Teaching legal ethics at the open university – avoiding the pitfalls of formalism

This paper will reflect on some of the pedagogical and philosophical issues that arise when teaching ethics to law students. It will begin by explaining the demands made by the legal professional bodies regarding the teaching of legal ethics in England and will outline how legal ethics is currently taught on the undergraduate law degree programme at the Open University. It will consider the impact of formalism on the ethical education of law students. It will conclude by suggesting that a virtue ethics approach to teaching legal ethics may be a suitable model for teaching legal ethics in a distance learning setting. ENSEÑANZA DE LA ÉTICA JURÍDICA EN LA UNIVERSIDAD ABIERTA – EVITANDO LAS TRAMPAS DEL FORMALISMO Este trabajo reflexionará sobre algunas de las cuestiones pedagógicas y filosóficas que surgen al enseñar Ética a los estudiantes de Derecho. Comenzaré por explicar la demanda educativa realizada por los organismos profe-sionales legales con respecto a la enseñanza de la ética ju-rídica y se delineará cómo actualmente se enseña la ética legal en el programa de licenciatura en Derecho de pregrado en la Universidad Abierta. Se tendrá en cuenta el impacto del formalismo jurídico en la formación ética de los estudiantes de Derecho. Concluirá, sugieriendo que una ética de la vir-erecho. Concluirá, sugieriendo que una ética de la vir-tud se acerca a la enseñanza de la ética jurídica y que puede ser un modelo adecuado para la enseñanza de la ética ju-rídica en un entorno de aprendizaje a distancia

Connectivity, confidentiality and confidence: Key issues in the provision of online pro bono activities

The provision of pro bono activities for law students has become an established feature of the undergraduate legal education landscape in Law Schools in the United Kingdom (“UK”) and beyond, providing the experiential elements of clinical legal education programmes. Pro bono activities conducted online, or utilising and enhanced by technologies in other ways (for example, through the development of a mobile phone application providing legal guidance), are increasingly becoming a part of this offering, reflecting wider shifts within legal practice and society and an increasing recognition of the importance of digital literacy skills. This paper will situate these forms of online and technologically-enhanced pro bono activities both within the wider context of contemporary clinical legal education and also as a part of broader professional and societal shifts. It will explore a variety of innovative approaches being taken internationally, including work done by The Open University’s Open Justice Centre in the UK, before moving on to focus on a number of key challenges and opportunities which may arise through the increasing provision of these new forms of pro bono activities by Law Schools. These include the potential and pitfalls of the technology involved, issues with confidentiality (particularly in the context of online legal advice) and the issue of how to foster trust in the online environment. The paper will conclude with a number of suggestions for areas requiring further research and discussion to enable contemporary clinicians to fully utilise the potential of online and technologically-enhanced pro bono activities

Legal personality, minority religions and religious accommodation in Eastern Europe

An important aspect of religious accommodation in the public sphere is the willingness or otherwise of the State to accommodate religious groups, as well as individuals professing religious beliefs. The accommodation of religion in the public sphere can depend upon law and policy makers choosing to recognise certain beliefs and practices as religious beliefs and practices and, in certain contexts, this recognition is contingent upon religious groups acquiring legal personality. Achieving this recognition has proved to be problematic for minority religious groups, especially in Eastern European jurisdictions.This paper seeks to consider State responses to regulating minority religions, including new religious movements, in Eastern Europe by reference to a number of recent cases before the European Court of Human Rights. It will pay particular attention to the extent to which approaches to the acquisition of legal personality for religious groups may restrict or undermine religious freedom and accommodation

Does Clinical Legal Education Need Theory?

Clinical legal education (CLE) is an increasingly common feature of legal education programmes in higher education around the world. The growth in this area has led to a developing academic literature facilitated by specialist journals and conferences which have produced a largely pragmatic and practice-orientated discourse, with relatively little discussion of wider theoretical issues and their relevance to this area of academic practice. This conceptual study contextualises the growth of CLE in the UK by considering the influence of two neoliberal policy drivers; marketisation and the decline in publicly funded legal advice and representation. It proceeds to consider how these policies have helped to shape the practice-oriented focus of the literature on this area before making an argument that giving more explicit focus to theoretical issues has the potential to enrich the growing body of CLE literature

Developing Depth and Dimension: Instructional Tools and Practices to Facilitate and Encourage the Growth of Young Jazz Musicians

Developing Depth and Dimension: A step-by-step, comprehensive introduction to the world of jazz for young musicians. This work begins with a philosophical discussion of the educational methods that are incorporated into the following games, lesson plans and writings. The project is directed toward students who have little to no experience playing jazz or improvising. It is meant to provide a foundation for continued success and development throughout their musical lives

Findings of a comparison of five filing protocols

Filing protocols are essential for the management and dissemination of shared information within computer systems. This is a survey of the current state of the art in filing protocols. Five popular filing protocols were selected and subjected to a rigorous comparison. FTAM, FTP, UNIX rep, XNS Filing, and NFS are compared in the following areas: exported interface, concurrency control, access control, error recovery, and performance. The coverage of background material includes a taxonomy and a brief history of filing protocols

\u3cem\u3edeElche v. Jacobsen\u3c/em\u3e: Recovering from Community Property for a Separate Tort Judgment

This note critically analyzes deElche against the historical background of community property statutes and evaluates its effect on previous case law that subverted community property principles, resulting in injustice to either the victim or the tortfeasor’s spouse. While deElche does not explicitly overrule these cases, it casts doubt on their current vitality. This note also responds to the dissent’s criticisms, and discusses the scope of the deElche decision

\u3cem\u3edeElche v. Jacobsen\u3c/em\u3e: Recovering from Community Property for a Separate Tort Judgment

This note critically analyzes deElche against the historical background of community property statutes and evaluates its effect on previous case law that subverted community property principles, resulting in injustice to either the victim or the tortfeasor’s spouse. While deElche does not explicitly overrule these cases, it casts doubt on their current vitality. This note also responds to the dissent’s criticisms, and discusses the scope of the deElche decision