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Although a significant focal point of research has been dedicated to the role of sport in the lives of youth, few articles have explored sporting experiences among incarcerated youth. Often overlooked, this population is highly disenfranchised and overrepresented by youth of color. Nonetheless, emerging research has proposed sport as an important developmental tool in the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. Informed by critical race theory, the current study included semistructured interviews with nine incarcerated Black males, exploring the meaning of sport in their lives. Results included themes around family induction into sport, sport versus street life, sport teaching life skills, and sport as a distraction. Findings offer insight into how youth of color in the juvenile justice system conceptualize the role of sport and consequently, how sport may be harnessed for positive youth outcomes in correctional settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of 40,000 tweets that trended after the Tarun Tejpal acquittal in India showed that the nature of the debate around issues of molestation and rape exhibited attributes of deliberation and demonstrated that Twitter in India, in certain cases, has strong potential to emerge as a space for deliberative feminist activism. Discussions gave impetus to advocacy around sexual molestation. While the word "victim" was used in more instances rather than the human rights–based term "survivor," Twitter debates were supportive toward survivors of assault. There was minimum trolling and patriarchy was called out as was a legal system that sided with the influential man of power. Although city-bred English-speaking voices dominated, conversations were intersectional in nature acknowledging how the horror of physical assault was perceived by different women belonging to disparate socio-economic strata and how legal systems exacerbated gender related crimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Study objectives were to (a) understand juvenile justice staff members' experiences with engaging families in youth substance use services and (b) identify staff‐perceived barriers to family engagement across steps of substance use service provision. Background: Lack of family involvement in juvenile justice system substance use (SU) services is a key barrier to successful treatment of justice‐involved youth. Method: From June through November 2015, 33 focus groups were conducted at juvenile justice system probation sites across seven states. There were 263 participants, which included juvenile justice probation and behavioral health staff. Results: Strategies to engage families in services were highly variable across the 33 juvenile justice sites. Juvenile justice staff members identified barriers to family engagement in SU services including family discomfort, distrust of juvenile justice staff, lack of family service compliance, difficulties accessing SU services, lack of transportation, insurance and cost barriers, low perceived need for treatment, lack of SU education, and SU treatment stigma. Conclusion and Implications: Barriers to family engagement directly impact the success of SU service provision in juvenile justice settings. Implementation of strategies to engage families of justice‐involved youth (e.g., providing tangible, informational, and emotional support to families, and involving families in juvenile justice policy and care decisions) are critical to improving SU outcomes among this vulnerable population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to analyze the Chinese legal system and international legal frameworks on supporting green and low-carbon development, one of the strategies adopted to achieve sustainable development while effectively addressing climate change. However, different projects and measures supporting green and low-carbon development may affect one another if legal and policy measures are not well established and implemented.Globally, different international instruments highlight various commitments that guide the implementation of green and low-carbon development. At the domestic level, China has numerous plans and policies aimed at achieving these goals, and both international and domestic measures on green and low-carbon development are interdependent. This study found that China has different environmental laws that can advance green and low-carbon development.However, these laws often lack specific references to “green and low-carbon development,” a phrase that appears primarily in policies. This gap may lead to a lack of coherence between those policies and the absence of specific institutions dedicated to these goals. This study recommends that specific laws can be enacted from different existing Chinese plans and policies to ensure a coherent and long-term framework for green and low-carbon development. With the existence of such a law, responsible institutions will be established, and the enforcement of policies and plans related to green and low-carbon development will be ensured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research demonstrates gaps in medications for opioid use disorder uptake (MOUDs; methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone) especially among adolescents. These gaps may be partly attributable to attitudes about and training in MOUDs among youth-serving professionals. We extended prior research by conducting descriptive analyses of attitudes regarding effectiveness and acceptability of MOUDs, as well as training in MOUDs, among youth legal system (YLS) employees and community mental health center (CMHC) personnel who interface professionally with youth. Methods: Using survey data from participants (n = 181) recruited from eight Midwest counties, we examined: (1) differences in MOUD attitudes/training by MOUD type and (2) by respondent demographics, and (3) prediction of MOUD attitudes/training by participant-reported initiatives to implement evidence-based practices (EBPs), workplace culture around EBPs, and workplace stress. Attitudes and training were measured in reference to five MOUD types (methadone, oral buprenorphine, injectable buprenorphine, oral naltrexone, injectable naltrexone) on three subscales (effectiveness, acceptability, training). Results: Wilcoxon signed-rank tests demonstrated that most outcomes differed significantly by MOUD type (differences observed among 22 of 30 tests). Kruskal-Wallis tests suggested MOUD differences based on demographics. For methadone, CMHC providers endorsed greater perceived effectiveness than YLS providers and age explained significant differences in perceived effectiveness. For buprenorphine, CHMC providers viewed oral or injectable buprenorphine as more effective than YLS employees, respondents from more rural counties viewed oral buprenorphine as more effective than those from less rural counties, and age explained differences in perceived effectiveness. For