Individual Justice Research Articles

The Experience of using the Social Security Appeals Tribunal: Providing Individual Justice across Diversity

The Social Security Appeals Tribunal (‘SSAT’) plays a significant role in the provision of administrative justice in Australia, deciding around 10 000 appeals each year. However there is little published information about its operation, especially as experienced by people who bring appeals. This article reports the results of a survey of SSAT users conducted in 2008. Participants were interviewed up to three times during the progress of their appeals. We found that while the majority of participants reported satisfaction with the SSAT and its processes, a small minority were very dissatisfied, not solely as a result of losing their appeals. We also found that the reasons for appealing were wide-ranging and included the desire for a respectful individual response or explanation that may not have been provided previously. Our analysis suggests that SSAT users value many features of the Tribunal, including multi-member panels, which require maintenance of current funding levels.

The Experience of using the Social Security Appeals Tribunal: Providing Individual Justice across Diversity

The Experience of using the Social Security Appeals Tribunal: Providing Individual Justice across Diversity

Europos žmogaus teisių teismas ‒ konstitucinė justicija prieš individualią?

Europos žmogaus teisių teismas ‒ konstitucinė justicija prieš individualią?

Proceedings referring to the protection of collective rights and interests with a review of the situation in Republic of Macedonia

The protection granted in the litigation procedure traditionally bears individual characteristics. It is primarily aimed at achieving individual justice in every particular case, providing the individuals the possibility to exercise their injured or disputed rights. In contemporary conditions, the question which is more and more getting imposed refers to the fact whether such a structure of the civil procedure can meet the needs to provide an adequate and efficient legal protection in disputes where there is a need to protect the rights of tens, hundreds, and even thousands of people in the cases of the so-called 'mass harm situations'. These procedures can achieve not only an adequate compensation to the holder of the right for the resulting violations of that right (even in situations where the interests of the individual are so small, that it does not represent a sufficient incentive for that person to initiate proceedings for the protection of that right), but they also serve for a realization of a more general goal - to achieve the effect of 'deterrence' against future violations of the collective rights and interests. In Republic of Macedonia a general legal framework for protecting collective rights and interests has not been established yet, but this issue is only regulated fragmentary, so there is a question arisen whether the time has come to develop a general legal framework for collective redress procedures.

Soziologische Gerechtigkeitsanalyse. Überlegungen zur theoretischen Fundierung eines Forschungsfeldes

Abstract During the last years the focus of sociological justice research has been on the measurement of justice attitudes of the people outside the laboratory via large scale and internationally comparative surveys. Within these surveys one attempt has been to identify the social determinants and the consequences of individual justice attitudes. However, the theoretical foundation of this research within exiting sociological theories and concepts has been neglected. Therefore, the sociological justice research is so far not able to provide theoretically sound answers to at least two questions: (1) why do people think justice is important, and (2) what are the reasons for substantively different justice attitudes? By using the theory of social production functions and the goal-framing theory this contribution tries to overcome this shortcoming and suggests an explanation why justice is seen as a desirable goal and why norms of justice are in the very own interest of the individual. Assumptions are derived under which conditions individuals declare themselves in favor of a specific principle of justice to solve conflicts of allocation and distribution. The aim of this paper is to derive theoretically substantive and empirically testable predictions based on a general theory of action and thus to contribute to a stronger theoretical foundation of sociological justice research.

The Strasbourg Court – Between Individual or General Justice

The main problem under consideration in the present Article is connected with a more visible process of transformation of the European Court of Human Rights – from a judicial organ for typically individual justice into the so-called sub-constitutional court dealing with problems of a general nature. The author tries to select and propose a proper systematization of all the various elements of the said process which have appeared at different moments in the systems’ existence. In the author’s opinion the above-mentioned change of nature of the Strasbourg Court is an unavoidable consequence of present day realities. Nonetheless, an important question still remains open, namely, the one concerning a real need of Europeans as far as the protection of their human rights and freedoms are concerned. In order to construct a full picture of the problem the author also makes references to the basic literature on the subject. In this way the main arguments “pro” and “against” are available. For sure it is still too early to formulate one categorical answer concerning the transformation of the Strasbourg Court. The author only hopes that in the near future European individual justice will not totally disappear and that some kind of proper compromise will be reached.

