This paper looks at Texas tort law reform to make claims regarding the relationship between Texas tort reform and damages recovered. Starting with reform in 1977, Texas has passed 15 pieces of legislation that, in principle, restrict the damages plaintiffs recover. Most empirical analyses have focused primarily on analyzing behavior resulting from the tort reform. In other cases, research has looked at the impact the most recent reform has had on damages recovered in medical malpractice lawsuits. This paper is the first to study the impact of Texas tort law reform on damages recovered while looking at the entirety of recent law reform in the state. Specifically, I test the impact of the 15 different laws on total allocated loss, economic loss, and noneconomic loss recovered in all cases from 1988-2012. My findings suggest that caps on medical liability damages are successful at decreasing damages recovered when the cap is geared at either noneconomic damages, or a total damage figure that excludes punitive damages. This suggests that future caps on medical liability damages should explicitly cap either economic or noneconomic damages. Next, the results imply that caps on punitive damage legislature were most successful when using specific value caps paired with an evidence standard—caps of this nature decreased total damages by 28% in 1987 and 85% in 1995. Finally, an introductory legislation restricting the use of joint and several liability in cases when plaintiffs had little guilt was successful, it decreased total damages by 18.6%. This was followed by three failed attempts to impact the application of joint and several liability where the guilt threshold was higher, suggesting that joint and several liability is rarely used if the plaintiff has substantial guilt.

No description available.

The thesis is a historical study from a socio-legal perspective of debates about, and developments in, criminal investigation law in NSW since 1945. In that period, the NSW parliament has enacted extensive criminal investigation powers and safeguards. This can be seen as the result of the increasing political sensitivity of 'law and order'. Politicians have sought to exercise (and demonstrate) greater control over the criminal justice system. Legislation has been employed to provide a framework for police actions, and to define a role for others, including judges, magistrates and the Ombudsman. Political focus on law and order has also reversed the incentive structure for the police hierarchy. In the 1950s, there were strong incentives not to push for extra powers, lest policing practices and effectiveness receive unwanted scrutiny. In the 1970s, police were dragged into debate about their powers, in the face of the 'authorise and regulated' model suggested by numerous inquiries. More recently, police organisations have often initiated calls for new powers, in part to explain past failings. Another important factor driving debate and reform in recent decades has been the proliferation of oversight agencies, and academic insights that have debunked the 'rotten apple' paradigm. The Federal Government and Parliament have also been increasingly active in what would once have been considered purely State/Territory realms of criminal justice law and politics. These major influences have been coupled with a host of others, including the impact of a series of Royal Commission and law reform reports, the ongoing war on drugs, and the campaign against police verbals in the 1970s and 1980s. The examination of the forces that have influenced debate and reform yields other insights. For example, the complexity of the phenomenon of 'non-reform' is apparent from an examination of debates about policing in the 1950s. Prevailing trends in law and order politics (eg, that populist politics supports additional powers) can be seen to be anchored in the contemporary political context rather than being timeless truths. The multiple roles of law, in governing relationships between state agencies and actors, not just between police and suspects, are also highlighted.

Since the end of the 20th century the protection better known to all as double jeopardy has been under attack. With public pressure put on the United Kingdom government to address individuals who had been acquitted of violent crimes, the Labour government implemented a radical overhaul of common law criminal procedural protections. The reform created an exception to double jeopardy, allowing re-prosecution of acquitted individuals. Many of the commonwealth countries starting with Australia took the U.K. exceptions and adopted them into their own criminal justice systems. This paper is going to look at the exception created, and the factors that lead to the bypass of such a critical legal protection throughout the commonwealth nations. Then analyze the current state of double jeopardy in Canada to determine if such and exception is needed; or if any factors from the exception can be adapted to strengthen the Canadian criminal justice system.