naltrexone, perceived gender differed by gender. Hierarchical ordinal logistic regression analysis did not find an association between personal initiatives to implement EBPs, workplace culture supporting EBPs, or workplace stress and effectiveness or acceptability of MOUDs. However, personal initiatives to implement EBPs was associated with training in each MOUD. Conclusions: These results highlight a few key findings: effectiveness/acceptability of and training in MOUDs largely differ by MOUD type; setting, rurality, age, gender, and education explain group differences in perceived effectiveness of and training in MOUDs; and implementing EBPs is associated with training in MOUDs. Future research would benefit from examining what predicts change in MOUD attitudes longitudinally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on analyzing the measures taken by Kazakhstan to combat corruption and assessing their effectiveness. The primary aim of the article is to identify issues and shortcomings in Kazakhstan's anti-corruption system, with a specific emphasis on the accountability and punishment of state officials. It is found that the greater the extent of corruption, the more favorable the conditions for its occurrence and existence become. The scale of corruption in Kazakhstan is influenced by factors such as culture, social dynamics, politics, economics, and the legal system. Corruption in the country is identified as a moral, economic, political, and legal problem. Our research findings indicate that the fight against corruption, especially at the upper levels of government in Kazakhstan, will be challenging due to a lack of interest among some officials, their absence of responsibility, and the degree of punishment for such crimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report on legal geography explores everyday law and how law is discussed as lived, performed and re-created in mundane life. Everyday law means a legal pluralism that also includes informal parts of law, such as customs, norms, and alternative legal systems. It also refers to the manifestations, performances, contestations, and constitution of the law in mundane places. Focusing on ordinariness opens paths for thinking the normalized and taken-for-granted aspects of the law. Everyday law is mostly experienced at micro-scale—related to our bodies, homes, and neighborhoods. This report concentrates on these, with the focus on subjectivity, relationality, and resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals formerly involved in armed groups are positioned in the victim–perpetrator binary by legal systems and societies. Media participates in this process and influences the relationship between law and society by reproducing or challenging legal and social designations. We assess the relationship between the International Criminal Court's (ICC) prosecution of Dominic Ongwen, a former child soldier in Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), and media representations of Ongwen. We conduct a content analysis of 779 Ugandan, African, and international newspapers' English-language articles published between January 2005 and October 2022. We find that media coverage focuses on Ongwen's adult roles in the group, including as an LRA leader, largely reproducing the ICC's portrayal of the accused. A minority of articles acknowledge a more complex status and increase in frequency once Ongwen's ICC trial is underway. An important faction challenges the ICC's narrative, with non-Africa-based media presenting a more complex depiction of Ongwen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entry of robotics and artificial intelligence is reaching the Law. New concepts are emerging, old legal paradigms are being redefined and it is essential to update existing legal regulations. This study addresses one of the core issues affecting the Law as a whole: the notion of robotic electronic person and the legal consequences derived from its actions, its legal status in the legal system, its attributes, and the differences with respect to the natural person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'virtual school' is an approach to supporting care‐experienced children and young people in education. The Virtual School Head (VSH) has been a statutory role within the education landscape in England since 2014. In Scotland, where the education, social care and legal systems are distinct from those in England, there has been a recent increase in the number of local authorities utilising this concept. This research aimed to explore the role and remit of Virtual School Head Teachers (VSHTs) in Scotland, and to identify similarities and differences with those of VSHs in England, to uncover learning about the emergence of this concept and role in a new context. We conducted semi‐structured interviews with relevant post‐holders in Scotland, using key concepts from the published literature on virtual schools in England, and analysed these qualitatively to identify themes. We discuss some of the similarities and differences we identified, noting that while the purpose of the role, and the means by which it functions, were largely common to both countries, there were also nuanced differences. Key similarities included the importance of positioning within the local authority, and the development of relationships with social work. Differences were largely underpinned by the educational and legal contexts in which the post‐holders operated, and included control of budgets and specificity of remit. This research contributes to our understanding of the role of the VSHT in Scotland, and identifies some emerging features as the virtual school concept is translated to a new context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debt-based trade and economic exchanges are becoming more and more widespread in the context of post-Soviet Central Asian societies. In the absence of viable state economic support, a functional banking system, and an effective legal system, trust-based economic exchanges serve as an alternative means for conducting micro-level businesses in Central Asia. The phenomenon of "rassiychilar," which is the central focus of this article, is one of the intriguing examples of debt-based trade in rural Fergana, Uzbekistan. This debt-based trade involves a myriad of informal economic exchanges among various actors, locally and transnationally. The article argues that trust-based economic networks and debt-based trade serve as an alternative means of doing business in rural post-socialist contexts characterized by legal uncertainty, rampant corruption, and an inefficient economic and banking system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oman and its conflict management model are the focus of this paper. This model has crystalized out of the three stand‐alone but complementary systems of conflict resolution which evolved in an ad hoc fashion: the institute of tribal leaders; the reconciliation committees; and the formal