Amicus briefs provide information to Supreme Court justices from an outside party and can be influential for this reason. A state, or states, with an interest in a case may file an amicus brief for one party or another appearing in front of the Court. Research has shown that the more states who join on a brief, the more impact it may have with the Justices. If one or a few states has an interest in a case and wants their brief to be considered how do they get other states to join on a brief? If a state has no interest in a case, why would or wouldn't it join with a state who did have an interest? In this paper, I look at amicus briefs filed in the United States Supreme Court by states either when a state is a party or when they took interest in the case by filing a brief. When considering these cases (131 of them) the question I seek to answer is does partisanship determine who joins on an amicus brief? In order to answer this question, I focus on social network analysis of the cases and states who file for each case. This method allows connections to be made between states as well as identifying the central or influential actors within the network. I find that states who file the most briefs are not necessarily the most influential and if partisanship plays a role, it does so at the individual level and not at the whole network level.

The subject matter of this study is an analytical review of the vocational training programmes operative in three penal institutions in British Columbia, namely: New Haven, Young Offenders' Unit, and Oakalla Prison Farm. Vocational training is examined in its relationship to the institutional programme as a whole, but more particularly in the light of its specific contribution to the rehabilitative process. The acquisition of marketable skills on the part of the inmate is socially significant in that he is able to return to civilian life and an area of gainful employment. In addition to his ability to maintain himself, he is able to accept his family and community responsibilities, and to relieve society of the burden. The methods used in arriving at the conclusions found in the study have been those of comparison and evaluation. The three penal institutions in question have been examined, and their vocational training facilities considered and analyzed for their effectiveness in this area. As a result of the study, it has become evident that there is very little vocational training actually done. That which has been called vocational training, however, is essential at the present time in that it represents a social work service. Vocational training is used in the way social work services are intended to be used. When enough social work services have been introduced, and the inmate is receiving the treatment he requires, vocational training may not play as vital a role in the programme as a whole, and may be considered as merely one of many approaches to the entire problem of rehabilitative therapy. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The devolution and judicialization movements of the past thirty years have dramatically changed the nature and structure of state-federal governmental relations. States and localities are now playing a larger role in the implementation and delivery of basic government services. Many state legislatures, such as Virginia's, because of their limited sessions and inadequate staff assistance, often leave the interpretation of complex, technical matters to state and local administrators. As a result, the role of state and local administrators in public policy formulation and implementation has become increasingly important. Often, these administrators work in a complex environment marked by unclear lines of authority and ambiguous law. The question then becomes, to whom do state and local executive branch officials turn to for assistance and legal interpretation when legislation or regulatory schemes are unclear? One answer is the state and federal judiciary, however the process of adjudication is often an ineffective instrument for solving complex administrative questions. The risk is that courts will create what Lon Fuller (1964) calls an "undanceable tune," one to which none of the participants know the steps necessary to keep in time with the judicial order. Building upon what Fuller (1964) referred to as the "distinctive competence" of certain legal institutions, this paper offers the opinion writing function of the state attorney general as a viable alternative to adjudication. All state attorneys general issue opinions. These opinions can shape policy and the development of law, partly because the opinions may be the only guidance on statutory or constitutional issues in the absence of prior litigation. Building upon the French Council of State, and using the state of Virginia as a model, this dissertation examines the guiding role that state attorney general opinions can play in resolving issues of ambiguity and statutory construction in various areas of public management and administration. Specifically, this dissertation will examine the influence of Virginia Attorney General Opinions from the years 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2000. The reason for choosing these years will be explained in Chapter One. The dissertation will conclude with a discussion of how state attorney general opinions contribute to the governance dialogue, as well as their potential as transmitters of what Rohr (1989) terms "regime values." / Ph. D.

In recent years, critics have argued that the California attorney general’s role in formulating ballot language opens the door to biased titles and summaries for statewide propositions. This paper examines the debate over the propriety of the attorney general’s role, using the largely unexamined case study of Proposition 58 (2016) to gain insight about the attorney general’s influence. In November 2016, voters in California – many in counties that supported Donald Trump – approved Prop. 58 with 73.5 percent of the vote. This proposition removed many restrictions on bilingual education programs in public schools. Eighteen years earlier, 61 percent of Californians had approved an initiative to restrict bilingual education in the state. This paper uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis to examine potential reasons for this swing in voting behavior on bilingual education policy, concluding that the attorney general’s ballot language most compellingly explains the bulk of this shift. As such, the paper suggests adding an extra check on the attorney general’s office during the ballot drafting process to ensure that Californians receive clear, impartial information on election day.

