State Courts Research Articles

Authorisations to Emit Greenhouse Gases – A Conflict-of-Laws Perspective

Abstract Within the framework of private climate litigation, where injured people bring civil claims concerning the liability of companies for the harmful effects of their polluting activities before domestic courts, this contribution investigates the role of authorisations to emit greenhouse gases under Directive 2003/87/ec (Emissions Directive), when they are not specifically part of the lex fori (law of the forum) and lex causae (law applicable to merits). A traditional way to consider greenhouse gas emissions permits in these disputes is via the rules of safety and conduct under the Article 17 of the Regulation (ec) No. 864/2007 (Rome ii). The author of this contribution considers that there may be a different reading of such rules, i.e. the interpretative elaboration of a unilateral conflict rule in the Emissions Directive, which would allow the authorisation issued by a State whose law is different than the lex fori and lex causae ones before the courts of EU Member States to be relied upon. Furthermore the authorisation, in circulating, carries with it the (possible) exempting effect under the civil liability rule of the State issuing the authorisation.

Some characteristics of the perpetrators and victims of war rape prosecuted before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina

During the international armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995, numerous crimes were committed, among which crimes of rape are at the top of the scale of brutality. It is estimated that between 20,000 and 50,000 women and girls were raped in the aforementioned conflict, of which the largest number of these atrocities were committed by members of the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS), the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS (MUP RS) and related paramilitary formations against Bosniak (muslim) women. It is to be assumed that an extremely large number of perpetrators were involved in the commission of the crimes in question, but unfortunately, a relatively modest number of suspects were prosecuted before the competent courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the neighboring Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Serbia. Within the framework of this work, the research focus is on the prosecution of war rapes before the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the beginning of the work of the mentioned court until today (2005-2023). In the indicated period, 70 wartime rape cases involving 109 defendants were processed before this judicial forum. Out of that number, 55 cases were finally concluded, with convictions in 41 cases and acquittals in 14 cases. The subject of the research was some individual characteristics of perpetrators and victims of war rape. The research sample consisted exclusively of cases in which a final conviction was passed (N=41), in which 51 defendants were declared guilty of war rape and 80 victims of this crime were identified. The research established that all the convicts were male. In addition, 72% of those convicted were members of the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS), 16% of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (RBiH Army) and 12% of the Croatian Defense Council (HVO). All members of the RBiH Army were convicted of war rape which is legally qualified as a war crime against the civilian population, which is a criminal offense that, according to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CC BiH), does not include the existence of a widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population. On the other hand, the largest number of members of the VRS and four members of the HVO who were prosecuted for wartime rape were convicted of having committed that crime as a crime against humanity, which included a campaign of widespread, massive and systematic criminal activity connected with other crimes (murder , torture, imprisonment, deportation of the population, enforced disappearance, etc.). About half of those legally convicted of war rape before the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina were convicted for crimes committed in eastern Bosnia (Foča 24%, Višegrad 16%, Vlasenica 6% and Rogatica 2%). At the same time, approximately 1/3 of wartime rapes (31%) were committed in a camp, 10% in a public place, and the largest number in a private house or apartment (59%). A significant number of those convicted of these crimes had been convicted before (35%) and were married (78%). Ninety-eight percent (98%) of war rape victims were female and 2% were male. The vast majority of victims (87%) were Bosniaks, while 8% were Serbs and 5% were Croats. However, the fact that almost every fifth victim of war rape (21%) was a minor at the time of committing the crime is particularly striking. The research established that most of the rapes of minors during the international armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina were carried out by members of the Serbian (para)military and police forces in Bosnia nad Herzegovina, as well as a few members of the HVO.

