Impact of Capital Structure on Financial Performance of Real Estate Essay

Impact of Capital Structure on Financial Performance of Real Estate Firms Listed In Chinese Stock Exchange - Essay Example Since the real estate industry is capital intensive, a firm’s capital structure greatly impacts on its financial performance. Capital structures dictate the financial ratios of these companies and subsequently these ratios are used to determine a firm’s performance. In addition, the capital structure of these real estate firms also determines the extent of ownership by different shareholders. The study determined that the profitability and the debt levels of the twenty selected firms have an inverse relationship. It can as well be concluded that the capital structure affects the growth rate of these firms. This means that real estate firms in China that post high profits in their financial statements have financial debts that are lower that the industry’s average. In this regard, managements of real estate firms in China prefer capital structures that attract low costs of debt and will have minimal adverse effect on the firms’ performance in terms of profi tability and capitalization. According to the results of the analysis, high debt means high interest payments and this has a direct effect on the firms’ profitability and subsequently the firms’ Earnings per Share. The major factor that influenced capital structures of the twenty firms under this study is that the real industry shifted to the Chinese capital market for capital sourcing since privatization of state owned corporations. This study used an inductive approach on the twenty selected listed real estate companies in the methodology section. The quantitative methods objectively determine the impact of capital structure on the performance of the 20 selected and listed real estate firms. The reason for was because listed firms are regulated and they represent the best samples that would give reliable results for this study. However, the study would have given better results if a larger sample was used for this study and more time allocated for analysis. These

Financial analysis and modelling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial analysis and modelling - Essay Example 75661.1 and the SS value is 609526983.2), The Co-efficient values illustrates that all the variables are directly related that means with the increase in Store Size the Profits will also increase, and this is the case with the Clothing Sales and the Non-clothing Sales. It can also be stated that the Clothing Sales are the least related variable among the rest of two variables and can be neglected in order to achieve more accurate and realistic results. h) The R-Square value represents the closeness of the values to the regression line; in the result of this regression analysis the R-Square value is 0.985 which illustrates that the values are closely fitted. This also shows that the variations in any one of the variables (i.e. No-clothing Sales and Store Size) may cause a positive or negative affect of 98.5%. The value of Clothing Sales is ignored as it is not in the significant region and will not affect the overall outcome. i) The P-values indicates the significance values that whether the variable(s) (the independent ones) affect the dependent one(s) or the overall regression analysis. In the regression analysis the P-Values of Non-clothing Sales and Store Size are significant at the 5% significance level. The net present value is the sum of all net cash flows expected from a project over a period of projection (Needles, Powers, & Crosson, 2010). In this case three years projections have been considered for two projects X and Y. The NPV of Project X is negative i.e. less than zero therefore this project should not accepted. On the other hand, Project Y has a positive NPV value i.e. more than zero over a three-year projection period therefore Project Y should be accepted (Moyer, McGuigan, Rao, & Kretlow, 2011). C. Monte Carlo Simulation allows multiples values of an asset or investment based on certain sensitivity or scenario analysis. It allows businesses to prepare better by evaluating the outcome of a project or investment by knowing the possible output

