Judicial appointments in Ireland: the potential for reform

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Cahillane
Keyword(s):  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Judicial Appointments ◽  
The Government ◽  
Current Procedure ◽  
Opposition Parties

Laura Cahillane’s chapter aims is to consider the current procedure for judicial appointments and put forward some tentative suggestions for reform in an attempt to begin a debate on this area. Part II of the chapter examines problems with the existing system for judicial appointments, including their political nature, the lack of transparency in existing processes, the lack of diversity in existing appointments, and limitations inherent in the process. The chapter then considers several possible avenues for reform, including reducing the number of names which the appointments board can recommend, introducing an obligation to interview candidates, consider the possibility of ranking candidates, require the Government to publish reasons for its choice, involve opposition parties, reform membership of the appointments board, amend eligibility criteria and require the board to consider questions of diversity.

Executive-judicial tensions will rise in Argentina

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
The Other ◽  
Supreme Court Justice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform ◽  
Judicial Appointments ◽  
Procedure Code ◽  
The Government ◽  
The One ◽  
Opposition Parties

Significance While initial reports suggest a suicide, the case highlights tensions between the executive on the one hand, and the judicial branch and opposition parties on the other -- tensions already rekindled by the recent resignation of Supreme Court Justice Eugenio Raul Zaffaroni. Disputes over the government-backed criminal justice reform, as well as serious accusations -- including impeachment requests -- against Procurator General Alejandra Gils Carbo, suggest executive-judicial relations will be uneasy at least until the presidential hand-over in December. Impacts The president, who has as yet appointed no Supreme Court judges, may attempt to negotiate unilaterally with some opposition parties. The executive faces several court defeats, particularly over the Criminal Procedure Code and temporary judicial appointments. The government will use the Secretariat of Intelligence to try to mitigate the judicial offensive against allies.

Uganda’s opposition will gain ground despite poll loss

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Legal Challenges ◽  
The Government ◽  
Opposition Parties

Significance The opposition has rejected the results and is preparing legal challenges to Museveni’s victory. Impacts NRM internal cohesion will fray as Museveni becomes a more polarising figure in national politics. The NRM will increasingly try to co-opt opponents to neutralise the growing momentum and collaboration among opposition parties. The government will likely launch developmental efforts to tackle youth unemployment and thus avert unrest.

scholarly journals Opposition and Legislative Minorities: Constitutional Roles, Rights and Recognition

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elliot Bulmer
Keyword(s):  
Civil Service ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
Independent Judiciary ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Government ◽  
Constitutional Protections ◽  
Opposition Parties

This Primer examines the recognition, roles and rights of the opposition and the legislative minority in democratic constitutions. Opposition parties operating in democracies rely upon a wide range of constitutional protections, such as the freedoms of association, assembly and expression, backed by an independent judiciary and an impartial civil service. These protections ensure that opponents of the government continue to enjoy equal rights and are not criminalized, harassed or disadvantaged. However, many constitutions go further, formally recognizing the role, powers and responsibilities of the opposition or legislative minority in democratic politics.

De samenvoeging van de gemeenten : Studie van het besluitvormingsproces

Res Publica ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-244
Author(s):  
Rudolf Maes
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
The Other ◽  
Socialist Party ◽  
The Government ◽  
Linguistic Groups ◽  
The One ◽  
The Way ◽  
Opposition Parties

In the years 1975-1976 the Belgian government has given high priority to the restructuring of local government, resp. by the means of mergers of communes : the number of communes has decreased by that way from 2,359 to 596.In the decision-making emphasized were the initiatives taken by the Minister of the Interior as wel! on the domain of the elaboration of the proposals to delimitate the territory of the new communes as on the domain of the defining of the terms of execution with regard to the personnel, the finances, the transition of goods, etc.  About the proposals on the delimitation of the territory the local governmentscould only give advice ; they have been sanctioned by the legislative assemblees at the end of 1975 after rather difficult and heated debates.During this period an important resistance developed : on the one side from the communal milieu itself and on the other side from the opposition parties, esp. the Belgian Socialist Party not participating in the government that had made the drawing of the new map of communes according to a broad plan to its aim.Nevertheless, the decision-making also has to be seen from the fact that the opposition parties agreed with the principle of the mergers : they mainly contested the way in which the mergers were executed.The abolition of the federations of communes around the Brussels agglomeration, decided in the same context, has to be seen in the light of the typical Belgian problem of the coexistence of different linguistic groups.