judicial system. These systems offer a foundation for the current efforts of the local people to sustain a peaceful co‐existence among the vibrant and ethnically diverse Omani communities known for their turbulent past. The analyzed data obtained from interviews with Omani tribal leaders, reconciliation committee members, and lawyers shed light on both the strengths of the conflict management model and the modern challenges which the model faces. The findings confirm that this model represents a coherent entity run by an integrated constitutional‐tribal order. They also suggest that the model serves as a state mechanism for balancing power between the country's major players—the government and the institute of tribal leaders. The novel contribution of this paper lies in linking the origin and philosophy of each system with the "mediation identity" of Oman's foreign policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study critically evaluates Jordan's bifurcated approach to the enforcement of arbitral awards, with an emphasis on its domestic laws and international obligations under the New York Convention. Utilizing a rigorous methodology that melds doctrinal scrutiny with comparative legal analysis, the research delves into Jordan's Arbitration Law 31 of 2001, its subsequent amendments, and the Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Law 8 of 1952. The analysis reveals a marked incongruence between Jordan's national legal frameworks for recognizing and enforcing foreign arbitral awards and its commitments under Article 3 of the New York Convention. The study further quantifies the financial and procedural barriers erected by Jordan's stratified judicial system, contrasting them with universally accepted benchmarks. Informed by international jurisprudence, the research proffers targeted policy recommendations designed to harmonize Jordan's arbitration regulations with prevailing pro‐enforcement international standards. This investigation fills a scholarly void and offers pragmatic, timely solutions, thereby contributing to the global dialogue on compliance with international arbitration norms, particularly from a Jordanian vantage point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to the rising technological applications of China's satellite systems, their applications and impacts in modern Chinese Society, particularly in the legal and administrative forums, have largely escaped under the radar. Specifically, the use of satellite outputs can now be found within a number of administrative and legal activities within China - including policy and rule-making, administrative investigations, and the production of court evidence. At the same time however, outdated legal practices, ambiguous status, and lack of guidance has prevented China's legal system from fully capitalizing on the advantages of satellite technologies. Therefore, to fill these legislative gaps, this review provides a comprehensive overview on the applications of satellite technologies within China's legal system, and provide important insights as to their current developments, legal framework, and legal issues. Additionally, having identified the aforementioned issues, this paper offers policy recommendations for the purposes of legislation. • Satellite applications in China's policy and rule-making processes. • Investigatory applications of satellite technologies within China's administrative organs. • Emerging evidentiary applications of satellite technologies in Chinese court systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The patriation of the Constitution and the enshrinement of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 opened a new "window of opportunity" for equity-seeking groups to better access legal arenas in Canada. They have been frequent interveners in Canadian courts within the post-Charter era, where they are perceived to have a heightened potential to influence public policy. However, whether this potential to enact change through the courts has been realized, or whether it has been realized to the same extent for all equityseeking groups, is disputed in the literature. Francophone minority communities in particular have been among the most active equity-seeking interveners, but their legal activism has been significantly understudied. To better understand the legal mobilization of Francophone minority communities, we conducted a mixed-methods analysis of the 35 language-rights cases heard by the Supreme Court of Canada between 1975 and 2020. From an empirical analysis of court transcripts and interest group documentation, as well as semi-directed interviews with key stakeholders, we find these groups to be distinct in a number of ways. Most prominently, the findings reveal that Francophone minority community organizations are strategically collaborative actors, and legal mobilization as a result is more sophisticated than what is typically assumed about equity-seeking groups. We situate these findings within a wider historical and political context and comment on the lessons that can be gleaned for equity-seeking interveners writ large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an overview of the 1985 siege of the Palace of Justice in Bogotá, Colombia, where M-19 guerrilla commandos attacked the building, leading to a military counter-siege and the destruction of the palace. The siege resulted in the deaths of numerous individuals, including judges, M-19 members, and cafeteria workers who were disappeared. Efforts have been made to uncover the truth about the disappeared victims, and a recent project by Forensic Architecture and the Colombian Truth Commission has shed light on the gaps in knowledge surrounding the events. The investigation focuses on the relationship between objects and spaces, particularly the Museum of Independence Casa del Florero, which was used as a center for military operations during the siege. The article also highlights the lack of coordination and fragmentation among the different components involved in the operation, as well as the media's portrayal of the events and the ongoing legacy of disappearance and impunity. The museum's portrayal of its role in the events has faced criticism from the victims' relatives. [Extracted from the article]

