Statutory Action Research Articles

Trust And Governance in a Rethinking of Classical Knowledge Management Paradigms: Toolkits for Public Sector During the COVID-19 Emergency

The post Covid-19 world is characterized by new technologies and a smart city approach. For this reason, the public sector must shift from the classic paradigms to a new way, following a Knowledge Management (KM) approach, to perform its role in dealing with emergency situations. Starting from classical KM models, we conducted a regional case study, showing how the process of rethinking is boosted by citizens’ needs and pushed by the trust of the stakeholders in the central authority. In fact, as highlighted by part of the international literature, local authorities’ planning aims to achieve public value and alignment between stakeholders and policy making represents one of the main goals to be achieved. With an OLS regression we estimated the correlation between the trust of citizens and the statutory actions taken by central and peripheral government, showing that only with the alignment of public policies and the will of the citizens is it possible to overcome a crisis. Moreover, we underline the gaps in the literature and the missing links, with the aim of creating a KM model that can also be applied in the near future.

Assembly and Curation of Lists of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) to Support Environmental Science Research.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of man-made chemicals of global concern for many health and regulatory agencies due to their widespread use and persistence in the environment (in soil, air, and water), bioaccumulation, and toxicity. This concern has catalyzed a need to aggregate data to support research efforts that can, in turn, inform regulatory and statutory actions. An ongoing challenge regarding PFAS has been the shifting definition of what qualifies a substance to be a member of the PFAS class. There is no single definition for a PFAS, but various attempts have been made to utilize substructural definitions that either encompass broad working scopes or satisfy narrower regulatory guidelines. Depending on the size and specificity of PFAS substructural filters applied to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) DSSTox database, currently exceeding 900,000 unique substances, PFAS substructure-defined space can span hundreds to tens of thousands of compounds. This manuscript reports on the curation of PFAS chemicals and assembly of lists that have been made publicly available to the community via the EPA's CompTox Chemicals Dashboard. Creation of these PFAS lists required the harvesting of data from EPA and online databases, peer-reviewed publications, and regulatory documents. These data have been extracted and manually curated, annotated with structures, and made available to the community in the form of lists defined by structure filters, as well as lists comprising non-structurable PFAS, such as polymers and complex mixtures. These lists, along with their associated linkages to predicted and measured data, are fueling PFAS research efforts within the EPA and are serving as a valuable resource to the international scientific community.

The social protection of children in the activities of the government organizations in east of Ukraine

Summary The article examines the organization of local governments in the system of social protection of children in communities. The biggest challenge for the authorities, during an armed conflict is to create a safe environment for children and for those families who have lives in situation and need social assistance. As the analysis of theoretical and practical material and legislation shows, the support of international standards for child protection by the government contributes to reforms in Ukraine, which leads to the search for additional resources in communities and beyond. The author defines the concept of «social protection» as a set of statutory guarantees and actions by public authorities aimed at equalizing the situation of citizens regardless of age with other members of society in cases of social, political and other risks. A brief description of the legal framework, which determines the need for social protection of children, as well as a list of government agencies responsible for identifying a child in need of social protection. The author characterizes the groups of risk factors to which children are exposed in a peaceful life, and which are exacerbated in extreme situations. The protection of children in the study is presented in the form of circles that create a protective environment and which are violated or become fragmentary in emergencies. Necessary conditions for the social protection are the establishment and development of interaction and partnership between local governments, the executive branch, socio-pedagogical institutions and public organizations; creation of a system of social services in the territorial community, including for the protection of children. This is especially true in the context of the ongoing the military conflict in Eastern Ukraine, when threats increase tenfold and resources, unfortunately, are limited.

Criminal-executive characteristics and social-legal conditionality of negative duties of convicts sentenced to deprivation of liberty for a fixed term.

