Sir Robin Research Articles

35. PREVENTION OF PSYCHOSIS: AN INDIVIDUAL OR POPULATION APPROACH?

Overall : Psychotic disorders and schizophrenia in particular have a profound impact on patients, their caregivers and society. Mental illness is set to overtake cancer and cardiovascular disease to become the most expensive disorder in terms of direct expenditure and disability-adjusted life years over the next decade. Unfortunately, mental health has lagged behind physical disorders in terms of focus on prevention. It is imperative that prevention is taken more seriously for mental health disorders. In this symposium we present novel data and novel perspectives on risk and protective factors for psychosis from the viewpoint of prevention.Data will be presented from large population based studies from England, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and Brazil and Denmark Danish These include epidemiological studies of first episode psychosis (FEP) (both single centre and multicentre) and large register- based studies.Olesya Ajnakina will show that only 4.1% of a sample of young adults with first episode psychosis diagnosed over a two year period had actually been seen previously by the prodromal services. This indicates that this “At risk mental state” approach is not useful for prevention of psychosis at a population level. Hannah Jongsma will present data from the EU-GEI large multicentre study showing an association between greater catchment area-level owner-occupancy and lower incidence of psychosis. She also replicated the well-established finding on increased risk for psychosis among minority groups. These findings show that we need to tackle societal factors rather than remaining focused on an individual level approach. Using register data from Denmark, Kristine Engemann Jensen reports a novel protective factor for psychosis – childhood exposure to green space. This shows the importance of the built environment for mental health – particularly for young people. Finally, Sir Robin Murray gives his particular insights on how we can prevent psychosis using data from three first episode psychosis studies. He shows, for instance, that 24% of psychosis cases could theoretically be prevented by eliminating use of high-potency cannabis use in the population. He argues that psychiatrists and psychologists need to get involved in promoting societal and legislative approaches to reducing known risk factors for psychosis. Our discussant Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg will draw on all these findings, along with his own work on risk factors such as urbanicity, in discussing how we can now move to a new prevention-focused paradigm of research on psychosis.

The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act

This is the text of Sir Robin Cooke’s contribution to the New Zealand Law Conference held in Wellington on 3 March 1993. In it, he explains the symbolic significance of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 and offers his view on how judges should approach its interpretation. He describes the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 as a confirmation of New Zealand’s “commitment to rights and freedoms implicit in modern democracies”. He argues that even if society falls short of these ideals, the law should express the values that it aims to serve. So he says that judges must not decline to decide a case simply because it is difficult to apply generalised rights in individual cases. In his view, a Bill of Rights must be interpreted generously and simply, whether it is entrenched law or not. Abstract by Elizabeth Chan.

The Constitutional Renaissance

This is a paper presented by Sir Robin Cooke on “the astonishing breadth and depth” of the “rise of constitutionalism and, with constitutionalism, human rights” across the world, through a series of examples. He begins with the United Kingdom, commenting on the Human Rights Act 1998, the three devolution Acts of 1998, and the effect of the European Court of Human Rights on English law. Sir Robin then moves beyond Britain to discuss developments in Canada, India, Africa, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand. These include the enactment of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the work of the Indian Supreme Court as the “guardian” of human rights, the development of the South African Constitutional Court following the end of apartheid, and the protection of human rights by the Hong Kong judiciary following the handover of Hong Kong to China. Sir Robin concludes by stating, first, that courts have a “crucial role” in “the protection of minority rights now and in the future” as “one of the elements of democracy” and, secondly, that it is crucial that judges “not be elected”. Abstract by Tim Cochrane.