This article describes the construction and content of an atlas of local jurisdictions of Ancien Régime France: bailliages. Bailliages were at the center of the Ancien Régime's jurisdictional apparatus: they administered the ordinary royal justice, delineated the area of influence of heterogeneous customary laws, and served as electoral constituencies for the Estates General of 1614 and 1789. Yet, their territorial extent was relatively unknown to the royal authority, leading early scholars to assert the impossibility of mapping the geography of bailliages. Based on Armand Brette's Atlas des bailliages et juridictions assimilées published in 1904, we develop a historical geographic information system containing shapefiles and associated data files of bailliage courts at the time of the convocation of the Estates General of 1789. This new source has many potential applications, including mapping the different legal systems that coexisted in France, such as Roman law in pays de droit écrit and customary law in pays de droit coutumier , and studying elections to the Estates General of 1789. • Describes an atlas of local jurisdictions in Ancien Régime France: bailliages. • Constructs an open-source historical Geographic Information System of bailliages. • Bailliages were at the center of Ancien Régime's jurisdictional apparatus. • The territorial extent of bailliages was relatively unknown to the royal authority. • Enables to map different legal systems that coexisted in Ancien Régime France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on reconsidering Islamic law through the perspectives from the Sahara in Africa. Topics include refocusing attention on the longer tradition of Islamic jurisprudence in Africa, challenging the influence of colonialism on the study of Islam in Africa, and reexamining the Sahara as a center rather than a periphery in the development of Islamic law.

The article offers information on the biographies of several prominent figures in the field of criminal justice and criminology. Topics include the extensive academic and professional contributions of Jay S. Albanese, who has authored numerous books; Shavonne Arthurs, who has held various leadership roles in criminal justice education; and Peter J. Benekos, who has a distinguished career in juvenile justice and corrections research.

Governments and commercial firms create profit and social gain by exploiting large pools of data. One source of valuable data, however, lies in public hands yet remains largely untapped. While the deep reservoirs of data produced by Congress and federal agencies have long been available for public use, the data produced by the federal judiciary is only loosely regulated, imperfectly available to the public at large, and largely ignored by scholars. The ordinary process of litigation in federal courts generates an enormous volume of data. Especially after recent developments in large language models, this data holds immense potential. It can be used to predict case outcomes or clarify the law in ways that advance legality and judicial access. It can reveal shortfalls in judicial practice and enable the provision of cheaper, better access to justice. It can make legible many otherwise invisible social facts that, if brought to light, can improve public policy. Or the data can fuel private profits, its benefits accruing to a small coterie of data brokering firms capable of monopolizing its commercial use. This Article is the first to address the complex empirical, legal, and normative questions raised by the untapped public asset of judicial data. It develops a positive, descriptive account of how federal courts produce, dissipate, preserve, or disclose information. This account includes a map of the well-known sources of Article III data (for example, opinions, orders, and briefs), but also extends to a massive volume of "dark data" produced but either lost or buried by the courts. This positive analysis further uncovers a complex administrative framework that erects a plethora of walls and hurdles--some categorical, and some individuated--to slow down or stop public access. With this positive understanding in hand, we offer a careful analysis of the constitutional questions implicated in decisions to disclose--or to render opaque--judicial data. Drawing attention to the key question of who controls judicial data flows, we demonstrate the existence of sweeping congressional power to regulate judicial data outside of a small zone of inherent judicial authority and a handful of instances in which privacy or safety are implicated by disclosure. Congressional authority, therefore, is the rule and not the exception. Having established these empirical and legal predicates, the Article offers a normative vision of how Congress should regulate the production and dissemination of judicial data in light of the capabilities and incentives of relevant actors. The information produced by the federal courts should not exclusively be a source of private profit for a few datacentered firms. It is a public asset that should be elicited and disseminated in ways that advance the federal courts' mission of equal justice under law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of the article research is to identify the reasons and motives for the commission of professional misconduct by these groups of officials and specialists in the field of jurisprudence. In this study, a combination of methods of systematic analysis of the main aspects of conducting a pre-trial investigation with the involvement of a defence lawyer and the participation of a prosecutor was used, with an analytical study of the theoretical possibilities of admitting professional misconduct by the indicated categories of specialists from jurisprudence during the pre-trial investigation. The results of this work indicate the relevance of the issues submitted for consideration in the context of the functioning of the legal systems of various countries, as well as the importance of their timely resolution within the framework of existing legal norms, which implies increasing the level of professionalism of lawyers and employees of the prosecutor's office and minimizing the possibility of their committing professional misconduct. The findings of the research are of significant importance for all categories of professional employees in the field of jurisprudence and can be used in practice in order to determine the level of professional competence of defence lawyers, prosecutors and other officials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, the police have been the single dominant player in criminal cases, while the procuracy and the courts have played only complementary roles. More often than not, as long as the police have launched a criminal investigation, the procuracy will prosecute the targeted person and the courts will return a guilty verdict. In the shadow of policing power, the Chinese criminal justice system operates with unique characteristics, with both the procuracy and the courts mostly coordinating with the police to address crime, but rarely practising 'mutual constraint'. If a criminal prosecution encounters an irregularity, the three agencies coordinate with one another first and seek a solution that benefits all. Under this operational mode, both defendants and their lawyers are entirely excluded from the core decision-making process of the criminal justice system, in which they have no choice but to passively accept the result of the coordination between the police, the procuracy and the courts. Through an analysis of courtroom discourses, this paper unfolds the dynamics of criminal trials and the interactions between the defence, prosecutors and