In the Interests of clients or commerce? Legal aid, supply, demand, and 'ethical indeterminacy' in criminal defence work

As a professional, a lawyer's first duty is to serve the client's best interests, before simple monetary gain. In criminal defence work, this duty has been questioned in the debate about the causes of growth in legal aid spending: is it driven by lawyers (suppliers) inducing unnecessary demand for their services or are they merely responding to increased demand? Research reported here found clear evidence of a change in the handling of cases in response to new payment structures, though in ways unexpected by the policy's proponents. The paper develops the concept of 'ethical indeterminacy' as a way of understanding how defence lawyers seek to reconcile the interests of commerce and clients. Ethical indeterminacy suggests that where different courses of action could each be said to benefit the client, the lawyer will tend to advise the client to decide in the lawyer's own interests. Ethical indeterminacy is mediated by a range of competing conceptions of 'quality' and 'need'. The paper goes on to question the very distinction between 'supply' and 'demand' in the provision of legal services

What’s a box of “Bakewell Tarts” got to do with it? Performing gender as a judicial virtue in the theatre of justice

On a July morning in 2013 a box of a popular English branded confection called“Cherry Bakewells’ appeared in the court of the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. It generated much laughter. The event was the swearing in ceremony for Dame Julia Wendy Macur as a judge of the Court of Appeal. If her appointment was a cause for celebration, the backdrop to the event was the serious business of judicial renewal and the gender composition of the judiciary. Neither topic is a laughing matter. Drawing upon data generated through the observation of 18 swearing in events this chapter uses the gender/humour interface to examine the gender dynamics of the social world of the judiciary as an institution. Keywords: ceremonial archive, gender, judicial diversity, wi

NEOTROPICAL XENARTHRANS: a data set of occurrence of xenarthran species in the Neotropics

Xenarthrans – anteaters, sloths, and armadillos – have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with 24 domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, ten anteaters, and six sloths. Our dataset includes the families Chlamyphoridae (13), Dasypodidae (7), Myrmecophagidae (3), Bradypodidae (4), and Megalonychidae (2). We have no occurrence data on Dasypus pilosus (Dasypodidae). Regarding Cyclopedidae, until recently, only one species was recognized, but new genetic studies have revealed that the group is represented by seven species. In this data-paper, we compiled a total of 42,528 records of 31 species, represented by occurrence and quantitative data, totaling 24,847 unique georeferenced records. The geographic range is from the south of the USA, Mexico, and Caribbean countries at the northern portion of the Neotropics, to its austral distribution in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Regarding anteaters, Myrmecophaga tridactyla has the most records (n=5,941), and Cyclopes sp. has the fewest (n=240). The armadillo species with the most data is Dasypus novemcinctus (n=11,588), and the least recorded for Calyptophractus retusus (n=33). With regards to sloth species, Bradypus variegatus has the most records (n=962), and Bradypus pygmaeus has the fewest (n=12). Our main objective with Neotropical Xenarthrans is to make occurrence and quantitative data available to facilitate more ecological research, particularly if we integrate the xenarthran data with other datasets of Neotropical Series which will become available very soon (i.e. Neotropical Carnivores, Neotropical Invasive Mammals, and Neotropical Hunters and Dogs). Therefore, studies on trophic cascades, hunting pressure, habitat loss, fragmentation effects, species invasion, and climate change effects will be possible with the Neotropical Xenarthrans dataset

Litigation: historical and contemporary dimensions

Sharyn Roach Anleu and Wilfrid Pres

Social work and the law

No description supplie

Transient Behavior of an Ammonia-Based Energy Recovery System

An ammonia thermochemical energy storage system consists of an endothermic reaction that disassociates ammonia into hydrogen using the solar energy, which can be stored for future use. The reverse reaction is carried out in the energy recovery process; the ammonia synthesis reaction is used to heat supercritical steam to temperatures on the order of 650 degrees Celsius as required for a supercritical steam Rankine cycle. The goal of this paper is to investigate the transient response in a synthesis reactor-heat-exchanger. It is desired to predict the time the system takes to reach steady state and the effect a perturbation has on the temperature response of the system. A numerical model has been developed to investigate the transient behavior of an ammonia synthesis reactor-heat exchanger. The model consists of a transient one dimensional concentric tube counter-flow reactor-heat exchanger. The effect of gas mass flow rate and initial gas temperature was investigated. Results show that as gas mass flow rate increases, the time for the outlet steam temperature to reach steady state decreases. For low gas mass flow rates, the required outlet steam temperature is not achieved.</jats:p

Judicial work and AV use: Perceptions from Australian courts

No description supplie