What signals does procedural justice climate convey? The roles of group status, and organizational benevolence and integrity

Summary We propose and test a theoretical framework to explore why and how procedural justice climate influences individual behaviors after controlling for the influence of individual justice perception. Two types of symbolic information conveyed by procedural justice climate are considered. We argue that procedural justice climate reflects the status of or respect for a justice recipient, a work unit within an organization in our context, which then influences the identification of its members with the work unit. Procedural justice climate also reflects the moral attributes of a justice actor, herein an organization, which then influences organizational identification and perceived job security. Consistent with these arguments, results showed that perceived respect for the work unit mediated the relationship between procedural justice climate and identification with the work unit, and both perceived organizational benevolence and integrity mediated the relationship of procedural justice climate with organizational identification and job security. The two types of social identification and perceived job security were related to several outcome variables differently. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

SHVATANJE PRAVDE U <em>AGAMEMNONU</em>, <em>POKAJNICAMA</em><br> I <em>EUMENIDAMA</em>

<p>Autor u radu razmatra <em>dike </em>kao centralni pojam Eshilove <em>Orestije</em>, smatrajući da je u ovoj trilogiji prikazan, u rudimentarnoj formi, gotovo celokupan evolutivni put helenskog razumevanja pravde. Pravilnost i ritam te evolucije moguće je pratiti počevši od pojavljivanja običajnosne pravde u <em>Agamemnonu </em>i <em>Pokajnicama</em>, gde se ona manifestuje posredstvom <em>lex talionis</em>-a. U <em>Pokajnicama </em>i <em>Eumenidama </em>pokazuje se, međutim, da postoji i drugačije razumevanje pravde. Presuda odnosno pravda donosi se kroz saradnju bogova i ljudi, i to nakon suđenja pred Areopagom. Eshil ne oduzima pravdi u potpunosti božansku legitimaciju, ali se ona ipak uspostavlja glasanjem porotnika nakon iznošenja argumenata obe strane, što ukazuje na elemente zakonskog vida pravde. Uopšte, zaključak je autora, čitava atmosfera u <em>Pokajnicama</em>, a osobito u <em>Eumenidama</em>, u kojima se naglašava lično donošenje odluka i rezonovanje, upućuje na skoro isticanje principa ljudske subjektivnosti, koji će sledstveno poroditi i tzv. individualnu pravednost.</p>

Procedure Standard and Administrative Investigation<br/>—Realization of the Self-Discipline Principle

How to effectively protect the interests and rights of individuals and how to even realize a higher-level goal, individual justice and creative property are disturbing problems in administrative investigation. However, the complexity of the problem is increased because it includes arbitrary investigation and compulsory investigation. The specialness of the problem can be discovered through the clarity of administrative investigations on the attribution of concrete administrative acts. There is another effective method, namely the procedure standard reflecting the self-discipline principle except the mainstream method of right-control (i.e. judicial review). It is a combination of self-discipline with right-control, and may be one of the methods keeping pace with judicial review to realize the above-mentioned goal.

Europos žmogaus teisių konvencijos teikiama apsauga ‒ oazė prieglobsčio prašytojams Europoje?