Descriptive analysis of the legal ramifications of medication diversion by pharmacy employees

BackgroundMedication diversion, the act of illegally redirecting prescription drugs from their intended path, is a growing problem in the United States, with significant implications for patient safety and the integrity of the health care system.Objective: The objective of this study was to link reported diversion cases from state boards of pharmacy to state court docket records to describe the legal ramifications of medication diversion. MethodsA retrospective analysis of state board of pharmacy records and state court docket records from six states between 2016 and 2021 was completed. ResultsA total of 207 medication diversion cases were identified and 61 of these cases were able to be linked to state court cases. The study found that pharmacy technicians were involved in the majority of cases (77.3%). The study found that medication diversion frequently occurred in community pharmacies (59.2%), involving controlled medications (87.4%). The primary reasons for medication diversion were personal use (43.7%) and undetermined motives (48.5%). Of the 61 cases linked to court cases, prevalent disciplinary actions included “misdemeanor or felony charges” (21.4%) and “jail time, suspended” (9.2%). The findings underscore the need for robust systems and protocols within health care facilities to prevent medication diversion, particularly in pharmacy settings. Measures such as implementing physical and electronic controls, addressing flaws in operations, and conducting thorough background checks during the hiring process are crucial for minimizing the risk of diversion. Furthermore, the study reveals inconsistencies in the disciplinary actions taken by state boards of pharmacy and state legal systems, indicating the need for more standardized and consistent processes for prosecuting medication diversion cases. Future research should aim to include a broader sample size and develop standardized data collection methods to further explore medication diversion and its legal implications. ConclusionIn conclusion, addressing medication diversion requires a collaborative effort between health care facilities and regulatory bodies. By prioritizing prevention strategies and aligning disciplinary actions, the health care system can ensure patient safety, uphold professional integrity, and effectively combat medication diversion.

States sue Meta, claiming Instagram, Facebook fueled youth mental health crisis

A group of more than 40 states sued Meta last month, accusing the social media giant of designing products that are deliberately addictive and fuel the youth mental health crisis, National Public Radio reported on Oct. 24. The legal actions allege that Meta has deceived the public about the harms of Facebook and Instagram, which the states' attorneys general said “exploit and manipulate” children. Other attorneys general, including those representing Tennessee and Washington, D.C., filed similar legal actions on Oct. 24 in state courts. Collectively, more than 40 states painted a picture of a company that brushed aside safety concerns about its products in order to addict as many young people as possible as a way of juicing its profits. The authorities said Meta's “dopamine‐manipulating” features have poisoned an entire generation's mental health, citing a recommendation algorithm that determines what people see when they log onto Instagram and Facebook, the ability to “like” posts and to scroll without limits. The lawsuits are seeking to have Meta's design features considered unlawful under state consumer protection laws that trigger hefty financial penalties.

Implementation of Article 45 of the Criminal Procedure Law in Narcotics Criminal Cases – Case Study in Malang State Court and Kepanjen State Court

Implementation of Article 45 of the Criminal Procedure Law in Narcotics Criminal Cases – Case Study in Malang State Court and Kepanjen State Court

Drug abuse rehabilitation policies in Indonesia: a comparison with Vietnam, Australia and Portugal

This article wants to analyze the judge's verdict orientation of the rehabilitation case for addicts or drug abusers. Far from the construction of rehabilitation laws in Indonesia, there is a diffusion of norms between the health and the criminal approach. Legal research with a constitutional and case approach at the state court in Bali and Yogyakarta. A comparative approach of law with other countries. The study suggests that judges are more likely to drop sentences in prison sentences than in rehabilitation, even though the accused meets the criteria of narcotics law and a writ of avoidance of the Supreme Court. The complaint was merely a recommendation that judges were not required to comply with, as was the case in Portugal and Australia. The judge's paradigm of self-initiated drug abuse, like narcotics crimes, is similar in Vietnam. Whereas the philosophical orientation of the judges in deciding the issue of rehabilitation should be based on principles of humanity and justice as governed by the just and civilized precepts of humanity and the precepts of social justice for all peoples of Indonesia. The judge is required to consider the report on the results of the conviction of both criminal and criminal action to the perpetrator of criminal narcotics. Also, future prescriptions for self-initiated drug abuse recovery should be changed with a health approach, drawing a firm line of distinguishing from narcotics crimes. Process in court with a fast trial, including an arrangement for arrest, was held in a designated rehabilitation facility or hospital.

