Federalism has played a central role in charting educational progress in many countries. With an evolving balance between centralization and decentralization, federalism is designed to promote accountability standards without tempering regional and local preferences. Federalism facilitates negotiations both vertically between the central authority and local entities as well as horizontally among diverse interests. Innovative educational practices are often validated by a few local entities prior to scaling up to the national level. Because of the division of revenue sources between central authority and decentralized entities, federalism encourages a certain degree of fiscal competition at the local and regional level. The balance of centralization and decentralization also varies across institutional and policy domains, such as the legislative framework for education, drafting of curricula, benchmarking for accountability, accreditation, teacher training, and administrative responsibilities at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. Given these critical issues in federalism and education, this volume examines ongoing challenges and policy strategies in ten countries, namely Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States. These chapters and the introductory overview aim to examine how countries with federal systems of government design, govern, finance, and assure quality in their educational systems spanning from early childhood to secondary school graduation. Particular attention is given to functional division between governmental layers of the federal system as well as mechanisms of intergovernmental cooperation both vertically and horizontally. The chapters aim to draw out comparative lessons and experiences in an area of great importance to not only federal countries but also countries that are emerging toward a federal system.

Throughout the twentieth century, administrations have wrestled with allaying public concern over national disasters and social scandals. This book seeks to describe historically the use of public inquiries, and demonstrates why their methods continued to deploy until 1998 the ingrained habits of lawyers, particularly by issuing warning letters in order to safeguard witnesses who might be to blame. Under the influence of Lord Justice Salmon, the vital concern about systems and services allotted to social problems was relegated to the identification of individual blameworthiness. The book explains why the last inquiry under that system, into the events of 'Bloody Sunday' under Lord Saville's chairmanship, cost GBP200 million and took twelve and a half years (instead of two years). 'Never again', was the Government's muted cry as the method of investigating the public concern was eventually replaced by the Inquiries Act 2005, by common consent a good piece of legislation. The overriding principle of fairness to witnesses was confirmed by Parliament to those who are 'core participants' to the event, but with limited rights to participate. The public inquiry, the author asserts, is now publicly administered as a Commission of Inquiry, and is correctly regarded as a branch of public administration that focuses on the systemic question of what went wrong, as opposed to which individuals were to blame.

Written by a working journalist with over 20 years' experience, Law for Journalists is designed to equip you with a solid understanding of the day-to-day legal principles and practices you will need throughout your career. Suitable for use on courses accredited by the NCTJ and BCTJ, this book is packed full of practical tips and suggestions, making it a must-have guide to media law for journalism students, trainees and working journalists alike. New to this edition: Discussion of the first cases brought since the Defamation Act 2013 came into force, highlighting how the new provisions are being interpreted by the courts. Increased coverage of broadcast and online journalism, and social media. More detailed focus on the ethical codes of practice used by Ofcom and IPSO.

In Land Use Law and Disability, Robin Paul Malloy argues that our communities need better planning in order to be safely and easily navigated by people with mobility impairment and to facilitate intergenerational aging in place. To achieve this, communities will need to think of mobility impairment and inclusive design as land use and planning issues, in addition to understanding them as matters of civil and constitutional rights. Although much has been written about the rights of people with disabilities, little has been said about the interplay between disability and land use regulation. This book undertakes to explain mobility impairment, as one type of disability, in terms of planning and zoning. The goal is to advance our understanding of disability in terms of planning and zoning in order to facilitate cooperative engagement between disability rights advocates and land use professionals. This in turn should lead to improved community planning for accessibility and aging in place.

After heart disease and cancer, the third leading cause of death in the United States is iatrogenic injury (avoidable injury or infection caused by a healer). Research suggests that avoidable errors claim several hundred thousand lives every year. The principal economic counterforce to such errors, malpractice litigation, has never been a particularly effective deterrent for a host of reasons, with fewer than 3% of negligently injured patients (or their families) receiving any compensation from a doctor or hospital's insurer. Closing Death's Door brings the psychology of decision making together with the law to explore ways to improve patient safety and reduce iatrogenic injury, when neither the healthcare industry itself nor the legal system has made a substantial dent in the problem. Beginning with an unflinching introduction to the problem of patient safety, the authors go on to define iatrogenic injury and its scope, shedding light on the culture and structure of a healthcare industry that has failed to effectively address the problem-and indeed that has influenced legislation to weaken existing legal protections and impede the adoption of potentially promising reforms. Examining the weak points in existing systems with an eye to using law to more effectively bring about improvement, the authors conclude by offering a set of ideas intended to start a conversation that will lead to new legal policies that lower the risk of harm to patients. Closing Death's Door is brought to vivid life by the stories of individuals and groups that have played leading roles in the nation's struggle with iatrogenic injury, and is essential reading for medical and legal professionals, as well as lawmakers and laypeople with an interest in healthcare policy.