The Changing Place of Remedies

This is a paper presented by Sir Robin Cooke on the changing place of remedies in the common law. He argues that courts today have a “rich heritage of remedies” available, arising from the “changing and more direct emphasis on working out substantive rights”. He illustrates this by discussing issues that had come before the New Zealand Court of Appeal and other common law courts, including the Rugby Union case (Finnigan v New Zealand Rugby Football Union Inc [1985] 2 NZLR 159 (CA)), intellectual property piracy, freedom of information (Commissioner of Police v Ombudsman [1998] 1 NZLR 385 (CA)), damages, fiduciary duty, and contributory negligence (Day v Mead [1987] 2 NZLR 433 (CA)), constructive trusts and unjust enrichment (Gillies v Keogh (leported as [1989] 2 NZLR 327 (CA)), and issues arising from providing declarations (Re Chase [1989] 1 NZLR 325 (CA)). He concludes by commenting that “[r]emedies no longer rule” in terms of the development of the common law yet continuance to be of assistance with its gradual development. Abstract by Tim Cochrane.

Notes for Address of Sir Robin Cooke, KBE, President of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand

These are the notes for the address of Sir Robin Cooke given at the opening of the new headquarters for the publishing house, Commerce Clearing House New Zealand Ltd (CCH) in Auckland on 5 April 1990. In this address, Sir Robin sketches the history of New Zealand law and New Zealand’s various sources of law. He considers that CCH publications accurately reflect the working of the New Zealand legal system and these sources of law, and outlines a selection of the range of legal publications offered by CCH, including specialist publications. Sir Robin comments negatively on the future development of electronic legal databases, he concludes with his well wishes that CCH will “go on from strength to strength”. Abstract by Tim Cochrane.

Notes of a Speech Given by the Lord Cooke of Thorndon, Editor-in-Chief

These are the notes of a speech given by Sir Robin Cooke at the reception to mark the completion of the Laws of New Zealand, of which Sir Robin was the Editor-in-Chief. Following in the footsteps of Halsbury’s Laws of England, Sir Robin comments that the Laws of New Zealand is similar to the English encyclopedia in the style and presentation of information. He also comments that it is timely for New Zealand to have its own encyclopedia as its common law and statutes differ from the United Kingdom (and also differ from Australia, which already had the Halsbury’s Laws of Australia). Sir Robin also remarks that the distinctive booklet style of the New Zealand encyclopedia is convenient for carrying the text whilst travelling. He pays tribute to Sir Alexander Turner, to whom the encyclopedia is dedicated. He concludes with remarks on his function as the Editor-in-Chief.

Making the Angels Weep

In this article Sir Robin Cooke considers Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v Union of India (1993) 4 SCC 441 (known as the “Second Judges case”). This is a decision of the Supreme Court of India on judicial appointments and the meaning to be given to the word “consultation” in the Indian Constitution. He compares the Indian decision with a Wellington International Airport Ltd v Air New Zealand [1993] 1 NZLR 671 (CA), a decision of the New Zealand Court of Appeal, and Attorney-General of Western Samoa v Saipai’ia Olamalu (1984) 14 VUWLR 275, a decision of the Western Samoa Court of Appeal. Sir Robin concludes by suggesting that the judiciary “has a part to play not merely in expounding conventions, but in helping to create them.”

Notes of Remarks by Sir Robin Cooke, President of the Court of Appeal, on the Taking of the Judicial Oath by Mr Justice Mckay

This paper is the notes of Sir Robin Cooke’s remarks at the swearing-in of Mr Justice McKay as a Judge of the Court of Appeal on 10 June 1991. Sir Robin begins by discussing the historical development of the Court of Appeal in New Zealand, which initially comprised the Governor and members of the Executive Council. Sir Robin then comments on Mr Justice McKay’s achievements in the law, before discussing famous judges from other jurisdictions, including Australia and Canada, who have been appointed directly to an appellate court. He concludes by recalling that Mr Justice McKay had been one of his (Sir Robin’s) most outstanding students at Victoria University College. Abstract by Elizabeth Chan.

