Showing papers on "Settlement (litigation) published in 2008"

Eurostars and Eurocities: Free Movement and Mobility in an Integrating Europe

Abstract: Series Editors' Preface. Preface. 1. FREEDOM-VRIJHEID-LIBERTE. A Management Consultant's Tale. 2. NEW AMSTERDAM. A Logistics Manager's Tale. 3. LONDON CALLS. A Data Analyst's Tale. 4. BRUSSELS-BRUSSEL-BRUXELLES. An Architect's Tale. 5. MIGRATION. An Estate Agent's Tale. 6. MOBILITY (1). A Social Worker's Tale. 7. MOBILITY (2). A Landlady's Tale. 8. SETTLEMENT. A Businessman's Tale. 9. INTEGRATION (1). A Graphic Designer's Tale. 10. INTEGRATION (2). A Media Manager's Tale. 11. LONDON LOVES. A City Broker's Tale. 12. OLD AMSTERDAM. A Journalist's Tale. 13. ANOMIE. An IT Consultant's Tale. 14. EUROPA. Postface. Appendix 1: Summary of interviews. Appendix 2: A note on methodology. Notes. Bibliographical essay. Index of interviewees. Index

The Meaning of ‘Build Back Better’: Evidence From Post‐Tsunami Aceh and Sri Lanka

Abstract: The 26 December 2004 tsunami disaster around the Indian Ocean provided an opportunity to see if decades of knowledge and experience on post-disaster settlement and shelter could be applied to match the tagline which many groups gave to the post-tsunami reconstruction: 'build back better' (or 'building back better'). This paper uses evidence from field work completed on implementing settlement and shelter in post-tsunami Aceh and Sri Lanka to examine whether or not the theory and practice of 'build back better' were witnessed. Focusing on settlement and shelter, four areas are examined: (i) safety, security, and livelihoods; (ii) how post-disaster settlement and shelter could have an improved connection with permanent housing and communities (the 'transition to what?' question); (iii) fairness and equity; and (iv) connecting relief and development by tackling root causes of vulnerability. Based on the field work, addressing these four areas is suggested as how 'build back better'could be implemented. Recommendations are: 1. Community involvement is essential, but that does not necessarily mean community control. 2. Organizations involved in implementing transitional settlement and shelter need to consider their capacity and links to other sectors. 3. Thinking ahead is necessary by integrating relief and development through long-term planning and disaster risk reduction. Overall, 'building back safer' might be a preferable tagline to 'building back better' because 'better' has multiple interpretations, many of which caused further problems, whereas 'safer' provides a clearer goal on which to focus for post-disaster settlement and shelter. © 2008 The Author. Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Hollow Land: Israel's Architecture of Occupation

Abstract: Hollow Land: Israel's Architecture of Occupation, by Eyal Weizman London: Verso, 2007 318 pp $3495 Hollow Land: Israel's Architecture of Occupation examines how "the different forms of Israeli rule" over the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 "inscribed themselves in space" (p 5) To accomplish this purpose, Eyal Weizman uses the term architecture in two ways In its first meaning, he describes in detail the planning, construction, physical, and political attributes of several of the built structures of the occupation and the roles of the Israeli architects who designed them The structures analyzed include the Jewish Quarter of the old city of Jerusalem, the settlements, the separation barrier, the checkpoint at Qalandia, the border crossing at the Allenby Bridge, and the Rafah Terminal The separation barrier is arguably Israel's most egregious violation of international law in the course of over forty years of occupation, since an International Court of Justice ruling determined that it is illegal Yet Israeli architects protested against being excluded from participating in the design process Weizman also employs architecture "as a conceptual way of understanding political issues as constructed realities" (p 6) Each of the chapters examines a structure or related set of structures and the way they enforce Israel's domination of the Palestinians through the control of physical space The chapters are self-contained essays; most of them contain fascinating detail that is little known outside Israel Among the best is the chapter on Israel's targeted assassinations in the Gaza Strip beginning in 2003 It is an incisive, albeit depressing, discussion of the politics and technology of what Weizman terms "the airborne occupation" and the extension of the occupation along a vertical axis Underscoring the relevance of this issue to current developments beyond Israel/Palestine, Weizman traces the use of aerial bombardment of rebellious "natives" to the tenure of Winston Churchill as Britain's Minister of War and Air in the 1920s Churchill enthusiastically promoted "aerially enforced colonization" in Somaliland and Iraq The structure of Hollow Land does not permit Weizman to offer a comprehensive history of the occupation, and he acknowledges that this is not his objective Surprisingly, there is still no fully satisfactory narrative of this kind Gershom Gorenberg's, The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977 (New York: Times Books, 2006), while based on good historical research on the first decade of the settlement project, is ultimately flawed and problematic (for my review see "When Doves Cry," The Nation, April 17, 2006) Weizman, although he is a more consistent critic of the Israeli occupation than Gorenberg, adopts the same fundamental thesis: that there was no "master plan" guiding the settlement project in its early years Rather, "the colonization of the mountain district of the West Bank …

