Since I am a lawyer, let me start with a disclaimer: nothing I shall say is intended to reflect the views of my employers past or present or any professional association to which I may belong. And please don’t write any letters — unless they are addressed to me. The reason I start in this fashion is that some years ago, when I had just become a notary, I gave an interview to a charming lady fro...

OBJECTIVES To undertake a critical literature review of published evidence on the effectiveness of contact tracing in sexually transmitted infections, mechanisms of referral, and the criteria for initiating this activity. To describe how these factors vary by causative agent and to characterize the current state of contact tracing in sexually transmitted infections in developed countries. MET...

The identification of ‘legal highs’ is challenging as they often do not match their label claim and contain a wide range of impurities and/or adulterants. In addition, there is a need for techniques to be on-site, rapid and non-destructive. The feasibility of using the in-built algorithms of handheld near-infrared (NIR), Raman and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform-infrared (ATR-FT-...

The research objective of the project and article “European Ecological Network Natura 2000 – opportunities and threats” Natura 2000 sites constitute a form of environmental protection, several legal problems are likely to result. Most controversially, certain sites will be subject to two regimes of protection: as national parks and as Natura 2000 sites. This dualism of the legal regulation make...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Competence to be sentenced, or lack thereof, is not frequently claimed in legal proceedings. This paper reviews the concept and possible forensic psychiatric applications. RECENT FINDINGS This topic has achieved prominence because of recent rulings imposed by the US Supreme Court that prohibit execution of mentally impaired and under-age individuals. The most recent contribu...

In the Netherlands, the legal possibilities for post-custodial supervision have been extended considerably in recent years. A currently passed law aims to further increase these possibilities specifically for dangerous (sex) offenders. This law consists of three separate parts that may all result in lifelong supervision. In the first two parts, the supervision is embedded in the conditional rel...

The increasing complexity of construction, along with its rapid development, as well as ambiguities and gaps in the legal terms governing constructions, lack of trust in the parties regarding obligations and regulations are the main reasons of disagreements in domestic projects. These disagreements are inevitable even in contracts which are set correctly. Disagreements are costly, time-consumin...

Adopting the interpretative/hermeneutical method typical of much legal scholarship, this article considers two sets of issues pertaining to LTDNA profiles as evidence in criminal proceedings. The section titled Expert Evidence as Forensic Epistemic Warrant addresses some rather large questions about the epistemic status and probative value of expert testimony in general. It sketches a theoretic...