In today's modernized society, the use of technology continues to expand rapidly. It has specifically been implemented heavily in educational environments with educators adopting new methods of learning using software technology. Despite its numerous advantages, dependence on technology creates various risks such as digital misconduct, security breaches, and other criminal activities. Administrators and teachers are in need of research on the current laws and regulations that are being developed and implemented in order to protect educational technologies. Applying Internet Laws and Regulations to Educational Technology is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the application of lawful protection practices within educational technology. While highlighting topics such as digital forensics, cyber-victimization, and lawful surveillance, this publication explores real-world cases as well as the varying regulations in comparative jurisdictions. This book is ideally designed for researchers, administrators, practitioners, policymakers, librarians, students, and educators seeking current research on advancements of technology law in educational settings.

The book consists of three parts.

Part 1, which comprises 5 chapters, deals with the legal-philosophical aspects of communications law. In Part II , we deal with certain statutory and common law limitations to the right to freedom of expression. Part III deals with specific methods of communication, ie the press, electronic communications, broadcasting, computers, and entertainment.

Countries throughout the world have passed regulations that promise protection for workers and the environment, but violations of these policies are more common than compliance. All too often, limitations of state capacity and political will intertwine, hindering enforcement. Why do states enforce regulations in some places, and in some industries, but not in others? In Politicized Enforcement in Argentina, Amengual develops a framework for analyzing enforcement in middle-income and developing countries, showing how informal linkages between state officials and groups within society allow officials to gain the operational resources and political support necessary for enforcement. This analysis builds on state-society approaches in comparative politics, but in contrast to theories that emphasize state autonomy, it focuses on key differences in the way states are porous to political influence.

The Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law is a landmark reference work, providing definitive and comprehensive coverage of this dynamic field. Each volume probes the key elements of law, the essential concepts, and the latest research through concise, structured entries written by international experts. Each entry includes an extensive bibliography as a starting point for further reading. The mix of authoritative commentary and insightful discussion will make this an essential tool for research and teaching, as well as a valuable resource for professionals and policymakers. This volume of the Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law presents a structured overview and selective analysis of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). These agreements encompass the regulating aspects of the protection, conservation, management, use and exploitation of living and natural resources in various areas including biodiversity, fisheries, marine environment, shared freshwater resources, atmosphere, climate change, human rights, and polar regions. The expert contributions offer critical analysis and a concise but informative approach that provides a comprehensive introduction to each agreement as well as to the broader landscape of MEAs. The book guides the reader through the multifarious conventional regulation of each area of environmental protection, both at the global and regional levels. It details the path from the first post-war sectorial attempts at introducing international pieces of conventional environmental regulation to the booming of environmental instruments of the 1990s and the recent fertile period of new MEAs and their exponential growth. Each entry includes an overview of the topic, a concise review of current knowledge, new directions for cutting-edge research and a detailed bibliography to facilitate further reading. This comprehensive, topical and accessible volume is an essential resource for environmental law practitioners, students and scholars seeking a broad overview of MEAs, concise explanations of individual agreements, and avenues for research. Contributors include: R. Bates, L. Chiussi, C. Contartese, M.E. Desmond, A. Dizdarevic, G.M. Farnelli, E. Fasoli, M. Fitzmaurice, S. Goldberg, E.J. Goodwin, S. Gruber, C. Ibe, F.R. Jacur, K. Kakkaiyadi, E.A. Kirk, J.V. Kohler, I. Krasnova, V. Lanovoy, M. Lewis, P. Merkouris, G.A. Oanta, A. Papantoniou, N. Popattanachai, A. Powers, T.H. Reis, F. Seatzu, F. Sindico, K. Steenmans, A. Tanzi, A. Trouwborst, M.S. Wong, M. Yzquierdo, F. Zaharia

China is the largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world and also suffers from devastating climate catastrophes. Increasingly, policymakers in China have come to realize that government alone cannot adequately prevent or defray climate-related disaster risks. This book contends that a better way to manage catastrophe risk in China is through private insurance rather than directly through the Chinese government. In addition, private insurance could function as a substitute for, or complement to, government regulation of catastrophe risks by causing policyholders to take greater precautions to reduce climate change risks. This book's unique contribution lies in explaining how private sector insurance could be harnessed to better protect China from climate change risks, addressing the shortcomings in China's private sector when it comes to the incentive and capacity to provide catastrophe insurance. Following the dual principles of insurers acting as private risk regulators and the government acting as a last resort, this book proposes a multi-layered public-private catastrophe insurance partnership in China. It uses a thorough combination of law and economics methodology to analyze these issues. Researchers, academics, and journalists writing on climate change in China will have a strong interest in this book, as will practitioners and policy-making bodies, Chinese government officials and agencies in insurance, finance and environmental regulation, private lawyers, private insurers, and global reinsurers.

