Select Essays On Governance And Accountability Issues In Public Law

The essays in this book, authored by academics from the Faculties of Law at the University of Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela University respectively, emanate from a joint research project and conference arranged by the Faculties in 2018. The essays focus on public law issues impacting on governance and accountability in South African law and in international and regional law, but with a specific focus on problems afflicting the African continent.

The essays in this book, authored by academics from the Faculties of Law at the University of Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela University respectively, emanate from a joint research project and conference arranged by the Faculties in 2018. The essays focus on public law issues impacting on governance and accountability in South African law and in international and regional law, but with a specific focus on problems afflicting the African continent.

Historically Africa has suffered from numerous conflicts which are typically addressed through international criminal law mechanisms and courts, but the need for a broader approach is both evident and demanded. This book pulls together the debates originating from the conference “Criminal Justice and Accountability in Africa: National and Regional Developments” and highlights the different approaches and mechanisms used to date and what can be taken from them to advance justice and accountability across the African continent.

Conflicts of interest in both the public and private sectors have become a major matter of public concern world-wide. The OECD Guidelines define a conflict of interest as occurring when a public official has private-capacity interests which could improperly influence the performance of their official duties and responsibilities. However, identifying a specific conflict of interest in practice can be difficult. And resolving the conflicting interests appropriately in a particular case is something that most people find even more challenging. The Toolkit focuses on specific techniques, resources and strategies for: Identifying, managing and preventing conflict-of-interest situations more effectively; and Increasing integrity in official decision-making, which might be compromised by a conflict of interest. This Toolkit provides non-technical, practical help to enable officials to recognise problematic situations and help them to ensure that integrity and reputation are not compromised. The tools themselves are provided in generic form. They are based on examples of sound conflict-of-interest policy and practice drawn from various OECD member and non-member countries. They have been designed for adaptation to suit countries with different legal and administrative systems. FURTHER READING: Managing Conflict of Interest in the Public Service: OECD Guidelines and Country Experiences

Drawing on Sir Ian Kennedy's extensive experience in healthcare law, ethics and public policy-making, this book explores vital issues in the law surrounding healthcare and regulation. The book contains a range of published and unpublished essays and speeches with the addition of notes and commentaries by the author that bring the pieces up to the present day. Those who want to understand developments, from transplants to confidentiality, from COVID-19 to public inquiries to regulation will find a rich seam of rigorous, informed analysis. The author's unique range of experience allows him to share insights on a variety of issues; from the conduct of the disgraced breast surgeon, Ian Paterson, to research at Porton Down, to the economics of innovation in drug development at NICE. His abiding interest in the welfare of children informs his trenchant forensic examination of how children fare in the NHS. Those involved in or with an interest in law, moral philosophy, and public policy will find much food for thought.

During the past decade, administrative law has experienced remarkable development. It has consistently been one of the most dynamic and potent areas of legal innovation and of judicial activism. It has expanded its reach into an ever broadening sphere of public and private activities. Largely through the mechanism of judicial review, the judges in several jurisdictions have extended the ambit of the traditional remedies, partly in response to a perceived need to fill an accountability vacuum created by the privatisation of public enterprises, the contracting-out of public services, and the deregulation of industry and commerce. The essays in this volume focus upon these and other shifts in administrative law, and in doing so they draw upon the experiences of several jurisdictions: the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The result is a wide-ranging and forceful analysis of the scope, development and future direction of administrative law.

Accountability, the idea that people, governments, and business should be held publicly accountable, is a central preoccupation of our time. Criminal justice, already a system for achieving public accountability for illegal and antisocial activities, is no exception to this preoccupation, and accountability for criminal justice therefore takes on a special significance. Seventeen original essays, most commissioned for this volume, have been collected to summarize and assess what has been happening in the area of accountability for criminal justice in English-speaking democracies with common-law traditions during the last fifteen years. Looking at the issue from a variety of disciplines, the authors' intent is to explore accountability with respect to all phases of the criminal justice system, from policing to parole.

This dynamic text, cases, & materials book provides a thought-provoking guide to the public law of the UK. It sets out key institutions, legal principles, and conventions and its clear commentary draws on case studies and extracts from a range of sources to provide a full understanding of the law and the major theoretical and political debates.