Court Experience Research Articles

Kenya’s Colonial Judges: The Advocates’ Perspective

Colonial legal historiography has tended to focus on customary tribunals rather than ‘European’ courts. This article offers a new vantage point from which to view Kenya’s legal system by looking at colonial judges through the eyes of the trial lawyers who appeared before them. By the late 1950s, Asian lawyers were numerically superior to Europeans and there was only a handful of African advocates. The focus of this article is these advocates’ day-to-day court experiences, and their assessment of individual judges’ competence, roles and attitudes. Their oral testimony adds to our understanding of the function of Kenya’s superior courts and the characters and outlook of the judges and lawyers who staffed them.

How Children Report True and Fabricated Stressful and Non-Stressful Events1

As children can be victims or witnesses to crimes and may be required to testify about their experiences in court, the ability to differentiate between children's true and fabricated accounts of victimization is an important issue. This study used automated linguistic analysis software to detect linguistic patterns in order to differentiate between children's true and false stressful bullying reports and reports of non-stressful events. Results revealed that children displayed different linguistic patterns when reporting true and false stressful and non-stressful stories, with non-stressful stories being more accurately discriminated based on linguistic patterns. Results suggest that it is difficult to discriminate accurately and consistently between children's true and false stories of victimization.

Judges, Psychiatrists Confer on Handling Mental Illness in Justice System

Judges, Psychiatrists Confer on Handling Mental Illness in Justice System

Legal Mechanismes of E-Democracy for Ensuring of Independence and Impartiality of Arbitrators in the Light of International Practice

E-democracy is becoming increasingly important trend in the world of legal and political practice. In 2009, the European Council has identified in its recommendation to the role and place of e-democracy as a means to strengthen the existing system of democracy by increasing public participation and ensuring access to the democratic process. As one of the areas of e-democracy, the Council of Europe highlighted the e-justice system. E-justice involves the creation of a transparent, accountable and independent judiciary based on electronic workflow. Questions the impartiality and independence of the arbitrators are key to any trial, including arbitration. Ensuring fair and independent trial, as in the system of arbitration courts, and in the system of state arbitration courts is often seen as a factor for the investment attractiveness of the business, as an impartial and independent judicial proceedings obviously gives us confidence in the future. The author of this paper tried to evaluate the legal perspectives of e-justice in ensuring the impartiality and independence of the arbitrators based on international experience and legal positions of the European Court of Human Rights.

Comparison of Victims’ Reports and Court Records of Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators’ Criminal Case Outcomes

Intimate partner violence (IPV) victims often report feeling confused and uninformed about court proceedings, including even about the final disposition of the case against their partner. This is problematic because victims' decisions in responding to subsequent abuse may be significantly influenced by their beliefs about the outcomes of prior court experiences. Also, researchers often rely on victim report of court case outcomes; discrepancies between women's reports and official records may account for some of the conflicting findings in the empirical literature. In the current study, we compared the reports of case outcome given by 81 women recruited immediately after the final hearing of an IPV-related criminal case against their perpetrator with court records of case outcome. Findings revealed a fair level of agreement between women's reports and court files that was significantly different from the level of agreement expected by chance, but far from perfect. Level of agreement increased substantially when cases involving suspended sentences were removed. In reviewing these findings, we discuss the extent to which results can or cannot be interpreted as reflecting the accuracy of women's knowledge and review their implications for IPV researchers and court systems.

Shared Reality and Grounded Feelings During Courtship: Do They Matter for Marital Success?

This study provides evidence that newlywed pairs who have a shared and well‐grounded understanding of their courtship are better able to establish unions that endure. Using a sample of 168 couples, the authors found that marriages were more likely to survive when courting partners (a) loved each other to a similar degree, (b) depicted the probability of marriage and changes in the likelihood of marriage in a corresponding fashion over the course of their courtship, and (c) portrayed the courtship as escalating from a low (25%) to a high (75%) probability of marriage as spanning a comparable period of time. The durability of marriages was reflected, as well, in how solidly courting partners' feelings for each other were interwoven with their courtship experiences. More specifically, courtship difficulties were not as associated with weakened feelings of love or with heightened feelings of ambivalence among couples who later divorced as compared to those who stayed married.