Ten years have passed since the Mental Health Act (MHA) 2007 came into force in England. An amending statute, the Act reformed the MHA 1983 and reshaped the law governing the compulsory care and treatment of people suffering from mental disorders. Primarily driven by concerns about risk, it sought to remove legalistic obstacles to civil commitment and extend the law's coercive reach into the community. At the time of its introduction, the 2007 Act was written off as a retrograde step and a missed opportunity for radical, rights-focused reform. Despite this, little attention has been paid to its impact in the years since. Published to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the 2007 Act, this book offers a timely evaluation of mental health law and policy in England. It argues that the current MHA defies easy categorisation within any of the descriptive models which have customarily narrated the mechanics of civil commitment, namely 'legalism', 'new legalism', and 'medicalism'. It therefore makes the case for a new model - new medicalism - to account for the 2007 Act's enhancement of the discretion of mental health professionals for the express purposes of facilitating the management of situations of risk. In doing so, the book: critically examines the problems inherent in civil commitment frameworks organised around the concept of risk; explores the theoretical foundations of new medicalism; considers the challenges facing proponents of future reform in the era of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; and, reflects on the 2007 Act's practical impact.

The Ecological Constitution integrates the insights of environmental constitutionalism and ecological law in a concise, engaging and accessible manner. This book sets out the necessary components of any constitution that could be considered "ecological" in nature. In particular, it argues that an ecological constitution is one that codifies the following key principles, at a minimum: the principle of sustainability; intergenerational equity and the public trust doctrine; environmental human rights; rights of nature; the precautionary principle and non-regression; and rights and obligations relating to a healthy climate. In the context of the global environmental crisis that characterises the current Anthropocene era, these principles are important tools for changing consciousness and driving pragmatic policy reforms around the world. Re-imagining constitutions along these lines could play a vital role in the collective project of building a sustainable future for humans, animals, ecosystems and the biosphere we all share. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental law, ecological law, environmental constitutionalism, sustainability and rights of nature.

Dr. Lee P. Brown, one of America's most significant and respected law enforcement practitioners, has harnessed his thirty years of experiences in police work and authored Policing in the 21st Century: Community Policing. Written for students, members of the police community, academicians, elected officials and members of the public, this work comes from the perspective of an individual who devoted his life to law enforcement. Dr. Brown began his career as a beat patrolmen who through hard work, diligence and continued education became the senior law enforcement official in three of this nation's largest cities. The book is about Community Policing, the policing style for America in the Twenty-First Century. It not only describes the concept in great detail, but it also illuminates how it evolved, and how it is being implemented in various communities throughout America. There is no other law enforcement official or academician who is as capable as Dr. Brown of masterfully presenting the concept of Community Policing, which he pioneered. As a philosophy, Community Policing encourages law enforcement officials, and the people they are sworn to serve, to cooperatively address issues such as crime, community growth, and societal development. It calls for mutual respect and understanding between the police and the community. The book is written from the perspective of someone whose peers identify as the "father" of Community Policing, and who personally implemented it in Police Departments under his command. It is a thoroughly amazing book that has been heralded as a "must read" for anyone who has an interest in law enforcement. Elected officials, academicians, leaders of the nation's police agencies and members of the public will be captivated by Dr. Brown's literary contribution.

Over the last decades, environmental law has significantly contributed to limiting pollution and decoupling economic growth and negative environmental effects. However, current challenges require out-of-the-box solutions, integrated and inclusive approaches of both public and private actors and cross-border sets of instruments. This book presents inspiring ideas about how law can support the fundamental transition processes to a sustainable future and how it can provide guidance on the pathways to sustainability. This book focuses on issues such as what legal instruments optimally encourage disruptive breakthroughs and where law may actually hamper sustainable innovations and solutions. It examines conceptual issues and specific legal tools, not only from an EU law perspective, but also from national and international law perspectives. Alongside general discussions about the role that law plays in encouraging sustainability, the book also concentrates on substantive areas in which transition processes to sustainability are urgently needed: the transition to a low carbon economy in order to comply with the Paris Agreement for climate change, the transition to a holistic management of water resources to achieve water security and the transition to halting the loss of biodiversity. The different contributions make clear that until recently, law played a limited role and should be further developed and improved to better align with the more general aim to move towards a sustainable society. This book can serve as an inspiration for further discussion on the role of law as a tool for supporting the transition to a sustainable future.