Partial Peace: Rebel Groups Inside and Outside of Civil War Settlements*

Abstract: Previous research proposes that peace is more likely to become durable if all rebel groups are included in the settlement reached. The argument implies that if actors are excluded and continue to p...

Transit Migration: The Missing Link Between Emigration and Settlement

Abstract: Preface Introduction Migration in Europe Transit in Europe: the case of Greece Being in transit Transit in the Maghreb: Sub-Saharans and el-harga Transit in the East: shifting borders Conclusion

Social Work and Migration: Immigrant and Refugee Settlement and Integration

Abstract: Contents: Preface Perspectives on Migration: 'here and now' implications for social work Social work approaches to practice with immigrants and refugees Immigrants and refugees in society: the field of action, relations, roles and status Frames for understanding settlement and integration processes The politics of inclusion and exclusion Practice modes for settlement social work Practice with family systems The second generation Developing and implementing social policy and social/settlement services Settlement practice and ethical principles Bobliography Index.

The 'viability' and resilience of communities and settlements in desert Australia

Abstract: There is a continuing policy debate about whether it is possible to have sustainable small settlements in outback regions of Australia, where there is low and variable primary production and a sparse and mobile population. This debate is focused largely on Aboriginal settlements, but applies equally to all desert dwellers. In this contribution, we review the sources of economic flows through settlements occupied by different communities with common livelihood sources, whether based on mining, grazing, tourism, cultural resources, welfare or services, concluding that most desert livelihoods depend directly or indirectly on temporally variable inputs. Individual remote settlements tend to be dominated by one such ‘community of livelihood’, and differ in nature according to the source of that livelihood. These create types of settlement and service aspirations which are alien to more densely settled regions. Settlement ‘viability’ is a measure of the short-term balance between aspirations for services (technical, social, but also for livelihoods and well being) and the costs of fulfilling these aspirations, and consequently is not a simple on/off switch – the community can adjust both its aspirations and the cost factors involved in meeting them. We define a resilient settlement as one that is viable in the long term in the face of its variable inputs. Thus, we determine that the concepts of settlement viability and resilience must be analysed differently according to the strategy adopted by different resident communities. In particular, Aboriginal (and pastoral) communities are particularly dependent on social and natural capital, yet these are not monitored. The whole analysis emphasises the importance of taking a demand- rather than supply-driven approach to services in desert settlements. Our conclusion is that, if top-down solutions continue to be imposed without appreciating the fundamental drivers of settlement in desert regions, then those solutions will continue to be partial, and ineffective in the long term.

Global Lives: Britain and the World, 1550-1800

Abstract: 1. Global lives 2. The Elizabethan world 3. Savage tales: settlement in North America 4. East meets west: the English East India Company in India 5. Into the Atlantic: the triangular trade? 6. Maritime labour: sailors and the seafaring world 7. Maritime violence: buccaneers, privateers and pirates 8. Human cargo: the Atlantic slave trade 9. Sugar islands: plantation slavery in the Caribbean 10. In black and white: fighting against the slave trade 11. Navigation and discovery: voyagers of the Pacific Epilogue.