Minderheitsregierung im Bund? Lehren zum Oppositionsverhalten aus Schweden

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-158
Author(s):  
Melanie Müller ◽  
Marcus Höreth
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Opposition Party ◽  
Minority Government ◽  
Adequate Understanding ◽  
Alternative Function ◽  
The Government ◽  
German Bundestag ◽  
Western Democracies ◽  
Opposition Parties

Government stability in the German Bundestag is traditionally tied to a parliamentary majority and an opposition minority . Nonetheless, minority governments in other Western democracies show that, despite the lack of a parliamentary majority, they govern stable and effectively together with the opposition . In this article, on the Swedish case, we examine how opposition parties in parliament are involved in the legislative process in a minority government and what patterns they follow in order to maintain governmental stability without neglecting their alternative function . The paper combines theoretical and concep­tual considerations on the adequate understanding of the opposition in the Federal Repub­lic of Germany with empirical findings on cooperation and conflicts between opposition party groups and minority governments . The results show that opposition parties strategi­cally switch between confrontational (Westminster-style) and consensual patterns of behav­ior (republican) . Through this flexible majority finding, opposition parties in parliament can alternately present themselves as policymakers or as an alternative counterpart to the government . This opposition behavior is functionally adequate under the conditions of a pluralized and fragmented party system and the resulting difficulties in forming a stable government majority .

Don't Mention the War versus Escalating Commitment: Political Party Responses to Military Casualties

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 587-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dieuwertje Kuijpers ◽  
Gijs Schumacher
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Escalating Commitment ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
Opposition Parties

Abstract Do political parties change their position when military casualties increase? Several studies demonstrate that once military casualties increase, public support for sometimes even the government itself declines. With this potential backlash, once governing parties are faced with military casualties, do they (1) maintain that intervention was the “right thing” to do and even escalate their commitment by becoming even more pro-military or (2) try to avoid the blame and downplay the issue, i.e., “not mentioning the war”? And do the opposition parties become more negative or more positive about the military? To evaluate this, we measure the position on military issues in parties’ election manifestoes. Our dataset comprises 326 party policy changes in eleven Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and focuses on post-Cold War military interventions. By using pooled time-series cross-sectional analysis, we find that opposition parties and governing parties respond differently. Generally, governing parties become more negative in their manifesto and opposition parties more positive. We also demonstrate important differences between party families and pre/post-9/11. Our analyses show that whether political parties change policy course once confronted with negative outcomes depends on their position in office, and also the direction in which they change policy depends on political ideology.

scholarly journals Never let a Crisis go to Waste: Politics, Personality and Judicial Self-Government in Ireland

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 1871-1900
Author(s):  
Patrick O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Judicial Independence ◽  
The Political ◽  
Court System ◽  
The Public ◽  
Judicial Appointments ◽  
Independent Mechanism ◽  
Political Patronage ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Government

AbstractAlthough Ireland is often cited as part of the vanguard of countries adopting forms of judicial self-governance in the 1990s, this appearance can be misleading: the Irish judiciary are self-governing only in limited respects. The judge-led Court Service is in charge of court estate, non-judicial personnel and provision of information on the court system to the public. Many key matters – discipline, promotions and deployment – remain largely out of the control of the corporate judiciary. Judicial appointments are significantly at the discretion of the government. In the last decade, there have been significant moves towards a more corporate judiciary and these are reflected in the creation of a judges’ representative body, the Association of Judges of Ireland, and a shadow Judges Council. There are currently proposals to create a new independent mechanism for appointing judges and to create a Judicial Council with a significant role in disciplining the judiciary.The Irish experience highlights the importance of political and cultural factors in establishing and maintaining judicial independence and self-governance. Despite the significant role for the government in judicial appointments, and the presence of a culture of political patronage in these appointments, there is nonetheless a robust culture ofindividualjudicial independence once judges have been appointed. The creation of the Courts Service in 1999 was a significant transfer of administrative power to the judiciary but it was approved without demur by the political branches, who welcomed the depoliticization of controversial decisions about court estate. Conversely, reforms to judicial appointments have been weak because politicians saw value in maintaining a relatively harmless form of political patronage, and proposals for a Judicial Council that have agreed in outline for two decades have yet to be enacted, apparently because they lack sufficient political salience. The defence of judicial independence, and the creation of robust institutional mechanisms for defending it, ultimately requires the goodwill of politicians.

scholarly journals Investigating the process of evidence-informed health policymaking in Bangladesh: a systematic review

