[1] THE lawreform.vic.gov.au/conference/conference-papers 3. Cooperation with relevant ministries and legislators – The most common way to carry out legislative reform is to cooperate with the relevant ministries within the executive branch responsible for legislative reform. In many countries, legislators are also able to propose new laws or amendments.7 To engage, civil society organizations should: make informed government decisions on the development, reform and harmonization of Australian laws and related processes through research, analysis, reporting, consultation and community education. [4] The Flame reform reaffirms a central concept of the rule of law itself: legal renewal. As I have seen many times in Cambodia in my work for the United Nations, one of the biggest causes of corruption in the world is the lack of regular mechanisms to modernize and amend the law to adapt it to contemporary values and needs. Where there is no legislative reform, corruption increases because it may be the only way forward. [43] The key message I want to convey is that the essence of effective legal reform is independence and that it is not about how we are structured – and there are many differences between the legal reform bodies involved here,“ but about how we do our work. It is about spiritual independence; and that is what makes our work valuable to government and governments throughout the Commonwealth. This is our common mission and responsibility and the raison d`être of our continued relevance. Legal empowerment empowers people to know, apply and shape the law. It is based on a local orientation, as opposed to top-down approaches to legal reform and litigation. Legal empowerment is about strengthening the capacity of all people to exercise their rights – as individuals or as members of a community – and ensuring that the law is available and meaningful to citizens. Community empowerment is essential to legal empowerment.
Legal reforms can be the driving force behind all other reforms, including economic reform. A true market economy cannot be created without ensuring, on the one hand, the full guarantee of private property and the transparent predictability of entrepreneurial activity; and, on the other hand, a sufficiently reasonable legal control over economic processes. Legal reform should be an integral part of any ongoing reform process. Legal reform is an instrument to implement the necessary reforms, balance conflicts of interest, create a dynamic and sustainable economy and build a sustainable civil society. In recent decades, the judiciary has become active in economic issues related to economic rights enshrined in the Constitution because „businesses can provide insight into issues relating to the correct interpretation of the law.“ [4] While many countries with a system of political and economic transition continue to treat their constitutions as an abstract legal document detached from the economic policies of the state, the practice of judicial review of economic acts of the executive and legislative branches has developed. As the Kinkel case shows, young people are capable of committing crimes just as heinous as adults. However, the decision to determine the most appropriate sentence for juvenile offenders is highly controversial. The execution of the parents, combined with the attempted mass murder that resulted in the deaths of two other teenagers in which Kinkel was involved, would implicate any adult for the death penalty. Although minors in the United States because of Roper v. Simmons` (2005) decision, which concluded that accused under the age of 18 cannot be sentenced to death at the time of the crime, often requires much more consideration in sentencing a 15-year-old than an adult.
The Kipland Kinkel case highlights the many problems that arise in the field of juvenile justice. The overarching question is whether young offenders should be treated differently from adult offenders based on developmental factors (e.g., brain development, maturity, etc.). As noted by Sellers and Arrigo (2009), courts generally do not consider the psychosocial and developmental maturity of adolescents and its impact on legal decision-making and jurisdictional skills. When the juvenile court was established, one of the most important features of the system was the emphasis on reintegration. The rehabilitation model was inherent in the idea that the injunction (court-ordered conviction) would be based on its relevance to the offender rather than the offence (Kinscherff, 2006; Melton et al., 2007). Therefore, when the juvenile justice system was created as a separate entity from the adult system, it was assumed that the juvenile offender was indeed different from the adult offender. However, the differences between adult and juvenile offenders have had both positive and negative effects on juvenile justice and have led to a number of reform measures. Philip asked me to talk about the relationship between judicial reform authorities and the executive and legislative branches. Speakers were also invited to make our presentations relevant to all participants and to recognize the differences between our jurisdictions. [42] Michael Kirby, Reform the LawâEssays on the Renewal of the Australian Legal System (Oxford University Press, 1983), p.
19. Kirby noted, however, that „because public debate on legislative reform can raise expectations of reform and acceptance (in local, professional, and administrative contexts) of the need for change,“ this was a constraint on legislative reform – seventh on his list: 19. [51] . The Federal Court submitted its application 22. In 2003, Kirby stated that the „willingness of contemporary judges“ to use the ALRC reports is a remarkable achievement: Michael Kirby, „The ALRCâa winning formula“ (2003) Reform 58â63: . Organizational frameworks such as schools, prisons or employers are important goals of legal reforms, but the law does not automatically penetrate organizations, without costs or distortions. Neo-institutional organizational theory treats organizations as open systems that respond in complex ways to their environment, including law, which tend to establish homogeneity between organizations in the same organizational domain (Meyer and Rowan, 1977). Organizations tend to be isomorphic or similar in structure and practices because they operate according to a common system of rules—regulations, norms, and cognitive schemas—derived from a common social environment (DiMaggio & Powell, 1991).
Legal institutions are part of this environment, and isomorphic processes are therefore a mechanism by which law changes society, or at least the organizations in society. The law facilitates „coercive isomorphism“ by imposing similar, sanction-based legal requirements on organizations in the same field, such as the rules of tax legislation that govern the structure and activities of non-profit organizations (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983: p. 150). Isomorphic processes can also be „mimetic“ when organizations in the same field meet ambiguous legal requirements by adopting the practices of other organizations that they find successful (Edelman, 1990). A third mechanism, „normative isomorphism,“ occurs when similarly trained professionals, such as lawyers or human resource managers, propagate common practices through professional associations and then return those practices to the organizations to which they belong (DiMaggio & Powell, 1991). Legal values such as due process often provide normative guidance to professionals in determining which practices are legitimate and effective (Edelman, 1990). „Ultimately, the government`s commitment to legislative reform will be tested in its commitment to facilitating the implementation of the Commission`s proposals. It is a commitment that must be expressed in deeds, not rhetoric. The Commission is empowered to present its recommendations in the form it deems most appropriate to facilitate their explanation and understanding, and feels obliged to add, in a form that facilitates implementation, in a form that is essentially consistent with those recommendations.
In this context, it is necessary to consider whether it is desirable for these recommendations to be reflected in a draft law annexed to the report. If the Commission is unable to formulate the bill it wants, many worthwhile proposals may never be published. Indeed, the Commission, which is not a ministry, will not be able to get its own proposals adopted by Parliament.