judges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic psychiatrists and neuropsychiatrists are likely to encounter individuals with intellectual disability as they are over‐represented in the judicial system. These individuals may have the full range of mental illnesses and comorbid conditions, including physical infirmity, sensory deficits, language impairment, and maladaptive behaviors. They are frequently disadvantaged in the judicial system due to lack of comprehension, lack of accommodations, and stigmatization. Decision making capacity may need to be assessed for health care, sexual autonomy, marriage, financial management, making a will, and need for guardianship. The usual approach to conducting an evaluation needs adaptation to fit the unique characteristics and circumstances of the individual with intellectual disability. The forensic consultant can assist attorneys, defendants, and victims in recommending accommodations and the expert witness can provide education to juries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family courts and child protective services ("CPS") agencies surveil, regulate, and separate hundreds of thousands of families for neglect annually. These families are overwhelmingly poor, and the history of this legal system reveals an expectation, if not an intention, to intervene in poor families. This raises the question whether family courts and CPS agencies are "confusing poverty and neglect" or if they intervene for more than "just poverty," as a raging debate in the field is framed. The law fails to help resolve this debate. Instead of distinguishing poverty from neglect, or providing nuanced examinations of what social science has long shown to be a complex relationship between poverty and neglect, the law assumes away the problem. The law asserts that neglect and poverty are distinct, so the legal system's decision to label parental behavior as neglectful frames the case as about some parental fault or pathology and not about poverty. Consistent with that frame, the law has separated anti-poverty financial supports from interventions available in neglect cases, so neglect interventions largely avoid providing such supports, even though much empirical evidence shows they can reduce family court and CPS system involvement. Moreover, family court and CPS agency intervention can trigger a variety of steps which make poor parents poorer, undermining their ability to reunify with their children. This Article identifies a range of changes which would improve the legal system's ability to distinguish poverty from neglect, by both eradicating longstanding legal rules which confuse poverty and neglect, and establishing more radical rules that would reverse the historical division between neglect cases and anti-poverty financial supports. These proposals recognize how deeply intertwined poverty and neglect are currently, and the absence of any easy test to determine which families could stay safely together if they were not poor and which could not. Absent such a test, the best solution is to provide families the income or the supports that would replicate the experience of families who are not poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: Juvenile justice agencies are increasing their emphasis on early intervention and prevention services as a growing body of research evinces their effectiveness and cost efficiency. The present study analyzed the relationship between individual risk factors, contextual risk factors, and future juvenile justice involvement for 30,328 Florida youth residing in 3309 census tracts served by prevention programs. A series of two‐level logistic regressions indicated that several distinct criminological domains (e.g., aggression, relationships, family, substance use, and attitudes/behaviors) predict future juvenile justice system involvement. However, education‐related risk factors are among the most consequential for all youth, especially older youth. Concerning community context, neighborhood disadvantage directly affects system involvement, but only for youth under 12. Policy Implications: These findings indicate the importance of addressing highly consequential risk factors—especially educational deficits—of youth in early intervention and prevention programs while also recognizing the impact of their social environments. Agencies attempting to work upstream with prevention services may benefit from prioritizing educational services and allocating resources to highly disadvantaged communities for early intervention programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research indicates that youth exhibiting antisocial behavior are at risk for utilizing a disproportionate amount of health services compared to youth without these problems. The present study investigates whether being processed by the juvenile justice system and showing callous-unemotional (CU) traits independently predict health service utilization (medical and mental health service use and out-of-home placement) over and above the severity of antisocial behavior across adolescence. A total of 766 participants who had been arrested for the first time in adolescence provided data at ten appointments over a period of seven years. Results showed that self-reported antisocial behavior at the time of arrest predicted increased use of most health service use types over the next seven years (i.e. medicine prescriptions, tests for sexually transmitted infections, mental health service appointments, and out-of-home placements). All except prescription medication use remained significant when controlling for justice system processing and CU traits. Further, justice system processing added significantly to the prediction of medical service appointments. Whereas CU traits were associated with mental health service appointments and out-of-home placements, these did not remain significant when controlling for severity of antisocial behavior. These findings are consistent with prior research documenting the health care costs of antisocial behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate how members of the UK public would feel about introducing facility dogs to UK courts as a form of special measure. The results from an online survey showed that participants (n = 270) thought they would be significantly less likely to feel anxious, intimidated, distressed, frightened, and traumatized, and significantly more likely to feel safe if accompanied by a facility dog. Both dog owners and non-dog owners were overwhelmingly supportive of the incorporation of facility dogs into the justice system, and thematic analysis of their qualitative responses revealed four main themes: calming, comforting, testimony improvement, and the dog as a distraction. The only concern participants showed was whether the dogs would influence jurors' perceptions of the witness and, therefore, potentially the defendant. Overall, the study demonstrates overwhelming support for this innovative service in UK courtrooms, although further