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 469-478
Author(s):  
Madeleine Dodd ◽  
Rebecca Ivers ◽  
Anthony B Zwi ◽  
Aminur Rahman ◽  
Jagnoor Jagnoor
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Health Policy ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Policy Network ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health Policymaking

Abstract Over the last four decades, Bangladesh has made considerable improvements in population health, this is in part due to the use of evidence to inform policymaking. This systematic review aims to better understand critical factors that have facilitated the diffusion of scientific evidence into multiple phases of health policymaking in Bangladesh. To do this an existing policy framework designed by Shiffman and Smith in 2007, was used to extract and synthesize data from selected policy analyses. This framework was used to ensure the content, context and actors involved with evidence-informed policymaking were considered in each case where research had helped shape a health policy. The ‘PRISMA Checklist’ was employed to design pre-specified eligibility criteria for the selection of information sources, search strategy, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and process of data extraction and synthesis. Through our systematic search conducted from February to May 2017, we initially identified 1859 articles; after removal of duplicates, followed by the screening of titles, abstracts and full-texts, 24 articles were included in the analysis. Health policy issues included the following topics: maternal and child health, tobacco control, reproductive health, infectious disease control and the impact and sustainability of knowledge translation platforms. Findings suggested that research evidence that could be used to meet key targets associated with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were more likely to be considered as a political (and therefore policy) priority. Furthermore, avenues of engagement between research organizations and the government as well as collective action from civil-society organizations were important for the diffusion of evidence into policies. Through this article, it is apparent that the interface between evidence and policy formulation occurs when evidence is, disseminated by a cohesive policy-network with strong leadership and framed to deliver solutions for problems on both the domestic and global development agenda.

scholarly journals Study on post partum intrauterine contraceptive device practices and causes for discontinuation of PPIUCD at follow up in a tertiary hospital

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 2299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radhika Chethan ◽  
Anitha G. S. ◽  
Savitha C.
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Post Partum ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
Tertiary Hospital ◽  
Contraceptive Device ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Reversible Method ◽  
Planning Methods ◽  
The Government

Background: Post partum contraception is the best evidence based intervention in prevention of pregnancy and abortion related maternal morbidity and mortality in the developing countries. The unmet need for contraception among women in the postpartum period can be effectively fulfilled by post partum insertion of IUCD, in a single visit under the Government scheme of providing free maternity services during institutional delivery. Despite optimal efforts by family planning program, very few couples are opting for spacing methods and lack of awareness has resulted in discontinuation of family planning methods particularly PPIUCD. This study is designed to study the practices of PPIUCD and causes for discontinuation at follow up in our hospital. The objectives of the study were study PPIUCD practices at Vanivilas hospital; causes for discontinuation of PPIUCD.Methods: Prospective study done at Vanivilas hospital attached to Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute from January 2014 to December 2014. Women admitted and delivered at VVH, were counselled. CuT 380A was inserted in accepters who fulfilled the Medical Eligibility Criteria and had no contraindications for PPIUCD. They were followed up till June 2016.Results: There were 2072 PPIUCD insertions in one year, out of which 1244 were post placental, 139 were in immediate postpartum and 689 were intra caesarean insertions. Fifty four (54) women discontinued PPIUCD during follow up .Main causes for removal were menstrual abnormalities (19), pain abdomen (13), wanting sterilisation procedure (12) and marital disharmony.Conclusions: PPIUCD is an effective, safe, reversible method of long term contraception with high reported expulsion and low perforation rate, compared to interval insertion. More research is needed in the field of PPIUCD to enhance awareness and acceptance in the community. Awareness and counselling the eligible couples during ante natal care can improve acceptance and compliance of PPIUCD continuation rates.

The Nicaraguan Economy in the Medium Run

1991 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Class Conflict ◽  
The Political ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
The Government ◽  
Year 2000 ◽  
Fortune Telling ◽  
Opposition Parties

What are the medium-term prospects for the Nicaraguan economy where, by medium term, we refer to the year 2000? The difficult task of fortune telling is made enormously more complicated by the political economy that was established in the country by the Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional (FSLN) after the 1979 revolution in which they, with the aid of diverse social factions, overthrew the government of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. After more than a decade, the FSLN then handed over power, in mid-1990, to a coalition of opposition parties (the Union Nacional Opositora or UNO) headed by Violeta Chamorro. The 1990 election brought the first peaceful transfer of power in Nicaraguan history but, perhaps, represented more an abdication by the beleaguered Sandinistas than it did a sea change in the balance of class conflict.

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