Analyzing Legal Ramifications for Auction Winners: A Case Study of Bekasi and Makassar Court Decisions on Auction Cancellations

This article starts with the auction of the valid execution and in accordance with the minutes of auction of the Bekasi State Wealth and Auction Service Office (KPKNL) Number 225/2013 with the winner of the auction in good faith, but the auction was canceled by the court in the decision of the Bekasi State Court Number 412/Pdt.G/2015/PN.Bks on the claim of the legal owner of the collateral object against Auction applicant. The creditor filed for the execution of the dependent rights under Article 6 of the Law on Dependent Rights Number 4/1996 on the basis of default. Furthermore, the decision was appealed and then continued with cassation and finally the Review of case Number 664PK/PDT/2020 with the decision to reject the application for cassation and Judicial Review. Weaknesses in the auction rules result in the rights of auction winners not being accommodated and not protected by law. This article is interesting to researched and is the first time it has happened and has not been regulated in the Technical Guidelines of the Minister of Finance Regulation Number 213/PMK.06/2020. As a comparison, the case in Makassar State Court Number 73/Pdt.G/2023. With the method of statutory approach, cases, and theories of laws, then analyzed in the way of legal reasoning, and interpretation of laws. The results showed the legal consequences of the rights of the auction winners due to court decisions, namely experiencing material losses that must be borne by the Bekasi District Court decision. Solutions offered, updating the Vendu Reglement Ordonantie on the conduct of auctions in Indonesia; perfecting PMK Number 2013/PMK.06/2020 concerning technical guidelines legal. The purpose of the study, to examine the legal consequences of the rights of auction winners because the court decision that decided the auction has no legal force.

The Legal Force of The Deed of Wills Regarding Undivided Community Property Which was Canceled Pursuant to State Court Ruling Number 43/PDT.G/2020/PN.MDN

A testamentary deed is the embodiment of a person's last wishes regarding the assets he or she leaves behind. The assets left behind can be inherited and joint assets. The will deed must pay attention to applicable legal rules. In its creation, the testamentary gift deed is closely related to the party authorized to make authentic deeds, namely the Notary profession. This research discusses the legal power of wills regarding joint assets that have not been divided. The problem discussed in this research is how the judge at the Medan District Court considers declaring a Will Deed whose object is joint property that has not been divided, and what are the legal consequences of canceling a Will whose object is joint property that has not been divided. In this case, it refers to the decision of the Medan District Court Number 43/Pdt.G/2020/PN.Mdn. The research method used is normative juridical, descriptive analytical, based on secondary data, through document study searches, with a qualitative approach. From the results of this research, the first conclusion that can be drawn is that the judge's consideration of Deed of Will Number 05 did not clearly take into account the existence of a mixture of assets between the Plaintiff and (the late) Leman as joint search assets with his wife, Mrs. Tan Bie Tju, even though nothing was created between the late Leman and Tan Bie Tju. "marriage agreement", so that the Plaintiff is entitled to ½ (half) of the joint assets. The legal consequences of canceling a Deed of Will whose object is joint property that has not been divided which is canceled by a judge's decision causes the loss of the binding force of the deed on the parties. Notaries should prioritize the principle of prudence by carrying out the obligation to carefully check all documents related to formal correctness before writing them down in the form of a deed.

