessening harm. The first two justifications have been suggested in the literature, but the latter is novel and encompasses two secondary justifications: lessening criminal legal system harm and lessening societal harm. We show how these justifications and the decisions they enable blend risk management with rehabilitation and emerge from court officials' shared assumption of defendants' social marginality but varied beliefs about what to do about such marginality pretrial. Each justification allows for distinct, but at times overlapping, bail decisions. We discuss the implications of our findings for theories of court official decision‐making, research on racial and socioeconomic inequality, and bail reform policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing together the literature on police body-worn cameras and video-recorded evidence in domestic and family violence matters, this article explores whether technology can 'fix' criminal justice responses to domestic and family violence. We argue that the use of police body-worn cameras and digitally recorded audio-visual evidence in domestic and family violence matters is not a cure-all for deficiencies in criminal justice responses to domestic and family violence. While the use of such technologies may alleviate some of the deficiencies highlighted in the Australian state of Victoria's 2016 Royal Commission into Family Violence, it raises serious concerns about victim's agency and privacy. We argue that the introduction of such technologies requires significant investment in training and education – for police to adapt to their changed role and for judicial officers, legal practitioners and potential jurors in understanding and interpreting victim survivor behaviour on film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the novel "Un círculo" by Noé Jitrik, published in 2022, which takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic and follows three main characters who live together in a house. The plot unfolds when two officials appear with a court summons, revealing a historical past related to a clandestine detention center. The novel also addresses literary debates and includes references to various authors and works. The article highlights the representation of reality and literature in the novel, as well as the reflection on the literature's ability to narrate the present time and adapt to new realities. [Extracted from the article]