Even though the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) does not explicitly address the rights of asylum seekers and refugees, the case law of the European Human Rights Court (ECtHR) confirms that their rights can be successfully defended under this mechanism. In parallel, in its evolving jurisprudence on asylum the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) refers to the Strasbourg case law, where there is a certain interrelationship between these two jurisdictions, in particular given the recent ECtHR pronouncement on “EU Dublin transfers”. The article aims at evaluating protection available for asylum seekers and refugees under the ECHR, while comparing it with protection of asylum relevant fundamental rights under the EU legal order and the most recent jurisprudence of the CJEU in asylum cases. The authors also analyze which of the two systems is more favourable and what are their limitations. Thus, the article offers to students and practitioners a detailed analysis of ECtHR and CJEU jurisprudence in asylum cases through a comparative perspective, as well as the key problematic aspects arising in both jurisdictions and their junction.The jurisprudence of the ECtHR reveals that despite the most developed protection from expulsion under Article 3 of the ECHR, it does not sufficiently secure status for the concerned persons. Effective remedy requirements under the ECHR allow for filling the gaps of national asylum procedures, while recognition of vulnerability and special status of asylum seekers by the ECtHR assist in addressing still commonly prevailing detention problems of asylum seekers in Europe. In the context of family protection, the recognition of positive obligations by states to reunite the refugee families is still rudimentary, thus, clearly Article 3 protection in expulsion cases takes over Article 8. At the same time, the jurisprudence of the CJEU in asylum cases is still inconsistent, as the court sometimes takes decisions without including human rights into its’ analysis (Kadzoev, Arslan, K.), while in other cases refers to the Charter (MA and others), verifies if its’ own decision is in line with the ECtHR jurisprudence (Elgafaji) or shapes secondary legislation in line with Strasbourg arguments and findings (N.S.). Quite likely, the ECtHR practice will have an important influence on the developments of subsidiary protection in the EU, at least in the context of Articles 2 and 3 of the ECHR, and serve as an important reference for interpretation of various concepts under the EU Qualification and Procedures Directives. The comparative analysis of pros and cons of the two mechanisms demonstrates that the main advantage of the ECtHR is individual justice possibility, which is not yet accessible under CJEU preliminary judgement procedure and its input in developing asylum law concepts, such as non-state agents of persecution, internal protection or even subsidiary protection regime under EU asylum law. Thanks to the ECtHR, the realistic possibility to question the application of certain EU norms has emerged (Dublin Regulation). While the ECtHR does not have such a specific competence over asylum issues as the CJEU and is clearly a slow and seriously overburdened mechanism, the pilot judgement procedure seems to be increasingly capable of providing guidelines to the states concerning systematic problems in their asylum procedures. Thus, both jurisdictions in their own ways contribute to strengthening asylum seekers’ protection while forming a common oasis for these individuals in Europe.

A Biosemiotic Body of Law: The Neurobiology of Justice

We offer a theory regarding the symbolism of the human body in legal discourse. The theory blends legal theory, the neuroscience of empathy, and biosemiotics, a branch of semiotics that combines semiotics with theoretical biology. Our theory posits that this symbolism of the body is not solely a metaphor or semiotic sign of how law is cognitively structured in the mind. We propose that it also signifies neurobiological mechanisms of social emotion in the brain that are involved in the social and moral decision-making and behavior that law generally seeks to govern. Specifically, we hypothesize that the symbol of a collective human body in the language of law signifies neural mechanisms of pain empathy which generate a virtual, neurally simulated, emotional sense of sharing the feelings or pain of others and of thereby being one-in-body with or virtually equal to them. We speculate that this may be the neural basis of what is signified in legal and political theory as the “body politic” or “sense of equality,” because neuroscience and psychiatry further suggest that such pain empathy may provide the natural, emotional motivation to think and act in a rights-based manner. We conclude that misunderstanding of these neural mechanisms of pain empathy and related misinterpretation of this corporeal symbolism for the same may have long resulted in legal discourse that misinterprets the function of “pain” in the law and misinterprets the associated positive law, specifically the law regarding individual, equality-based rights and criminal justice, in particular, punishment theory.

