This edited volume presents the comprehensive review of the work on developing assessment frameworks for democratic parliaments. The book identifies areas of internationally agreed consensus among the current sets of standards and principles, and areas of potential further consensus by examining national case studies and drawing a first set of lessons of experience. Additionally, it brings in regional perspectives on standards for democratic parliaments. Since parliaments are just beginning to test or apply the different frameworks many will need assistance from partners in the parliamentary strengthening and donor community to take such an exercise forward. Therefore, there is a need for broader understanding on principles behind different benchmarks, to discuss the relevance of each type of benchmark framework to specific regional and national context, and to determine how Parliaments would benefit from changes that would allow them to meet the benchmark.

Brad's passion for nursing home abuse cases stems from a personal tragedy that happened to a member of his family. Brad's goal in his work and for this book is to prevent the same type of tragedy from happening to others. This step by step guide provides practical guidance for families with relatives in nursing homes.

Why do judges study legal sources that originated outside their own national legal system, and how do they use arguments from these sources in deciding domestic cases? Based on interviews with judges, this book presents the inside story of how judges engage with international and comparative law in the highest courts of the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, France and the Netherlands. A comparative analysis of the views and experiences of the judges clarifies how the decision-making of these Western courts has developed in light of the internationalisation of law and the increased opportunities for transnational judicial communication. While the qualitative analysis reveals the motives that judges claim for using foreign law and the influence of 'globalist' and 'localist' approaches to judging, the author also finds suggestions of a convergence of practices between the courts that are the subject of this study. This empirical analysis is complemented by a constitutional-theoretical inquiry into the procedural and substantive factors of legal evolution, which enable or constrain the development and possible convergence of highest courts' practices. The two strands of the analysis are connected in a final contextual reflection on the future development of the role of Western highest courts.

What are the rights of religious institutions? Should those rights extend to for-profit corporations? Houses of worship have claimed they should be free from anti-discrimination laws in hiring and firing ministers and other employees. Faith-based institutions, including hospitals and universities, have sought exemptions from requirements to provide contraception. Now, in a surprising development, large for-profit corporations have succeeded in asserting rights to religious free exercise. The Rise of Corporate Religious Liberty explores this "corporate" turn in law and religion. Drawing on a broad range perspectives, this book examines the idea of "freedom of the church," the rights of for-profit corporations, and the implications of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby for debates on anti-discrimination law, same-sex marriage, health care, and religious freedom.

In the aftermath of World War II, virtually all European countries struggled with the dilemma of citizens who had collaborated with Nazi occupiers. Jewish communities in particular faced the difficult task of confronting collaborators among their own ranks-those who had served on Jewish councils, worked as ghetto police, or acted as informants. European Jews established their own tribunals-honor courts-for dealing with these crimes, while Israel held dozens of court cases against alleged collaborators under a law passed two years after its founding. In Jewish Honor Courts: Revenge, Retribution, and Reconciliation in Europe and Israel after the Holocaust, editors Laura Jockusch and Gabriel N. Finder bring together scholars of Jewish social, cultural, political, and legal history to examine this little-studied and fascinating postwar chapter of Jewish history. The volume begins by presenting the rationale for punishing wartime collaborators and purging them from Jewish society. Contributors go on to examine specific honor court cases in Allied-occupied Germany and Austria, Poland, the Netherlands, and France. One essay also considers the absence of an honor court in Belgium. Additional chapters detail the process by which collaborators were accused and brought to trial, the treatment of women in honor courts, and the unique political and social place of honor courts in the nascent state of Israel. Taken as a whole, the essays in Jewish Honor Courts illustrate the great caution and integrity brought to the agonizing task of identifying and punishing collaborators, a process that helped survivors to reclaim their agency, reassert their dignity, and work through their traumatic experiences. For many years, the honor courts have been viewed as a taboo subject, leaving their hundreds of cases unstudied. Jewish Honor Courts uncovers this forgotten chapter of Jewish history and shows it to be an integral part of postwar Jewish rebuilding. Scholars of Jewish, European, and Israeli history as well as readers interested in issues of legal and social justice will be grateful for this detailed volume.

Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Annual: Global Perspectives (CJLE) is a peer-reviewed annual publishing current interdisciplinary research on a wide array of vital international subjects related to criminal justice systems. We seek to publish: broad creative analyses of criminal justice systems or system components; articles and treatises on power, social theory, and the apparatuses of crime and punishment; comparative examinations; explorations of the intersection/s between criminal justice systems and other social, political, or economic structures; interdisciplinary and paradigm-challenging new work. Articles in CJLE take advantage of the broader perspective that annual publication provides by tackling large interpretative questions, offering synthetic analyses of major methodologies, or considering new theoretical approaches to criminal justice studies in the widest and most international sense.

China's explosive transformation from a planned economy to a more market-oriented one over the past three decades owes much to the charismatic reformer Zhu Rongji. As China's premier from 1998 to 2003, Zhu displayed a pragmatism and strong work ethic that have been key forces in China's drive to greater modernization and global stature. During this time, Zhu embarked on a plan to reduce the size of government and reform the heavily indebted banking system and state-owned enterprises as well as to overhaul the housing and health care systems. His sweeping efforts ranged from lobbying for the establishment of stock exchanges to revitalizing agriculture through the introduction of a modern grain market. The ramifications of these reforms are still being felt throughout China and the globe, and The Road to Reformprovides a real-time look at these plans as they were being formulated during the 1990s to the early 2000s. The second of a two-volume collection containing more than 100 speeches and personal papers by Zhu, this volume is a revealing and insightful look at Zhu's thinking and will lead to greater understanding of one of the world's two largest economic powers.

We live in a system explicitly designed to steal from every U.S. citizen every minute of every day Know Stealing dispels preconceived notions about the root causes of our nation's problems, replacing them with essential, clear and precise knowledge capable of driving restoration in our American Republic. Building upon fifteen years of research, this breakthrough expos provides the solutions that will enable us, as ordinary citizens, to reclaim individual Life, Liberty, Property, and Prosperity, all founded a policy of NO stealing. We can no longer afford the lies and deception that are eroding our national economy and our freedoms. Armed with knowledge and the tools necessary to restore our nation, together we can change the course of history. A few words which have been used to describe Know Stealing: Must-Read. Simple To Understand. Scholarly. #1 to Gift. Original Research. Methodically Corrects Dangerous Error. Disperses Complexity. Challenging. Concise and Astute Brilliance. Desperately Needed. Revolutionizes One's Worldview. Transformational.

LEGAL POSITIVISM AND NATURAL LAW Three lectures by the Harvard Law School professor examine legal positivism and natural law. In the course of his analysis Fuller discusses Kelsen's theory as a reactionary theory and Hobbes' theory of sovereignty. He defines legal positivism as the viewpoint that draws a distinction "between the law that is and the law that ought to be" and interprets natural law as that which tolerates a combination of the two. He looks at the effects of positivism's continued influence on American legal thinking and concludes that law is necessary in a democracy as a principle of order. LON L. FULLER 1902-1978] was a professor at Harvard Law School and is remembered for his contributions to the law of contracts. His debate with H.L.A. Hart in the 1958 Harvard Law Review (Vol. 71) is noteworthy because it provided the framework for subsequent debates about legal positivism and natural law.

If you wish to advise clients how to qualify for nursing home Medicaid while protecting their assets, this is the definitive book Written by an elder law attorney with over 25 years of experience, this manual is the professional edition version of attorney Heiser's best-selling Medicaid Secrets book. This manual is geared toward attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors seeking up-to-date and accessible information on the Medicaid program rules as well as a complete analysis of available Medicaid asset protection techniques for their clients. Includes a summary of all income and asset rules for both married and single individuals, together with numerous examples and several case studies, which take the planner through the same thought processes that an experienced elder law attorney would go through when analyzing a real-life client's situation. The book includes tips on: how to title the home so the client does not lose it to the state; how to make transfers to family members that won't disqualify the client from Medicaid; how "Medicaid annuities" work to make assets "disappear" for Medicaid eligibility purposes; clever ideas for "spending down" assets; what to change in a client's will to save thousands of dollars if the spouse ever needs nursing home care; avoiding the state's reimbursement claim following the nursing home resident's death; and much more. The 2014 Edition has been expanded, revised, and completely updated to incorporate all changes in the law as of January 31, 2014, and includes two chapters on Veterans' benefits as well as a 39-page Ethics of Elder Law section. Completely annotated with all case citations and statutory references given in over 500 footnotes. Also includes full copies of relevant statutes and a sample filled-out Medicaid application, plus sample clauses for deeds, wills, powers of attorney, etc.