Costly enforcement of property rights and the Coase theorem

Abstract: We examine a setting in which property rights are initially ambiguously defined. Whether the parties go to court to remove the ambiguity or bargain and settle privately, they incur enforcement costs. When the parties bargain, a version of the Coase theorem holds. Despite the additional costs of going to court, other ex post inefficiencies, and the absence of incomplete information, however, going to court may be an equilibrium or ex ante Pareto-superior over settlement; this is especially true in dynamic settings whereby a court decision saves on future enforcement costs. When the parties do not negotiate and go to court the Coase theorem ceases to hold, and a simple rule for the initial assignment of rights maximizes net surplus. (JEL C70, K40)

When and how the fighting stops: Explaining the duration and outcome of civil wars

Abstract: Previous research has shown that the duration of a civil war is in part a function of how it ends: in government victory, rebel victory, or negotiated settlement. We present a model of how protagonists in a civil war choose to stop fighting. Hypotheses derived from this theory relate the duration of a civil war to its outcome as well as characteristics of the civil war and the civil war nation. Findings from a competing risk model reveal that the effects of predictors on duration vary according to whether the conflict ended in government victory, rebel victory, or negotiated settlement.

The new lawyer : how settlement is transforming the practice of law

Abstract: Preface Acknowledgments 1. Changes in the Legal Profession and the Emergence of the New Lawyer 2. Constructing Professional Identity 3. Three Key Professional Beliefs 4. Translating the Beliefs into Practice: The Norms of Legal Negotiations 5. The New Advocacy 6. The Lawyer-Client Relationship 7. The Role of the Law and Legal Advice 8. Ethical Challenges Facing the New Lawyer 9. Where the Action Is: Sites of Change Epilogue Notes Index

Playing for the future: the role of sport and recreation in supporting refugee young people to 'settle well' in Australia.

Abstract: The Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues (CMYI) held a series of consultations and forums in 2007 to explore the role of sport and recreation in supporting refugee and migrant young people to 'settle well' in Australia. This article presents some of the findings documented in 'Playing for the future' (Olliff 2007), the discussion paper that emerged from those investigations. The potential benefits and problems associated with the use of sport and recreation in this context are discussed and recommendations made for future areas of research.

Apologies and Settlement Levers

Abstract: This study uses experimental methods to explore the role of apologies in legal settlement negotiation. Specifically, the study examines the influences of apologies on disputants' perceptions, and the effects of apologies on a number of judgments that influence negotiation outcomes -- settlement levers such as reservation prices, aspirations, and judgments of fair settlement amounts. Five-hundred fifty-six participants were asked to take the role of potential plaintiffs, to provide their reactions to an experimental scenario, and to indicate the values they would set for each settlement lever. The nature of the communication with the offender and the description of the evidentiary rule governing the admissibility of the offender's statement were manipulated. The data suggest that apologies can promote settlement by altering the injured parties' perceptions of the situation and the offender so as to make them more amenable to settlement discussions and by altering the values of the injured parties' settlement levers in ways that are likely to increase the chances of settlement. The results suggest further, however, that the nature of the apology itself as well as the factural circumstances surrounding the incident may play important roles in how apologies are understood.

Sources and sinks of larval settlement in Jasus edwardsii around New Zealand: Where do larvae come from and where do they go?

Abstract: Isolated adult populations tend to be interconnected via the larval stage. New Zealand red rock lobster Jasus edwardsii larvae metamorphose 12 to 24 mo after hatching. Because of this long larval life, J. edwardsii provides a useful species for studying population connectivity using satellite-derived ocean currents. In this study, tracks of J. edwardsii larvae originating from different populations are simulated to build a statistical picture of larval dispersal. By adding an algorithm for larval metamorphosis, and tuning the algorithm parameters to fit observed post-metamorphosis settlement patterns, we estimate where settlement in each population originated (i.e. larval sources), and also where larvae from each population settle (i.e. larval sinks). There are likely to be 4 major geographical areas for larval dispersal around New Zealand. In the far north, both sources and sinks are non-local. Along the east coast of the North Island, because of entrainment by the Wairarapa Eddy, sources are both local and distant, whereas most sinks are local. In contrast, to the south of the South Island, most sources are local, whereas sinks are both local and distant. The Chatham Islands form a separate geographical area, with primarily non-local sources and local sinks. The results are robust to differences in the physical model, but sensitive to metamorphosis algorithm parameters. This indicates that understanding larval behaviour is the most critical aspect in determining larval connectivity.