Disentangling Immigration Policy From Tort Claims for Future Lost Wages

Abstract While largely unknown, the Indiana Supreme Court’s 2017 opinion Escamilla v. Shiel Sexton Co. deserves to be canonized for closely examining – and, ultimately, rejecting – the incursion of federal immigration law and policy into state tort law. For over two decades, state and federal courts have relied on the United States Supreme Court’s 2002 ruling in Hoffman Plastic Compounds v. NLRB, to deny future lost wages awards to successful tort claimants who lack documentation. Escamilla reveals the faulty logic underlying this caselaw and provides a clear and straightforward framework for future courts to employ when faced with this issue. Ultimately, Escamilla demonstrates why plaintiffs’ undocumented status, alone, is insufficient to allow tortfeasors to escape paying tort victims what often amounts to substantial damages. In doing so, Escamilla fortifies the compensation and deterrence functions of tort law.

Confirm Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez to the Fifth Circuit

The United States Senate must expeditiously confirm United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas Magistrate Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez, who has definitely earned appointment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and will become the appellate court’s initial Latina member. This regional circuit effectively resolves substantial appeals, enjoys a large judicial complement, and certainly possesses a reputation as the nation’s most conservative appellate court. Ramirez, whom President Joe Biden nominated in mid-April, decidedly provides remarkable gender, experiential, ideological, and ethnic judicial diversity and has rigorously served as a Magistrate Judge and Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Texas for practically three decades. The jurist has excelled in law’s upper echelons since 1991. The post that Ramirez will occupy has now been empty for more than one year. Therefore, the Senate needs to promptly confirm the highly qualified, mainstream nominee.

Compensation Assessment for Personal Injury Owing to Extra-Contractual Liability: Case Study on Selected Courts

Assessment of compensation for personal injury is an intricate part of the law of extra-contractual liability (torts) since such kind of injury results in loss of a job, part of a body, total permanent disability or death. As personal injury may involve irreparable harm, it challenges courts in quantifying reasonable expenses a victim incurs and determining the amount of disability indemnity. By using decisions of the SNNP and Sidama regional courts together with selected Federal Cassation decisions, this article aims to explore practices of compensation assessment for personal injury. The Civil Code, which applies in federal and state courts, requires assessment of damage and award compensation based on a rule of equivalency. Given the generality of this, courts are facing difficulties in making compensation assessments for extra-contractual wrongs that result in personal injury. The problems are related to quantifying reasonable expenses for treatment, determining the amount of disability indemnity, or deciding which kinds of pecuniary losses are included in and excluded from compensation assessment. These problems have caused arbitrary decisions of the courts for personal injury. Variation also exists among court decisions at various levels in determining the extent of harm a claimant sustains and its corresponding compensation. Lack of detailed provisions contributes to such variation, and this calls for legal reform.

Порядок процессуального взаимодействия третейского суда и суда общей юрисдикции в связи с запросом о содействии в получении доказательств (ст. 57 и 63.1 ГПК РФ): закон и практика его применения

The article examines the procedure for assisting arbitration courts in obtaining evidence. The article analyzes the subject composition of persons who have the opportunity to apply to the state court with a corresponding request, the content of the request and the permissible nature of the requested information. The article also analyzes the functions of the state court when considering the request. Proposals are being made to amend the legislation.

A human rights approach to climate litigation before the ECOWAS court

Climate change can be litigated through tort, common law, statute/policy, public trust doctrine or human rights among others. While climate change litigation appears to have developed in states of the Global North, its use is still relatively recent in states of the Global South. Nor has it been seriously considered from the perspective of international tribunals from the Global South. Therefore, this study examines a human rights approach to climate change litigation in the Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice (ECOWAS Court). This study finds that there are some developments in certain jurisdictions which make a human rights approach promising in terms of locus standi, justiciability, causation and separation of powers and that they can be related to the jurisprudence of the ECOWAS Court. It also finds that the doctrine of exhaustion of local remedies does not apply to the ECOWAS Court. Based on these findings, it is argued that a human rights approach can be successfully deployed to litigate climate change before the ECOWAS Court and that it can wake up West African States from their lethargy in terms of policy on, and treatment of, climate issues. The study concludes that individuals and NGOs may adopt a human rights approach before the ECOWAS Court to influence policy change and/or state behaviour in West African States.