Living with uncertainty

Some years ago, commenting on the state of reform of European trade mark law, Sir Robin Jacob observed that, while there was now the appearance of a substantial revision and clarification of the law, the truth of the matter was that all the biggest and most basic issues remained unresolved: questions like “what can you actually register as a trade mark?” Although the best part of two decades have passed since Sir Robin made this point, a host of cases referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union and a further bout of European trade mark reform do not appear to have lessened the truth of his words. While this editorial is being written, lawyers are still arguing over how to register colours, shapes, three-dimensional objects and even words as trade marks, while debate continues over whether the registration of a mark for goods described by their Nice Class headings retroactively gifts the applicant all the goods in that Class or not. The extent, if any, to which trade mark coexistence agreements bind their parties or are accepted by the courts remains uncertain, with wide variations between countries whose businesses trade extensively with one another. And as for jurisdiction where brand-bearing websites are pointed to, or accessible from, other countries, the permutation of possibilities remains complex. But trade marks are not the only area of intellectual property in which uncertainty is king. Who would be so wise as to predict the latest nuances of patentability and patent-eligibility in the United States, where the toss of a coin has been replaced by an appeal to the Supreme Court as the closest thing to a random call, and this in a field of law in which the availability and validity of patents underpins billions of dollars invested in ICT software, business methods and genetics, to name but three disciplines. At present, the situation in Europe is more stable, since there is no random appeal court of equivalent influence, but in consequence of the adoption of a new unified court system the European Union will have created its own patents appeal court: it is hoped that the constraints of the old continent’s new patent system will leave that new appeal court less free than its transatlantic cousins to exercise the sort of judicial creativity that law students love and businesses dread. It need hardly be added that the law of copyright remains in flux as the constant flow of new information storing and transmitting technologies continues to produce fresh factual situations that legislators cannot have foreseen or which, if they had foreseen them, they would not have known how best to rule for them. Even apart from that, the ever-changing battle-lines in the war between freedom of expression, protection of property, respect for privacy and transformative use make it difficult to give firm advice in all but the most clear-cut situations. But uncertainty is not necessarily a bad thing. Where an intellectual property right may or may not exist, or equally where it exists but may or may not be enforced with the desired effect, both the IP owner and his commercial adversaries must make some big, riskdriven calculations. One need hardly be an expert in such situations to know that, on a simple application of game theory, where the likelihood of success is far from guaranteed and the cost of failure is greater than can be borne, cooperation brings its own reward. Such cooperation is part of the fabric of IP today in many sectors in which the principles underpinning fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licence pools are reflection of fear, rational anxiety and the conscious desire to replace risk with something more reliably bankable.

Improving schizophrenia care: kindness and competence are key

AbstractAt the 12th Latest Advances in Psychiatry Symposium in March, Professor Sir Robin Murray provided colleagues with a synthesis of what he has learnt, observed and experienced in relation to schizophrenia in a Keynote Lecture that offered some real pearls of wisdom to those trying to help people with this devastating illness. Steve Titmarsh was among those privileged to listen.