Judicial Fact Discretion

Abstract: Following legal realists, we model the causes and consequences of trial judges exercising discretion in finding facts in a trial. We identify two motivations for the exercise of such discretion: judicial policy preferences and judges’ aversion to reversal on appeal when the law is unsettled. In the latter case, judges exercising fact discretion find the facts that fit the settled precedents, even when they have no policy preferences. In a standard model of a tort, judicial fact discretion leads to setting of damages unpredictable from true facts of the case but predictable from knowledge of judicial preferences, distorts the number and severity of accidents, and generates welfare losses. It also encourages litigants to take extreme positions in court and raises the incidence of litigation relative to settlement, especially in new and complex disputes for which the law is unsettled.

Tricks or Treats?: A Case for Kulin Knowing in Batman’s Treaty

Abstract: Against the usual portrayal of the Batman Treaty as a duplicitous act in which the Kulin were uncomprehending of Batman’s intention, a case is made that such views miss the pertinence of the Treaty in revealing the dilemmas of settlement. It is argued that the Kulin who participated did so in the knowledge of the events unfolding for forty years to their north and in so doing may have hoped to accommodate the European and thus limit settlement, an understanding which concurred with the desires of the audience in London Batman himself wanted to appease. This article has been peer-reviewed.

The Decline of the Cow: Agricultural and Settlement Change in Early Medieval Ireland

Abstract: This article considers cows and dairying as the basis of value systems in early societies, particularly in Ireland. In a very few instances is it possible to demonstrate that such systems existed. ...

Human settlement ecology and chimpanzee habitat selection in Mali

Abstract: Customary land-use practices create distinctive cultural landscapes, including landscapes where abandoned settlements host vegetation that attracts wild animals. Understanding how landscape patterns relate to land-use history can help clarify the ecological effects of particular land uses. This study examines relationships between chimpanzee habitat selection and Maninka settlement practice, to determine how settlement history has affected chimpanzee habitat in Mali’s Bafing Biosphere Reserve, where conservation practitioners assume that the characteristic settlement pattern reflects a process of settlement expansion into undisturbed habitat. Three types of data are reported: (1) ethnographic interviews on settlement history and practice; (2) systematic sampling of chimpanzee habitat use; and (3) ground-based mapping of settlement sites, surface water, and fruit-tree patches. These data show that the Maninka have a shifting settlement system, meaning that most sites are occupied for only relatively brief periods; and that some abandoned settlement sites host fruit-tree patches that are seasonally important chimpanzee habitat. Two main conclusions are: (1) settlement expansion has not occurred; instead, historic settlement has created habitat that is both attractive and available to chimpanzees. Anthropogenic habitat does not appear to be vital for chimpanzee survival, but it spatially and temporally supplements natural habitats. (2) Conservation policies meant to reduce the presumed threat of settlement expansion may have initiated an unintended, long-term threat of habitat loss for chimpanzees. While settlement practices may be a component of short-term threats to chimpanzees, such as hunting, when addressing these threats conservation practitioners should consider long-term settlement processes to avoid creating new threats.

Locations of Indigenous Population Change: What Can We Say?

Abstract: John Taylor and Nicholas Biddle have modelled the contribution of net migration to small area population change to address the question of how to be sure that we are measuring the same population over time. This research uses a non-jurisdictional typology of Indigenous settlement reflective of different residential arrangements, and the results have implications for the analysis of change in population characteristics over time.

Do Migrants get Good Jobs in Australia? The Role of Ethnic Networks in Job Search

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to study how new migrants to Australia find ‘good jobs’. We use all the waves of the two cohorts of the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia (LSIA) to analyse whether a new migrant obtains a good job conditional on finding a job. The distinctive nature of this paper is to study the role of ethnic networks in job search and the quality of jobs that migrants find in the first few years of settlement. We define the concept of a ‘good job’ in terms of objective and subjective criteria. Our results suggest that there is an initial downward movement along the occupational ladder due to imperfect transferability of human capital from the source country to the recipient country, followed by an improvement.1 As a result of a tightening in access to social security benefits for the second cohort of the LSIA, we study whether this increases the probability that new migrants accept a ‘bad job’ quickly and then move onto better jobs over time. Our results provide some support to this view. However, accounting for their higher employability, new migrants seem to fare better up to 1.5 years after settlement.