Male-male sexual behavior in the parasitic wasp Psyttalia concolor.

The role of male-male courtship in parasitic Hymenoptera is poorly known. A laboratory study was conducted to assess if Psyttalia concolor (Szépligeti) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) male courtship can be affected by a previous experience in courting young conspecifics of both sexes. Two experiments were performed to evaluate the effect of experience in courting young wasps on both male courtship and male-male competition behavior. Results showed that a courting experience on both sexes can modify some sexual traits in a P. concolor male, without affecting its success in mating. When approaching virgin females, a P. concolor male that had a previous courtship experience with young wasps of either sex showed shorter latency times, more wing fanning, and longer courtship durations with respect to the control male. The hypothesis that a previous courting experience may allow a P. concolor male to refine its courtship behavior and to enhance courtship intensity in subsequent encounters with females was discussed.

Conversation with Robert Voas

Conversation with <scp>R</scp>obert <scp>V</scp>oas

The treating psychiatrist as expert in the courts: is it necessary or possible to separate the roles of physician and expert?

Certified medical specialists, including forensic psychiatrists, from the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) may practise in each other's countries, but there are professional and legal differences between them. One may lie in whether a patient's treating doctor/clinician may give expert evidence about that person in court. To examine similarities and differences between EU jurisdictions in law and practice in combining or separating such roles and to review the evidence in support of either position. A psychiatrist with court experience was contacted in each EU country about law, practice and guidance on division of clinician-expert roles. Published literature was searched for an evidence base for practice in the field. Additional material is from discussion at a residential meeting of practising forensic psychiatrists from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK. All acknowledge that a treating clinician can never be an independent expert in that case, but the 22 (of 27) EU countries responding vary in law and practice on whether the dual role may be assumed. There has been almost no research interest in factors relevant to separation of roles. International discussion revealed that ethical and practice issues are not straightforward. On current evidence, either separation or combination of clinical and expert roles in a particular case may be acceptable. Insofar as there are national legal or professional guidelines on this issue, anyone practising in that country must follow them and may safely do so, regardless of practice in their native country. The most important ethical issue lies in clarity for all parties on the nature and extent of roles in the case. This paper has additional material online.

The Rape Survivor with an Intellectual Disability vs. the Court

Crimes of sexual violence are known to result in rather difficult court experiences for survivors, and the conviction rates are also disappointingly low. These issues, however, are compounded when the rape survivor has an intellectual disability. Courts seem to require more of them than they do from non-disabled survivors. The paper discusses the hurdles faced by intellectually disabled complainants when attempting to give evidence against those accused of assaulting them. Their competency as witnesses is questioned, as is their ability to take the oath, and their understanding of such abstract concepts as ‘truth’ and ‘lie’ are interrogated. The paper also examines some of the international perspectives on this matter, although there is little research done specifically on intellectually disabled adult rape survivors. The extent to which current approaches are fair, and in line with basic human rights, is raised since access to the courts ought to be made easier, rather than more difficult for those with intellectual disabilities.

A qualitative exploration of the views and experiences of family court magistrates making decisions in care proceedings involving parents with learning disabilities