'Cool' design rights

The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘cool’ as (among other things) ‘(1) fashionable, (2) moderately cold temperature and (3) unproblematic’. Even enthusiasts may hesitate to apply the term ‘cool’ to the intellectual property arena, but ‘coolness’ has been central to two recent decisions in the English courts that shed light on the complexities of registered design right protection across Europe. The first decision was in the UK limb of the wellknown dispute between Apple and Samsung, in which Samsung sought a declaration of non-infringement from the High Court for England and Wales that its Samsung Galaxy tablet computer did not infringe Apple’s registered community designs for its own iPad tablets. The High Court examined the background design field and decided that, to the informed user, the Apple and Galaxy tablets were both members of the family of pre-existing thin, smooth-fronted tablet computers. What made the Apple design novel, and a valid design registration, was the extreme simplicity of its design (rather than the mere fact it was a ‘flat fronted’ tablet). On that basis, the Samsung Galaxy did not infringe. Although it appeared to share many design features with the Apple product, those features were common to the design field. It created a different overall impression on the informed user because it was ‘not as cool’ as the Apple design. The second decision (handed down by the same judge a mere two weeks later) concerned a transparent bag for transporting wine bottles. The novel feature of the bag was that it was reinforced so that it could be filled with ice and so act as a ‘cool bag’ to chill the wine bottle inside. This novel purpose worked in the claimant’s favour. Previous (almost identical) bag designs were deemed not to invalidate the community registered design for the cool bag, because those previous bags were designed for a different purpose (for carrying, rather than cooling). In respect of infringement, relatively wide protection was given because in the ‘new area’ of cool bags, even competing cool bags with small design differences would leave the informed user with the same overall impression. The decisions are well reasoned and clear. And the consideration of how ‘cool’ the designs are, both in terms of a ‘fashionable’ look and feel and ‘cooling’ purpose were clearly appropriate considerations in these cases for considering the overall impression of the designs and so the validity and infringement arguments. Appropriate factors they may be, but stepping back from the legal arguments, the bigger picture is somewhat surprising. On the one hand an iconic, recognizable design in the high fashion, multi-billion euro computer market seems difficult to enforce, whereas a much more basic bag design can be used to carve out a niche in the wine cooling industry in which high-design seems less critical. To put the concern another way, it would have been hard to foresee these two outcomes at the outset. Tellingly, the judge in the Apple case expressly acknowledged that when ‘[he] first saw the Samsung products in this case [he] was struck by how similar they look to the Apple design when they are resting on a table’. It was only when the judged educated himself as to the mindset of the informed user that his views on that point changed. Ironically, recital 21 to Community Design Regulation (6/2002) highlighted ‘greater legal certainty’ as one of the key advantages of registered designs. In fact (as implied by recital 18) it seems to be the registration system itself, that does not require substantive examination of applications, that can most correctly be called ‘certain’—in the sense that design registrations are easy to obtain and, once obtained (at least on the basis of the Apple case) are difficult to invalidate. Understanding the contours of the landscape for the effective enforcement of design rights is much more difficult and less certain. This is the case both in Europe as a whole and even more so in the UK where the position is complicated by the existence of overlapping UK registered and unregistered design rights, leading Sir Robin Jacob to comment recently in response to a government paper that ‘. . . nobody in their right mind would have such a complicated system.’ As things stand, the third meaning of ‘cool’, unproblematic, is unlikely to be a term many would apply to design rights in Europe.

Knighthood Means Psychiatrist is Now ���Sir��� Robin

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article International NewsFull AccessKnighthood Means Psychiatrist is Now ‘Sir’ RobinBob GuldinBob GuldinSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:18 Mar 2011https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.46.6.psychnews_46_6_8_2AbstractRobin Murray, M.D., a leading British psychiatrist and expert on schizophrenia, was awarded a knighthood for services to medicine in the Queen of England's New Year's Honours List 2011. Robin Murray, M.D.Credit: Anders GadeSir Robin Murray, as he may now properly be called, is a professor of psychiatric research at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, University of London. Murray is currently Britain's most highly cited psychiatry researcher, and he is the third most highly cited researcher in schizophrenia in the world, according to the Institute of Psychiatry. Murray was previously dean of the Institute of Psychiatry and is best known for his work studying the causes of schizophrenia. In 1987 he and Shôn Lewis, M.D., were among the first to suggest that schizophrenia might in part be a neurodevelopmental disorder. While he has acknowledged that "genetic factors are most important," he has, along with highly regarded colleagues, also demonstrated the important role of environmental factors, including obstetric events and other early childhood hazards, in the causation of schizophrenia. Later, they showed the contribution of social adversity to the high rates of schizophrenia in African-Caribbean people living in the United Kingdom. Most recently, Murray and his colleagues have shown that prolonged heavy abuse of cannabis contributes to the onset of psychosis, and they are researching why some people are especially vulnerable to that commonly used drug. Murray told Psychiatric News, "That's why I've become known to the public—my research into why heavy use of cannabis, such as smoking it every day for five years, increases the risk of schizophrenia. This has had a big public impact." At the same time, Murray maintains an active schedule of teaching and clinical work. He is dedicated to nurturing young researchers and has supervised more than 60 graduate students, many now senior academics around the world, in their attainment of higher research degrees. He is also currently the director of the master's program in psychiatric research at the Institute of Psychiatry. In addition to his teaching and research activities, he assesses and treats patients at the National Psychosis Unit of the South London and Maudsley National Health Service Trust, to which people are referred from across the United Kingdom. Peter Buckley, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and dean at the Medical College of Georgia, who knows Murray well, told Psychiatric News, "The knighthood is testimony to the quality of Robin's work, his impact, and phenomenal output. More than that, he has been a very generous academic mentor and is truly a beloved figure in our field." About his knighthood, Murray told Psychiatric News, "Obviously, I'm very pleased indeed. It's not common for doctors to be knighted, perhaps two or three each year. Several other psychiatrists have received the honor." He admitted that his new status does present a small social conundrum—now when he makes a reservation at a restaurant or with an airline, he has to decide whether to identify himself as "Mister," "Doctor," or "Sir." At British Airways, he said, he recently tried for the first time to use the title "Sir." "It was the first time my booking was ever refused," Sir Robin said. ISSUES NewArchived