Merits of Arbitrations

Merits of Arbitrations Critically assess the respective merits of arbitrations under the ICC, LCIA and ICSID rules: Introduction: In order to fully comprehend how arbitration that transcend states this discussion will explain how states are bound by contractual obligations in the public and private international arena. It will consider the role of the ICC and the protection of human rights violations within states, asking whether it is better to allow domestic jurisdictions to prosecute or the ICC. This will then be applied to situations when states become involved in investment practices between states and what duty of care these states owe to each other and their investors. Hence considering the legal nature of contracts between states, i.e. can they be easily be rescinded or is there a higher obligation to honour? Does this differ when states are in a position of dominance? Also investment law arguably bridges between private international law and public international law because investment from the WTO, WBO and states such as the US and regions, such as the EU need certain social and democratic treaties to be initiated and fulfilled. The main concern of countries within the international arena is to maintain its sovereignty and integrity from incursions of other states, which is the arena of public international law. This discussion is going to consider the effectiveness of international law in dealing with disputes once an incursion has occurred, focusing on whether the decisions at an international legal level are effective or flouted in either a direct or indirect manner. In order to do this essay is going to consider when a state has been subject to and penalized by international law it can legally not adhere to these obligations. In the case of private individuals that transcend borders there is the problem that the stronger party will lobby to have the case in the state that protects their interests, which will be considered when discussing the LCIA. International Criminal Court (ICC) – Outdated System of Arbitration: The ICC deals only with war criminals as defined under the Rome Statute. Crimes against humanity as defined in the Rome Statue include extermination of citizens, slavery, torture, rape, forced pregnancy, persecution on the grounds of race, religion, culture, gender or ethnicity, disappearances that are forced by the state and systemic attack on civilians. In short what the Rome Statute has done is extend the crimes that contained in a warfare situation to a non-warfare situation, i.e. if the state or political leader commissions such crimes it is contravening international humanitarian law, which results in criminal liability. The other crimes that the ICC deals with are genocide and crimes of aggression against other states or even between factions within the states. However the key factor of prosecutions by the ICC relies on actions by the state, it does not take into account non-state actors, such as corporations; therefore limiting its power and authority. The ICC seems more inte rested in the actions of states as opposed to other actors, which is primarily to do with the fact other organizations are not signatories to the UNDHR. At the moment the ICC has only investigated four states and is taking action against three, which are Uganda, the Congo and the Dafur in the Sudan and the process is lengthy and it is questionable it will sanction the ring leaders as opposed to causing more harm to the poverty stricken. This follows the problems with many international human rights law; for example if one is a large company they should not be able to abuse human rights, such abuses will be dealt with by domestic courts if they are properly protected; however in developing nations where economics outweigh the individual’s rights then these abuses go unchecked. This is partially the liability of the state which should be properly prosecuted; however the transnational corporation should also be held liable for their role in the abuses. Human rights and crimes ag ainst humanity will not be properly protected until companies who commit, initiate or support individual state’s and political leader’s actions that result in crimes of humanity are held criminally liable. It seems to fail to bring many cases because it includes crimes under the genocide convention and these are primarily brought under national courts and not the ICC, which is its domain since 1998. In addition to local tribunals that the UN sets up in post-war areas, so the ICC is not really performing the duties it was set up to do and focuses too much on the state. Prior to the ICC domestic courts brought actions under the genocide convention and focused on the criminals and seemed to be successful. The most famous or infamous examples are those of ex-Nazi Officers after their acts during the concentration camps in Nazi occupied areas of Europe. The conviction of these officers after the war seemed straight forward as with the cases of Knochen[1] and Oberg[2] Yet th e conviction of officers today is still hard under the convention, one example is the case of Imre Fitte in an Ontarian Court in Canada, where the crime was kidnapping and slaughtering Jews in 1944 as a Nazi Officer.[3] Another problem fraught case dating back to Nazi Germany and the Canadian courts is the case of Oberlander; whereby the government has tried to deport Oberlander because of his involvement with the Nazi death squads and the evidence has shown he lied about his innocence, but still has not been convicted of the crime due to legal technicalities: The government is trying to deport Oberlander, 78, after a Federal Court judge found he lied about his involvement with the death squad when he applied to emigrate from Germany in the early 1950s. Cabinet paved the way for his expulsion by stripping him of Canadian citizenship last year. But, as has been the case since proceedings against Oberlander began more than seven years ago, his fate remains unclear amid legal wrangling. Lawyers for Oberlander are seeking a judicial review of the cabinet decision, arguing it was flawed. They are also trying to have deportation proceedings put on hold until that issue is settled. The immigration hearing in Toronto was allowed to resume yesterday it was suspended almost a year ago but board member Carmen DeCarlo cant make a deportation order until a related appeal has been decided.[4] Yet there are successful cases where an individual is prosecuted for genocide, such as another Canadian Case of Leon Mugesera who was convicted of inciting genocide in Rwanda in a speech given in 1992, this resulted in a deportation order back to Rwanda; however Mugesera is still on appeal in Canada.[5] The most famous example of a successful genocide case is the one of Pinochet in Chile; whereby his immunity was lifted and his has been found guilty of this crime with ten other cohorts.[6] In the UK domestic courts held that officers of former Yugoslavia were guilty of the crime of genocide, which seems to be a situation that mirrors the horrors of Nazi Germany: Fridays military court finding in the central Serbian town of Nis jailed Lt. Col. Zlatan Mancic for seven years and Capt. Rade Radivojevic for five years on charges of ordering two soldiers to kill two Albanians during the conflict in April 1999.[7] Therefore there has been mixed success with respect to genocide in domestic court, especially with the necessary requirement of men rea. If one considers the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda’s (ICTR) actions in respect to the genocide in Rwanda only eleven persons have been found guilty of the crime of genocide, which illustrates that there are problems with prosecuting under the convention as a lot more persons were involved in this bloodbath. In the ICTR cases of Ruggiu[8] and Serushago[9] their guilty pleas were seen as mitigating circumstances and the sentences were more lenient for helping to exterminate persons of another race? Therefore the law seems to be focused on the mindset of the potential accused rather than the atrocities committed by their acts. Another problem with the Genocide Convention is that it needs to be either upheld in a domestic court or by a international tribunal; however to have an international tribunal it needs to international in natur e as illustrated in the Tadic case where there was movement for dismissal as it was argued that the International Criminal Tribunal of Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) had no jurisdiction as it was a domestic conflict.[10] The tribunal ruled in the broadest manner and ensured that its jurisdiction was upheld; however this illustrates the deficiencies of current international law, i.e. it needs to take in the actions of civil society and the domestic not just focus on the role of state actors, as the ICC is too focused upon. It needs to learn from the past deficiencies rather than to perpetrate these problems. LCIA ICSID – Fairness in Private International Law: The LCIA deals with commercial disputes and provides a forum for individuals to turn to when a commercial agreement crosses borders. The LCIA follows the law of private international law and does not bring the confusing factors of regime shopping; rather arbitration process relies on the just route. Here are the basic rules of arbitration: The LCIA arbitration rules are universally applicable. They offer a combination of the best features of the civil and common law systems, including in particular: maximum flexibility for parties and tribunals to agree on procedural matters speed and efficiency in the appointment of arbitrators, including expedited procedures means of reducing delays and counteracting delaying tactics tribunals power to decide on their own jurisdiction a range of interim and conservatory measures tribunals power to order security for claims and for costs special powers for joinder of third parties fast-track option waiver of right of appeal costs computed without regard to the amounts in dispute staged deposits parties are not required to pay for the whole arbitration in advance[11] Therefore the aim is to make disputes easier to resolve, without going through a domestic legal system that gives one party over the other an advantage. This introduces the problem of regime shopping that the independent forum of the LCIA would resolve. [The] possibility of shopping around for suitable legislation is often said to be most influential since the other elements depend on the controversial aim of deepening European integration. It is possible that the United States situation may be a precedent. In the United States individuals are free to incorporate under the laws of any state since the location of the company is not relevant.