This book comprehensively discusses the effects of digital technology on the way work is disseminated and the resulting challenges concerning the fair use of copyright. It also analyzes so-called fairness by examining theories on the system of fair use, demonstrating the "system changes that will be brought about by technological changes" from the perspective of economics, i.e., the problem of modification faced by the system of fair use of copyright. Exploring the nature and function of fair use and repositioning the fair use system, the book proposes a better design for China's system of limitation on copyright and a readjustment of the copyright system. Lastly, in addition to analyzing the reconfigurations of fair use from an economic standpoint, the book describes in detail the interactions between legal systems and cultures.

"Sustainability Assessment" is a comprehensive compilation of all the known policy factors related to sustainability. This book outlines all of the elements and considerations of community aspects of policy evaluation in an effort to reduce the future consequences on resources and environmental sustainability. The basic assumption behind it is that sustainability, though oriented to resources and meeting demands, starts from formulation of policy. Policies are so interrelated that all policies have some roles to play toward sustainability.

* Helps policymakers integrate the objectives of sustainability into policy actions in a given socio-political environment and plan a strategy for policy implementation * Includes some policy factors that have not been discussed in other texts

This book draws a unique perspective on the regulation of access to clinical trial data as a case on research and knowledge externalities. Notwithstanding numerous potential benefits for medical research and public health, many jurisdictions have struggled to ensure access to clinical trial data, even at the level of the trial results. Pro-access policy initiatives have been strongly opposed by research-based drug companies arguing that mandatory data disclosure impedes their innovation incentives. Conventionally, access to test data has been approached from the perspective of transparency and research ethics. The book offers a complementary view and considers access to individual patient-level trial data for exploratory analysis as a matter of research and innovation policy. Such approach appears to be especially relevant in the data-driven economy where digital data constitutes a valuable economic resource. The study seeks to define how the rules of access to clinical trial data should be designed to reconcile the policy objectives of leveraging the research potential of data through secondary analysis, on the one hand, and protecting economic incentives of research-based drug companies, on the other hand. Overall, it is argued that the mainstream innovation-based justification for exclusive control over the outcomes of research and development can hardly rationalise trial sponsors' control over primary data from trials. Instead, access to such data and its robust analysis should be prioritised.

Educational equality has long been a vital concept in U.S. law and policy. Since Brown v. Board of Education, the concept of educational equality has remained markedly durable and animated major school reform efforts, including desegregation, school finance reform, the education of students with disabilities and English language learners, charter schools, voucher policies, the various iterations of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (including No Child Left Behind), and the Stimulus. Despite such attention, students' educational opportunities have remained persistently unequal as understandings of the goals underlying schooling, fundamental changes in educational governance, and the definition of an equal education have continually shifted. Drawing from law, education policy, history, and political science, this book examines how the concept of equality in education law and policy has transformed from Brown through the Stimulus, the major factors influencing this transformation, and the significant problems that school reforms accordingly continue to face."

Biodiversity within the European Union is under threat. Almost a quarter of Europe's vascular plant species and 155 species of its native mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians are threatened with extinction. The Habitats Directive imposes a strict regime for environmental protection. But with the euro zone economy falling from 'stagnation' to 'contraction' in the second quarter of 2012 and the UK entering into a 'double dip' recession in April 2012, European governments face an economic crisis. The English courts have said that the Directive should not become a property developer's obstacle course. Yet the tensions between environmental protection and economic growth are all too readily apparent with the UK government stating both that we must 'arrest the decline in habitats and species and the degradation of landscapes' and later that 'gold plating of EU rules on things like habitats' was putting 'ridiculous costs' on business enterprise. Edited by Gregory Jones QC, The Habitats Directive: A Developer's Obstacle Course? brings together a unique combination of leading academics and practitioners in the field of European environmental and planning law to address and debate controversial issues arising from the Habitats Directive in an authoritative and practical manner. A must for anyone engaged in property development, planning and environmental law.

A practical guide to what international human rights law means and how that knowledge can be used on behalf of victims, this volume should make a contribution to the empowerment of those it sees as at risk, as well as providing a different view of a world which upholds a common standard of respect for human dignity.;It includes: a detailed commentary on the international covenant on civil and political rights; discussion on the changing priorities in a state in transition from one-party rule to multi-party rule; and extensive appendices including the basic international human rights texts, their signatories and a list of international organizations and NGOs.