The Use of Settlements in Public Antitrust Enforcement: Objectives and Principles

Abstract: This paper discusses two general questions concerning the use of settlements in public antitrust enforcement, namely under which conditions the use of settlements contributes to optimal antitrust enforcement, and under which conditions self-incrimination and waivers of procedural rights by settlement candidates are compatible with fundamental rights of defence. The discussion of these general questions will be illustrated with the specific example of the two settlement procedures for the enforcement by the European Commission of the antitrust prohibitions contained in Articles 81 and 82 EC, namely the commitment procedure under Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003, and the new settlement procedure in cartel cases.

Settlement of futures contracts in foreign currencies

Abstract: A method and system are provided for executing a transaction relating to a first futures contract. The first futures contract involves a tradable asset, such as crude oil or another commodity, and a first contract price and a first settlement price expressed in a first currency, such as U.S. dollars. The first settlement price is updated on a periodic basis, typically daily. The method involves providing a second futures contract having an underlying instrument that includes the first futures contract. The second futures contract includes a second latest possible delivery date and a second contract price and a second settlement price that are denominated in a second currency. The second settlement price is updated periodically. A periodic mark-to-market operation credits or debits a buyer of the second futures contract based on the periodic update to the second settlement price. Delivery of the second contract occurs when the buyer pays the current second settlement price in the second currency and receives the first futures contract. Then, delivery of the first futures contract is completed by delivering either the tradable entity or a financial equivalent of the tradable entity based on the current first settlement price.

Settlements, Outcomes, and the Recurrence of Conflict:

Abstract: Despite the hope that the resolution of one militarized dispute will bring peace to a dyad, these conflicts often recur. This recurrence of conflict is particularly important because subsequent disputes within a dyad tend to be more severe than previous ones. However, the factors leading to recurrent conflict remain a matter of debate. While some argue that the settlement of a dispute has a significant impact on post-conflict relations, others argue that the outcome of a dispute is the most important determinant of post-conflict stability. Although evidence has been found to support both views, the relative impact of dispute settlements and outcomes has not been satisfactorily determined. Accordingly, this article simultaneously examines the relationship between settlements, outcomes, and conflict recurrence through survival analyses of the periods of peace following 2,973 dyadic militarized interstate disputes between 1816 and 2001. The authors find that although settlement type is an important predictor...

Why Plea-Bargaining Fails to Achieve Results in so Many Criminal Justice Systems: A New Framework for Assessment

Abstract: The myth of American exceptionalism in the matter of plea-bargaining is certainly by now quite untrue. In addition to forming an important part of criminal procedure in the United Kingdom, plea-bargaining has been transplanted to several civil law countries such as France and Italy. Informal versions, based on non-trial settlement, have been observed in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and around the world. The Law and Economics literature on plea-bargaining views it as an efficient instrument of criminal procedure because it reduces enforcement costs (for both parties) and allows the prosecutor to concentrate on more meritorious cases. Yet the success of transplants relies on the existence of appropriate incentives, and the detailed study of the Italian experience provides a good indication that the traditional inquisitorial system might not generate such incentives. Instead, this article offers a new theory emphasizing the role of the prosecutor and that of the defence counsel. We argue that the incen...

Hedonic Adaptation and the Settlement of Civil Lawsuits.