[12] This has caused problems because justice is not being served; rather powerful players are breaching the rules of justice to win their case under the most favorable regime. In the EU this has been seen in the Centros Decision[13], which has been condemned for putting economic interests above the interests of justice. This decision was based around the requirements of registration and trade within Denmark, which raised an issue of conflict between the laws of the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands whereby a properly registered foreign company is to be recognized; whereas Nordic law depends upon registration and whether refusal of registration was permissible to stop the circumvention of national law. The ECJ decided that this refusal went against the principles of competition law, which resulted in regional competition law outweighing domestic law therefore undermining the sovereignty of the state. The aim of the two Danish nationals by registering their company Centros in the UK and then transferring to Denmark was purely to circumvent the fee associated with registration. The question was whether the Danish court could refuse registration in Denmark because the aim was to defraud the Danish state; the ECJ advised that refusing registration was imposing an obstacle of the basic freedoms that make up company law. This case basically has caused competition law to become prevalent over national concerns. In fact it has possibly weakened the regulations of company law so that social and cultural policies will soon be under fire. This seems to be falling under the trap of companies for regime shopping, i.e. the weaker the regulation the higher the investment. In this case the act of defraud was not taken into account, the Danish nationals set out to misuse EU competition law to abuse the requirements of Danish national law. The Centros decision belies this inevitability; however the problem with such lax laws is that they equate to easier exploitation and perfect for re gime shopping for the powerful player in the dispute. This breaches fairness and just rules of law, therefore illustrating the importance of the LCIA. In fact this institution should become the primary organization to deal with international company disputes rather than relying on competing law in domestic regimes. The problem is that unlike the ICC and ICSID it is a voluntary arbitration resolution organization and should be set up through International Convention to deal with these specific disputes. This approach is mirrored by the ICSID, which was set up through states contracting similar to the ICC as an independent branch of the World Bank, but is more concerned with dealing with the problems of individual companies rather than focusing on just state to state problems: The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID or the Centre) is a public international organization created under a treaty, the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of Other States (the ICSID Convention or the Convention). The Convention was formulated by the Executive Directors of the World Bank and submitted by them on March 18, 1965 to member States of the Bank for consideration with a view to signature and ratification. The Convention, entered into force on October 14, 1966.[14] The aim of this arbitration is to ensure that parties are treated fairly and the stronger power does not take advantage of the position. This is especially important in respect to transnational companies who have an economic advantage over a developing country who needs the investment.[15] Therefore like the fair minded approach of the LCIA it provides an independent place of arbitration that deals with the real problems in state and foreign direct investment and takes away the problem of domestic rules and laws that would clash otherwise. This can be seen in the following exploration of state contract and private international cases, which cause a problem to determining a fair verdict or resolution in domestic courts. In the case of Serbian Loans[16] any contract that is not a contract between states in their capacity as subjects of international law is based on the municipal [domestic] law of some country†¦ The rules thereof may be common to several states and may even be established by international conventions or customs, and in the latter case may possess the character of true international law governing relations between states.[17] Therefore when it comes to investment contracts between states then it will have elements of adhering to the contractual word of the agreement; as well as the duty of care that the obligations are met as in public international contractual agreements. There has been a suggestion that cases that are on a private international matter allows the domestic court that makes the decision have an extraterritorial effect in imposing the obligation across borders, i.e. applying the higher standard of obligation and care that public international law holds.[18] On the o ther hand, the case of Holmes v Bangladesh Biman[19] argued that foreign jurisdictions have no legitimate reason for subjecting their civil law on foreigners in their own country. Therefore these two cases make it difficult for correctly pursuing fraud, negligence or any circumstance that leads to an action when it is a case of foreign investment, i.e. where would you make the action and could you legally serve and enforce the action papers in foreign jurisdiction. There is a possibility by using international treat formalities such as the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extra-Judicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters[20] and the Convention of the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters[21]. There are safety clauses for states to protect its sovereignty under private international law, as this is a major factor in any treaty under public international law, which was used in the case of Westinghouse v Rio Tinto Zinc[22] where the request fel l outside the ambit of the treaty and enabled the UK court to 12(b) of the Convention on Service to deny the request because it impinged on the sovereignty of the UK. The Lotus Case[23] reaffirms the basis of public international law in private international law, which is preserving the sanctity of a state’s sovereignty. Therefore creating difficulties in actions between parties in respect to foreign investment as this falls within the jurisdiction of the offended party’s state, which may not extend to the other party’s state. The case of Nationality Decrees in Tunis and Morocco [24] questions the legitimacy of this approach and introduces the subject of international relations and treaties, i.e. international public law; whereby contractual obligations between states should be fulfilled and only in extreme cases impinged upon. Therefore from an investment perspective, which may be third parties the question of extending jurisdiction should be upon the legality of the contract between the two parties and if the contract was between the two states how the obligations and duty of care would be resolved? The ICJ does not deal with such subject matter and has on occasion had to determine domestic or international jurisdiction in the case of Certain Norwegian Loans[25] where it was decided that it was the jurisdiction of the domestic court. On the other hand, similar facts in the Serbian and Brazilian Loans Cases[26] were held to be an international dispute for the ICJ to settle. This creates a difficult situation for states to understand the extent of private investment matters because its obligations may or may not be held at the normal level of private contract law or the higher level of public international contractual obligations. Therefore the ICSID deals independent with the problems between states and companies that want to invest directly in a given state; whereas the LCID deals with the conflicts between companies that are in differen t states. In both cases it is a lot more successful. Conclusion: Unlike the war crime and human rights arbitration it is a lot more successful to have an international place of arbitration and tribunal for commercial and foreign investment conflicts, as it reduces the problems with state sovereignty and regime shopping. The problem with the ICC is the limitations that the contracting states have placed upon it. It needs to be a lot more proactive and have the powers to deal not just with states, but also actors that assist in human rights abuse. At the moment the ICSID system is the best because it has the backing of International Convention and resolves problems in competing International Private Law systems within states. The LCIA is a voluntary organization, which is a good system but needs to be supported by an International Convention such as the ICSID. The ICC has this International Convention support but has failed on the grounds that its jurisdiction is too limited and previous domestic prosecutions and UN tribunals are much more effective . It would be more effective if it could deal with all actors that cause or have a role in gross human rights violations, because the ICC is not living up to its basic premise: The International Criminal Court (ICC)is the first ever permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to promote the rule of law and ensure that the gravest international crimes do not go unpunished.[27] Bibliography: Arab Regional Office (2004) Quarterly Report, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Beirut, Lebanon, March 2004 found at: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/5/arab-mar04.doc Bagheri, 2004, Competition and Integration among Stock Exchanges: The Dilemma of Conflicting Regulatory Objectives and Strategies, OLJS 24(69) Bananalink, Banana Trade Wars can be found at: http://www.usleap.org/Banana/bananatempnew.htm#tradewars B.R. Barber (1995) JIHAD v McWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism is Reshaping the World, New York, Times Books Catherine Barnard, 2000, Social Dumping And The Race To The Bottom: Some Lessons For The European Union From Delaware E.L. Rev. 2000, 25(1), 57-78 P. Craig, G. De Burca (1999) The Evolution of EU Law, Oxford, Oxford University Press R.K. Gardiner (2003) International Law, Harlow, England, Pearson Laurent Garzaniti. David Pope, 1993, Single Market-Making: EC Regulation Of Securities Markets Comp. Law. 1993, 14(3), 43-54 ICC, About the Court, can be found at www.icc-cpi.int ICSID, Cases, can be found at: http://www.worldbank.org/icsid/cases/cases.htm International Law Commission, 1996, Chapter Three – State Responsibility can be found at http://www.un.org/law/ilc/reports/1996/chap03.htm LCIA, Arbitration Rules can be found at: www.lcia-arbitration.com Prevent Genocide’s website at: http://preventgenocide.org/punish/domestic/index.htm#europe Siems, 2003, Convergence, Competition, Centros and Conflicts Of Law: European Company Law In The 21st Century, E.L. Rev. 2002, 27(1), 47-59 N.E. Simmonds, Introduction in W.N Hohfeld (2001), Syrpis, 2001, Smoke without Fire: The Social Policy Agenda and the Internal Market, ILJ 2001(30) UN Mission in Iraq (UNIKOM) can be found at: http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unikom/ K. Waltz (1991) America as a Model for the World? PS: Political Science and Politics: 24(4) M. Waters (1995) Globalization, London, Routledge Weiler, 1999, The Constitution of the Common Market Place: Text and Context in the Evolution of the Free Movement of Goods in Craig De Burca (eds), 1999, The Evolution of EU Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford Worldwatch Institute (2004) State of World 2004: Progress Towards a Sustainable Society, London, Earthscan UN, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Some Questions and Answers, found at: http://www.un.org/law/icc/statute/iccqa.htm United Nations Press Releases, Roman Statute of International Criminal Court, ESCWA, July 2nd 2002 found at: http://www.escwa.org.lb/information/press/un/2002/july/02_2.html UN website, ICTR, can be found at: http://www.ictr.org/default.htm UN website, ICTY can be found at: http://www.un.org/icty/ [1] Reported on Prevent Genocide’s website at: http://preventgenocide.org/punish/domestic/index.htm#europe [2] Reported on Prevent Genocide’s website at: http://preventgenocide.org/punish/domestic/index.htm#europe [3] Reported on Prevent Genocide’s Website at http://preventgenocide.org/punish/domestic/index.htm#americas [4] Reported on Prevent Genocide’s Website at http://preventgenocide.org/punish/domestic/index.htm#americas [5] Reported on Prevent Genocide’s Website at http://preventgenocide.org/punish/domestic/index.htm#americas [6] Reported on Prevent Genocide’s Website at http://preventgenocide.org/punish/domestic/index.htm#americas [7] Reported on Prevent Genocide’s website at: http://preventgenocide.org/punish/domestic/index.htm#europe [8] UN website, ICTR, can be found at: http://www.ictr.org/default.htm [9] UN website, ICTR, can be found at: http://www.ictr.org/default.htm [10] UN website, ICTY can be found at: http://www.un.org/icty/ [11] LCIA, Arbitration Rules can be found at: www.lcia-arbitration.com [12] Siems, 2003, Convergence, Competition, Centros and Conflicts Of Law: European Company Law In The 21st Century, E.L. Rev. 2002, 27(1), 47-59 [13] Centros Ltd v Erhvervs-og Selskabsstyrelsen (C212/97) [2000] 2 W.L.R. 1048 (ECJ) [14] ICSID, Cases, can be found at: http://www.worldbank.org/icsid/cases/cases.htm [15] Tesoro Petroleum Corporation v. Trinidad and Tobago (Case No. CONC/83/1) [16] France v Serbia (1929) Series A Nos 20/21 [17] Ibid [18] Deutsche Schachtbau v Shell International [1990] 1 AC 295 [19] [1989] 1 All ER 852 [20] The Hague, 1965, UKTS 50 [21] The Hague, 1970, UKTS 20 [22] [1978] AC 547 [23]France v Turkey [1927] PCIJ Series A No 10 [24] (1923) Series B No 4