Accessible summary Some research shows that parents with learning disabilities often have their children removed from their care. When someone is worried about a person with learning disabilities caring for a child, magistrates in family courts sometimes decide who will look after the child. Researchers interviewed four family court magistrates. They were interested in what it has been like for the magistrates making decisions in court when the parent had a learning disability. This article talks about three parts of their stories: ○their knowledge about learning disabilities and what they think others know, ○important things when deciding whether a parent can look after their child, and ○whether knowing a person with a learning disability changes what they do as a magistrate. The findings could be used to help people with learning disabilities think about what things might be important if someone is worried about them looking after their children. SummaryA small evidence base suggests that parents with learning disabilities are likely to have their children permanently removed from their care. There is no known research involving magistrates in England, despite their role in care proceedings. This study aimed to explore the experience of magistrates making decisions in care proceedings involving parents with learning disabilities. Four family court magistrates took part in a semi‐structured interview. The findings suggest that the magistrates in this sample perceive a distinction between themselves and others in terms of their ability to accommodate complexity in conceptualising learning disabilities. The ability to appreciate such complexity was considered important by magistrates in them adopting a more proactive role when presented with expert opinion. Four main influences were spoken of when determining the best interests of the child: timescale and age of the child, expert opinion, parenting abilities and support. Participants indicated how their experiences with people with learning disabilities outside of the court system have impacted on their role within care proceedings and have shaped their awareness of the limits of their own knowledge. Magistrates indicated a general need for more training about learning disabilities. Limitations and implications for practice are discussed.

Food from the Courts: The Indian Experience

It has been conventionally believed that whereas socioeconomic rights are critical for human survival with dignity, these fall within the domain of the executive and not of courts and the law. The recent experience in India's Supreme Court has demonstrated that these rights – and in particular the right to food – can be both mandated and enforced by courts. In a landmark petition demanding a legally enforceable right to food, the court has converted food and social protection programmes into legal rights, expanded and universalised these rights, and created an independent mechanism for the enforcement of these rights.

Insights to Building a Succesful E-filing Case Management Service: U.S. Federal Court Experience

The International Journal for Court Administration (IJCA) is an electronic journal which focuses on court, judicial, and justice system administration, management, and governance. It provides a platform for the professional exchange of knowledge, experience and research in those areas for a diverse audience of practitioners and academics.Its scope is international. The editors welcome submissions from court officials, judges, justice ministry officials, academic researchers and consultants whose work and interests lie in the practical aspects of the effective administration of justice.

The South African Constitutional Court Experience: Reasoning Patterns Based on Foreign Law

This article aims to analyse the phenomenon of the diffusion of interpretive paradigms or argumentation models between constitutional courts. This phenomenon involves the importation of parameters - defined here as extra-systemic to a specific legal system - and the use of the comparative method in applying constitutional texts. The main subject of this study is the analysis of the first 11 years of South African constitutional jurisprudence, which is a convenient scenario since a constitutional provision enables the Constitutional Court to 'consider foreign law' when interpreting the Bill of Rights. In fact, this led to the wide use of foreign jurisprudence and legislation (from which were extracted argumentation models, patterns of balancing between principles and sometimes actual normative 'meanings'): in other words, extra-systemic legal inferences. This article shows the existence of several patterns of legal argumentation based on foreign law which were developed by the South African Constitutional Court.

Perceptions of procedural justice among female offenders: Time does not heal all wounds.

The current study examined the association between perceived procedural injustice of court experiences and emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral outcomes among 94 adolescent and young adult females incarcerated in a high security juvenile facility. Specifically, perceived injustice was related to background characteristics (e.g., race), as well as increased levels of depressive symptoms, institutional offending, and substance use within the facility. These negative effects of perceived injustice were most evident among participants who had been incarcerated for longer periods of time. This suggests that perceived unjust treatment during a court proceeding may have long-term effects once an offender is incarcerated and that both court and correctional settings need to take these perceptions into account.

Courtship and the Remarrying Man in Late-Victorian England

The remarrying man has attracted relatively little historiographical attention, both absolutely and particularly for the nineteenth century. Their motivations for marriage and experiences of courtship have been subsumed into wide generalizations, such as the sense that men with children had to remarry in order to evidence their masculinity and to obtain care for their children. This article challenges such generalizations. Focusing on the detailed courtship letters of a remarrying man and his bride, it provides a detailed anatomization of the courtship process. The article draws particular lessons—for instance that personality mattered and that the giving of gifts played a different role in the courtships of remarrying men than was the case in first marriages—but concentrates on the more general issues that arise from the single case study. These include the sense that accumulated history acutely shaped the courtship strategies and experiences of remarrying men and their potential brides, that there was generally little discussion of the economics of the “match” in the case of remarrying men, and that the issue of prior children was surprisingly unimportant to the conduct of a courtship. The article thus has fundamental lessons for our understanding of nineteenth-century remarriage.

