scholarly journals The Practice and Justifications of Plea Bargaining by Hong Kong Criminal Defence Lawyers

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 395-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Kwok-yin CHENG
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Plea Bargaining ◽  
The State ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Final Decision ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Practical Solution ◽  
Courtroom Workgroup ◽  
Official Discourse

AbstractUnlike Western common-law jurisdictions where plea bargaining has been acknowledged, official discourse in Hong Kong denies the existence of plea bargaining. However, defence lawyers are staunch supporters of its use behind the scenes. Using in-depth, semi-structured interviews with Hong Kong criminal defence lawyers, it was found that lawyers’ justifications are based on four main grounds: it is non-coercive because the final decision is left to the accused; negotiations avoid the risks of trials; plea bargaining is a practical solution that is in the best interests of the client and the state; and the courts implicitly tolerate the practice. The findings can be explained by Eisenstein and Jacob’s (1991) courtroom workgroup model. The present study seeks to bridge the gap in the literature where plea bargaining has only been discussed predominately in the context of Western common-law jurisdictions.

scholarly journals Professional identity of Wuhan and Hong Kong social workers: COVID-19 challenges and implications

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 297-304
Author(s):  
Yan-zhi Du ◽  
TM Simon Chan
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Four Levels

This reflexive essay focus on how COVID-19 has impacted the professional identity of social workers in Wuhan and Hong Kong. Exploratory and reflexive in nature, eight Wuhan social workers who comprised three males and five females, and seven Hong Kong social workers who comprised one male and six females were recruited for semi-structured interviews. Their experience in Wuhan and Hong Kong during COVID-19 were highlighted. The challenges to professional identity were analyzed and the reflection is categorized into four levels, namely, individual, community, educational and conceptual level. In sum, Wuhan interviewees were more struggled with educating the public on the difference between community work, volunteering and social work, especially at the hospitals, to protect the integrity of the social work profession which shows their commitment to their professional identity. Moreover, they found it difficult to position themselves in proactive online services, where hundreds of workers from different parts of the Mainland China would be involved. On the other hand, Hong Kong interviewees were more inclined to prioritize professional principles at levels that are even higher than those in standardized guidelines. Their goal is to take the best interests of their clients into consideration, and their self-reflections tend to focus more on professional judgement and development of the social work field, to pave the way for future enhancements. Finally yet importantly, the deficiencies of their education as evidenced by the pandemic have been made alarmingly explicit.

The Law of Contract

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Steiner
Keyword(s):  
Common Law ◽  
World Market ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Legal Certainty ◽  
Philosophical Foundations ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Law

This chapter examines the law of contract in France and discusses the milestone reform of French contract law. While this new legislation introduces a fresh equilibrium between the contracting parties and enhances accessibility and legal certainty in contract, it does not radically change the state of the law in this area. In addition, it does not strongly impact the traditional philosophical foundations of the law of contract. The reform, in short, looks more like a tidying up operation rather than a far-reaching transformation of the law. Therefore, the chapter argues that it is questionable whether the new law, which was also intended to increase France's attractiveness against the background of a world market dominated by the Common Law, will keep its promise.

Contract Formation in Hong Kong

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lusina HO
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Common Law ◽  
General Rule ◽  
Good Faith ◽  
Local Context ◽  
General Duty ◽  
Contract Formation ◽  
Formal Requirement ◽  
The Law

This chapter examines the law on contract formation in Hong Kong which is closely modelled on the English common law but adapts the English solutions to the local context if and when required. The test for ascertaining the parties’ meeting of the minds is objective, the agreement (an offer with a matching acceptance) must be certain, complete, and made with the intention to create legal relations—the latter being presumed to be present in a commercial context and absent in a familial or social context. Offers are freely revocable although the reliance of the offeree is protected in exceptional circumstances. Acceptances become effective as soon as they are dispatched. In the ‘battle of forms’ scenario, the Hong Kong courts follow the traditional ‘last-shot’ rule. There is no general duty to negotiate in good faith, and even agreements to negotiate in good faith are normally unenforceable for lack of certainty. As a general rule, contracts can be validly made without adhering to any formal requirement. Online contracts will normally be valid and enforceable; the formation of such contracts is governed by common law as supplemented by legislation.

Statehood and the State-Like in International Law

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rowan Nicholson
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
International Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Important Conclusion ◽  
Territorial Integrity ◽  
The Past ◽  
Imperial China ◽  
Peremptory Norms ◽  
Legal Sense

If the term were given its literal meaning, international law would be law between ‘nations’. It is often described instead as being primarily between states. But this conceals the diversity of the nations or state-like entities that have personality in international law or that have had it historically. This book reconceptualizes statehood by positioning it within that wider family of state-like entities. An important conclusion of the book is that states themselves have diverse legal underpinnings. Practice in cases such as Somalia and broader principles indicate that international law provides not one but two alternative methods of qualifying as a state: subject to exceptions connected with territorial integrity and peremptory norms, an entity can be a state either on the ground that it meets criteria of effectiveness or on the ground that it is recognized by all other states. Another conclusion is that states, in the strict legal sense in which the word is used today, have never been the only state-like entities with personality in international law. Others from the past and present include imperial China in the period when it was unreceptive to Western norms; pre-colonial African chiefdoms; ‘states-in-context’, an example of which may be Palestine, which have the attributes of statehood relative to states that recognize them; and entities such as Hong Kong.