Hacker Crackdown :: essays research papers

The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier by Bruce Sterling is a book that focuses on the events that occurred on and led up to the AT&T long-distance telephone switching system crashing on January 15, 1990. Not only was this event rare and unheard of it took place in a time when few people knew what was exactly going on and how to fix the problem. There were a lot of controversies about the events that led up to this event and the events that followed because not only did it happen on Martin Luther King Day, but few knew what the situation truly entailed. There was fear, skepticism, disbelief and worry surrounding the people that were involved and all of the issues that it incorporated. After these events took place the police began to crackdown on the law enforcement on hackers and other computer based law breakers. The story of the Hacker Crackdown is technological, sub cultural, criminal, and legal. There were many raids that took place and it became a sym bolic debate between fighting serious computer crime and protecting the civil liberties of those involved. In this book Sterling discusses three cyberspace subcultures known as the hacker underworld, the realm of the cyber cops, and the idealistic culture for the cyber civil libertarians. At the beginning of the story Sterling starts out with discussing the birth of cyberspace and how it came about. The Hacker Crackdown informs the readers of the issues surrounding computer crime and the people on all sides of those problems. Sterling gives a brief summary of what cyberspace meant back then and how it impacted society, and he investigates the past, present and future of computer crimes. For instance he explains how the invention of the telephone led to a world that people were scared of because the telephone was something that was able to let people talk to one another without actually being in the same area. People thought that it was so strange and so different because they didn’t understand all of the information behind it. Back then people thought of the telephone as a tool tha t allowed others to talk to them in a way that was so personal yet impersonal. Sterling then goes on to explain how â€Å"phone phreaks† played such an important part in relating the telephones to computer crimes and how they were so closely related back then.