The article deals with criminal-executive characteristics and social-legal conditionality of negative duties of convicts sentenced to deprivation of liberty for a fixed term. It is noted that the social-legal significance of duties of convicts sentenced to deprivation of liberty for a fixed term is that they are means of forming the moral and legal consciousness of convicts, strengthening law and order, discipline and organization during serving a punishment. The essence of the legal duties of convicts is to require the necessary conduct from the point of view of the state, government and the law. This behavior of convicts is obligatory, indisputable and ensured by measures of state coercion. Such measures of state coercion include the establishment of the possibility of bringing convicts for failure to comply with their duties to legal liability of various types (disciplinary, material, criminal). The analysis of the legal nature of the legal duties of convicts testified to their two-element content (structure), namely: first, it is the need to take certain actions (positive duties); secondly, the need to refrain from performing statutory actions (negative duties). The article establishes that the activity of the colony staff to control the observance of negative duties by convicts has not only a criminal-executive, but also a criminological aspect and is aimed not only at achieving the purpose of punishment and criminal-executive legislation, but also at preventing convicts from committing offenses (including criminal ones) while serving punishments. The social-legal conditionality of the imposition of legal duties on convicts sentenced to deprivation of liberty is given, the main function of which is a special-preventing (criminological). It is noted that one of the main differences between the duties of convicts and their rights is that failure to comply the first ones has undesirable consequences for a person – the fact of bringing convicts to legal liability, which is differentiated by disciplinary, material, criminal.

Ograniczenia jawności postępowania w sprawach cywilnych w dobie pandemii ? potrzeba chwili czy trwałe rozwiązanie?

Pandemia koronawirusa, wprowadzanie tzw. lockdownu i daleko idących ograniczeń społecznych dały asumpt do podjęcia działań ustawowych z jednej strony ułatwiających i propagujących przeprowadzanie rozpraw online, z drugiej jednak dezawuujących rolę i rangę zasady jawności na rzecz realizacji postulatu szybkości i sprawności postępowania. Zasada jawności postępowania formalnie zagwarantowana w art. 45 Konstytucji RP oraz potwierdzona w przepisach ustrojowych staje się, na skutek coraz liczniejszych odstępstw wprowadzanych do przepisów procesowych, zasadą pozorną. Kontestowanie wprowadzanych rozwiązań jest jednak trudne w świetle argumentu, że mechanizmy te mają mieć charakter tymczasowy, a ustawodawca kieruje się potrzebą ochrony konstytucyjnych wartości w postaci bezpieczeństwa, porządku i zdrowia publicznego. Dążenie do usprawniania przebiegu postępowań sądowych i zapewnienia operatywności instytucji procesowych wielokrotnie wiąże się z potrzebą oraz koniecznością ważenia wartości i pryncypiów. Od legislatora nie należy żądać utrzymywania sztywnych i niezmiennych zasad w ich czystej formie, lecz powinno się oczekiwać dbałości o to, żeby wprowadzane instytucje nie zaprzeczały fundamentalnym regułom obowiązującym w danej dziedzinie prawa.

Copyright Term Extension: Good Morning to You Productions v Warner/Chappell Music

This chapter focuses on a widely reported case related to the famous folk song ‘Happy Birthday to You’. Written in the late 19th century, the tune was held in copyright by a series of amendments and statutory actions which rendered the world’s most popular song unable to fall into the public domain. This Southern District of New York case allows the chapter to ponder the ever-lengthening copyright term (most commonly life + 70) and point out the absurdity of protecting a work for over a century. Term extension and copyright complexities upset the fair balancing of interests that is taken into consideration by traditional welfare incentive theory when regulating intellectual property rights. Copyright extension and expansion lead to commodification of intellectual assets, which, at least in case of retroactive copyright extension, find no justification in welfare incentive theory and economic analysis of law. Derangement from this theoretical approach, and from proportional balancing of competing interests at stake, then, increasingly exacerbates the ‘intellectual property paradox’ by eroding access and emphasizing protection, while creating a vast array of negative externalities, including depriving the public of the ‘public domain effect’, orphan works, and chilling effects on free speech. In sum, overextended—and overexpanded—copyright protection fundamentally detaches modern copyright policy from its pristine civic purposes and anti-monopolistic sentiments.