Magister Legum - LLM (Criminal Justice and Procedure) / Corruption is a global problem, which poses a serious threat to the development of countries and their people. Although its impact varies, all nations are facing the evils of corruption and, therefore, the international community calls upon states to take preventive and deterrent measures against corruption. For example, the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AU Convention) obligate their member states to have both legal and institutional frameworks for effectively fighting corruption.

La contestation du juge d'instruction qui s'est développée depuis plusieurs années a incontestablement trouvé son point d'orgue suite à l'affaire d'Outreau qui a mis en lumière toutes les dérives possibles de l'instruction préparatoire française. Au lendemain d'une nouvelle réforme de cette phase de la procédure pénale française à la faveur de la loi du 5 mars 2007 et de projets de loi quelques fois contrariés comme celui du rapport Léger de 2009, l'heure d'une évaluation du dispositif français de l'instruction semble venue. La loi nouvelle est-elle enfin parvenue à équilibrer et encadrer cette phase de notre procédure pénale française ? En d'autres termes, a-t-elle réussi là où les lois du 10 décembre 1985, du 4 janvier 1993 et du 15 juin 2000 (pour ne citer qu'elles) avaient échoué ? Ces travaux de recherche entendent mener une démarche d'évaluation législative. Il s'agira de voir dans quelle mesure la réforme adoptée et entrée progressivement en vigueur a permis de rompre avec l'état du droit antérieur. Il nous appartiendra également d'analyser dans quelle mesure les innovations adoptées (pôle de l'instruction, co-saisine, renforcement du contradictoire notamment dans le cadre des expertises, des interrogatoires, etc.) sont sujets à de véritables dysfonctionnements procéduraux. En d'autres termes, cette thèse a pour objectif d'étudier l'équilibre entre système inquisitoire et système accusatoire auquel est parvenu le droit français. Le principe d'opportunité des poursuites étant dans cette analyse remis en cause ; la voie de la réforme devant s'engager dans le sillage du principe de légalité des poursuites. Des propositions d'amélioration de notre droit positif de l'instruction pourront être formulées à la lumière de l'histoire du droit, du droit comparé et des enseignements qui pourront être tirés de la réussite de l'instruction dans des pays voisins comme l'Italie ou encore plus lointains comme le Canada. L'instruction française de demain peut sans doute s'enrichir d'idées et de mécanismes puisés hors de nos frontières à condition d'assurer l'intégration de ces propositions dans notre droit. Le projet de réforme que nous allons proposer est celui de l'instauration d'un parquet indépendant et autonome budgétairement se substituant à la fonction de juge d'instruction et donnant naissance à un nouvel acteur judiciaire : le procureur général de la République encore appelé procureur général de la Nation. À cette fin, un conseil de surveillance au sein même du Conseil supérieur de la Magistrature renouvelé, soit réformé sera crée gagnant tant en indépendance qu'en autonomie afin de suivre la voie d'une gouvernance judiciaire positive. / The challenge to the judge which has developed over several years has undoubtedly climaxed after the "Outreau" case which highlighted all the possible abuses of the preliminary French prosecuting process. In the wake of a new reform of this stage of the French criminal procedure in favor of the law of 5 March 2007 and bills sometimes rejected like the Leger 2009 report, the time evaluation of the French investigating procedure seems to have come. Has the new law finally been able to balance and regulate this stage of our French criminal procedure? In other words, has it succeeded where the laws of the 10th of December 1985, the 4th of January 1993 and the 15th of June 2000 (to mention only a few of them) had failed? This research intends to be the beginning of a process of legislative review. We shall study whether the adopted and gradually implemented reform has succeeded in breaking up with the former law practise. We shall also analyze up to what extent the adopted innovations (center of education, co-referral, strengthening the contradictory especially during expertises or questionings, etc..) are liable to actual procedural failures. In other words, this thesis aims at studying the balance between inquisitory and accusatory systems in the French law. In this study, the principle of discretionary prosecution shall be questioned; the way of reform must be paved in the wake of the principle of mandatory prosecution. Suggestions for improving our positive law of the investigation procedure may be made in the light of the history and the teaching of the law as well as in the comparison of the successful investigation procedures of neighbouring or more remote countries like Italy or Canada. The future French investigating procedure may take advantage of ideas and mechanisms from overseas if these proposals are integrated in our law. The reform scheme that we put forward establishes an independent and fiscally autonomous “parquet ou ministère public” replacing the function of the judge and giving birth to a new judiciary character: the Attorney General of the Republic, also called General Prosecutor of the Nation. For this purpose, a supervisory board within a renewed and reformed Superior Council of the Magistracy, with more autonomy or independence, will be created in order to open a new way of positive judicial governance.