Is current NEET PG Counselling process full of LUCK and GAMBLING?

ABSTRACT Each year, many students attempt the NEET PG entrance exam and then attend the counselling process to get admission in PG. However, each year, we see a lot of issues and delays in the counselling process. All these lead to the PG counselling process having some very confusing rules, and it causes a great deal of confusion and uncertainties among the students, while selecting for their deserved PG seats and attending subsequent rounds. The element of LUCK plays a significant role in allocation of PG seats. Issues like a single candidate blocking multiple seats in state and All India rounds, non-synchronisation between All India and state rounds, delay in some individual state rounds, court cases, addition or deletion of seats in the counselling process, and so on are frequent in each year’s counselling process. The factor of LUCK plays a big role in somebody getting or not getting a seat. This should be completely eliminated. Simple measures like fixing the accountability, management of loopholes of the counselling process beforehand, hearing about any court cases, proper and fixed information about availability of seats in each college way before the starting of the counselling process, keeping real-time data on seats retained or left, synchronised counselling, or possibility of offline centralised counselling are some of the cost-effective impartial methods. These methods will help the students to make informed choices and reduce the element of LUCK from the counselling process. After such hard work, students deserve a counselling process which ensures less uncertainty and no role of luck and eliminates any unfair advantage/disadvantages because of faulty procedures and system issues. If such issues happen each year, it is fair to say that it is because of its sheer ignorance and in-decisions by the officials to improve the counselling process.

Neocolonial Digitality: Analyzing Digital Legal Databases Using Legal Pluralism

AbstractA prevalent assumption is that digital legal databases generate an exhaustive and inclusive archive for academics and legal professionals to use for gathering information. Bridging theories and methods from digital media studies and legal anthropology, I challenge this assumption and demonstrate how digitizing law is a politicized process that is tied to legacies of colonialism and modern epistemic frameworks of law and justice. Employing the concept of legal pluralism, I conduct a comparative study of urban secular state courts and rural Islamic/customary non-state courts (shalish) in Bangladesh to show how the construction of digital legal databases distorts and erases alternate frameworks of law and women’s socio-legal experiences. I discuss two significant use of digital legal databases to highlight why it is important to study the gaps and prejudices: (1) they are central to generating new forms of archives—digital archives; (2) they provide the data sets to help train artificial intelligence and influence automated outputs. I develop the term “neocolonial digitality” to explain how power related to legacies of colonialism and other forms of discrimination are embedded in the digitizing process. This concept also holds space for the newer forms of hierarchies, exclusions, and power structures that digitality permits, focusing on the particular harms marginalized communities encounter in the Global South.

Updating PAJID Scores for State Supreme Court Justices (1970–2019)

AbstractWe build upon Brace, Langer, and Hall’s (2000, The Journal of Politics 62: 387–413) original measure of American state supreme court justice ideology – the PAJID scores. To do so, we gather new data on 1,666 state supreme court justices who served between 1970 and 2019 and update the PAJID scores throughout this period. Testing indicates that PAJID scores are a valid measure of state supreme court justices’ policy preferences and compare favorably, though less efficiently, to others such as Bonica and Woodruff (2015, The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 31: 472–98) and Windett, Harden, and Hall (2015, Political Analysis 23: 461–9). Given limited data availability for other ideological measures pre-1990 and post-2010, we conclude that these updated PAJID scores should prove attractive to scholars studying state courts during these periods and among those who desire additional state supreme court ideological data for robustness checks.

Political ideology and judicial administration: evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract We study the effect of political ideology on the administration of the judiciary by investigating how the chief judges of federal district courts set courthouse policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To do so, we use novel data on the geographic boundaries of federal courts and on the contents of pandemic orders. We account for state and local conditions and policies by leveraging district courts in states that have multiple judicial districts and that have courthouses in multiple counties, and we isolate the effect of chief ideology by using simulations that difference out unobserved district-level effects. We find no consistent evidence that the ideology of chief judges influenced courthouse closures and the authorization of a law allowing for remote proceedings, but we find strong evidence that Republican-appointed chief judges were less likely to require masks and more likely to suspend in-person trials.