Education and families experiencing the problem of domestic violence - between engagement and indifference

Discussions about the support system for children experiencing violence have been taking place both on an international forum as well as locally in Poland. (Zmarzlik, 2011; Wójcik, 2013; Jarosz, 2007; Jarosz, 2008; Jarosz, 2018; Dąbrowska, 2012). The questions about who should undertake tasks in this area and what their scope and type should be are still unresolved. Individuals who work with abused children agree that teachers may be an important link in the support system due to their role. The purpose of the current study is to examine the tasks of the school in the context of the experience of children growing up in a family with a problem of domestic violence. In contemporary discourses on preventing domestic violence against children, the active participation of the children themselves in creating solutions in this area is increasingly emphasized. Due to the participatory and emancipatory character of the project, the current research represents the paradigm of qualitative methodology and, within it, the assumptions of radical humanism. The final result is a description which includes answers to the above research questions and an analysis of legal and statutory actions aimed at social emancipation through education and participation of individuals experiencing domestic violence. In light of international standards of support for abused children, education can and should play a significant support role. Education and participation are considered significant factors in the social emancipation of children - victims of domestic violence - and their families. However, in the perception of individuals experiencing violence, schools do not effectively fulfill their role in this respect. It seems that the place a teacher will take in the process of supporting abused children and their families will depend largely on how the teachers themselves define their own role, as well as on the appropriate legislative solutions for their education. I think that the curricula of teachers’ studies should not only include obligatory exercises in cooperation procedures and communication skills workshops, but they should also address issues shaping active attitudes towards the situations the teachers will find themselves in over the course of their careers.

Recent Trends in Junk Food Intake in U.S. Children and Adolescents, 2003–2016

In the U.S., there is no consensus of how to define junk food. Strict regulations on what constitutes junk food denoted by front-of-package labels can serve as the basis for statutory actions. Chile was the first country to adopt this approach, and several countries have followed suit. This study examined the proportion of calories and nutrients of concern consumed by U.S. children and adolescents defined as junk food using the Chilean label criteria and the changes between 2003 and 2016. Data were obtained from 4 nationally representative food intake surveys in 13,016 U.S. children and adolescents: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2004, 2005-2006, 2013-2014, and 2015-2016, with analysis performed in 2019. Nutritional content of each consumed food was compared with nutrient thresholds from the Chilean regulation for energy, saturated fat, total sugars, and sodium per 100 g. Between 2003 and 2016, there was a 10 percentage point decrease (71.1%-61.3%, p<0.01) in the proportion of foods consumed that were classified as junk food. A significant decrease was seen in mean intake of calories (1,610-1,367 kcal/day, p<0.01), total sugar (88.8-64.2 g/day, p<0.01), saturated fat (22.6-20.5 g/day, p<0.01), and sodium (2,306-2,044 mg/day, p<0.01). Although junk food intake has decreased since 2003-2006, diets of U.S. children and adolescents remain dominated by less-healthy foods. These results can help guide policy regulations regarding foods and beverages accessible in schools and marketed to children, adolescents, and their caregivers.

The importance of social economy practice for the development of social capital of local self-governments in the perspective of labour market security

The development of local communities, the future of the Republic of Poland is a matter requiring the integration of hands, hearts and minds, a sense of rights and obligations of all citizens. With this awareness and the need for action to rebuild ties in local communities, the General Meeting of the Beskidy Association of Ecological Production and Tourism BEST PROEKO in 2014 adopted a resolution on statutory actions to counteract the spreading social pathology and social exclusion of the unemployed and disadvantaged people, which resulted in the creation of the first Social Integration Centre in the district of Żywiec in Jeleśnia. It is a coherent, integrated and coherent measure that fits into the Development Strategy of the Silesian Voivodeship "Śląskie 2020+" in the area of social economy and fulfils the mission to create a necessary platform for cooperation for local partnership in order to improve the quality of life of persons in need of comprehensive support on the way to return to decent living and to social and professional activity. The Beskidzki Congress of Social Economy had the task of bottom-up evaluation of the activity of social economy entities of the Polish Social Economy and analysis of conditions and needs in terms of legal and organizational changes to improve their functioning in a coherent and integrated local partnership in the space of socio-economic life of the inhabitants of the Podbeskidzie region.

