Understanding how and when change occurs in the administrative justice system: the ombudsman/ tribunal partnership as a catalyst for reform?

This article explores the ongoing condition of the ombudsman sector through models of change adopted from the social science literature. Debates about change are fleshed out through an analysis of the ombudsman/tribunal’s partnership initiative currently underway. As well as providing an explanation for the slow process of reform, the article highlights the need for further research into the partnership initiative to detail the strengths, weaknesses and sustainability of such bottom-up reform agendas in the administrative justice system. We conclude that the impact of each individual initiative is likely to be minor but as a process they represent important moments of institutional learning which, in the context of current crisis, could operate as catalysts for major administrative justice reform

Structural concepts and experimental considerations for a versatile high-speed research airplane

Future aircraft may be hydrogen fueled and fly at hypersonic speeds. The resulting environments will require new structural concepts to satisfy performance goals. Large representative structures will have to be flight tested prior to commitment to a costly vehicle fleet. To perform flight tests, a versatile, economical, high-speed research airplane is defined. Results of this study including experimental considerations for a hypersonic research airplane are reported

Designing an English Public Services Ombudsman

This article explores the question of how to integrate the ombudsman community in England, a proposal for which there is much support but less agreement on the way forward. It is argued that, in the long-term, successful reform will not occur unless three distinct perspectives on administrative justice are incorporated into the proposal to form a single public services ombudsman for England. This approach points to a set of strong principles that should direct redesign of the ombudsman sector in England in order to establish an institution capable of responding to current and future demands

Evolving standards in the complaints branch

It is well known that dispute resolution schemes in the complaints branch, including ombudsman schemes and complaint-handlers, operate a very different dispute resolution methodology to that typically applied in the courts and tribunals. This methodology is widely accepted, but concerns have always existed regarding the fairness of the procedural safeguards deployed in the complaints branch. This article investigates two specific areas of procedural practice in the complaints branch: the openness of the sector in terms of the decisions that it makes and the grounds upon which they are made; and the capacity to review decisions made in the sector. The article argues that there is evidence that, whilst further refinement could be introduced, procedural safeguards in the sector are more robust than hitherto has been understood

The common law theory and practice of the ombudsman/judiciary relationship

In both Australia and the United Kingdom, the ombudsman sector plays a specific role in the oversight of the administration of government, but there exists no clear overarching theoretical framework within which the institution is aligned with common law constitutionalism. An ombudsman’s functionality is secured by gaining legal authority from parliament and effective power through executive acquiescence, but simultaneously to function effectively it must maintain a degree of separation from the executive and parliament. This situation creates a regulatory gap which the courts fill by acting in a supervisory relationship over the ombudsman sector. In turn, this raises the danger that the legitimacy gained through judicial oversight results in a loss of flexibility and uniqueness in the ombudsman institution. Through an empirical study of the case law on the sector, this article confirms that the courts have shaped and legitimised the role of the ombudsman institution under the common law constitution. Yet this study also suggests that there is a risk that over-reliance upon the judiciary to perform a retrospective, reactive and intermittent control function can lead to an inappropriate imposition of judicial values on the ombudsman sector as well as the courts performing an unsuited regulatory role

Electronic coupling between Bi nanolines and the Si(001) substrate: An experimental and theoretical study

Atomic nanolines are one dimensional systems realized by assembling many atoms on a substrate into long arrays. The electronic properties of the nanolines depend on those of the substrate. Here, we demonstrate that to fully understand the electronic properties of Bi nanolines on clean Si(001) several different contributions must be accounted for. Scanning tunneling microscopy reveals a variety of different patterns along the nanolines as the imaging bias is varied. We observe an electronic phase shift of the Bi dimers, associated with imaging atomic p-orbitals, and an electronic coupling between the Bi nanoline and neighbouring Si dimers, which influences the appearance of both. Understanding the interplay between the Bi nanolines and Si substrate could open a novel route to modifying the electronic properties of the nanolines.Comment: 6 pages (main), 2 pages (SI), accepted by Phys. Rev.

Power system applications of fiber optic sensors

This document is a progress report of work done in 1985 on the Communications and Control for Electric Power Systems Project at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. These topics are covered: Electric Field Measurement, Fiber Optic Temperature Sensing, and Optical Power transfer. Work was done on the measurement of ac and dc electric fields. A prototype sensor for measuring alternating fields was made using a very simple electroscope approach. An electronic field mill sensor for dc fields was made using a fiber optic readout, so that the entire probe could be operated isolated from ground. There are several instances in which more precise knowledge of the temperature of electrical power apparatus would be useful. This report describes a number of methods whereby the distributed temperature profile can be obtained using a fiber optic sensor. The ability to energize electronics by means of an optical fiber has the advantage that electrical isolation is maintained at low cost. In order to accomplish this, it is necessary to convert the light energy into electrical form by means of photovoltaic cells. JPL has developed an array of PV cells in gallium arsenide specifically for this purpose. This work is described

Structure of self-assembled Mn atom chains on Si(001)

Mn has been found to self-assemble into atomic chains running perpendicular to the surface dimer reconstruction on Si(001). They differ from other atomic chains by a striking asymmetric appearance in filled state scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images. This has prompted complicated structural models involving up to three Mn atoms per chain unit. Combining STM, atomic force microscopy and density functional theory we find that a simple necklace-like chain of single Mn atoms reproduces all their prominent features, including their asymmetry not captured by current models. The upshot is a remarkably simpler structure for modelling the electronic and magnetic properties of Mn atom chains on Si(001).Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Effects of voltage control in utility interactive dispersed storage and generation systems

When a small generator is connected to the distribution system, the voltage at the point of interconnection is determined largely by the system and not the generator. The effect on the generator, on the load voltage and on the distribution system of a number of different voltage control strategies in the generator is examined. Synchronous generators with three kinds of exciter control are considered, as well as induction generators and dc/ac inverters, with and without capacitor compensation. The effect of varying input power during operation (which may be experienced by generators based on renewable resources) is explored, as well as the effect of connecting and disconnecting the generator at ten percent of its rated power. Operation with a constant slightly lagging factor is shown to have some advantages