research on the effect on jurors is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intimate partner femicide (IPF) and attempted intimate partner femicide (AIPF) are severe forms of violence and global phenomena occurring in all societies worldwide. However, explaining IPF and AIPF is a complex and challenging endeavor. This article delves into the evolution of IPF and AIPF in Portugal during and after COVID-19, seeking to comprehend the underlying explanatory factors through a comprehensive strain-based approach. IPF rates during the COVID-19 pandemic have remained relatively stable, comparable to those observed before the pandemic, following a pattern akin to that documented in other countries. However, a significant increase in AIPF occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a slight uptick in IPF indicators was noted toward the end of the pandemic period (2022). Perpetrators faced various strains, such as separation and financial difficulties, along with experiencing emotions like anger, jealousy, anxiety, and depression, leading to instances of IPF and AIPF. The COVID-19 crisis and associated restrictions introduced additional strains, including social isolation, economic losses, anxiety, and widespread fear, which may contribute to psychological distress, stress, and depression, thereby heightening the likelihood of committing IPF and AIPF. The pandemic restrictions also resulted in limited access to support and protection services, hindering victims from seeking help. Establishing a contingency plan for use in future crises (including pandemics) is imperative to promote support for victims and prevent situations of IPF and AIPF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an empirical study of femicide and intimate partner violence (IPV) in Israel during 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to previous years. Studies worldwide found elevated IPV during 2020 and a mixed picture of femicide, as both increases and decreases were reported, depending on the country. In Israel, the media reported a growth in IPV and femicide. However, no comprehensive empirical comparison of femicide and IPV during the lockdown months in 2020 in comparison to previous years was conducted. The current study fills this gap, comparing the 2014–2020 period in terms of IPV and femicide to determine whether the first pandemic year was unusual in terms of femicide and IPV. Data were collected from news websites, the Knesset (Israeli parliament) report, and annual public police reports to break down case-by-case femicide reports. The findings show a growth in femicide and IPV in the pandemic's first year, compared to 2019. However, compared to previous years, 2020 was not unusually high in terms of femicide. However, IPV was higher in 2020 than that in previous years. Hence, the media claims about the pandemic's elevated risk of femicide and IPV are only partially true. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, the issue of violence against women has increasingly drawn the attention of international and national legislators and policymakers. The term "femicide" became widespread in the early 2000s and was incorporated into the criminal codes of several countries. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent social distancing measures raised significant concerns about their impact on women's safety. This study examines the effect of COVID-19 confinement measures on femicide trends in Italy, a country which adopted stringent COVID-19 confinement measures and, since 2019, implemented new legislation to counteract violence against women. Using two data sets—one from the Italian Ministry of Interior containing 1,382 cases of female homicides (2013–2022) and another from Italian NGOs detailing 1,253 femicides according to media coverage (2012–2022)—the study employs autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) analysis to assess monthly trends alongside the stringency index for COVID-19 containment efforts. The findings reveal that, although overall femicide rates remained stable during lockdowns, there was a significant shift in victim–perpetrator relationships. Specifically, from March to May 2020, there was a decline in femicides by former partners, offset by an increase in those by cohabiting partners. These results underscore the complexity of femicide and the need for further research on various facets of violence against women. This includes the potential escalation of physical and psychological violence during lockdowns, influenced by forced proximity and substance abuse in domestic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper explores the theoretical and empirical capacity of developmental and life-course criminology (DLC) to further our understanding of non-lethal intimate partner violence (IPV) and femicide. Drawing on Sampson and Laub's age-graded theory and Moffitt's dual taxonomy, the paper delves into empirical research that has identified and examined the overlap between general offending and IPV, highlighting how these DLC theoretical frameworks could provide insight into non-lethal IPV and femicide. We also outline the ways in which these DLC perspectives are challenged to fully address the gendered nature of IPV and less able to provide an empirical and theoretical understanding of the role of power and control by men over their women partners. We then place these frameworks within the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender-based violence, including femicide. While the COVID-19 lockdowns increased vulnerability to IPV and increased homicide in the United States, the expected rise in femicide did not materialize—at least within the United States, prompting questions about the extent to which existing criminological theories are able to provide a framework for these types of crime trends during unprecedented events. We examine the way non-lethal and lethal IPV are shaped by different factors as outlined in Moffitt's dual taxonomy. The pandemic for example did not create increased psychopathy (i.e., affective and personality disorders) associated with the risk for femicide, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns did create increased economic and family stressors, which placed many at-risk women and children in further social isolation, and reduced access to victim services. We conclude a need for further theoretical development surrounding femicide, integrating developmental and life-course perspectives, thereby emphasizing the need for refined frameworks to address the intricate dynamics of violence against women globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, stay-at-home restrictions significantly changed people's daily lives around the world. Opportunity and strain theories predict this would lead to an increase in intimate partner abuse (IPA), including intimate partner homicide (IPH). This paper applies an alternative theoretical framework—situational action theory (SAT)—to explain mixed findings