Damages Arising from Contraventions of Competition Act 89 of 1998

Persons who have suffered loss or damage as a result of a prohibited practice in terms of the Competition Act 89 of 1998 (the Act) have the right to recover such damage in the civil courts. This right is expressly provided for in section 65 of the Act. To date South Africa has failed to usher in an efficient and effective environment for section 65 civil damages actions, despite growing success being achieved by the competition authorities in uncovering and prosecuting firms for contraventions of the Act, including prohibited practices. Understanding how section 65 rights might be vindicated and whether South Africa's damages regime is adequate to deal with potentially complex damages actions within the realm of competition law contraventions, a starting point would be to gain certainty as to the classification of the nature of section 65 damages. This article seeks to evaluate the arguments of whether these damages actions should be properly classified as statutory or delictual actions by the South African civil courts.&#x0D; &#x0D;

Federal Supremacy and State Jurisdictional Duties

Federal Courts scholarship often focuses on access to federal courts for the decision of federal claims. At the same time, many Federal Courts scholars insist that state courts must hear affirmative federal causes of action, even when the lower federal courts are open to the same claims—the very federal courts regarded by such scholars as superior to state courts. This article takes issue with suggestions that the state courts have broad duties to entertain affirmative federal claims, whether statutory or constitutional. There is little early support for requiring state courts to entertain affirmative federal statutory and constitutional claims, and considerable evidence against it. In the twentieth century, however, the Court began to compel state courts to take jurisdiction of certain federal statutory actions in a line of cases associated with Testa v. Katt. Such compulsion, however, was not justified by the Supremacy Clause or related arguments. The Court also occasionally required state courts to provide certain constitutionally necessary affirmative remedies, in a different line of cases associated with General Oil v. Crain. The constitutionally compelled remedies strand was based on a requirement that the states supply adequate remedies for certain federal constitutional violations, rather than a Supremacy-based command that the states provide the same causes of action that the federal courts provide, as under Testa. The effect of more recent Supreme Court decisions such as Haywood v. Drown and scholarly proposals following the Court’s 2016 decision in Montgomery v. Louisiana threaten to submerge the Crain line of cases into the Testa line, possibly requiring greater state court conformity with federal courts as to causes of action for raising constitutional claims. Such uniformity, however, threatens to diminish the role of the states in fashioning different solutions to problems of governmental illegality. State variation may be all the more important in light of frequently-voiced dissatisfaction with the Court’s federal habeas corpus doctrine and constitutional tort doctrine under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. State court duties thus will not necessarily enhance the enforcement of federal constitutional law, and might actually undermine it.

The Effect of State Solvency on Bank Values and Credit Supply: Evidence from State Pension Cut Legislation

We find the financial condition of states impacts bank credit supply through their municipal bond holdings. In particular, we treat sudden political and statutory actions during the 2011 union bargaining rights debates in Wisconsin and Ohio as exogenous shocks to state solvency. We show bank valuations and municipal bond spreads adjust to the announcements, and, over longer horizons, a new lending channel linked to state solvency emerges, whereby banks supply credit as municipal bond appreciations free up capital.

Achieving Gender Balance on British Boards with the Soft-Law Approach: Directors’ Perspective

A soft-law approach is followed in the UK for improving gender diversity on boards. Regulatory authorities recommend voluntary targets and companies endeavour to achieve them. In this paper, the authors present the result of a study exploring the causes and solutions of gender homogeneity on British boards. The paper is based on thirty-three interviews with board members of FTSE 350 companies. It posits that British boards have been gender homogeneous due to discrimination against women, a lack of confidence among women and a lack of objectivity in nomination processes. Hence regulatory intervention is warranted to improve gender diversity on boards. However, the current soft-law approach is the best-suited strategy due to established institutional processes. Also, there is an increasing demand for more intrusive statutory action if the current approach fails to achieve gender parity on boards, soon enough. The paper contributes to Institutional theory, public policy and corporate praxis.

