The Taboos in legal research ‐ a personal case history

As accused or defendant in three trials and their appeals, the present writer has had the misfortune of contributing materially to the drastic narrowing down of the freedom of speech in the administration of justice, and hence of the freedom of scientific enquiry in that field. The question of race particularly has become a subject which is now substantially off‐limits to the researcher and critic of the South African administration of justice. The relevance of these court cases is assessed, both for the permissibility of research in sensitive areas and the fostering of the kind of intellectual climate in which such research would be possible.     

Europeanization of Research and the Role of Universities: An Organizational-Cultural Perspective

Europeanization of research is a process in which the dynamics of the European Framework Programme, of national research systems and local research organizations interfere. Unlike most studies on Europeanization that focus on Europe in relation to national research systems, this article explores the relationship between Europe and universities. The main question addressed by this article is why some universities have more researchers who are active and successful at the European level than others. Our hypothesis is that participation at EU level depends on the organizational cultural bias of university researchers. Following on studies of changes in the research system, the EU framework and institutional innovations of universities, we argue that researchers within universities who develop strong affinity with their own organization will be more successful at the European level. The organizational culture of a university is conceptualized as the aggregate of cultural repertoires and biases that university researchers have at hand to legitimate themselves. To map these biases, we analysed the perception of different processes of accountability. The hypothesis was tested by calculation of the correlation between these cultural biases and different indicators of 'European behaviour'. Data were from an international questionnaire on institutional innovation and Europeanization at universities, which was circulated in eight European countries.     

Review essay

Crime and Punishment in South Africa, edited by JAMES MIDGLEY, JAN H. STEYN and ROLAND GRASER. Johannesburg: McGraw‐Hill, 1975 R10.50.