Copying Morality? Essay

Software piracy and illegal file shares is becoming a bigger issue in modern day society, more likely with the youth of society. All computers now come with burn-ware technologies in which the user can take a product and create copies of that software. Originally, this process was created in order to provide methods of backing up a person’s computer files, in case of hardware crashing and system reboots. However, the situation has changed. People are now able to copy any type of media file (DVDs, CDs, operation systems, etc) and give out these products, free of charge. Do you like that CD that your friend bought the other day? Ask him to burn you a copy, then you can have it too. Did your latest version of Microsoft Windows crash on you and you don’t have the recovery discs? No problem. Get a friend to burn you a copy of their recovery discs. And what’s the best thing about these transactions? You don’t have to pay for anything! Broke college students rejoice! In Bernard Gert’s essay, Is it Moral to Make Copies of Software for my Friends? ,the ethics of this trend are discussed. What are the ethical guidelines when it comes to computers? Is it acceptable to copy software? Gert’s conclusion is that it is not morally acceptable to copy software, no matter who the software is for and regardless if it is free of charge. It is an illegal action, as there are laws against such activity, and therefore it is unacceptable to partake in such action. Although still possible to perform while still illegal, this doesn’t mean that it is acceptable. A law cannot be broken just because someone has the means of doing so. Gert first explains the ethics of breaking the law. He states that â€Å"one cannot limit the subject matter of the law to a particular law one dislikes. † He uses the example of smoking by minors to back up this argument. The law is that you must be 18 years old in order to buy cigarettes. However, minors cannot just go out and buy cigarettes and smoke because they dislike the law. It’s still a law; not liking the law isn’t a justifiable reason to try and break it. The only time that it is acceptable to break a law is in the situation in which the law is unjust. If a law is unjust and has a negative effect on society, then it should not be a law in the first place, thus making it acceptable if the law is to be broken because eventually, this will cause the law to be overturned. However, current software copying laws are not unjust, and if they are to be considered unjust, there is no clear and valid reason of why they are unjust. Copying laws are not morally unacceptable, making it unacceptable to break these laws. Gerts compares this issue to speed limits. Speed limits are the accepted law of whatever state they are set in. These speed limits are not hurting society and are morally acceptable within the community. Because of this, it is looked down upon when a driver breaks the speed limit, becoming so unacceptable that legal action can take place. Speed limits are not suggestions, they are laws. These laws are in no violation of morality and therefore they must be followed. Gert also believes that it is not acceptable to break a law in the event that one thinks that some other law would be better. If society allows violation of the current law due to the fact the society is in favor of other laws that are not passed, then it becomes acceptable for everyone to break every law. If everyone has this mentality, then law becomes obsolete. Why even bother having any laws if everyone feels that they can break them because they don’t agree with them? Gert believes that this mentality will lead into anarchy. As for software laws, Gert believes that because these laws are not unjust and are not causing any harm, it is not morally acceptable for anyone to be breaking the law. He claims that he does not know enough about the current laws to admit that there may be other more suitable and better laws that for this issue. However, that does not mean that software copying shouldn’t be illegal or have penalties. Gert states that illegally copying software cannot be described solely based on the â€Å"morally relevant issues, as it brings in one’s biases with regard to software†. People may only see it as doing a favor for a friend when they copy software. How can an act with good intentions possibly be immoral? According to Gert, it doesn’t matter of what the intentions were; motives don’t determine the morality of an action. In conclusion, for these reasons, Gert determines that copying software is not morally acceptable. II. Evaluation According to Gert, it doesn’t matter of what the intentions were; motives don’t determine the morality of an action. Here, I find myself agreeing with Gert. Just because you have good intentions, it doesn’t mean that it’s acceptable to violate the law. Hitler had good intentions, didn’t he? He wanted to cleanse his country and make his country better for the people he deemed valuable. Sure, he killed millions of people, but the good intent was there, right? Wrong. His intentions do not justify anything that he did. A person could justify burning software by saying that he is doing it to help out his friend, but his good intentions mean nothing. He still did something that was against the law, and therefore it is wrong. The second and last thing that I agree with Gert about is that it normally should not be acceptable for a person to break the law. The only time it is permissible is when the law is an unjust one that brings more harm than good to society. In America’s early years, did the settlers not eventually find King George’s rule to be unjust? Did we not find his laws and policies unbearable? Did we not oppose them and fight them? America was born by breaking the law! And this is acceptable! Why? Because it was against injustice. The only time a law can be broken is when it is unjust. We, as Americans, cannot argue with this. However, are piracy laws unjust? Gert certainly doesn’t think so. I’m not sure if I agree with him. A weakness that Gert has is that he admits that he does not know much about the piracy laws. He knows that there are laws making copying illegal, however, he does not explain them because he does not know enough about them to do so. It makes me wonder â€Å"if you don’t know everything about your subject, then why are making such an effort to persaude me to believe your opinion? † He loses credibility and this hurts him. If you are going to argue a viewpoint, I would prefer that the person pleading his case knows a lot about the subject matter. To be honest, I don’t think Gert knows a lot about the situation. He rarely actually talks about the core subject: copying software. Instead, he talks about the morality of breaking the law in general. He just happens to throw software piracy in there to add another example of the morality of breaking the law. This severely hurts his thesis and essay in general. Another weakness in this paper is the ‘slippery slope’ argument that he makes about breaking laws in favor for other laws. He claims that this will lead to anarachy. If people don’t want to obey the law because they think some other law would be better, how will this lead to anarchy? Couldn’t it be possible that it will just lead to the replacement of laws? If there is such replacement, how will it lead to chaotic anarachy? He does not explain why such a process will lead to anarachy; he just states that it will lead to it. Not only is his argument flawed, there is a flaw within the flaw. He can’t even explain his wrong reasoning. But then again, maybe that is the whole point of illogical reasoning: there is no logical reasoning! A final weakness that I found a couple of times in Gert’s essay is that he uses some faulty analogies. He compares software laws to speeding laws and drinking laws, among other breif examples. He uses these examples in his arguments about the morality of breaking the law. If one does not agree with the speed limits, he is not obligated to break them simply because he does not like them. If an 18 year old wants to drink when the legal drinking age is 21, he cannot do so just because he doesn’t agree with the law. Thus, if a person wants to copy a CD for their friend and it is illegal, he cannot do so. I don’t believe that piracy laws fall in the same field as speed limits and underage drinking. I think those problems impact society much more than a burned copy of Blue Oyster Cult’s â€Å"Don’t Fear the Reaper†. These are just different situations and they shouldn’t be compared on the same level. So it is morally acceptable to copy software for my friends? I personally believe so for a couple of reasons. I am guilty of illegally copying music and movies, and I see nothing wrong with anything that I have done. I’m a criminal justice major and I understand the piracy laws. I still see nothing wrong with it. If burning a CD or a DVD is so morally wrong, then why do stores provide the means of doing so? Stores sell burnable discs in which you can copy anything onto them. How can anyone be expected NOT to burn software or a CD? These discs aren’t illegal, but the act of copying is illegal. Yes, I understand that the original purpose of these rewritable CDs and DVDs were to be storage devices for personal work, but the times have changes as the technology has evolved. Do not provide the means of a crime if you do not want the crime to happen. I’m positive that the main reason why people burn software is because of the money involved. Downloading something is free. If I have a free option, then why should I bother buying something? If I only like one song on a CD, why should I have to shell out twenty-five dollars to buy the whole thing? CDs only cost companies ten cents to burn, and an additional two dollars for the packaging. I understand that there are labor fees to be paid as well, but why does the media industry have to charge their consumers, their lifeblood, these ridiculous prices? My laptop crashed recently. Nowadays, laptops are being sold with the software already installed onto the hard drive. This has added a hidden cost to the overall cost of the laptop. Along with this, no discs are provided. You’re paying for software that you have no legal copy for. When your laptop crashes, you no longer have the software. So when my laptop crashed, resulting in me buying a new hard drive, what did the technical support people tell me to do? They told me that I had to buy the operating system separately. It was an annoyance to do so, but it was an option. Do you know how much Windows Vista goes for? Two hundred fifty dollars. Well, there goes that option for this poor college student. My solution to my problem? I found a friend with Vista and I got him to copy the software for me. If the legal copy did not cost so much, I would have purchased it. I think that’s the root problem of this issue. If companies didn’t sell their software at such an absurd price, more people would turn away from illegal means of obtaining said software and actually acquire it legally. I see no problem with downloading software because of this key reason. Illegal copying and downloading of software, music, and movies is just something that isn’t possible to monitor. There are millions of people all over the world doing this. How can officials possible prosecute these people? How can they possibly track them down? Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as email tracking and there is no such thing as download tracking. There is no such technology to know exactly what illegal site someone has been on and downloaded something from. If you take my mp3 player, there is no way that you would be able to tell which songs I purchased and which ones I have illegally downloaded. It is the same situation if you took a look on my computer. Which files were obtained illegally? You’ll never know.

Managing Information Technology Essay

Question #1: What would be your prioritized list of IT investments? Four IT investments need to be prioritized; 1. 2. 3. 4. Ecommerce & Web sales Aligning the various systems (legacy, SAP, ERP) together. Hire relationship managers Make IT a â€Å"partner† 1. After only 3 years, KL’s Web sales have reached $156M, equalizing its in store sales, and now represent 15% of total sales. This is very encouraging and exciting. KL needs to continue to invest in Ecommerce & Web sales in order to continue this great growth. Selling via the Internet should be a priority because it’s cheaper than your ordinary brick and mortar sales points, there is less overhead expense, and this market is growing exponentially. The company should work towards gaining the most market share possible developing an industry leading website, timely and dependable delivery, and customer service. Accomplishing the above means getting all the company sharing information and data more efficiently (see point #2). 2. KL has a complex IT infrastructure with various systems in use around the world. The result is a frustrated bunch of employees upset with the fact that communication data sharing is awful. To remedy this the company needs to invest more in training to get the whole company, including the USA, to use SAP as soon as possible. 3. Assign/hire relationship managers to improve information sharing, facilitate plans, priorities, communications, and relationships, and in turn get the whole system to work together. 4. To avoid such problems in the future, KL needs to make IT a â€Å"partner† in the decision making process. In other words, the company needs to better involve IT in company strategy and tactical planning. With the IT team, the company needs to develop and define an Enterprise Operating Model and Architecture that include business strategy, current IT assessment, IT strategy and IT plans. Question #2: Would your colleagues on the executive committee agree with your selection and prioritization? The above priorities should be well received because they solve or improve many of the frustrating employees around the company. This answer will look at each division (upper management, sales & marketing, order fulfillment and distribution, and ITS) and see why the four IT priorities should be well received by the executive committee. The KL upper management is on record stating that the company has IT challenges â€Å"†¦around coordinating the various, and at times conflicting, business priorities across the enterprise. We sure could use better IT tools for this as well as ready access to timely performance data.†, CEO Joseph Campbell. In addition, COO Jens McCreary stated that the company needs to improve global supply-chain management and leverage the expertise to outpace out competitors and cut our operating costs†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Considering these quotes it’s safe to assume that the CEO and COO should be accepting of these four IT priorities because will want to see IT provide better services in order to reach their goals. The products, manufacturing and distribution divisions of the company want to see SAP standardized and compatible across the company in order to better share information. Priorities #2 and 3 should please this division. Sales & marketing hope to see inter-operating unit and communications and coordination issues to be resolved and they need real-time data. Priorities #1, 2 and 3 should encourage the sales and marketing team. The order fulfillment and distribution divisions need capabilities to forecast sales and manage our product and cash flows need to be more competitive. They want to be able to deliver in a J.I.T. basis (optimize effectiveness) and have data integration between the legacy systems, SAP, Oracle, etc. These issues should improve with priorities #2 and 3 and this making these priorities acceptable to this division. Finally, the information technology services (ITS) claim that not spending enough on IT (more spent on production and sales), and Web and ecommerce should be priority. Priorities 1 to 4 all favor the ITS team, and therefore should be well received.

