Deaf access to justice in Northern Ireland: rethinking ‘Reasonable Adjustment’ in the Disability Discrimination Act

Abstract

This article provides findings of a qualitative study exploring the interactions of eight Deaf participants and one hearing ally with the justice system in Northern Ireland, where the Disability Discrimination Act requires solicitors to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ in order to provide effective access to Deaf clients. Three thematic categories emerged: (a) barriers to accessing justice, (b) work Deaf people do for access, and (c) the need to educate solicitors about access. A central strain ran through these themes: the idea that ‘reasonable adjustment’ must reflect the value of sign language interpreters in facilitating effective communication access for all the parties.     

Navigating health care: brokerage and access for undocumented Latino immigrants under the 2010 Affordable Care Act

ABSTRACT

Brokerage is a prominent mechanism that explains access for Latino immigrants to many American institutions. However, few studies examine the dual nature of brokerage in answering questions on access to health care for undocumented Latino immigrants. The growing importance of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and ethnic navigators connecting immigrants to health care under the 2010 Affordable Care Act calls attention to the duality of brokers and its role in access. The study draws from 44 in-depth interviews with providers, clinic directors, navigators, and immigrant patients and two years of fieldwork in FQHCs in California’s San Francisco Bay Area (2011–2013). Results show that brokers enable access through coaching and myth-busting but they also hinder it through scrutiny and bureaucratic filtering. The widespread dependence on brokerage, I argue, leads to ersatz brokerage, such as when providers navigate the health-care system for the undocumented without the appropriate linguistic resources or coordination. Furthermore, the study shows that the duality in brokerage generates misinformation, churning, and alienation. Understanding the relational processes that both include and exclude vulnerable populations from needed services enhances theories of immigrant integration and can help design more efficient policies and address inequalities related to documentation status.     

Promoting the Visibility of Educational Research through an Institutional Repository

Established in 1994 through the amalgamation of several teacher training colleges, The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) is the major multidisciplinary teacher education provider in the Hong Kong SAR. Despite this, the Institute does not have a particularly high research profile when compared with its peer institutions in Hong Kong and around the world. Its research publishing achieves modest exposure and impact in international educational research literature. The Institute has a goal to attain the title of a “university of education” and has identified an improvement in its research output and profile as critical to achieving this. In this context the HKIEd Library embarked on the redevelopment of its institutional repository, changing its direction from being an archive of institutional publications to one which brought together and offered access to the sum total of published output of the Institute since its foundation, in a deliberate effort to promote Institute research. This paper explores the particular approach taken by the Library to the development of the institutional repository, how the repository contributes directly to and aligns with the research strategies of the Institute, and the impact the Repository has had so far on improving the profile of research at HKIEd.     

Opening the Book

Open access book publishers often face different challenges than their counterparts in journal publishing. In particular, the funding models and discovery solutions that work for journal articles may not always function as well for books. Charles Watkinson of the University of Michigan Press answered questions about recent activities in these two areas. University of Michigan Press has participated in Knowledge Unlatched, a platform that allows a large network of libraries to financially support the open access publication of books from several publishers. In order to enhance discovery of these titles and learn more about their use, the press has also begun participating in the new Open Access eBooks on JSTOR program.     

基于集体行动视角的劳资议价能力探讨

立足当前存在的劳资分配关系问题,从集体行动的视角,应用奥尔森等人的集体行动理论,剖析了企业利益集团形成的机理,探讨了工人集体议价制度缺失的诱因,并考察了发达国家的相关历史情况,指出利益集团的非＂共容性＂会增加社会协调成本和交易成本而使经济发展进入僵化阶段,并引致劳动报酬比重持续走低。因此有必要从建立开放的市场准入秩序、完善要素谈判制度、构建＂共容性＂利益集团等三方面着手,提高工人报酬比重,保持经济持续增长。     

我国遗传资源获取与惠益分享的立法建议

随着生物多样性的保护和生物技术的高速发展,遗传资源的保护问题也日渐凸显,遗传资源的获取与惠益分享所涉及的法律问题渐渐走进了人们的视野,尤其是在《名古屋议定书》之后,对于我国的遗传资源保护法律与管理体制又提出了新的挑战,解决遗传资源的获取与惠益分享的法律问题已经刻不容缓,必须尽快完善我国的遗传资源获取与惠益分享的法律制度,以最大限度的保护遗传资源并实现最佳收益。     

重视SA8000,提高我国出口企业竞争力

SA8000是世界上第一个社会道德责任标准。作为社会责任方面的一个认证体系,它不仅明确了社会责任规范,而且也提出了相应的管理体系要求,在一定程度上可以规范组织尤其是企业的道德行为,有助于改善劳动条件,保障劳工权益。但是SA8000已经日益成为欧美西方国家限制发展中国家劳动密集型产品出口的有利工具之一。SA8000标准自20世纪90年代进入我国,对我国出口企业产生了极大影响。本文旨在分析这些影响并提出相应对策。     

负面清单制度的国际经验及其对上海自贸区的启示

负面清单作为上海自贸区改革一大亮点,体现了我国开始着手建立高标准的投资规则。国外的负面清单制度已发展得较为成熟,无论是多边协定NAFTA,或是各双边协定,其负面清单模式都可为上海自贸区的建设提供经验和启示。在上海自贸区负面清单模式推行中,应对重点行业实施重点保护,将负面清单制度化,使经济开放与经济安全相平衡,使宏观经济管理与微观经济自由相平衡,使立法与司法制度相结合。