Judges who drive under the influence of alcohol: ethical implications and the role of restorative justice measures to balance judicial duty and societal expectations

Judges across the US have been charged or convicted of driving while intoxicated, yet many judges are allowed to continue to practice despite their criminal act(s). The issue becomes not only a societal issue, but also an ethical and professional one which impacts the individual criminal justice practitioner and criminal justice agencies. Duty to judicial and social expectations informs an argument regarding ethical theories: deontology and utilitarianism. Solutions include an examination of restorative justice measures such as: a balance of service to the community such as participating in victim-offender mediation and victim-offender panels as the offender, and completing community service where the victim chooses the judges number of hours and location of the service. While some may believe these jurists should suffer punitive punishments such as loss of judgeships, long-term treatment, and extensive probation coupled with individual psychiatric therapy, consideration of all factors with restoration in mind, might be more appropriate for these judicial offenders.

Accesso ai rimedi costituzionali, previo esaurimento e gestione "sussidiaria" delle violazioni strutturali della CEDU derivanti da difetti legislativi

The increasing number of judgments delivered by the Strasbourg Court in cases of human rights violations stemming from a systemic problem in the domestic legal system of a contracting State (so called "structural violations") and the development of the caselaw on the obligation of States to adopt general measures under Article 46 ECHR to remove the causes of such violations (including by amending the relevant legislation) are reinforcing the idea of Court as a sort of pan-European constitutional jurisdiction entrusted with the mandate to safeguard the European public order. At the same time, the "collective" dimension of the protection mandate must always be balanced against the need to afford individual justice to the "victims, calling for a better coordination of the two concurring interests. The article focuses on how to ensure that structural violations of ECHR rights caused by defects of domestic legislation are dealt with in accordance to the principle of subsidiarity, which is at the core of the entire protection mechanism established by the Convention. After highlighting the role of subsidiarity in respect of this particular kind of violations, the author explores two possible alternative developments of the Strasbourg case-law which would contribute to strengthening the cooperation between domestic constitutional jurisdictions and the ECHR system in those States (like Italy) where individuals do not enjoy direct access to constitutional justice. Notably, the author suggests a reinterpretation of the rule of previous exhaustion of domestic remedies in order to allow national judges to assess in the first place whether a law is compatible with the ECHR; in the alternative, the Court should conclude for a violation of the right to an effective remedy under Article 13, imposing on the contracting State the obligation to provide forms of individual constitutional justice at the domestic level that would ensure the "subsidiary management" of structural violations and of the mass litigation arising thereout

How do Developing Country Entrepreneurs Navigate Extreme Institutional Voids?

Extending previous research on institutional voids within emerging economies, we propose for more scholarly attention to the study of 'extreme institutional voids'--institutional environments that have simultaneous formal and informal institutional voids, which compromise the ability for robust institutions to compensate for weak institutions. Departing from previous work that has largely emphasized multinational enterprise strategies amidst formal voids, we explore the acute entrepreneurial dilemmas faced by indigenous entrepreneurs operating in regions impaired by challenges of individual mobility, security, and justice. By investigating these settings, we gain a deeper understanding of how entrepreneurship unfolds without clear guidance from institutions.

The Influence and Mechanism of System Responsiveness on Voice

We examined the relationships between group system responsiveness and group members' prohibitive voice and promotive voice. Using data from 257 employees and their immediate supervisors within 93 g...

What does procedural justice climate convey? The role of social identification and job security

We propose and test a theoretical framework to explore why and how procedural justice climate influences individual behaviors beyond individual justice perception. We consider two types of symbolic information conveyed by procedural justice climate: the status of the justice recipient, which influences the identification of employees with their work unit; and the moral attributes of the justice actor, which are associated with organizational identification and perceived job security. We also argue that the two forms of identification and perceived job security play different roles in mediating the influence of procedural justice climate on various work outcomes.