scholarly journals An exploration into the opportunities and constraints for career progression into leadership roles for School Business Managers in the state sector in England

2021 ◽  
pp. 089202062199967
Author(s):  
Josephine Marchant
Keyword(s):  
Career Progression ◽  
The State ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Business Managers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
State Sector ◽  
Education Professionals ◽  
School Business ◽  
Survey Responses

Drawing on data from 116 survey responses by School Business Managers, and 7 semi-structured interviews with education professionals carried out between October 2017 and February 2018, this article reports on findings from a research project focussing on the opportunities and constraints for career progression into leadership roles for School Business Managers (SBMs) in the state sector in England. The article considers the differing roles and responsibilities of SBMs, how leadership is perceived in schools, the visibility of the SBM role, career aspirations of the SBMs who were surveyed, and the perceived constraints to progression to leadership roles. Analysis of the data was carried out using an inductive research approach using mixed methods. Snowballing was used to obtain a meaningful sample size for survey responses. Interviewees were chosen on the basis of judgement sampling. The sampling design for the survey and the interviews was one of non-probability. Findings suggest that leadership roles for SBMs do exist but that there are considerable constraints to these being achieved, not least the lack of appetite amongst SBMs to do so.

scholarly journals Planning for a neighborhood and city-scale green network system in Qatar: the case of MIA Park

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffaello Furlan ◽  
Brian R. Sinclair
Keyword(s):  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Landscape Fragmentation ◽  
The State ◽  
Network System ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Main Mode ◽  
The Past ◽  
Neighborhood Scale

AbstractIn the past decade, Doha has witnessed fast-urban growth, an increased population rate, and an over-reliance on the automobile as the main mode of urban transportation. These factors caused social and environmental problems related to (1) the loss of a compact urban pattern, (2) an increased level of air pollution (3) high traffic congestions and (4) increasing landscape fragmentation. In consideration of such concerns, The State of Qatar invested large funds into the urban landscape development of Doha, as envisioned by Qatar National Vision 2030. As a result, in the past five years various parks and/or green areas, such MIA Park, a major public green space located around the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), were planned and developed within metropolitan Doha. The authors argue that this park is currently facing issues and challenges related to (1) accessibility to/from the neighboring districts, and (2) connectivity to/from the neighboring parks. Therefore, this research study aims at assessing the existing conditions of MIA Park, at considering the broader city context and, at recommending strategies for implementing MIA Park’s green network system. It approached the investigative challenge using a multi-pronged comprehensive methodology, that deployed focus groups, semi-structured interviews and a comprehensive network analysis based on graph theory. The findings, revealed through these hybrid research tactics, allowed the researchers to generate a framework to enhance accessibility and connectivity of MIA Park through a green network system, planned at inter-related neighborhood-scale and city-scale levels. While the research examines most notably a single case, it is advocated that the proposed framework represents not just an optional feature pertaining to the case in Doha, but a valuable reference for the sustainable master planning of future cities in the State of Qatar and across the GCC. The paper proffers numerous key contributions, including the critical exploration of manufactured landscapes in Doha Qatar and the delineation of broadly applicable environmental design strategies to improve the fabric and livability of cities.

scholarly journals Density Guarantee on Finding Multiple Subgraphs and Subtensors

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Quang-huy Duong ◽  
Heri Ramampiaro ◽  
Kjetil Nørvåg ◽  
Thu-lan Dam
Keyword(s):  
Lower Bound ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Exact Methods ◽  
Practical Solution ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Real World Datasets ◽  
Tensor Data

Dense subregion (subgraph & subtensor) detection is a well-studied area, with a wide range of applications, and numerous efficient approaches and algorithms have been proposed. Approximation approaches are commonly used for detecting dense subregions due to the complexity of the exact methods. Existing algorithms are generally efficient for dense subtensor and subgraph detection, and can perform well in many applications. However, most of the existing works utilize the state-or-the-art greedy 2-approximation algorithm to capably provide solutions with a loose theoretical density guarantee. The main drawback of most of these algorithms is that they can estimate only one subtensor, or subgraph, at a time, with a low guarantee on its density. While some methods can, on the other hand, estimate multiple subtensors, they can give a guarantee on the density with respect to the input tensor for the first estimated subsensor only. We address these drawbacks by providing both theoretical and practical solution for estimating multiple dense subtensors in tensor data and giving a higher lower bound of the density. In particular, we guarantee and prove a higher bound of the lower-bound density of the estimated subgraph and subtensors. We also propose a novel approach to show that there are multiple dense subtensors with a guarantee on its density that is greater than the lower bound used in the state-of-the-art algorithms. We evaluate our approach with extensive experiments on several real-world datasets, which demonstrates its efficiency and feasibility.

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