"Treaty Principles": Constitutional Relations Inside a Conservative Jurisprudence

This article looks at the impact and afterlife of the groundbreaking Maori Council judgments handed down in the late 1980s by the Court of Appeal presided by the late Sir Robin Cooke (as he then was). This article refutes any notion of constitutional relations with Māori being founded on race despite unilateral (and long discarded) legal design tending towards that characterisation. The true pattern has been iwi-based and it has arisen from the continuity of whakapapa in the organization of Maori political life and relations with the state notwithstanding meddlesome but ultimately ineffectual legislative attempts to dilute tribalism. Over the past twenty plus years, the Treaty claims processes initiated in 1985 have accentuated and revitalised that tribalism. Far from licensing judicial interventionism "Treaty principles" are part of an embedded and conservative jurisprudence of Māori affairs. Their elimination from legislation would amputate a major segment of that jurisprudence. The courts, whose profile in this broad field (Treaty claims processes most notably) is mostly a resiling one, would respond by generating their own version. The legacy of Sir Robin Cooke’s court is deep-rooted and thoroughly integrated into the New Zealand legal system.

Get to know your customer

He advises the UK government on wealth creation and globalisation, has been knighted for his contribution to the electronics industry and is the lET's outgoing President Sir Robin Saxby says success belongs to managers who know their customers.

Sir Robin Cooke

This article is a tribute to Sir Robin Cooke after his death in 2006. Even though Sir Robin was an international figure of great renown, the author notes that the death of Sir Robin was felt more personal throughout Victoria University of Wellington's Faculty of Law. The article outlines Sir Robin's expertise and deep concern for the tradition of the common law, his admirable work ethic, and his passion for cricket.

Lord Cooke of Thorndon (1926–2006): 51 Years in the Law

The Rt Hon Sir Robin Brunskill Cooke, latterly the Baron Cooke of Thorndon, of Wellington in New Zealand, and of Cambridge in the County of Cambridgeshire, ONZ, KBE, PC, QC, died on 30 August 2006....

Monty Python's Spamalot by Eric Idle and John Du Prez (review)