Case Selection and Dissent in Courts of Last Resort: An Empirical Study of the Israel Supreme Court

This article evaluates 3,344 appeals to the Israel Supreme Court (ISC) to assess case selection, case outcomes, and rates of dissent and concurrence, with an emphasis on the behavior of individual justices. We show that analyses of judicial activity, and of individual justices’ behavior, in courts with discretionary jurisdiction should account for the court’s case selection process. This finding has implications for studies of all courts with discretionary appellate jurisdiction and for studies of individual judicial behavior. ISC assignment of cases for preliminary screening by individual justices has a substantial non-random component. Over 95% of the discretionary jurisdiction criminal cases were screened by two justices, who significantly differed in the rate at which they referred cases to 3 judge screening panels. Screening outcomes also varied significantly in discretionary civil cases. The rate of granting review was highest in tort cases. The rate of granting review was substantially higher in cases involving female defendants than in cases involving male defendants. With respect to outcomes in cases reaching the merits, the high rate of reversal in discretionary jurisdiction cases is not a consequence of one or two justices’ behavior; granting review of cases to reverse them is an ISC-wide practice. Regardless of the initial screening justice, the reversal rate in discretionary cases, civil or criminal, was well above the 24% to 32% reversal rate in mandatory jurisdiction cases. Dissent rates were low, less than 2% overall and only 3% in discretionary jurisdiction cases. Rates of concurrence with an opinion by an individual justice were substantially higher.

Recenzja dzieła Beaty Więzowskiej pt. Odpowiedzialność cywilna na zasadzie słuszności, wyd. Oficyna Wolters Kluwer, Warszawa 2009

The monograph by B. Wiezowska off ers an incisive analysis of philosophical,theoretical and practical aspects of civil liability based on equity(fairness). The fi rst part of the book is devoted to the philosophical andhistorical origins of the presence of equity, justice and fairness in law. Theauthor accepts the Aristotelian approach to individual justice. In the nextpart she examines the meaning of the term ‘principles of social co-existence’(principles of fariness/justice) and their role in the Polish legal system,with particular focus on the law of civil liability. The Polish approachis compared to the regulations in major continental jurisdictions and incommon law. The second part of the thesis presents the elements andoperation of the principle of fairness in three cases regulated by Polishlaw: public authorities’ liability for legal damage, liability of a minor (in theabsence of the vicarious liability of supervisors) and the liability for animals.The analysis in each chapter starts with comparative remarks regardingthe subject matter liability in major European jurisdictions (German,French, Swiss and English). The author provides many insightfuland interesting observations. The last part of the book covers several particularissues, such as contributory negligence, prescription of claims andjurisdictional matters. The monograph is the first comprehensive analysisof the function of equity (fairness) in Polish tort law and it fi lls a gap in thePolish legal writing. Normal 0 21 false false false PL X-NONE X-NONE Normal 0 21 false false false PL X-NONE X-NONE

Ideological Voting in Supreme Court Federalism Cases, 1953–2007

The Rehnquist Court's “federalism revolution” has provoked an increase in research regarding an apparent change in the pattern of Court decisions. While previous literature has discussed the ideological motivations of these decisions, this article conceptualizes attitudes toward federalism cases as having two dimensions: preferences regarding the structural division of government authority and preferences for different policy outcomes. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of individual justice votes in federalism cases from 1953 through 2007. While controlling for other institutional and legal factors that may influence decision making, the results show that individual ideology influences federalism voting in two ways: 1) conservative justices are generally more likely to vote in favor of states' rights, and 2) the size of this difference varies greatly depending on whether a states' right vote leads to a more or less liberal policy outcome.

The Double Standard of 'Honest' Relationships: One for Israelis, Another for Immigrants

This paper compares the regulation of marital and semi-marital relationships within the Israel general legal regime, with their regulation within spousal immigration policy. The comparison demonstrates that while traditional marital values are cherished within the general legal regime, they are balanced against to values of individual autonomy and justice. When it comes to spousal immigration policies the hegemony of traditional marital norms is unshakeable. The paper asserts that the different approaches can be attributed to the articulation of spousal immigration policies as the system of allocation of privileges to aliens, and the lack of transparency and democratic accountability, which to an extent seems as a natural result of this articulation. These features, coupled with the alienage of those affected by immigration policies make the price of reproducing the marital ideal, through immigration perquisites almost invisible. The paper aims to challenge the perceived naturalness of the current immigration regime and to bring the heavy price of sustaining the marital ideal that is now hidden in administrative back-yards into the light and public eye.