Reciprocal Pronoun Definition and Examples

Reciprocal Pronoun Definition and Examples A reciprocal pronoun is a  pronoun that expresses mutual action or relationship. In English the reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another. Some usage guides insist that each other should be used to refer to two people or things, and one another to more than two. As Bryan Garner has observed, Careful writers will doubtless continue to observe the distinction, but no one else will notice (Garners Modern American Usage, 2009). See also: Anaphora (Grammar)Reference Examples ofReciprocal Pronouns Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.(John F. Kennedy, in a speech prepared for delivery on the day of his assassination, November 22, 1963)Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they dont know each other; they dont know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated.(Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, 1958)All birds and animals talk to one anotherthey really have to, in order to get along.(E.B. White, The Trumpet and the Swan. Harper Row, 1970)The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any other animal.(H. L. Mencken, Notes on Democracy, 1926)There is no such thing as the StateAnd no one exists alone;Hunger allows no choiceTo the citizen or the police;We must love one another or die.(W.H. Auden, September 1, 1939)People whose grandparents were all long-lived and lived with the family, shoo t each other before they are 40.(Robert Benchley, How Long Can You Live? The Benchley Roundup. Harper Row, 1954) [W]ith a gasp of exasperation he rips away a great triangular piece [of the map] and tears the large remnant in half and, more calmly, lays these three pieces on top of each other and tears them in half, and then those six pieces and so on until he has a wad he can squeeze in his hand like a ball.(John Updike, Rabbit, Run. Alfred A. Knopf, 1960)They all come together and Tohero introduces Margaret: Margaret Kosko, Harry Angstrom, my finest athlete, its a pleasure for me to be able to introduce two such wonderful young people to one another.(John Updike, Rabbit, Run. Alfred A. Knopf, 1960) Usage Guide: Each Other or One Another? Each other and one another are known as the reciprocal pronouns. They serve either as determiners (in the possessive case) or as objects, referring to previously named nouns: Each other generally refers to two nouns; one another to three or more.(Martha Kolln and Robert Funk, Understanding English Grammar. Allyn and Bacon, 1998)In modern English, most people normally use each other and one another in the same way. Perhaps one another is preferred (like one) when we are making very general statements, and not talking about particular people.(Michael Swan, Practical English Usage. Oxford Univ. Press, 1995)A Practical Grammar: In Which Words, Phrases, and Sentences Are Classified According to Their Offices, and Their Relation to Each Other(Title of a textbook by Stephen W. Clark, published by A. S. Barnes, 1853)Prescriptive style commentators have tried to insist that each other should be used between two people only, and one another when more than two were concerned. Yet Fowler (1926) spoke firmly against this distinction, arguing it had neither present utility nor a basis in historical usage. His judgment is confirmed in citations recorded in the Oxford Dictionary (1989) and Websters English Usage (1989).(Pam Peters, The Cambridge Guide to English Usage. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2004)

Rebuild your career after job loss

Rebuild your career after job loss If you’re reading this, it may be because the worst has already happened: you’ve been laid off or fired. Or perhaps you’re prepping for the doomsday scenario, just in case. Either way, know that a layoff or a firing is not a life-ending (or even career-ending) thing. When it happens, the shock and devastation can lead to pessimism about your next steps. But try to keep these tips in mind if it happens to you. Know that it’s okay to grieve.Job loss is a huge change. Routine, stability, future planning- all of these are likely upended by the news. It’s okay to let yourself feel the range of emotion after it happens, like anger, depression, fear, and humiliation. You may try to put on a brave face, but don’t try to quash the emotions altogether. Acceptance and moving on mean working through the feelings rather than ignoring them.Take it as an opportunity.No, really. It probably doesn’t feel like one- I know when I got laid off, I felt pes simism creeping in right away. But soon I started to realize that I’d hated my job, and this was a chance to start over without having to make the tough decision to quit and walk away. This job loss does take away some of your own agency (we all want things to be on our own terms), but once it happens, embrace it as a chance to start over. Maybe it’s time for a career change?Don’t lie about it.You’re going to need to move on to a new job, and that means finding a way to spin what happened at your last one. It can be tempting to lie about the circumstances under which you left out of a sense of personal pride or fear of rejection, but don’t do it. If you were fired for a reason, that will likely come up during either reference checks or background checks (if it was serious).On your resume, you don’t need to be specific about what happened. But you should be prepared to discuss it in an interview. â€Å"Why did you leave your last job?† is a common default interview question, and it’s pretty much inevitable that you’ll face it at some point. If you were laid off, a response like â€Å"my position was eliminated† or â€Å"the company downsized† is totally acceptable. If you were fired, you can give a general explanation as to why, and explain a) what you learned from it; and b) how that knowledge makes you a better employee. Second chances are not impossible, but you have to make a good case for yourself.Whatever the circumstances, remember that you’re still alive, and you’re still you. The positive qualities you bring to the table are ultimately more important than your past, so as long as you take the time to learn from the experience and think hard about how to repackage yourself, you can turn it into a career opportunity (if a painful one).

Simple Décrire Verb Conjugations in French

Simple Dà ©crire Verb Conjugations in French In French, to say to describe, you must use the verb  dà ©crire. Admittedly, conjugating this verb to mean described or will describe is not the easiest thing to do. However, a quick lesson and some dedicated practice will help you memorize this tricky verb. Conjugating the French Verb  Dà ©crire Dà ©crire  is an  irregular verb, so it does not follow one of the common verb conjugation patterns found in French. Yet, all  French verbs ending in  -crire  are conjugated this way. You might consider studying a few at the same time to make learning each just a little easier. Conjugations transform the verb into the present, future, or past tense so the sentence makes sense. This is done by identifying the verb stem - in this case,  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹dà ©cri- - then adding the appropriate infinitive ending for the subject pronoun. For instance, I describe is je dà ©cris and we will describe is nous dà ©crirons. Subject Present Future Imperfect je dà ©cris dà ©crirai dà ©crivais tu dà ©cris dà ©criras dà ©crivais il dà ©cris dà ©crira dà ©crivait nous dà ©crivons dà ©crirons dà ©crivions vous dà ©crivez dà ©crirez dà ©criviez ils dà ©crivent dà ©criront dà ©crivaient The Present Participle of  Dà ©crire When you add -ant  to the verb stem of  dà ©crire, you form the  present participle  dà ©crivant. It is a verb, of course, yet youll also find it used as an adjective, gerund, or noun at times. The Past Participle and Passà © Composà © The  past participle  of  dà ©crire  is  dà ©crit.  Its used in the construction of the  passà © composà ©Ã‚  for the past tense of described. To use it, you must also conjugate the  auxiliary verb  avoir. The passà © composà © comes together quickly once you know these rules. As an example, I described is jai dà ©crit and we described is nous avons dà ©crit. More Simple Dà ©crire  Conjugations Among the other simple verb conjugations of  dà ©crire  that you should know are the subjunctive and conditional. Each implies some degree of uncertainty or dependency in the act of deciding. In literature, youll come across either the passà © simple or imperfect subjunctive forms. While you may not use them yourself, recognizing them as a form of  dà ©crire  will help with comprehension. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Passà © Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je dà ©crive dà ©crirais dà ©crivis dà ©crivisse tu dà ©crives dà ©crirais dà ©crivis dà ©crivisses il dà ©crive dà ©crirait dà ©crivit dà ©crivà ®t nous dà ©crivions dà ©cririons dà ©crivà ®mes dà ©crivissions vous dà ©criviez dà ©cririez dà ©crivà ®tes dà ©crivissiez ils dà ©crivent dà ©criraient dà ©crivirent dà ©crivissent In short, assertive commands and requests, the imperative verb form is used. When using this, keep the sentence short and skip the subject pronoun: dà ©cris rather than tu dà ©cris. Imperative (tu) dà ©cris (nous) dà ©crivons (vous) dà ©crivez

Study skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Study skills - Essay Example To begin with, the report will analyze on the powers and responsibilities of the Great London authority and the mayor (Mayor of London, 2011). Secondly, the report will have a reflection on the policies that are related to the environment, as introduced by the mayor in the last five years. This will be a critical analysis of the policies and a critical evaluation of the evidence as provided by literature reviews. Thirdly, the report will include focus on the existing gap between policy, public policy initiatives and general practice. This will be in line with the London developments in line with the established policies during the time of governance by the incumbent mayor. Lastly, the report will direct its focus on the concerns about the effectiveness of the greater London authority. This will also reflect on the effectiveness of the mayor in making it a key success in executing all the stated policies. Similarly, the report will have information about the environmental developments that have been effected by the great London authority. The success of the policies will be used to evaluate the performance of the great London authority and the mayor. Therefore, positive accrual will refer that the great London authority has been successful, alongside the services of the mayor, which is a positive trait. Powers and responsibility of the mayor The mayor and the great London authority have various obligations in their mandate, which need to be executed while in office. The GLA is a considerable administrative tool that was incepted in London to take care of the developments. It has vast responsibilities in ensuring there is rapid development in the area. The body is vested with powers and responsibilities that used to execute the decisions. Therefore, the development of London is the initial responsibility of The GLA (Edwards and Miller, 2008). London is a city that needs exponential development with a rapid improvement over the years. Apparently, the GLA is consid ered the apt option that would deal with the development of the city. This is a vast responsibility that needs ample preparedness and stratification of strategies on the development. In the recent times, the GLA has been coming up with developmental programs that are functioning to the advantage of the city. Therefore, it has been responsible for most of in its functions in the city. This shows that it has been effective in implementing it responsibilities. In addition to this, the environment has record rapid improvement as the city generates better services to the people. In essence, the implementation of the strategies by GLA has been successful in the city with more progress recorded in the past five years. The first responsibility of the Great London Authority is social development. Social development is an initiative that is geared towards providing a social induction that makes all the people have a better social life. The people have to be contented with their residence in t he area. This is only done through the provision of highly rated social services. Therefore, it is in the best interests of the GLA to ensure the people have the best social services. The social services include recreational grounds, effective transport and social living. With ample provisions of these services, the GLA will have successfully executed its responsibilities. In actual sense, the GLA will have accrued an effective performance in accordance to its obligations. The second obligation of the Great Lond

Leonardo Da Vinci Contribution To Aviation History Research Paper - 2

Leonardo Da Vinci Contribution To Aviation History - Research Paper Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that one of the great achievement made by Leonardo Da Vinci was his most significant contribution to the industry of Aviation. Leonardo Da Vinci was fascinated by the concept of flying human beings and this promoted him to develop thousands of words as well as hundreds of sketches that focused on the subject of aviation. His ideas regarding the aviation have been presented in the form of several codexes and one of the codes that specifically focuses on the aviation industry is recognized as the Codex on the Flight of Birds. His interest in the concept of aviation seems to be guided by the huge amount of in-depth work he has performed on the subject of militia and technology for military purposes. Due to his focus on military based technological advancements, he was able to develop the concept of aerial reconnaissance. He was the one who came up with the idea that there should be a machine that can fly and help in attaining the objective of ae rial reconnaissance. Most of Leonardo Da Vinci’s ideas were based on nature and he applied the same basis to the idea of developing an airplane or an aircraft that can fly with the assistance of flapping wings. This idea led him to design an aircraft which is recognized as ornithopters. While developing this design he did not take into consideration that fact the human beings have limited amount of capacity to move their muscles. But the design of two arms or wings flapping can be said to have provided a direction to aircraft developers in realizing that an aircraft needs wings to fly. A much realistic design and thought provided by Leonardo Da Vinci was on various concepts of aviation in his Codex on the Flight Birds. In Codex on the Flight Birds, he focused on the importance of center of gravity and its use in lifting the weight.

