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The article discusses the importance of electronic filing of documents in judicial courts and discusses several cases of the U.S. federal district courts where electronic filing had been implemented and suggests various tips for being persuasive in the use of digital media.

This Article demonstrates through original statistical research that prosecutors in Colorado were more likely to seek the death penalty against minority defendants than against white defendants. Moreover, defendants in Colorado's Eighteenth Judicial District were more likely to face a death prosecution than defendants elsewhere in the state. Our empirical analysis demonstrates that even when one controls for the differential rates at which different groups commit statutorily death-eligible murders, non-white defendants and defendants in the Eighteenth Judicial District were still more likely than others to face a death penalty prosecution. Even when the heinousness of the crime is accounted for, the race of the accused and the place of the crime are statistically significant predictors of whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty. We discuss the implications of this disparate impact on the constitutionality of Colorado's death penalty regime, concluding that the Colorado statute does not meet the dictates of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on qualitative fieldwork conducted in the Auckland District Court, this article argues that contemporary modes of punishment under neoliberal governance are characterised by three inter-related trends: A tendency to expand the frontiers of criminality; the development of multiple juridical spaces, each accompanied by distinct forms of legal consciousness amongst professionals; and institutional practices informed by numerous logics of power. I use the term 'flexible penality' to summarise these worrying trends and close by considering alternatives to our growing dependence on criminal justice systems to manage the problems that accompany neoliberal regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores a very specific kind of legal research - finding the intent of a legislature or parliament. Following a review of the history of legislative intent in Canadian courts, the exclusionary rule and an important Canadian case, Rizzo & Rizzo Shoes Ltd, the authors explore what developments in this area of law, statutory interpretation and, legislative intent research, might mean for parliamentary and legislative libraries in Canada. Based on research for their forthcoming Irwin Law book Researching Legislative Intent: A Practical Guide, this revised article was first presented to the Association of Parliamentary Libraries in Canada/ L'Association des bibliothèques parlementaires au Canada (APLIC/ABPAC) on July 4, 2013, in Ottawa, Ontario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on data of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, Higher School of Economics, the article examines problems of the emergence of an independent judiciary system in Russia. It analyzes the dynamic of the public's trust in the courts and factors that prevent trust from rising.1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than ever, the constitutionality of laws turns on judicial review of an underlying factual record, assembled by lawmakers. Some scholars have suggested that by requiring extensive records, the Supreme Court is treating lawmakers like administrative agencies. The assumption underlying this metaphor is that if the state puts forth enough evidence in the record to support the law, its action will survive constitutional scrutiny. What scholars have overlooked, however, is that the Court is increasingly questioning the credibility of the record itself. Even in cases where the state produces adequate evidence to support its action, the Court sometimes invalidates the law because it does not believe the state's facts. In these cases, the Court treats the state like a witness in its own trial, subjecting the state's record and the conclusions drawn from it to rigorous cross-examination and second-guessing. In this "credibility-questioning" review of the record, the Court appears to be animated by an implicit judgment about the operation of the political process. When Justices consider the political process to have functioned properly, they treat the state as a good faith actor and merely check the adequacy of its evidence in the record. But when Justices suspect that the democratic process has malfunctioned because opponents of the law were too politically weak or indifferent to challenge distortions in the record, they treat the state as a witness, suspecting bias in its factual determinations supporting the law. In this Article, I both support and critique this new form of review. Contrary to conventional wisdom, I argue courts should engage in credibility-questioning review of the record when the political process has malfunctioned. Public choice and pluralist defect theory imply that the record supporting a law is more likely to be distorted in contexts of democratic malfunction. But for reasons of institutional legitimacy and separation of powers, I argue courts should limit credibility-questioning review to contexts where there is actual proof of democratic malfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we conducted a two-stage analysis of technical efficiency in Italian judicial districts by focusing on civil cases in 2006. Unlike most of the works that apply the Data Envelopment Analysis technique to study the justice sector, in the first stage, we employed the smoothed bootstrap procedure to generate unbiased technical efficiency estimates. In the second stage, we used a semi-parametric technique (Simar and Wilson in J Econom 136(1): 31-64, ) that produces a robust inference for an unknown serial correlation between efficiency scores. Our results show that technical efficiency is explained by demand factors and supports the conclusion that opportunistic behaviour from both claimants and lawyers negatively affects technical efficiency in Italian judicial districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, liberal democracy was born as a means to curb the power of kings and tyrants through mechanisms that would ensure accountability and consent of the governed. A system of checks and balances-two legislative chambers, executive and independent courts-were instituted to ensure power did not become too concentrated. Today's highly diverse, mass consumer societies, however, have presented another set of challenges. Power is so diffused governance is becoming ineffective. The short-term mentality of voters and the lobbying of special interests undermine the ability of democracies to focus on the long-term and the common interest. Because there are more checks than balances, gridlock has supplanted consensus. In this section, we compare Chinese and Western systems on their ability to deliver good governance. The editors of the Economist magazine put the debate in historical context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the personal and court relationship of Robert Sidney, later first Earl of Leicester, and Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex, through the richly informative correspondence of Rowland Whyte with his employer Robert Sidney. Based upon the first complete edition of Whyte's surviving correspondence, it offers fresh insights and a wealth of specific detail about the rise and fall of Robert Devereux at the late-Elizabethan court. It traces how Sidney at first depended heavily on Essex for support at court and the development of his public career but also how eventually he found it necessary to distance himself from the earl as his discontents with Queen Elizabeth led to his treasonable and shortlived rebellion in February 1601. Whyte's detailed reports about Essex's behaviour and treatment by the queen and court officials reveal how heavily Sidney depended upon his employee's shrewd advice in both negotiating his relationship with Essex and seeking to develop other aspects of his own public career. The fortunate survival of Whyte's historically important letters in the Sidney family private archive provides a rich and illuminating perspective upon the complexities and vicissitudes of court life during the last decade of Queen Elizabeth I's reign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the proposals for reform of the law on the procedural provision associated with incapacity which affects an accused during his trial, and the mental illness defence. It mentions that these legal provisions protects the individuals accused of criminal offences, and abuse of court process. It highlights the citations of cases including Eastman v. The Queen, R v. Mailes, and R v. Kesavarajah.