Since the end of the 20th century the protection better known to all as double jeopardy has been under attack. With public pressure put on the United Kingdom government to address individuals who had been acquitted of violent crimes, the Labour government implemented a radical overhaul of common law criminal procedural protections. The reform created an exception to double jeopardy, allowing re-prosecution of acquitted individuals. Many of the commonwealth countries starting with Australia took the U.K. exceptions and adopted them into their own criminal justice systems. This paper is going to look at the exception created, and the factors that lead to the bypass of such a critical legal protection throughout the commonwealth nations. Then analyze the current state of double jeopardy in Canada to determine if such and exception is needed; or if any factors from the exception can be adapted to strengthen the Canadian criminal justice system.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration, August 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Drawing upon court files in the Liaoning Provincial Archives, this dissertation addresses the question of the transformation of the civil justice system in Fengtian Province in the early twentieth century. Fengtian Province was among the few provinces where judicial-legal reforms were first launched during the late Qing's New Policies period. In the early Republic, judicial-legal reforms were continuously pursued under the governance of the warlord Zhang Zuolin. The accommodation of judicial-legal modernity within warlord politics was a result of the simultaneous presence of local elite activism, nationalism and the dominance of republican ideology. / To demonstrate judicial-legal modernity in this frontier province, this dissertation covers four main areas: the bureaucratization of the court system and mediation mechanism; the formalization of civil procedures; the "discovery" and modernization of custom in judicial process; and the narrowing of the power disparity in gender in divorce law and practice. / The bureaucratization of the court system reveals not only the tendency of separating judicial power from executive power, but also the professionalization of judicial officials, including lower-level judicial personnel. The bureaucratization of mediation locates the point at wards under the ward-village system implemented in the 1920s by the Fengtian provincial authority. The ward head, as a salaried sub-village government official was able to exercise his power to mediate civil disputes. This point epitomizes the early effort made by the modern state to interfere in the arena of popular justice. The formalization of civil procedures reflects the transformation of court practice from a simple, customary way of finding facts and applying laws to a practice guided by a complex, codified procedural law based on a Germanic-Japanese model. In speaking of the "discovery" and modernization of custom, I address not only the phenomena of "discovering" local customs and recognizing them as a source of authority for adjudicating cases by judges who had modern legal training, but also of the elaborate, selective screening policy towards custom, ushered in by the Supreme Court due to their concern with public policy and social morals. Narrowing the power disparity in gender is examined in the light of changes to divorce law and practice. By following the precedents laid down by the Supreme Court, the lower courts attempted to readdress the unbalanced power relationship between men and women inherited from Qing law.

Thesis (LL.M.). / Written for the Faculty of Law. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2009/06/17). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (L.L.M. (Law))--Rhodes University, 2006.

Magister Legum - LLM / South Africa has come a long way from the rigid family structures which existed in the past. This is demonstrated by the recognition afforded to couples in same-sex relationships as well as those in customary marriages. Proposals have also been set forth regarding law reform to protect the rights and interests of those involved in domestic partnerships. The Domestic Partnership Bill was promulgated in 2008 but to date has not been passed into law. The ensuing consequence is that cohabitation relationships are therefore self-regulated. This relationship has no legal status as a union in South Africa. The court have, however, recognised that a universal partnership could be established if certain criteria are met. Furthermore, heterosexual couples are now also recognised as a "dependant" in actions against the Road Accident Fund for loss of support as a result of death of the breadwinner. Unlike South Africa, cohabitation in Sweden is regulated by a dedicated law called the Cohabitees Act 2003. The Act provides comprehensive protection than that afforded to cohabitants in South Africa. It offers a clear definition of cohabitation and criteria in order to qualify as a cohabitee. The Act, further, regulates the proprietary consequences of entering into such a relationship and the effects of termination. Cohabitation has status as a legal union in Sweden. My research will deal with non-formalised cohabitation and a comparison shall be made between the current systems in South Africa and Sweden. My work will suggest that the statutory model of regulation in Sweden may provide a solution for South Africa. In South Africa, cohabiting couples are not afforded the same rights as married couples. In contrast, married couples are afforded rights automatically as a result of the institution. Unmarried partners have no automatic duty of support, to acquire an interest each other's separate property and a cohabitee may not inherit intestate from the estate in the event of death of one of the partners. In Sweden, intimate relationships are treated similarly to married relationships, with the law applying the principle of "neutrality" with regard to its family laws. Several cases have emerged recently in South Africa which will provide a clearer understanding of the current state of the law. The reason for undertaking this study is to illustrate the changing mores of society and the necessity of the law to keep up with these values. As South Africa has not yet passed its domestic partnership law it may be useful to compare it to Sweden in order provide South Africa with a possibly better approach. Sweden has passed laws on cohabitation and these have been in place for years. Thus we might still learn from them prior to our law being passed. Legislative and judicial activity have soared recently and it may be beneficial to look at another jurisdiction more carefully. These observations will be undertaken more comprehensively in the body of the thesis.