Standardization of Knowledge Management Annotated Bibliography

Standardization of Knowledge Management - Annotated Bibliography Example The main purpose of this research is to identify and provide critically relevant examples of the role of biomedical ontologies in the data integration, decision support, and knowledge management. The author has primarily explained the importance of standardization of biomedical ontologies and their role in knowledge management with the support of a number of published pieces of literature. The methodology used in this research article is the survey and review of published kinds of literature and operational systems. The strength of the research is that it has followed a functional perspective in the methodology. This statement is confirmed by the fact that the cases of usage of ontologies in operational systems have been included in the research. Some examples of these are the inclusion of ontologies like SNOMED CT, LOINC, FMA, the Gene Ontology, RxNorm, UMLS etc. On the other side, adding to the strength of the research, recent research articles are referred to as well. This provides relevant scientific support to the survey findings. The finding of the research confirms the importance of ontologies in biomedical research. The use of ontologies as a key input towards knowledge management is reiterated in the survey. This indicates the local application of the survey findings with relevance to knowledge management. The conclusions have provided scope for further research on the application of standardized ontologies in knowledge management. However, one weakness that pertains to the research is that the inclusion criteria for the literature included in the survey have not been mentioned. However, the wide range of references included justifies this.

Employee Privacy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Employee Privacy - Research Paper Example It is also reasonable from an employer’s perspective to keep track of their employees if there is lack in quality of work. This research paper focuses on the current issues related to off-duty conduct and its effects on the privacy of employees. Employers have the technological means to find out, what workers do in their own time. However, the right to monitor employees’ personal conduct is limited based on the employees’ rights under law and specific rules. Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), an employer is not supposed to conduct any kind of surveillance on employees during any gatherings off-duty1. If employees discuss about their workspace and their job related issues in union activities, it should not be made public by employers. Instead employers should keep away from social activities of employees if it is out of their interest. According to law, if an employer sends a supervisor to overhear on group discussions or private meetings then he is violating the rules set up by the NLRA. Similarly, the guidelines set by NLRA also states that Drug Testing should only be performed if any suspicious activity is recorded during working hours. NLRA states that drug testing has the potential to reveal an employee’s use of drug outside the office so it has been subjected to private litigation. The employers may face challenges on this stand because there are many employees who do-not perform their work properly. There may be several reasons behind it, including consumption of drugs before working hours. The employees may not react or let employers know that they are biased by drugs and employers many have to accept the low quality performance of employees. The Drug Testing in most of the organizations is conducted before joining of an employee or during any suspicious cases. For Example, if an applicant failed to pass the drug test in

Medieval Times in Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Medieval Times in Europe - Essay Example As the report explores one of the most notable was the difference in the appearances of those who attended church. Wealthy bourgeoisie merchants were rich in their clothes while the serf families were clad in dirty rough wool. In the middle ages there was a great level of inequality between the classes of society seen. The serf families lived in terrible hardships and it was not an uncommon happening in winter for either the youngest or oldest of poor families to die of cold and hunger. Where the serfs lived in cold stone huts with straw roofs, the noble lords lived in comfortable castles. A large difference was seen when comparing the living standards of the rich and poor. This discussion declares that there was no known cure for this disease and this lack of knowledge led to many different (and rather useless) remedies. These included allusions to alchemy, magic, miracles by the Church and various other cures. Of course, at the time none of them actually worked to help the countless people suffering from the blackening of their skin (due to hemorrhaging under the skin) and the painful swelling and wounds in their bodies and general fever. What was noted was that there was extreme fear for the disease as no one actually had any explanations for how and why it was spreading and killing millions. In their blind and futile search for a cure their frustration was directed at minority groups of society as the Jews and those already suffering from the disease.

The Modern History of Computing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Modern History of Computing - Essay Example The source will trace the history of computers from early 1900s to the modern times. It will equally provide information relating to technological changes over that period and considerably highlight the contribution of computer technology innovators like Atanasoff, Babbage, and Colossus. The recognition of the book’s authors, its proper citations, worldwide sponsorships, and relevant outsourcing, promote the credibility and authoritativeness of the source. Additionally, the source document is equally factual, easy to read and understand. Hence, it is relevant to the topic. Ensmenger, Nathan "Who Invented the Computer? The Legal Battle That Changed Computing History." American Scientist 91.5 (2003): 467-468. Although the book is long and loses focus on the main issue about computer inventions, it is relevant to scholarly work. The source will help me to understand a legal case that explains Atanasoff as the actual inventor of the modern computer. However, although the judgeâ₠¬â„¢s ruling on this case is questionable, the authority of the author and the information will be applicable in this study. A more balanced and broader book on computer history would be more appropriate. Hodges,  Andrew. ... Additionally, the source will highlight the limitations of early computers as well as showing a brief history of computers. The source is authoritative and relevant. It is consistent with other sources on computer information and is widely recognized by many organizations. The author is highly knowledgeable and recognized. The planning and writing of this source document is easy to read and understand. Thus, the source document is widely applicable and relevant in this study. Miller, Stephen. "Pioneer Programmer Shaped The Evolution of Computers." Wall Street Journal - Eastern Edition 14 Oct. 2011: A. Newspaper Source The wall street journal is a prominent academic material and its authority in information is reliable. The document helps me in analyzing information on the inventors of computer programming language and other software. The document will considerably highlight the contributions of Mr. Ritchie in computer technology from the early times to the recent times. It will also brief me with the difference between the early computer and modern computers. The Wall street journal is reliable in technological and business news in US. Thus, I will reasonably use this source document in my study. Rojas,  Raul and Hashagen,Ulf The first computers: history and architectures London: MIT Press, 2002 Print. This scholarly book is up-to-date with its publishing being 10 years ago. The information herein helps me to understand the origin of computers, the early computers, and their uses. Indeed, it highlights the development and components of early computers. This information will help me in analyzing the origin and development of early computers. Just like any other print media, the source

Medieval Times in Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Medieval Times in Europe - Essay Example As the report explores one of the most notable was the difference in the appearances of those who attended church. Wealthy bourgeoisie merchants were rich in their clothes while the serf families were clad in dirty rough wool. In the middle ages there was a great level of inequality between the classes of society seen. The serf families lived in terrible hardships and it was not an uncommon happening in winter for either the youngest or oldest of poor families to die of cold and hunger. Where the serfs lived in cold stone huts with straw roofs, the noble lords lived in comfortable castles. A large difference was seen when comparing the living standards of the rich and poor. This discussion declares that there was no known cure for this disease and this lack of knowledge led to many different (and rather useless) remedies. These included allusions to alchemy, magic, miracles by the Church and various other cures. Of course, at the time none of them actually worked to help the countless people suffering from the blackening of their skin (due to hemorrhaging under the skin) and the painful swelling and wounds in their bodies and general fever. What was noted was that there was extreme fear for the disease as no one actually had any explanations for how and why it was spreading and killing millions. In their blind and futile search for a cure their frustration was directed at minority groups of society as the Jews and those already suffering from the disease.

Of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and Men Essay Choice A When looking at literature through the lens of Marxist Theory, it is not just art to be passively appreciated; it is a product of the socioeconomic and ideological conditions of the time, even if the author did not intend for it to be. Because the writing is a reflection of the reality of the time in which it was written, Marxist critics examine the literary work to see if it either a) reinforces the ideologies it embodies (i.e. capitalism is great), or b) invites the reader to criticize the ideologies it represents. What does Steinbeck do with his novel, Of Mice and Men? Does he reinforce the idea of capitalism, or is this a criticism of it? In what way(s) does he either reinforce or criticize this ideology? Choice B: New Historical critics believe that literary texts are cultural artifacts that can tell us something about the belief systems and about the power struggles operating in the time and place in which the text was written. They can do this because the literary texts themselves are part of history. They shape and are shaped by their historical contexts. What does Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men suggest about the experience of groups of people who have been ignored, under-represented, or misrepresented by traditional history? Choice C: Broadly defined, feminist criticism examines the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforces or undermines the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women. We live in a patriarchal society. Patriarchy is defined as any culture that privileges men by promoting traditional gender roles. Looking through a Feminist Theory lens, discuss the following questions about Of Mice and Men: How are women portrayed? Does the work reinforce or resist patriarchal ideology? How does the work define masculinity and femininity? Does the work seem to accept or to reject the traditional idea of gender?