Abstract: This paper examines the burgeoning psychological literature on happiness and hedonic adaptation (a person‘s capacity to preserve or recapture her level of happiness by adjusting to changed circumstances), bringing this literature to bear on a previously overlooked aspect of the civil litigation process: the probability of pretrial settlement. The glacial pace of civil litigation is commonly thought of as a regrettable source of costs to the relevant parties. Even relatively straightforward personal injury lawsuits can last for as long as two years, delaying the arrival of necessary redress to the tort victim and forcing the litigants to expend ever greater quantities of resources. Yet these procedural delays are likely to have salutary effects on the litigation system as well. When an individual first suffers a serious injury, she will likely predict that the injury will greatly diminish her future happiness. However, during the time that it takes her case to reach trial the aggrieved plaintiff is likely to adapt hedonically to her injury—even if that injury is permanent—and within two years will report levels of happiness very close to her pre-injury state. Consequently, the amount of money that the plaintiff believes will fairly compensate her for her injury—will ―make her whole,‖ in the typical parlance of tort damages—will decrease appreciably. The sum that the plaintiff is willing to accept in settlement will decline accordingly, and the chances of settlement increase—perhaps dramatically. The high costs of prolonged civil litigation are thus likely to be offset substantially by the resources saved as adaptive litigants succeed in settling before trial.

The Vikings in the Isle of Man

Abstract: Introduction The Background - Topographical and Historical The Earliest Vikings in Man From Paganism to Christianity The Pattern of Settlement Economy, Politics and the Church The Legacy Index.

There Are Plaintiffs and...There Are Plaintiffs: An Empirical Analysis of Securities Class Action Settlements

Abstract: Reform of the securities class action is once again the subject of national debate. The impetus for this debate is the reports of three different groups-the Committee on Capital Market Regulation,1 the Commission on the Regulation of U.S. Capital Markets in the 21st Century,2 and McKinsey & Company.3 Each of the reports focuses on a single theme: how the contemporary regulatory culture places U.S. capital markets at a competitive disadvantage to foreign markets. While the reports target multiple regulatory forces in their calls for reform, each report singles out securities class actions as one of the prime villains that place U.S. capital markets at a competitive disadvantage. The reports' recommendations range from insignificant changes to drastic curtailments of private class actions. Surprisingly, these current-day cries echo calls for reform heeded by Congress in the not-too-distant past. Major reform of the securities class action occurred with the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("PSLRA").4 Among the PSLRA's contributions is the introduction of procedures by which the court chooses a lead plaintiff for the class.5 The statute commands that the petitioner with the largest financial loss suffered as a consequence of the defendant's alleged misrepresentation is presumed to be the most adequate plaintiff. Thus, the "lead plaintiff provision supplants the traditional "first to file" rule for selecting the suit's plaintiff with a mechanism that seeks to harness the plaintiffs economic self-interest for the suit's prosecution. Also, by eliminating the race to file first, the lead plaintiff provision seeks to avoid "hair trigger" filings by overly eager plaintiffs' counsel, which Congress believed too frequently gave rise to weak causes of action surviving the defendant's motion to dismiss.6 The PSLRA also introduced for securities class actions a heightened pleading requirement,7 as well as a bar to the plaintiff from obtaining any discovery prior to the district court disposing of the defendants' motions to dismiss.8 By introducing the requirement that allegations involving fraud not only must be pled with particularity, but also that the pled facts must establish a "strong inference" of fraud, the PSLRA cast aside-albeit only for securities actions-the less demanding notice pleading requirement that has been a fixture of U.S. civil procedure for decades.9 The PSLRA also introduced substantive changes to the law. With few exceptions, joint and several liability was replaced with proportionate liability so that a particular defendant's liability is capped by the defendant's relative degree of fault. 10 Similarly, contribution rights among co-violators are also based on the proportionate fault of each defendant.11 Three years after passing the PSLRA, Congress returned to the subject of abusive securities class actions by enacting the securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act ("SLUSA").12 This law was prompted by the aggressive efforts of plaintiffs' lawyers to bypass PSLRA limitations-most notably the bar to discovery and higher pleading requirement-by bringing suit in state court. 13 Post-SLUSA, securities fraud class actions are exclusively the domain of the federal court. In this Article, we examine the impact of the PSLRA and, more particularly, the impact of the type of lead plaintiff on the size of settlements in securities fraud class actions. We provide insight into whether the type of plaintiff that heads the class action impacts the overall outcome of the case. Furthermore, we explore possible indicia that may explain why some suits settle for sums that are extremely small relative to the "provable losses" suffered by the class, to the asset size of the defendant-company, and to other settlements in our sample. This evidence bears heavily on the debate over "strike suits." Part I of this Article sets forth the contemporary debate surrounding the need for further reforms of securities class actions. …