The Disproportionality Project: Addressing issues relating to the disproportionately high representation of Islington’s and Haringey’s BAME young people in the Criminal Justice System

This report presents the findings and recommendations from the second partnership project involving Islington Borough Council and criminologists at City, University of London. The first project, Enhancing the work of the Islington Integrated Gangs Team, was published in 2019. This second project involved evaluating a programme designed to tackle key issues and outcomes relating to the disproportionate representation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) young people in the Criminal Justice System and beyond

Regulation of Dispute Resolution in the United States of America: From the Formal to the Informal to the ‘Semi-formal’

The story of ADR in the US is one of ‘co-optation’ of what was to be a serious challenge to formalistic and legalistic approaches to legal and social problem solving and is now highly institutionalized by its more formal use in courts. At the same time, use of private forms of dispute resolution in mediation, arbitration and newly hybridised forms of dispute resolution among disputants who can choose (and afford) to leave the formal justice system (in both large commercial matters and private family matters) has resulted in claims of increased privatization of justice, with consequences for access to justice in different areas of legal dispute resolution. These consequences include difficulty of access to some forms of private dispute resolution for those who cannot afford them and claims that, with mass exits from the formal system by those who can afford to ‘litigate’ elsewhere, there is less interest in judicial service and reform. In addition, in recent years consumers and employees have been subjected to contractual commitments to mandatory arbitration, sustained by the US Supreme Court, which has all but eliminated choice about where to resolve certain kinds of disputes. All of these claims are highly contested by practitioners, judges and scholars of the American legal system

Commission Proposal for a Regulation on prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market:The issue of remedies

The European Union (EU) is committed to the elimination of forced labour, a denial of rights of which there are 28 million victims globally. In September 2022, the European Commission proposed a Regulation to ban all products made by forced labour from the EU market (COM (2022) 453). This proposal has been criticised for failing to facilitate remedies for forced labour victims, in line with EU and global standards such as the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This Briefing examines the case for including measures to promote access to effective remediation for victims of forced labour located outside the EU into the Commission’s proposed Regulation. First, it outlines the legal framework for EU action to promote remediation for victims of forced labour located outside EU territory, as well as obstacles to accessibility and effectiveness of remediation for victims in the forced labour context. Second, it considers a range of measures to promote remediation for victims of forced labour that could be incorporated in the Regulation and their feasibility. In conclusion, the Briefing highlights changes to the Commission’s proposed Regulation to advance remediation for victims that are feasible and would increase its alignment with international and EU legal and policy commitments.<br/

Explicit rationing within the NHS quasi-market: the experience of health authority purchasers, 1996-97

This thesis analyses the findings of empirical research carried out in three case study UK health authorities in 1996-97, using repeat interviewing of senior managers. It aimed to test three competing hypotheses: i. Markets are one possible system for allocating scarce resources. The process of contract specification in a complex quasi-market is likely to make rationing more explicit than it would be in a hierarchical system ii. In the complex context of the NHS the quasi-market may fail to produce clear contracts and unambiguous allocations, because of prohibitive transaction costs, political costs and ethical costs of greater explicitness iii. Other pressures in favour of explicitness (e.g. rising expenditure, effectiveness evidence and the Patient's Charter) may be irresistible, whatever structural form the NHS takes. The complex relationship between explicit rationing, the internal market and other factors is discussed. Results suggest the quasi-market has contributed to the growth in explicit rationing, notably by decoupling purchasers and providers from their previously shared responsibility to manage resources. In other respects the market has speeded up or magnified the effect of other factors which would or could have happened anyway. Concern to control rising expenditure has led to more explicit decisions but is now rekindling interest in the value of fixed budgets for providers and implicit clinical decision-making. Factors such as the Patient's Charter have also had an independent effect on greater explicitness. Implicit rationing remains significant. The implications for health care rationing of government proposals to abolish the internal market are examined. The results suggest that explicit rationing will probably continue to grow, but with a greater emphasis on explicit criteria to guide clinicians in determining who gets treatment, rather than the exclusion of whole services. The retention of some form of commissioner provider split may also exercise continuing pressure towards explicitness

Competition Clauses in Bilateral Trade Treaties - Analysing the Issues in the Context of India’s Future Negotiating Strategy

There is a recent trend towards trade agreements that include trade related competition provisions. However there are large differences across these trade agreements in terms of how the competition provisions are addressed. In this context, this research report tries to analyze the competition provisions in few selected FTAs and draw lessons for India, which is also following the path of entering into trade agreements. The analysis suggests that cooperation in implementing competition laws is immensely helpful. However, at this moment, India can follow the EU style of agreements with competition provisions such as cooperation, exchange of non-confidential information, technical assistance and consultation.trade, India, Competition Clauses