Framework for Safeguarding Confidentiality in Children

Framework for Safeguarding Confidentiality in Children When dealing with adults who lack capacity and children, a medical professional often has to make a difficult choice between safeguarding confidentiality and making disclosures to protect the particular patients welfare. CRITICALLY DISCUSS the extent to which the legal framework has so far succeeded when addressing the balancing exercise referred to above and whether confidentiality for these groups of patients is sufficiently safeguarded. Introduction: In this paper, through reference to the jurisprudence of the courts of England and Wales, the author will critically discuss the extent to which the law has managed to strike an appropriate balance between protecting the rights of children and adult patients who lack capacity, on the one hand; and, allowing medical professionals to make disclosures when such disclosures are deemed to be in the best interests of their patients, on the other. The structure of this paper will be as follows: First, the author will examine the legal basis for any rights to confidentiality and non-disclosure that are conferred on children and adult patients who lack capacity, by the law of England and Wales. Second, the author will identify the legal provisions and/or common law decisions which purport to allow medical professionals to act in contravention of these rights, when to do so is deemed in the best interests of their patients. Third, the author will perform a review of the jurisprudence of the courts of England and Wales to determine the legal scope of these justified derogations. Fourth, the author will perform a literature review to indentify the extent to which medical professionals, in practice, manage to apply their discretion appropriately. Finally, the author will review the various mechanisms in place, if any, to review the conduct of medical professionals and hold accountable any medical professionals who fail to adhere to the limits of the discretion conferred upon them by the law of England and Wales. What is/are the legal basis/bases for the right to confidentiality enjoyed by children and adult patients who lack capacity? 2.1 Children patients who lack capacity and their ‘right(s)’ to confidentiality: Before the rights of this select group of patients to confidentiality are examined, it is first important to define what is meant by ‘children patients who lack capacity’. In this context, we are referring to the ‘capacity’ to provide legally valid consent to their doctors or other medical professionals to disclose their confidential medical information to third parties. Under statute, a child patient will be presumed to possess sufficient capacity to consent in the regard the moment that they have attained the age of 16 years. This is provided by section 8 of the Family Law Reform Act 1969, subsection (1) of which provides: â€Å"The consent of a minor who has attained the age of sixteen years to any surgical, medical or dental treatment which, in the absence of consent, would constitute a trespass to his person, shall be as effective as it would be if he were of full age; and where a minor has by virtue of this section given an effective consent to any treatment it shall not be necessary to obtain any consent for it from his parent or guardian.† Of course, this is merely a presumption. A particular child patient may have characteristics which invalidate this consent, even though they are over the age of 16. For example, if they qualify as a person who lacks consent under section 2 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which provides that: â€Å"[A] person lacks capacity in relation to a matter if at the material time he is unable to make a decision for himself in relation to the matter because of an impairment of, or a disturbance in the functioning of, the mind or brain.† It matters not whether this ‘impairment’ or ‘disturbance’ is temporary or permanent[1], but assessments must be made on the basis of the actual decision-making capacity of the individual[2], rather than through reference merely to the type of condition or impairment which that child is suffering from[3]. Such assessments are to be made on the balance of probabilities[4], i.e. a child patient who is between 16 and 18 years old wi ll be deemed to lack the necessary capacity to consent if it is more likely than not that he or she is unable to fully appreciate the implications of the decision which needs to be made. A child over the age of 16 may also be deemed to lack capacity to consent when they are physically unable to provide consent; for example, if they are unconscious[5]. Similarly, the presumption that a child under the age of 16 lacks the necessary capacity to consent can be rebutted if, upon an assessment of the decision-making ability of that patient, it is deemed that he or she â€Å"[has] achieve[d] a sufficient understanding and intelligence to enable him or her to understand fully what is proposed.[6]† A minor who possesses this required threshold of understanding and intelligence will be said to be ‘Gillick competent’. However, it is highly unlikely that a child under the age of 13 will ever be deemed so competent[7]. In conclusion, in this paper, when referring to child patients who lack capacity, we are referring (1) to minors who are under the age of 16 but who are not deemed to be Gillick competent; and, (2) to children who are 16 or 17 years of age, but who lack the necessary capacity to provide informed consent, perhaps because they are deemed to fail the test provided by section 3(1) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005; or, perhaps because they are unconscious, and are therefore physically unable to provide any consent whatsoever. Having established the categories of patient to which we are referring, now let us examine the legal bases for their ‘right’ to confidentiality: One such legal basis is provided by the Data Protection Act 1998, which was enacted to give effect to European Council Directive 95/46/EC. This Act creates a legal presumption that personal data may not be processed unless it is lawful to do so[8], it is processed fairly[9] and certain conditions are satisfied. In regard to the conditions which must be satisfied: Schedule 2 and 3 of the 1998 Act provide a list of conditions and, in order for information to be processed in accordance with the Act, at least one condition from both sections must be satisfied[10]. These conditions will be discussed at length in section 3 of this paper, when we turn to examine under what circumstances a medical professional is lawfully justified to make disclosure when it is deemed in the best interests of a patient’s welfare. In regard to the requirement of fairness, in the medical context, Stauch et al (2002) write: â€Å"To be ‘fair’ the data must, in general terms, have been obtained from the patient honestly or in accordance with a legal obligation; the patient must have been told the purposes for which the information is to be processed; and the rules for providing access to the data subject must also have been observed.[11]† In regard to when it is deemed unlawful to process personal medical information, no definition of lawfulness is provided by the Data Protection Act 1998[12]. One can only assume that this refers to the legal requirements provided under the common law and also under the Human Rights Act 1998. Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998 provides: â€Å"(1) Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence. (2) There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.† In the recent case of Rose v. Secretary of State for Health [2002][13] it has been held that this right is conferred on all citizens, including children. However, from the wording of the Article, in particular Article 8(2) it is immediately clear that this right to confidentiality is subject to a broad public policy category of exception. The category of exception will be analysed in greater detail in section 3 of t his paper, when we turn to examine under what circumstances a medical professional is lawfully justified to make disclosure when it is deemed in the best interests of a patient’s welfare. In regard to the common law right to privacy, this right is based upon equitable principle and therefore a breach of this right gives rise to a civil law cause of action only. Similar, but distinct, from the law of tort, one of the requirements which needs to be established before a common law right to confidentiality can be deemed to have arisen in any given case is a duty of confidentiality. This might arise from a contractual relationship between the parties or, in the medical context, simply from the fact that medical professionals are duty bound to respect the confidentiality of their patients[14]. However, this duty is also subject to a public interest exception: In this case of W v Edgell [1990][15], it was held by Lord Justice Bingham, who provided the leading judgment in this case, that: â€Å"the law treats such duties not as absolute but as liable to be overridden where there is held to be a stronger public interest in disclosure.[16]† To what extent the welfare of a child patient who lacks capacity to consent can serve as such a ‘public policy’ justification for derogation of this duty by medical professionals will form part of the subject of discussion in section 3 of this paper, below. 2.2 Adult patients who lack capacity and their ‘right(s)’ to confidentiality: An adult patient will be deemed to lack capacity either where he or she is unable, physically, to provide consent to disclosure; or, where that patient is deemed to lack capacity in accordance with the assessment criteria established under section 3 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This group of patients enjoy the same rights to confidentiality as the children discussed in the previous subsection of this section of the paper; namely, they have a right under the Data Protection Act 1998 to have their personal data processed fairly and lawfully and only where certain pre-defined conditions has been satisfied; the right to privacy as provided by Article 8(1) of the Human Rights Act 1998 (but, likewise, subject to the public policy exceptions provided by Article 8(2) of that Act); and, the common law right to confidentiality. What is/are the legal basis/bases on which medical professionals are entitled to derogate from the right to confidentiality otherwise enjoyed by their children and adult patients who lack capacity, when derogation is deemed to be in the best interest of their patients’ welfare? In the previous section of this paper, we established that each of the various legal bases for the right to confidentiality and non-disclosure of children and adult patients who lack capacity are subject to exceptions. In regard to the Human Rights Act 1998 and also the common law duty to maintain patient confidentiality, the exception is one based upon considerations of ‘public policy’. In regard to the Data Protection Act 1998, the ‘exceptions’ are provided by Schedule 2 and 3 of the Act which set out a list of conditions, at least one from each schedule of which must be satisfied in order for a medical professional to be deemed entitled to disclose (i.e. ‘process’) the confidential information of his or her patients to 3rd parties. Let us now turn to examine to what extent ‘the welfare of these patients’ can be deemed a legitimate public policy justification for derogating from these patients’ right to confidentiality and also to what extent the conditions provided in schedule 2 and 3 of the Data Protection Act 1998 might be capable of being satisfied by considerations of patient welfare. Before we embark upon this analysis, it is important to remind ourselves of the practical circumstances with which a medical professional might be confronted when treating children or adult patients who lack capacity: First, it should be remembered that such medical professionals will not be able to ask these patients for consent, because they, by definition, are either physically or mentally incapable of providing such consent; and, second, in the context of children patients who lack consent and who are under the age of 16, medical professionals are required by law to involve the parents or legal guardians of those patients in any decision-making processes pertaining to the treatment of their children—therefore issues of disclosure to these types of third party are irrelevant[17]. Bearing these limitations in mind, let us examine the various categories of exception which operate to allow medical professionals to make disclosures in the absence of any consent (but not where consent has been withheld by the parents or legal guardians of the patients in question). The first point to note is that medical professionals are fully entitled to disclose medical information to other medical professionals who are also involved in the treatment of a child or adult patient who lacks capacity. Such disclosure is permissible under the Data Protection Act 1998 because one condition from Schedule 2 and one Condition from Schedule 3 are both satisfied; namely, the condition provided by s6(1) of Schedule 2 to the Act, which staes that, â€Å"[t]he processing is necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests pursued by the data controller or by the third party or parties to whom the data are disclosed, except where the processing is unwarranted in any particular case by reason of prejudice to the rights and freedoms or legitimate interests of the data subject;† and, the condition provided by s8(1) of Schedule 3 to the Act, which provides: â€Å"[t]he processing is necessary for medical purposes and is undertaken by— (a) a health professional , or (b) a person who in the circumstances owes a duty of confidentiality which is equivalent to that which would arise if that person were a health professional..† Such disclosures are made in the interests of the welfare of the patient, although assessments do not need to be made on a case-by-case basis as it is generally assumed that disclosure across medical professionals is legitimate and that consent for such disclosures would not be withheld. In regard to making disclosures to other non-medical parties: The various exceptions identified in the previous section of this paper all depend upon derogation being justified in the ‘public interest’. In regard to Article 8(2) of the Human Rights Act 1998, the words â€Å"necessary in the interests of the protection of health or morals,† does seem to suggest that derogation on grounds of the welfare of a particular patient would be deemed justified. This has been confirmed by the courts in the case of Z v Finland (1998)[18]. In regard to the common law duty to maintain patient confidentiality, we have already cited the case of W v Edgell [1990][19] as providing authority for the assertion that this duty can be overridden by competing public interests. It is highly unlikely that the Courts would wish to undermine the decisions of medical professions in this regard; after all, medical professionals are best qualified to determine how important disclosure is in any given case and therefore whether the duty of confidence should be overridden. As Bainham (2005) writes: â€Å"[I]t is debateable how far the courts would want to question, retrospectively the clinical judgment of the medical profession.[20]† In regard to making disclosures to non-medical 3rd parties under the Data Protection Act 1998, while little direct guidance can be found within the wording of the 1998 Act itself, the General Medical Council (2000), at paragraph 27 of its official publication entitled ‘Confidentiality: Protecting and Providing Information’, seems to suggest that disclosure on grounds of patient welfare will be considered a justified processing aim under the Data Protection Act 1998: â€Å"Disclosure of personal information without consent may be justified in the public interest where failure to do so may expose the patient to risk of death or serious harm. Where the patient [is] exposed to a risk so serious that it outweighs the patient’s privacy interest, you should seek consent to disclosure where practicable. If it is not practicable to seek consent, you should disclose information promptly to an appropriate person or authority.† It must be noted that this guidance notes does not suggest that disclosure will be justified where the risk to the patient is only minor, but provides no insight into how to assess the seriousness of any given welfare risk. Of course, if death is a risk faced by the patient if disclosure is not made, then this will automatically be deemed sufficiently serious. The legal framework: How have the courts of England and Wales purported to strike an appropriate balance between protecting the rights (to confidentiality) of children and adult patients who lack capacity, on the one hand; and, allowing medical professionals to make disclosures when such disclosures are deemed to be in the best interests of their patients, on the other? Much of this analysis has already been conducted in the previous sections of this paper, when determining the extent of patients’ rights to confidentiality and also the extent of medical professionals’ duties of confidentiality to their child and adult patients who lack capacity. However, one key fact has been omitted: Throughout this paper we have seen how many of the exceptions available at law to patients’ rights to confidentiality depend upon a notion of the ‘public interest’. It should be noted that the courts have been reluctant to provide any categorical definitions of this phrase. Rather, they have approached the matter on a case by case basis, with pragmatism. Those cases in which the Courts have held disclosure to be in breach of patients’ rights to confidentiality generally have involved circumstances where information has been released for interests other than those pertaining to the welfare of particular patients. For example, in the case of X v Y [1988][21] Rose J held that the disclosure of medical information for the purposes of protecting other employees was not a sufficient ground upon which to invoke the public interest defence. In cases where the disclosure was made in the interests of that patient, particularly, then the Courts are therefore likely to be more willing to allow the public interest defence to succeed. This makes sense, when one considers that the Courts are generally concerned with the harm or potential for harm caused by a disclosure to the patient over which the sensitive medical information pertains[22]. The Courts and medical professionals should also take into account that it is in the public interest to protect patients’ rights to confidentiality wherever possible. As Leung (2000) notes, if the right to confidentiality is not protected, then this could have far-reaching adverse consequences on the level of healthcare which is able to be provided by the National Health Service—patients will be less willing to be open and honest about sensitive facts, and therefore it may be less easy to diagnose and treat such persons[23]. What, if any, mechanisms are in place to review the conduct of medical professionals and hold accountable any medical professionals who fail to adhere to the limits of the discretion conferred upon them by the law of England and Wales? Of course, the primary mechanism which is in place is the right to private law action which patients are entitled to pursue in the event of a perceived breach of their data protection or privacy rights. The result of such actions will depend upon whether or not, in any given case, the court deems it appropriate to allow the defendant medical professional(s) to enjoy the protection afforded by the public interest defence. As we have argued in the previous section of this paper, where the reasons for disclosure were based solely on considerations of the particular patient’s welfare, then it is highly likely that the claimant’s case will fail. However, not every victim of breach will decide to take legal action and therefore it is not wholly appropriate to rely upon this mechanism to ensure that medical professionals remain compliant with their data protection and confidentiality duties. That having been said, this author can find no evidence of any other mechanisms which have been developed to measure compliance in this regard. Conclusions: The statement at the top of this paper suggests that it is difficult for medical professionals to decide whether or not to disclose personal information of children and adult patients who lack capacity to 3rd parties, when to do so is in the interests of the welfare of their particular patients. In fact, as we have seen, so long as the interests contemplated really are based upon considerations of patient welfare, then this decision is not a difficult one at all: Disclosure is such cases should be made. The fact that the patients themselves are unable to provide consent or, more importantly, withhold it, makes this assessment all the more easy. In regard to how well the law manages to safeguard the rights of children and adult patients who lack capacity to confidentiality: These rights are all, without exception, conditional and capable of being overridden in the public interest. While the Courts do seem to approach determinations of when the public interest defence should be allowed to succeed in a pragmatic and sensible way, taking into account the harm caused by each breach in question; it is arguable that some form of monitoring and accountability mechanism should be introduced at the practitioner level, to ensure that medical professionals are remaining compliant even where their patients, for whatever reasons, do not decide to take legal action for perceived breaches of their data protection and privacy rights. References: The Data Protection Act 1998 The Data Protection Directive, European Directive 95/46/EC The Human Rights Act 1998 The Mental Capacity Act 2005 Rose v. Secretary of State for Health [2002] 2 F.L.R. 962 Bainham, A. (2005) Children: The Modern Law. Jordan Publishing. Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority [1985] 3 All ER 402 GMC (2000) Confidentiality: Protecting and Providing Information. Available online at http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/current/library/confidentiality.asp W v Edgell [1990] 1 ALL ER 835 Z v Finland (1998) 25 EHRR 371 X v Y [1988] 2 All ER 648. Devereux, J., and Moore, R. (2002) Medical Law. Routledge and Cavendish Publishing, 2002. Stauch, M., Wheat, K., and Tingle, J. (2002) Sourcebook on Medical Law. Routledge Publishing,2002. Bailey, P. Harbour, A. (1999) The law and a child’s consent to treatment (England and Wales). Child Psychology and Psychiatry Review, 4, 30–34. Wei, G. (2002) An Introduction to Genetic Engineering, Life Sciences and the Law. NUS Press Publishing, 2002. Leung, W. (2000) Law for Doctors. Blackwell Publishing, 2000. Footnotes [1] Section 2(2) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. [2] The applicable criteria are provided by section 3(1) to (4) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. [3] Section 2(3)(2) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. [4] Section 2(4) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. [5] Not merely asleep! [6] Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority [1985] 3 All ER 402, per Lord Scarman. [7] Bailey and Harbour (1999) p32 [8] Schedule 1, Part 1, section 1 of the Data Protection Act 1998. [9] Schedule 1, Part 1, section 1 of the Data Protection Act 1998. [10] Schedule 1, Part 1, section 1(a) and (b) of the Data Protection Act 1998. [11] Stauch et al (2002) p282 [12] Ibid. [13] Rose v. Secretary of State for Health [2002] 2 F.L.R. 962 [14] For example, [15] W v Edgell [1990] 1 Ch 359. [16] Cited by Devereux and Moore (2002) p343 [17] As Bainham (2005) p330 writes: â€Å"But what of immature children who would fail the test of Gillick competence? Here, the obvious implication of Gillick was that the parent’s right to give or withhold consent would remain intact, and this has been confirmed by the later Court of Appeal decisions. Are there, then, any circumstances under which a doctor may act against parental wishes because he judges it in the clild’s best interests to do so? It must be said that, as the law stands, this would be a precarious course of action† [18] Z v Finland (1998) 25 EHRR 371 [19] W v Edgell [1990] 1 Ch 359. [20] Bainham (2005) p331 [21] X v Y [1988] 2 All ER 648. [22] Wei (2002) p95 [23] Leung (2000) p45