74ARTHURIANA Herben and Lancelot actually find true love (with each other) and plan to run off to Canada to get married after which they hope to open a cuttain shop. Sir Robin dons top hat and white tails to sttut down a staircase à la Fred Astaire under the illumination of a neon Star of David to remind King Arthur that 'You can't get to Broadway without any Jews.' (Not to wotry, Patsy, the loyal royal steed and squire, reveals that he is a member ofthe tribe.) And, in fine flourish, Arthur and the Lady of the Lake wed in the show's finale. Interspersed among these scenes, all the familiar and favorite vignettes play out in high Python style. The voice of John Cleese (er, God) commands Arthur to undertake the quest for the Grail. The French knights ate rude to Afthur. Arthur defeats the Black Knight and the Knights Who Say Ni (acquiring a shrubbery in the bargain). The mighty wizard Tim warns Arthur ofthe true nature ofa seemingly harmless looking bunny rabbit (played marvelously by a peppy hand puppet), and Arthur and his knights dispatch the rabbit turned killer with assistance from Brother Maynard, the Book ofArmaments, and the Holy Hand Grenade ofAntioch. Along the way, puns, forced rhymes, and sight gags abound. From beginning to end, Spamalot is hilarious. Tim Hartley's sets and costumes are inventive and—in some cases—dazzling. The cast's ensemble work is above reproach. Sara Ramirez plays every major female part, and her Lady of the Lake is the stuff ofTony nominations. The first major retelling of the Arthuriad for the new millennium is not an overly ponderous film full ofself-importance and claiming a Saftnatian connection to the Arthurian legend. Rather, it is a stage musical, Monty Python's Spamalot, that refuses to take the Atthuriad, itself, ot much of anything else too seriously. Nothing is sacred; nothing is spared in this marvelous send up of myth and ofmusical theatre, and perhaps that's the message ofthe Arthurian legend for our times. DEBRA N. MANCOFF / KEVIN J. HARTY The School of the Art Institute of Chicago / La Salle University eric idle and John DU prez, Monty Python's Spamalot. Boyett Ostar Productions and the Shubert Organization. The Shubett Theatre, New York. Broadway preview, February 18, 2005; opened March 17, 2005. The Broadway production of Spamalot gleefully inhales you before you hit the aisle: it's an 'event'—frisson is in the air. Ticketholders swarm together in late wintet's chill at the theatre's door laughing and reciting lines from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. You'll hear 'ni! ni! ni!' before the crush propels you to the booth selling the Arthutian consumer's eyeful of Holy Hand Grenades, squishy Killer Rabbits, and the best Grail tee-shirts available this side of, well, paradise. However much you spend on your ticket, prepare to spend twice as much on memofabilia. Don't forget to get your special golden edition of Spam! Once seated, people read their Playbill aloud to explosive gurgles and giggles. The title is first given as Bin Faaarkrekkion's new Moosical, 'dik od triaanenen fol (Finns Ain't What They Used To Be),' based on an idea from 'Sid, Coco and REVIEWS75 Edith Piaf In one wink of the eye, you can check off Monty Python and the Holy Grail, comic vaudevillians, hoofers, chanteuses, and high style. We will view, we are told, the 'story, in music and song, ofFinland's transformation from a predominantly rural agricultutal base to one ofthe most sophisticated industrial and entrepreneurial economies in the world.' And the PL·ybilldoesn't stop there, but gives us biographies of the cast and staff, of which this director's entry is but one: tanaka ING (Director). The only non-Finn in the company, Ing has a long histoty in experimental theatte, including Churchill's History oftheEnglish SpeakingPeople in mime, a salsa version of the Tibetan Book ofthe Dead and a puppet version of the U.S. Population Census of1973. A great tennis lover, Ing went to Finland for a contemplation weekend and found himselfhooked. "I love trees and always have, and in Finland thete...

ARM twisting with Sir Robin: An interview with ARM chairman Sir Robin Saxby

ARM twisting with Sir Robin: An interview with ARM chairman Sir Robin Saxby

The British Peerage: The Legal Standing of the Peerage and Baronetage in the Overseas Realms of the Crown with Particular Reference to New Zealand

In 1976, an article published in the New Zealand Law Journal argued that hereditary titles had no legal status in New Zealand. This conclusion was based on the reasoning that New Zealand was a separate sovereignty from that of the United Kingdom. Peerages created in one sovereignty were not, unlike knighthoods, recognised in another. Therefore, it was argued, the peerages of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the UK had no legal status in New Zealand. It is my intention to disprove this thesis. I contend that peers and baronets of the United Kingdom can have legal status abroad and indeed do have this status in all those countries of which Her Majesty is Queen. The recent ennoblement of Sir Robin Cooke, lately President of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, adds contemporary relevance to the examination of this question.

Management in government: the future

Comprises a speech given by Sir Robin Butler, Secretary to the Cabinet and head of the Home Civil Service, at a conference held in London in November 1995 to celebrate the twenty‐fifth anniversary of the Civil Service College. Draws from the speaker’s own experiences of working in the Civil Service and details the changes leading to the opening of the college in 1970, which provides high quality training and consultancy in management and policy issues, and has gained international recognition. Considers the main themes of the reforms in the management of the Civil Service, not just in the UK, but also in the USA and New Zealand, and highlights the Civil Service’s emphasis on well‐trained, knowledgeable and professional staff.