PM 7/28 (2) Synchytrium endobioticum

Specific scopeThis Standard describes a diagnostic protocol for Synchytrium endobioticum.This Standard should be used in conjunction with PM 7/76 Use of EPPO diagnostic protocols.Specific approval and amendmentApproved in 2003‐09. Revision approved in 2017‐06.

Rurality, Nigeria's massification policy on access to basic education and turnover causations amongst teachers

World Bank’s data indicate 70 per cent of the African population lives in rural areas. Additional evidence made available by the African Development Bank [Africa’s own version of the World Bank] suggests 65 per cent of Africa’s urban dwellers live in slums. This paper relies on these data to conceptualise Africa’s global rurality and issues around access to basic education in Nigeria – as a situation where systemic infrastructure deficit and socio-economic issues constrain access to the delivery of a decent basic education to the populace. Further reflection on the World Bank data shows about one-third of Nigeria’s school-age children are still out of school, and that school attendance was as low as 43 per cent in some regions. Elements of rurality, such as access issues, poverty and a lack of systemic motivation, are the main causes. Thus, confronting the challenges of access to basic education is a major project for the Nigerian government. Several efforts around this have been introduced (since 2004). A larger mass of out-of-school population [i.e. school age and adult population who have not had a chance to access or complete basic education previously] are now able to receive education. The massification efforts [defined as a combination of policies and statutory actions dedicated to a massive increase in student enrolment] have resulted in significant rise in enrolment numbers in elementary and high schools. Enrolments have risen by 31 per cent in elementary schools and doubled in high schools between 2000 and 2010. However, pre-existing issues have often diminished the incentive to achieve the greater goals of massification efforts. Intense poverty, issues relating to access infrastructure, poor resourcing in schools and teachers’ motivation to remain or quit their roles are among the widespread problems. This study reviews literature on one of such issues: causations of teachers’ intention to quit, and the logical relationships between turnover causations and the concept of rurality in the Nigerian basic education policy. Findings on these objectives are critical. Useful contributions are made in this paper to extant body of knowledge on the concept of global rurality by providing framework upon which further (finer-grained) analysis could be conducted to ascertain the statistical relationship between turnover causations and teachers’ demographic variables. Educational administrators and development fund administrators will find the findings useful.

A Chip Off the Old Block or a New Direction for Payment Cards Security? The Chip &amp; PIN Debate, Apple Pay, and the Law &amp; Economics of Preventing Payment Card Fraud

The issue of consumer payments and data security has reached a high level of public and regulatory interest as a result of a number of recent high-profile data breaches that compromised consumer payment card numbers, such as at Target, Home Depot, and Michael’s. In addition, the ecosystem of consumer payments security has changed dramatically in recent years as a result of the introduction and rapid spread of contactless payment technologies, such as ApplePay. In response to growing concerns about payments fraud, payment card networks in the United States have moved toward the rapid replacement of traditional magnetic stripe payment card technology to new EMV computer chip-based technology, which creates a unique encrypted identifier for each transaction, thereby making it more difficult for thieves to steal card numbers and create counterfeit cards. Notably, however, American card issuers and networks have chosen not to adopt the PIN method of verification that has been standard in the United Kingdom and much of Europe for the past decade or so, but instead have adopted signature as the preferred method of customer verification. Many large retail chains and retail trade associations have nevertheless lobbied for regulatory or statutory action to impose a PIN-verification requirement in addition to the addition of EMV chips. This article conducts an economic analysis of the regulation of consumer payment cards and payment cards fraud. We examine the marginal benefits from heightened levels of payment cards security (such as requiring PIN verification for purchases) and marginal costs as well, such as the impact on speed, convenience, and functionality for consumers and merchants, especially uptake of electronic payments by smaller merchants. We examine the dynamic evolution of payment cards anti-fraud technology over time and suggest that there is little evidence of market failure in the provision of payments security by card networks and issuers and little reason to believe that mandating one exclusive, decades old, static verification technology (namely Chip & PIN) would be likely to improve overall consumer welfare and economic efficiency today. We conclude that rather than blindly adopting the particular verification technology Europe put into place many years ago, U.S. regulators should be alert to the evolving and contemporary nature of consumer payments and fluid nature of threats to data privacy and not freeze or hamper the adaptability of the payments system.