This paper examines the Attorney General’s obligation, in Canada and New Zealand, to report on inconsistencies in proposed legislation with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. Although the obligations are similar, the Canadian and New Zealand Attorneys General have developed very different reporting cultures. The Canadian Attorney General has never issued a report; the New Zealand Attorney General has issued many. This paper’s thesis is that the different reporting cultures are attributable to the different constitutional structure in each jurisdiction and different understandings of the independence of the Attorney General. Under this analysis, the usefulness of comparative analysis between the two jurisdictions is limited: constitutional differences cannot be ignored. The paper evaluates proposed changes to the reporting obligation in each jurisdiction in light of this analysis.

This paper examines the Attorney General’s obligation, in Canada and New Zealand, to report on inconsistencies in proposed legislation with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. Although the obligations are similar, the Canadian and New Zealand Attorneys General have developed very different reporting cultures. The Canadian Attorney General has never issued a report; the New Zealand Attorney General has issued many. This paper’s thesis is that the different reporting cultures are attributable to the different constitutional structure in each jurisdiction and different understandings of the independence of the Attorney General. Under this analysis, the usefulness of comparative analysis between the two jurisdictions is limited: constitutional differences cannot be ignored. The paper evaluates proposed changes to the reporting obligation in each jurisdiction in light of this analysis.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:20:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ArquivoTotalEduardo.pdf: 2225806 bytes, checksum: f92c4341840725eee0f1d7a31310e090 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-10-09 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This research has the main objective to investigate the actions of knowledge and information management in the Federal Attorney General from the perspective of their contribution to the organization learning in this institution. Therefore, the present work aims, with as many details as possible, to identify the actions of knowledge and information management in the Federal Attorney General, verify if there are internal programs in this institution specifies to this purpose, describe the programs and actions of knowledge and information management and analyze their contribution to the organizational learning, as well as investigate the contribution to the formation of intellectual capital, arising from the initiatives of knowledge and information management. / Trata-se de pesquisa que possui como objetivo principal investigar as ações de gestão do conhecimento e informação na Procuradoria-Geral Federal na perspectiva de sua contribuição para o aprendizado organizacional da instituição. Assim sendo, o presente trabalho almeja, com a maior riqueza de detalhes possível, identificar as ações de gestão do conhecimento e informação na Procuradoria-Geral Federal, verificar a existência de programas internos na instituição específicos para essa finalidade, descrever os programas e as ações de gestão do conhecimento e informação e analisar sua contribuição para o aprendizado organizacional, bem como investigar a contribuição para a formação de capital intelectual, decorrente das iniciativas de gestão do conhecimento e informação.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is critical in the proper functioning of South Africa’s criminal justice system and upholding of the rule of law. And for it to play this critical role it must be independent from any external influence and manipulation and carry out its functions without fear, favour and prejudice. Once it allows external interference in its prosecutorial function it runs the risk of functioning with fear and favour of powerful forces in the society, thereby losing its independence. This may result in loss of trust in and support by the public of the rule of law. However, in recent history the NPA has taken decisions that raise questions about its independence. These questionable decisions involve high profile politicians and government officials who are, allegedly, involved in illegal and corrupt activities and practices, but are either not prosecuted, or credible cases against them are being suspiciously withdrawn. This state of affairs has caused uncomfortable allegations and counter allegations, all of which question the independence of the NPA, and these can no longer be ignored. State institutions, especially the security cluster, are allegedly heavily involved and the judiciary is threatened overtly when certain decisions go against some politicians. The study, therefore, is designed to investigate the extent to which the alleged interferences impact negatively with the administration of justice. It then assesses and evaluates the constitutional and legislative safeguards guaranteeing the independence of the NPA in order to determine if they are adequate enough to prevent the NPA from external executive and political interference in its prosecutorial decision-making function. To achieve this, the charging, prosecution and dropping of charges against Jacob Zuma, on various counts of corruption and other related matters will, inter alia, be the primary focus of the study. The study comes up with set of recommendations aimed at strengthening the integrity of the NPA, in particular, and the criminal justice system in general.