Jurisdictional Reform and the Role of the Supreme Court of Nigeria — The Path to a Policy Court

The Supreme Court of Nigeria is a system under severe stress. Unless the present caseload pressure is released somehow, the system will buckle imminently. Signs of stress are clearly obvious: overwhelming arrears of work, limited collegiality, and unsatisfactory output quality. As an organization, the Court has changed little during the last half-century; it has adapted to new challenges and changing roles almost without any significant structural or operational alteration. Samuel Huntington suggested that, whether an organization outlives its original functions is an indicator of the adaptability of that organization, a benchmark of institutionalization. Within its first decade, the Supreme Court evolved from a colonial intermediate court of appeal, subordinate to the Privy Council, to a final court of appeal, and shed almost all the original jurisdiction initially associated with it. During the next decade it was not just a final court of appeal, but the only appellate court for most of the country. This status of a first-level appellate court meant that it continued to function very much as it did earlier as an intermediate court of appeal even though its role was now that of a final court of appeal. There was no change in caseload volume or variety either. This ensured that the dominant functional orientation of the Supreme Court of Nigeria was always error-correction. In reaction to its caseload crisis, the Court’s bench has ballooned to the present sixteen, and there is a present temptation to enlarge it further. With increasing delay in processing its caseload and growing volume of fresh cases, this solution is utterly ineffective. This paper links the caseload crisis to the persistence of the Court’s error-correcting orientation: without a policy-court jurisdictional reform, the gap between the Court’s output and its caseload will continue to expand. This paper draws on the experience of the supreme courts of Canada and India respectively for lessons of successful and unsuccessful discretionary jurisdiction reform.

MALTREATED CHILDREN'S ABILITY TO ESTIMATE TEMPORAL LOCATION AND NUMEROSITY OF PLACEMENT CHANGES AND COURT VISITS.

Research examining children's temporal knowledge has tended to utilize brief temporal intervals and singular, neutral events, and is not readily generalizable to legal settings in which maltreated children are asked temporal questions about salient, repeated abuse that often occurred in the distant past. To understand how well maltreated children can describe temporal location and numerosity of documented, personal experiences, we assessed 167 6- to 10-year-old maltreated children's temporal memory for changes in their living arrangements and prior visits to court. Small percentages of children were capable of providing exact temporal location information (age, month, or season) regarding their first or last placement or court experience, or numerosities for placements or court visits. Greater knowledge of current temporal locations did not predict better performance. However, older children's performance for several temporal judgments was better than chance, and their reports were not largely discrepant from the truth. Findings suggest caution when questioning maltreated children about when and how many times prior events occurred.

The Supreme Court and the New Judicial Independence

In this article, the author argues that the establishment of the Supreme Court imported a new and much broader conception of judicial independence that goes beyond protecting judicial decision-making in individual cases from direct interference by the executive and legislature: the Supreme Court now interacts with the other branches of government as a distinct institution instead of working alongside them as a component of Parliament. It is argued that the new judicial independence demands institutional autonomy and increasingly formal interactions between the judiciary and the other branches. The article then considers the implications of the new judicial independence in terms of the legitimacy of judicial lawmaking by the Supreme Court, offering a comparison with the experience of the apex courts of Canada and the United States.

How information matters: networks and public policy innovation

Introduction: Information Relationships and Innovation 1. Intergovernmental Relationships, Information, and Policy Change 2. From Information to Innovation: The Drug Court Experience 3. Network Relationships, Implementation, and Policy Success: A National Influence 4. Using Strategic Information to Build Programs: Templates, Mentors, and Research 5. Information and Systemic Change: New Professionals and New Institutions 6. Information, Synthesis, and Synergy: A National Nonprofit Information Network 7. Bringing Value to Public Decisions: Information Relationships, Tools, and Processes Appendix: Methodology Index