Problematika Sengketa Tanah di Dati Wasila Ambon

Research focuses on dealing with land dispute issues in Dita Wasila Ambon's. Seeking the substance of the matter, the subject of law involved, the position of the dispute case, the court ruling and the follow-up of the execution of the court decision. The research location is at Dati Wasila Ambon. Qualitative methods based on case studies with a concentration on explanators as well as the use of single instruments. File obtained interview sources, observations and supporting documents, analysis techniques and data presentation are performed in a descriptive manner. The results of the research showed that the land dispute in Dati Wasila involved the landowners Wasawoy and Hatala. Mutual lawsuits at the green table from the Ambon State Court, the High Court to the Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court. The problem becomes more complicated when the land execution is carried out because of the many problems and stakeholders on the land; land boundaries that do not match the data, have been done licensing, the process of legalization of land certification. Dispute settlement is not enough with a court ruling alone but requires the involvement of land bodies, local governments, villages, indigenous figures and the public.

ПРО ЗАСТОСУВАННЯ СУДАМИ КАТЕГОРІЇ «ПУБЛІЧНИЙ ПОРЯДОК» ЩОДО РІШЕНЬ МІЖНАРОДНОГО КОМЕРЦІЙНОГО АРБІТРАЖУ

The article examines the negative tendency towards excessive interference of state courts of Ukraine in international commercial arbitration by cancelling and refusing to enforce arbitral awards on grounds that go beyond the principle of legal certainty as an element of the Rule of Law. It was concluded that the expansive interpretation of the category of public order, applied in some decisions of the Supreme Court, will prevent the normal functioning of international commercial arbitration as an alternative way of commercial disputes' resolution in Ukraine, which not only undermines the investment prospects of Ukraine's economy, but also destroys the possibility of classifying Ukraine as a legal systems of civilized countries of the world, creates ample opportunities for abuses in the process of contesting and recognizing in Ukraine decisions of international commercial arbitration. It is substantiated that a violation of public order as a basis for refusing to recognize and enforce international commercial arbitration awards in Ukraine can be qualified in the case of clear disregard for direct prohibitions established by the state regarding the protection of sovereignty, fundamental human rights and freedoms. One of the ways to solve these problems is to the establish a legal ban on the execution of an arbitral awards in favour of the occupying country and persons related with it. Types of violations of the arbitration procedure as grounds for contesting an international commercial arbitration award or refusing to enforce it are comprehensively regulated in the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York, 1958), and cannot be based on expansive interpretation by the court of the arbitration procedure from the point of view of compliance with the norms established by the Civil Procedure Code and the Economic Procedure Code of Ukraine.

Self‐efficacy, prosocial impact, and self‐legitimacy as psychological predictors of judicial officer performance

AbstractThe current work explores three potential facilitators of judicial performance. Participants in a state‐wide survey of judicial officers (response rate = 33.9 percent) completed self‐report measures of self‐efficacy, prosocial impact, and self‐legitimacy as well as subjectively perceived performance. Objective performance data collected by the state court administrative office were then merged with the survey data. Latent variable analysis confirmed the three predictor constructs' separability, and although all four concepts were correlated, self‐efficacy was the sole independent predictor of subjective performance. An unplanned mediation analysis suggested significant indirect effects of self‐legitimacy and prosocial impact on subjectively assessed performance through self‐efficacy. Regarding objective performance, self‐efficacy emerged as the only significant correlate or predictor. The research therefore empirically demonstrates the empirical distinctiveness of self‐efficacy, prosocial impact, and self‐legitimacy and provides some exploratory support for a causal model whereby self‐efficacy provides the proximal impact on performance but is itself facilitated by prosocial impact and self‐legitimacy.