A quickscan pest risk analysis for the Meloidogyne mali

A quickscan pest risk analysis for the apple root-knot nematode Meloidogyne mali for the territory of Ukraine was performed. This assessment was initiated in response to the recent (2012/2013) interception of the apple root-knot nematode in the Netherlands and Italy and because of the species inclusion on the EPPO Alert List in 2014. The risk of M. mali introduction, establishment and economic impact in Ukraine was assessed as likely, which proved the need for specific statutory actions to be taken to prevent ingress of the apple root-knot nematode and mitigate its effects in Ukraine. It is stated that the detailed pest risk analysis is required.

A quickscan pest risk analysis for the Meloidogyne mali

&#x0D; A quickscan pest risk analysis for the apple root-knot nematode Meloidogyne mali for the territory of Ukraine was performed. This assessment was initiated in response to the recent (2012/2013) interception of the apple root-knot nematode in the Netherlands and Italy and because of the species inclusion on the EPPO Alert List in 2014. The risk of M. mali introduction, establishment and economic impact in Ukraine was assessed as likely, which proved the need for specific statutory actions to be taken to prevent ingress of the apple root-knot nematode and mitigate its effects in Ukraine. It is stated that the detailed pest risk analysis is required.&#x0D;

Adenocystic Carcinoma as a Molecular Variant of Albino Skin Cancer

Background: Albinism is an established risk factor for skin cancer in Black Africans, especially squamous carcinoma. Main observations: I present 17 albinos with histologic diagnosis of adenocystic carcinoma who were seen at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria, from 1979 to 2008. Two hundred and eight patients constituted the entire series. Out of them, the 17 adenocystic carcinomas were selected for special study. This showed an age range of 25 years to 63 years (mean, 41 years). Eleven were males and six females, i.e., M/F ratio of 2:1 approximately. The lesions measured from 3 cm to 11 cm, the average being roughly 5 cm. Of the sites affected, the head preponderated in two-thirds of the cases. Conclusion: Albinism of the adenocystic carcinoma type should be recognized alongside the more frequent squamous carcinomas. However, no albino should suffer skin cancer let alone one reaching up to 5 cm across. This is possible with implementation of preventive public education strategies, including maternal care, empowerment of women, and indoor employment of albinos, this being a statutory action of Government.

The Effects of Sexual Harassment in Workplace: Experience of Employees in Hospitality Industry in Terengganu, Malaysia

The issue of sexual harassment has certainly become more prominent in the last decade. As the increasing number of cases reported, many countries have taken statutory action to recognize it as an insultive conduct and at the same time to punish and prevent it. In the hotel industry particularly, sexual harassment has frequently reported as a key problem. Working in the hospitality industry often involves an employee with a number of different people in the course of delivering service. Thus, this study aims to investigate the relationship between aweraness of sexual harrasment in relation to the employment in hospitality industry in Terengganu. A total of 260 respondents were selected from the employees in various hotels and resorts in Terengganu. Three predictors, offensive behavior, sexual coercion, risk on human factor, were found to have medium to strong correlation with the dependent variables namely employment. The regression analysis also shows that offensive behavior, sexual coercion, risks on human factor are positively and significantly related to employment. The researcher suggests that human resource managers in the hotels and resorts should formulate, in consultation with Malaysian law and labour relations experts, in order to improve sexual harassment policies. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n4s2p689