regarding changes in IPA and unexpected findings regarding (a lack of) changes in IPH. It is argued that SAT may contribute to explaining the impact of stay-at-home restrictions on IPA and IPH in three important ways: 1. by addressing the fact that motivation is necessary but not sufficient for explaining action and better specifying how motivation translates into IPA and IPH; 2. by addressing the fact that people perceive different alternatives for action and better specifying why some people come to see IPA and IPH as acceptable action alternatives; 3. by addressing the fact that exposure affects people differently and better specifying how stay-at-home restrictions shaped people's activity fields and, in turn, their perceptions and action choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 affected crime opportunities and criminal justice systems, resulting in changes in crime trends. This article explores the effects of restrictions (lockdowns) on the number of femicides. The monthly data on femicides from 2017 to 2021 were collected in five Central and South-eastern European countries: Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Slovenia. The total number of femicides from 2017 to 2021 decreased in all observed countries. Increases were detected in Croatia and Slovenia in 2020. However, they presented an exception to the general trend. The monthly distribution of femicides showed that there was no common point peak month(s) among observed countries. Analyzing the effects of the level of restrictions using the Stringency Index on the number of femicides confirmed the initial observation that the number of femicides was not dependent on lockdown measures. In general, the findings show that restriction measures had no effect on the number of femicides in the studied countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intimate partner violence (IPV), including intimate partner homicide (IPH) and femicide, raises issues for general theories of crime, such as control and opportunity theories, that see close relationships among friends and family as barriers to interpersonal crimes. Crime-specific studies of both correlates and trends in IPV, including recent interrupted trend studies that examine the effects of COVID restrictions, often test opportunity theories absent considerations of theoretically driven images of actors. Review of empirical research on IPV and IPH reveals strong compatibility between the predictions of modern control theory and consistent findings from trend data. Barriers to understanding of the explanatory power of general theories of crime (including, for example, control theories and feminist perspectives) in contemporary research include use of poor definitions of intimacy, misspecification of age effects, failure to consider the versatility of offending behavior, neglecting the importance of trends in analogous behaviors, neglecting the role of situational factors in violence, and the limitations in the measurement of repetitive victimization. Theories such as routine activity and situational crime prevention that fail to explicitly include characteristics of actors can go only a limited way in providing meaningful policy. Research supports the potential policy effects of investments in early childhood and attention to situational barriers (including limitations on alcohol use and firearm availability) to reduce IPV. Although modern control theory is used to illustrate these issues, other general theories, like feminist theories, can make similar arguments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on national data collected by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) from 105 countries and territories, this study estimates that nearly 49,000 women and girls worldwide were killed by their intimate partners or other family members in 2022. Using annual data from the Americas and Europe as well as monthly data from 14 countries in various regions, the study also shows that regional and national trends in female intimate partner/family-related homicide were highly heterogeneous during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. UNODC produces global and regional estimates of female intimate partner and family-related homicide to shed light on the magnitude of the problem and to inform advocacy, policies, and programs to end such killings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article briefly reviews the difficulties of predicting and preventing domestic homicide. It considers the evidence on offender prior suicidal behaviour as a precursor. It includes findings from the 1950s and 1960s as well as the most recent findings on links between suicide ideation and domestic homicide intent. It also reviews ways in which these links can be further explored and operationalised to prevent future harm. It concludes with reflections on the effect of Covid on femicide trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Article surveys how a growing rivalry between the United States and China is changing the American legal system. It argues that U.S.-China conflict is reproducing, in attenuated form, the same politics of threat that has driven wartime legal development for much of our history. The result is that American law is reprising familiar patterns and pathologies. There has been a diminishment in rights among groups with imputed ties to a geopolitical adversary. But there has also been a modest expansion in rights where advocates have linked desired reforms with geopolitical goals. Institutionally, the new global conflict has at times fostered executive overreach, interbranch agreement, and interparty consensus. Legal-culturally, it has in places evinced a decline in legal rationality. Although these developments do not rival the excesses of America's wartime past, they evoke that past and may, over time, replay it. The Article provides a framework for understanding legal developments in this new era, contributes to our understanding of rights and structure in times of conflict, and reflects on what comes next in the new global conflict, and how best to shape it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the high number of recognised Indigenous groups who are struggling to maintain their languages, cultures, and identities in Russia, there is little research done on the matters of cultural and linguistic revitalisation. This study sought to address this gap by exploring the views of two Indigenous groups, Karelian and Mari, on the development of their Indigenous languages and educational strategies to protect and revive their languages. The study relied on in-depth one-on-one interviews with 20 participants, ten from each Indigenous group. The findings show that despite older generations' relative proficiency and interest in their respective Indigenous languages, motivation to master them is fading among younger Indigenous populations. There is also a lack of opportunities to learn the languages including informal settings despite protections