Suchergebnisse

The UK has introduced the "safe country of origin" concept in its asylum law, joining that group of states that restrict the rights of some nationalities seeking refuge in their territory under international law. Comparisons of new procedures in different European countries need to be made to ensure that the restriction of rights does not result in the loss of individual freedoms or lives. Here, the establishment of procedural safeguards is argued for, eg, public access to country of origin material used to label a country "safe," independent scrutiny of the criteria that apply, & the practice of a "difficult to add -- easy to remove" principle with regard to the maintenance of the safe country of origin list. 1 Table, 1 Appendix, 36 References. Adapted from the source document.

Purpose This paper examines the role of liaison and diversion services working in the lower courts (also known as Magistrates' courts) with regard to autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their assessment, in particular the role of pre-sentence and psychiatric reports and interviews. Design Current practice is described in the lower courts in the context of current legislation and procedures. Findings When writing reports there is a need for expertise to offer an opinion on future risk, disposal and what needs to be in place to support people with autism spectrum disorders. No assumptions should be made when reporting on the basis of an ASD diagnosis alone and each case must be assessed on its individual merits while ensuring that individual human rights are protected. Originality There is currently a sparse literature examining ASD in court settings. This paper seeks to clarify current practice.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the tactics the tobacco industry in Germany used to avoid regulation of secondhand smoke exposure and to maintain the acceptance of public smoking. METHODS: Systematic search of tobacco industry documents available on the internet between June 2003 and August 2004. RESULTS: In West Germany, policymakers were, as early as the mid 1970s, well aware of the fact that secondhand smoke endangers non-smokers. One might have assumed that Germany, an international leader in environmental protection, would have led in protecting her citizens against secondhand smoke pollution. The tobacco manufacturers in Germany, however, represented by the national manufacturing organisation "Verband" (Verband der Cigarettenindustrie), contained and neutralised the early debate about the danger of secondhand smoke. This success was achieved by carefully planned collaboration with selected scientists, health professionals and policymakers, along with a sophisticated public relations programme. CONCLUSIONS: The strategies of the tobacco industry have been largely successful in inhibiting the regulation of secondhand smoke in Germany. Policymakers, health professionals, the media and the general public should be aware of this industry involvement and should take appropriate steps to close the gap between what is known and what is done about the health effects of secondhand smoke.

Zielsetzung: Die Untersuchung der Taktiken welche die Tabakindustrie in Deutschland eingesetzt hat um Gesetzgebung bezüglich Passivrauchen zu vermeiden und die Akzeptanz des Rauchens in der Öffentlichkeit aufrechtzuerhalten. Methoden: Systematische Durchsuchung von im Internet zugänglichen Tabakindustriedokumenten im Zeitraum von Juni 2003 bis August 2004. Ergebnisse: Im damaligen West-Deutschland hatten Politiker bereits Mitte der Siebzigerjahre Kenntnisse über die Tatsache, dass Nichtraucher durch Passivrauchen gefährdet werden. Da Deutschland im Umweltschutz international eine Führungsrolle einnimmt, hätte man davon ausgehen können, dass es auch bezüglich des Schutzes seiner Bürger vor der Verschmutzung durch Passivrauchen führend gewesen wäre. Indes haben die Tabakhersteller in Deutschland, vertreten durch den Branchenverband, den Verband der Cigarettenindustrie (VdC) die frühzeitig stattgefundene Auseinandersetzung über die Gefahren des Passivrauchens in Schach gehalten und neutralisiert. Dieser Erfolg wurde durch eine sorgfältig geplante Kollaboration mit ausgewählten Wissenschaftlern, Medizinern und Entscheidungsträgern erzielt, die einher ging mit einem ausgeklügelten PR-Programm. Schlussfolgerungen: Die Strategien der Tabakindustrie waren weitgehend erfolgreich im Hinblick auf die Verhinderung von Rechtsvorschriften bezüglich des Passivrauchens in Deutschland. Entscheidungsträger, Mediziner, die Medien und die allgemeine Öffentlichkeit sollten von diesen Verstrickungen der Tabakindustrie Kenntnis haben und sie sollten angemessene Maßnahmen ergreifen um die Diskrepanz zwischen dem, was über die gesundheitlichen Auswirkungen des Passivrauchens bekannt ist und dem was diesbezüglich getan wird, zu schließen.

The COVID-19 pandemic has asked unprecedented questions of governments around the world. Policy responses have disrupted usual patterns of movement in society, locally and globally, with resultant impacts on national economies and human well-being. These interventions have primarily centred on enforcing lockdowns and introducing social distancing recommendations, leading to questions of trust and competency around the role of institutions and the administrative apparatus of state. This study demonstrates the unequal societal impacts in population movement during a national 'lockdown'. We use nationwide mobile phone movement data to quantify the effect of an enforced lockdown on population mobility by neighbourhood deprivation using an ecological study design. We then derive a mobility index using anonymised aggregated population counts for each neighbourhood (2253 Census Statistical Areas; mean population n=2086) of national hourly mobile phone location data (7.45 million records, 1 March 2020–20 July 2020) for New Zealand (NZ). Curtailing movement has highlighted and exacerbated underlying social and spatial inequalities. Our analysis reveals the unequal movements during 'lockdown' by neighbourhood socioeconomic status in NZ. In understanding inequalities in neighbourhood movements, we are contributing critical new evidence to the policy debate about the impact(s) and efficacy of national, regional or local lockdowns which have sparked such controversy.

This article argues that analysis of meta-governance purely in terms of the actions of the state can obscure the significant, but less apparent, ways in which private actors may influence the choices and interactions of individuals within various modes of governance coordination. We investigate the networked governance of affordable housing impacts in the Marcellus Shale gas region of the United States to empirically illuminate the dynamics of state and private meta-governance. Drawing on a qualitative research approach, we identify public authorities as exercising what seems to be predominant responsibility for meta-governance, with state government having strong influence over the structure and resourcing of a networked governance response, and county government directly facilitating the collaborative engagement of actors at the local level. Although private oil and gas companies demonstrate little involvement in network governance, the presence of private meta-governance in the alternative form of the design of market governance is shown to have a number of countervailing implications for the form and function of network governance. We suggest that expansion of the concept of "framing" to account for strategies that structure how key governance actors understand a particular problem provides valuable insights for understanding private meta-governance in relation to network governance.