The article focuses on the protection of human rights from violation in modern era. It states that strong state institutions including independent and qualified judiciary with resources, or non-corrupt and well-equipped police forces play an essential role in human rights' protection. It states that as weak states have fragile laws they can lead to violation of human rights.

Under the English rule, the loser pays litigation costs whereas under the American rule, each party pays its own costs. Israel instead vests in its judges full discretion to assess fees and costs as the circumstances may require. Both the English and the American rules have been the subjects of scholarly criticism. Because little empirical information exists about how either rule functions in practice, an empirical study of judicial litigation cost award practices should be of general interest. This Article presents such a study in the context of Israel's legal system. We report evidence that Israeli judges apply their discretion to implement multiple de facto litigation cost systems: a one-way shifting system that dominates in most tort cases; a loser pays system that operates when publicly owned corporations litigate; and a loser pays system with discretion to deny litigation costs in other cases. Although a loser pays norm dominates in Israel with litigation costs awarded to the prevailing party in 80 percent of cases, Israeli judges still often exercised their discretion to protect certain losing litigants, especially individuals, from having to pay their adversaries' litigation costs. In tort cases won by individual plaintiffs against corporate defendants, for example, corporations had to pay their own litigation costs plus plaintiffs' litigation costs 99 percent of the time. Even when the corporate defendants prevailed, they still had to pay their own litigation costs 52 percent of the time. When public corporations litigated and lost, a loser pays system dominated. Award patterns also varied by case category and judicial district. In property cases in one district, courts denied prevailing plaintiffs fees in about 75 percent of cases. Theorizing about optimal fee rules should account for the variety of fee outcomes observed in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the administration of justice in the southern part of the kingdom during the first decade of James IV's reign. It does so through an analysis of the earliest surviving records of the justice ayre, for Lauder (1493), Jedburgh (1493), Jedburgh (1495), Selkirk (1495) and Peebles (1498). The character, intended purpose and provenance of the records is discussed. The function of the itinerant court is assessed, including how it worked with royal and seigneurial officials, and its relationship to regalian jurisdictions. The numbers of cases, outcomes and types of offences are examined, noting differences with the statutory record, especially with reference to the classification of theft and homicide. Comment is made on the process of pardon, highlighting the ways in which royal mercy could precede assythement, and the steps preliminary to remission. The extent to which a culture of private vengeance, feud and compensation can be detected in these records, and how this related to the ambitions and mechanisms of royal justice, underpins a cautiously pessimistic evaluation of this system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legal opinion on a bill initiated by citizens on the judicial districts of common courts and amending the Act - System of Common Courts Law: The opinion pro-vides an analysis of advisability and constitutionality of a bill initiated by citizens. The author claims that, pursuant to Article 176 (2) of the Constitution, the organizational structure and jurisdiction of particular types of courts must be specified by statute. However, a statute is not required for the creation of courts. But, in his view, the pow-ers of legislative branch of government to establish and to dissolve the courts and to determine their seats and the boundaries of judicial districts are not at all limited. The author is afraid that after the adoption of the proposal the Act - System of Common Courts Law will cease to meet the requirement of comprehensive regulation of this particular sphere, as its essential elements are regulated in a separate statute. More-over, the adoption of the bill could result in inconsistency of the provisions concern-ing creation and dissolution of courts in relation to administrative and military courts which regulations would still be applied. The author also points out numerous defects of the bill of a legislative technical nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of judicial denunciation during sentence summation and how this equates with wider criminal justice attempts to change offending behaviour through re-education and re-moralization appears to be important. However, there is no coherent academic agreement as to what judicial denunciation means and how this may relate to its interpretation and application by judges in practice. Through a small comparison of judicial perceptions in two distinct legal cultures there were common hints provided as to what denunciation may mean when applied to theft offenders. However, the limited data gathered were insufficient to develop a firm link to any one specific sentencing principle, policy or social theory. It would appear that if we are to better understand judicial denunciation during sentence summation we must master both the plurality of theoretical understandings and philosophical thoughts available and gather significantly more qualitative data in order to test what judicial denunciation may mean. The comparison of England and Denmark was only a slight nudge in the right direction, but it remains an attempt nonetheless to keep the ball rolling and inspire future academic enquiry into this important research area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Courts deciding constitutional cases frequently have to make deference determinations--that is, decisions about whether to respect a political branch's factual findings and policy judgments because of that branch's institutional superiority. The U.S. Supreme Court's approach to a wide range of these determinations, however, is inconsistent and under-theorized. Indeed, the Court's difficulties with deference determinations mirror broader failures to resolve carefully and consistently a number of "stealth " determinations that recur in constitutional cases--determinations that fall outside the black-letter doctrinal framework but can still greatly impact a case's outcome Rather than relying on pithy platitudes about each government branch's strengths and weaknesses, courts should examine the actual behavior and processes of the relevant governmental institution before deciding whether deference is appropriate. This contextual, institutional approach would provide better incentives for Congress and administrative agencies to craft policy utilizing their expertise and reinforcing their political accountability. It would also offer a more searching, rigorous model for courts approaching other extra-doctrinal determinations, thus improving the legal status of both deference determinations themselves and stealth constitutional determinations more generally [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the issue related to guardianship appointment by the Utah Judicial Council and also reflects on the appointment of court visitor as guardian. It mentions that guardian has the same rights and duties toward wards as that offered to their parents. It further informs about the Volunteer Court Visitor Program developed by the Judicial Districts to monitor the guardianship after the appointment.