within the federal legal system. The participants identified three reasons for the rapid decrease of language speakers that include assimilation of the Indigenous groups, differences in rural and urban development, and globalisation. The article concludes with recommendations on how to revitalise Indigenous languages in Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some say the job of a lawyer is to lie on behalf of a client. But longstanding ethical canons are clear: lawyers may not promote false statements of fact or law while representing their clients. This basic tenet of professional responsibility helps to preserve the integrity of the legal profession and ensure public confidence in the administration of justice. And if lawyers violate their ethical duties, they are subject to disciplinary proceedings. The 2020 election tested this system. Attorneys for former President Donald J. Trump made a series of false statements to the public and in court papers that President Joe Biden won the election because of fraud. This narrative became the "Big Lie, " and it continues to percolate. Although some lawyers eventually .faced professional discipline, disciplinary proceedings took months, and sometimes years, to initiate. During that time, millions of Americans came to believe these falsehoods. To stop the next big lie in its tracks, this Note argues for a more proactive approach to lawyer regulation. Well-established ethical rules enable bar authorities to begin investigations as soon as lawyers knowingly make materially false statements to third parties or the public. Therefore, this Note argues, not only can bar authorities act, but they must proceed swiftly in cases where false statements have spillover effects beyond the parties to an individual case or transaction. Doing so would erect a wall between the legal profession as a whole and falsehoods promoted by its members, sending a strong deterrent message to would-be liars and maintaining the integrity of the legal profession. Moreover, more aggressive action by ethics counsel would survive First Amendment scrutiny and promote truth-telling in all contexts, not just in political or election cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the beginning of Justin's Apology, an account of injustice, Justin calls upon the emperors as ϕύλακες δικαιοσύνης, "guardians of justice." Justin, 1 Apologia 2,2 (OECT, 80,13 Minns/Parvis). As part of a documentary and legal strategy, Justin's Apology includes what he claims is an imperial rescript. This paper probes Justin's Apology and its appended document(s) in relation to other contemporaneous strategies and materializations of seeking justice: appeals and imperial rescripts, on the one hand, and defixiones or "prayers for justice," on the other. It argues that a cosmology of δαίμονες was activated not only by Justin, who awaits the imminent end of the world, but also by the curses of antiquity. These curses, and Justin's own libellus or βιβλίδιον, must also be understood as paralegal materials reasonably intended to engage capricious and sometimes violent systems of justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 3D cadastre presents a modern approach to the development of cadastral information systems, with the role of improving current cadastral systems and overcoming the challenges of a 2D-based approach. Technological advancements, standardization, and scientific research in recent decades have contributed to the development and definition of the 3D cadastre. This positioned the 3D cadastre as an integral part of the future of land administration. However, every country needs to define a solution for itself based on its own legal system and cadastral tradition, while at the same time relying on international standardization and research. Once a 3D cadastral system is developed, it is crucial to ensure the monitoring, evaluation, and maintenance of both the quality of the cadastral data and the system itself throughout its lifecycle. Since 3D cadastres involve geometric data, quality management procedures must address both geometric and alphanumeric data. In this paper, we analyze and present the quality management procedures that should be included during designing, implementing, and maintaining a 3D cadastral system. Some examples based on real cadastral data were used to emphasize the need for improvement in quality management. The presented quality management procedures require further development in order to meet country-specific requirements and to fully support the 3D cadastre information systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the spoken language, written language, and executive functions of 19 female adolescents with high risk factors in a long-term, holistic program. Standardized assessment results revealed that 63.2% of the participants had below-average spoken language, 68.5% had below-average written language, and 68.4% and 42.1% had some level of elevated executive functioning challenges (as reported by themselves and by the program staff, respectively). However, these profiles did not match their current disabilities: none had a speech/language impairment, 26.3% had a learning disability, and 78.9% had emotional/behavioral disorder. Additionally, there were stark differences in the number of disabilities and assessment scores between participants involved with the juvenile justice system and those who were not. Participants involved with the justice system had the greatest challenges in all areas. This and other findings from the study are described and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil evokes a range of emotions, from the promise of prosperity to the reality of environmental degradation and corporate greed. A growing number of graphic narratives (such as Gasoline Dreams) are exploring the 'cruel optimism,' to use Lauren Berlant's term, of oil. Crude: A Memoir is one such graphic narrative that through the memories of Pablo Fajardo exposes the intricate networks of extraction, the paraphernalia of the corporation-state nexus, and the contradictions of petromodernity through the use of visual storytelling techniques such as point of view, focalisation, and colour palette. This graphic narrative solicits an empathetic response from its readers by revealing the ethical and affective aspects of this environmental disaster. Drawing insights from energy humanities and comics studies, this article, through the close reading of Crude: A Memoir, investigates the toxicities of oil-modernity, the role of state infrastructure, and the global matrixes of power. Put together, Crude performs a kind of grassroot justice in that the memoir names the abusers who seem to be immune to justice, shows the plight of the Indigenous 'collateral damage' and the environmental degradation that result when legal protections are not afforded to those most vulnerable (including human, plant, animal, water, and mineral entities). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]