Law, Democracy, and Constitutionalism: Reflections on Evans v Attorney General

AbstractThe difference of judicial opinion in the Supreme Court in Evans provokes reflection on fundamental constitutional principles, such as parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law. A statute that on its face seems to permit a government minister to override a judicial decision of which he disapproves inevitably raises acute concern; the correct reading of the statute depends on the most persuasive integration of basic principles, placing the text within its wider constitutional context. The Justices deployed distinctions between law, fact, and public interest in rather different ways, reflecting their divergent interpretative approaches. The role of constitutional convention is also of particular interest – central to the legal issues arising, on one view, but largely irrelevant on another. At the root of these disagreements lie contrasting conceptions of law and adjudication.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Cambridge University Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0008197315000951

Fiber Beam Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Members with Cyclic Constitutive and Material Laws

This paper presents a non-linear Timoshenko beam element with axial, bending, and shear force interaction for nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete structures. The structural material tangent stiffness matrix, which relates the increments of load to corresponding increments of displacement, is properly formulated. Appropriate simplified cyclic uniaxial constitutive laws are developed for cracked concrete in compression and tension. The model also includes the softening effect of the concrete due to lateral tensile strain. To establish the validity of the proposed model, correlation studies with experimentally-tested concrete specimens have been conducted

The moral unity of public law

Instead of a public law fragmented into discrete departments, we should envisage a unified scheme of constitutional rights and legal standards, expressing a coherent moral theory of the rule of law. That moral theory underpins all legitimate legal orders, properly respectful of human dignity; and common law adjudication is best understood as the working out, according to context, of the practical implications of the theory. An initial focus on more local legal tradition ultimately leads to a broader inquiry about the true demands of human rights and civil liberties, offering the prospect of a larger vision of democratic constitutionalism. While Jeremy Waldron has doubted the similarity between legal analysis and moral reasoning – rejecting an analogy with Rawlsian reflective equilibrium – his view may be contested. A common law judge who attempts to reason morally in the name of the whole society, in the manner suggested by Ronald Dworkin’s theory of integrity, must take account of those legal texts and precedents that political morality makes pertinent. Legal reasoning is simply moral reasoning, attentive to historical and political context. This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the University of Toronto Press via https://doi.org/10.3138/UTLJ.395

Moderate Exercise Attenuates Lipopolysaccharide-induced Inflammation And Associated Maternal And Fetal Morbidities In Pregnant Rats

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fetal growth restriction (FGR) and coagulopathies are often associated with aberrant maternal inflammation. Moderate-intensity exercise during pregnancy has been shown to increase utero-placental blood flow and to enhance fetal nutrition as well as fetal and placental growth. Furthermore, exercise is known to reduce inflammation. To evaluate the effect of moderate-intensity exercise on inflammation associated with the development of maternal coagulopathies and FGR, Wistar rats were subjected to an exercise regime before and during pregnancy. To model inflammation-induced FGR, pregnant rats were administered daily intraperitoneal injections of E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on gestational days (GD) 13.5-16.5 and sacrificed at GD 17.5. Control rats were injected with saline. Maternal hemostasis was assessed by thromboelastography. Moderate-intensity exercise prevented LPS-mediated increases in white blood cell counts measured on GD 17.5 and improved maternal hemostasis profiles. Importantly, our data reveal that exercise prevented LPS-induced FGR. Moderate-intensity exercise initiated before and maintained during pregnancy may decrease the severity of maternal and perinatal complications associated with abnormal maternal inflammation.11Canadian Bureau for International Education - Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (CBIE/DFAIT)Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel-The Ministry of Education of Brazil (CAPES/MEC)FAEPEX (University of Campinas)Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) [MOP 119496]Canadian Haemophilia SocietyCIHR Doctoral Award-Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate ScholarshipOntario Graduate ScholarshipCoordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Discourse revisited : dimensions and employment of first-order strategy discourse during institutional adoption

Despite decades of research on strategy, we still know little about what the concept of strategy means to actual strategists and how they use it in practice. Working at the intersections of institutional and practice theories, we use exploratory interviews with strategy directors and a longitudinal case study to uncover four dimensions of first-order strategy discourse: functional, contextual, identity, and metaphorical. We also reveal three phases in the interrelation between first-order strategy discourse and institutional work: shaping, settling, and selling and a differential emphasis (selective focusing) on dimensions of the first-order strategy discourse during the institutional adoption process. We contribute to a deeper understanding of the concept of strategy in practice, the process of institutional adoption, and of the role of discourse in this process

A ‘quiet revolution’? The impact of Training Schools on initial teacher training partnerships

This paper discusses the impact on initial teacher training of a new policy initiative in England: the introduction of Training Schools. First, the Training School project is set in context by exploring the evolution of a partnership approach to initial teacher training in England. Ways in which Training Schools represent a break with established practice are considered together with their implications for the dominant mode of partnership led by higher education institutions (HEIs). The capacity of Training Schools to achieve their own policy objectives is examined, especially their efficacy as a strategy for managing innovation and the dissemination of innovation. The paper ends by focusing on a particular Training School project which has adopted an unusual approach to its work and enquires whether this alternative approach could offer a more profitable way forward. During the course of the paper, five different models of partnership are considered: collaborative, complementary, HEI-led, school-led and partnership within a partnership

Judicial Review, Irrationality, and the Limits of Intervention by the Courts

When exercising judicial review, the courts, on occasions, have intervened in circumstances where administrative decisions were not irrational. However, these low standards of judicial intervention are arguably constitutional, especially since the enactment of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA). To this end, this article seeks to establish a zone of executive decision-making, for reasons of democracy, where the courts are clearly excluded. But it is unable to do so. Does this mean, therefore, that judicial intervention on the grounds of irrationality exists without limit? Assuming this to be the case, it is suggested that the courts should show greater respect to the administrative branch of the state where it has genuinely sought to engage with the legal process in arriving at its decisions