The article offers information on history, purpose and significance of the enactment of code of mining laws, commonly known as the Howell Code, drafted by William T. Howell, the territorial judge for the First Judicial District of the Territory of Arizona, in 1864. It informs that the Howell Code was adopted by the first legislative assembly of the Territory of Arizona in its first session, which began in Prescott, Arizona, on September 26, 1864.

Copyright of Ius et Praxis (07172877) is the property of Universidad de Talca 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 Ius et Praxis (07172877) is the property of Universidad de Talca 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 examines the Federal Pretrial Services Risk Assessment (PTRA) tool, which was added since the approval of the Pretrial Services Act of 1982. The tool was first made by John Goldkamp and Barbara Meierhoefer as Recommendation Guidelines. It was able to detect cases suitable for release and tested in 12 judicial districts in the U.S. The PTRA tool was validated based on the Probation and Pretrial Services Automated Services Automated Case Tracking System.

The article discusses the history of the Lombardy region of Italy in the 14th to 16th centuries, with a focus on judicial institutions and their role in creating locational identity and space, as well as social status during this period. Topics discussed include the social history of the Lombardy hillside and valleys in the late Middle Ages, judicial practices concerning the condition of individuals in court cases, with reference to family, class, and individual status, and localization of judicial practice.

In this article, the author being the president of the Utah State Bar addresses the pro bono programs of the Bar to provide legal assistance to low-income families and individuals of Utah. According to the author, the Bar is creating Pro Bono Committee in each judicial districts of Utah for reorganization and revitalization of pro bono efforts of the Bar. The author also mentions that the program will help in facilitating of qualified pro bono cases to volunteers.

Drug courts have gained immense popularity throughout the United States as alternatives to traditional sentencing. For programs to continue to be effective, administrators have to understand which factors are correlated to graduation. This study used a retrospective cross-sectional design with a sample consisting of the entire population (n=38) of past participants in the Fourteenth Judicial District (Louisiana) Adult Drug Treatment Court Program between June 2007 and January 2011. Bivariate analysis and t test results indicated that older white participants, who were employed and had attained a high school diploma or GED prior to entering the program, were more likely to graduate than others without these specific characteristics. Policy and research implications include limiting the size of the program and developing standard definitions for offender characteristics to be used for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]