In our private lives, the area of law we will experience the most, either directly or indirectly would have to be the criminal law.  Not necessarily through contravening its principals, the individual citizen will more commonly encounter its breadth in the course of their everyday lives, considering as a factor the legal ramifications of any desired conduct or decision in the decision making process.  For most of us, we tend to live our lives within these predetermined boundaries with no second thought or question as to the morality of the prohibited option nor the moral authority behind it.  In this article, it is proposed to look at the nature and scope of the criminal law in our society, and to discuss whether as an entity it is too intrusive, or whether it is naturally a required aspect of regulating society.

It is often said academically that the citizen enjoys freedom to act as he wishes in his life, subject to the regulatory provisions of the criminal law and the criminal justice system.  It is thought that as citizens of a particular country, largely at freedom to choose where we live in the world, we impliedly accept the authority of the relevant legal provisions which, for the most part, regulate on a moral level.  Of course there are exceptions, i.e. criminal laws of a regulatory or secondary nature which do not directly bear any moral message, such as speeding limits or parking restrictions.  So, then, to what extent does the criminal law reflect morality, and further from what source is this morality derived?

The criminal law is said to operate in mind of the public good, and the benefit of society.  It could, therefore, be argued to be crossing the boundaries into serious restrictions on liberty when it regulates personal conduct like drug use which may not have any wider impact than on that of the person indulging accordingly.  Why should the criminal law impose restrictions on what a person can do with his or her own body?  Surely our own freewill is a good enough justification for acting outwith the scope of the law in these types of scenario?

Furthermore an interesting area of the criminal law is potential liability for omissions.  In this sense, the citizen can actually be punished without acting at all in a specific way.  This takes the criminal law beyond a regulatory framework for the public good into an actual coercive force to make people positively act in a certain way.  For example, in some jurisdictions there is a legal duty to report a road traffic accident.  This means a citizen who is aware of the occurrence of such will have committed a criminal offence where he does not act in the prescribed manner.  Again, this is surely affording a broad scope to the criminal law, which may be seen by some as intruding on the fundamental freedoms and values upon which most modern nations were built.

It is interesting to consider the real impact of the criminal law, and the sheer breadth of conduct it regulates.  From the objectively morally wrong to the less obvious cases of imposition of liability, the criminal law places severe restrictions on the general principal of absolute liberty, which is clearly the subject of much academic and philosophical debate.

The European Convention on Human Rights has seen vast changes to the legal framework of countries across Europe.  By imposing fundamental freedoms and liberties in an indefeasible form, it has created a host of legal problems and issues for courts to tackle in an attempt to improve human rights.  Distinct from the US, which already retains fundamental freedoms through its definitive constitution, much of Europe in particular the UK doesn’t have the same codified provisions for its citizens.  This has now been revolutionised by the ratification of the European Convention (ECHR), which sets out certain primary standards that must be attained in relation to each individual citizen.  In this article, we will look at the advantages of the ECHR, and the wide-ranging impact it has had on the various constitutions around Europe.

The European Convention on Human Rights was established as an international treaty to afford a uniform standard of human rights treatment across Europe.  Covering basic freedoms like the right to life through to trickier issues such as the right to liberty and the right to marry, ECHR has had an astonishing impact on Europe both legally and politically.  In passing legislation, European governments have to as a matter of law legislate in accordance with the provisions contained within the ECHR.  This means parliaments of signatory countries are being bound by their predecessors to legislate in a particular way, which has ruled out a number of would-be pledges and meant the reversal of certain national laws.

One area where this has caused problems is in abortion.  The perpetual morality debate aside, abortion has been held to contravene the right to life provision in certain European countries.  Although there is still great scope for challenge, this could potentially cause problems in the coming years as more and more cases of this nature are brought before the European court.  Another major problem area is that of same sex marriages.  The universal right to marry means that any provision stopping same sex marriage anywhere in Europe could potentially be struck down as illegal, requiring nations to actively realign their current provisions to avoid any discrimination.  For this reason, the UK, amongst others, have taken proactive measures to permit same-sex marriages to avoid the embarrassment of a public ruling against them.  This obviously raises problems of national power and freedom: nations are now utterly bound by the principles of European ‘liberty’, whether they like it or not.

Thankfully this social and legal upheaval is working towards a more liberty-orientated Europe.  It is certainly taking time, and given the fact that the ECHR is over half a century old, its impacts are becoming more and more apparent as time wears on and as courts are presented with modern challenges located within the context of the original ECHR provisions.  Additionally, the European Convention on Human Rights is being regularly updated and amended to provide a steadfast constitution for the citizen whilst retaining the flexibility to adapt to contemporary situations.  Although the ECHR and the provisions contained within it have met stiff opposition throughout their lifetime, most would now agree that the level of individual certainty provided by these fundamental freedoms is making for a better quality of life and reducing the scope for discrimination and prejudice across Europe.

The question of the character of law is primarily a simple one, although it presents a diversity of argumentation to make it an academic favourite and a thought-provoking topic of debate. Positivism is the term describing the school of legal thought that follows that law is an authoritative, binding, regulatory construct.  It holds at its core the idea that law is enacted as an authoritative statement of how society must behave.  It rejects the concept of any connection with morality, and suggests that there is no room for subjective consideration of the law – the law is, with no room for negotiation.  Positivism has been criticised, particularly in Germany, as a means of affording tyranny and extremism to enter mainstream politics.  It is said that the general concept of accepting and enforcing the law by virtue of its status allows unjust laws enforcing prejudice and discrimination respect by virtue of their enactment, placing an indefeasible trust in the legislature. As compared to other legal theories, positivism has gathered a great deal of respect and support across the world, making it one of the most prominent considerations of the nature of law.

Positivism places strength on the rules as they are laid down, on the premise that the process of the legislature is the time for challenge and interpretation.  Although this may generally be the case, it does throw up some problems in relation to the practical consequences of certain enactments, which reflect better with experience the level of effectiveness.  Another feature of the positivist movement is that rather than be guided by moral considerations, the law can be used in certain circumstances to determine what is right and what is wrong, on the basis of its status as in accordance with or against the law.  Again this causes problems that have formed the basis of much academic argumentation in the area.

One of the main criticisms of positivism as a theory came in light of the linguistic considerations of HLA Hart, a leading international legal philosopher.  He stated that the positive law is far from fixed in nature, for the simple reason that language is not fixed.  For example, the famous scenario offered for this point is a sign in a local park stating ‘no vehicles allowed’.  This is by no means a fixed and definitive statement of the law, because ‘vehicles’ can be taken to mean a broad range of things.  For the most part it will be fairly obvious what falls within the scope – no cars, vans, trucks or trains would be permitted.  But what about skateboards?  Bicycles? Are these covered within the definition of vehicles? There is no way of knowing from the text exactly what is intended by the law, so to positivism in this strict sense is flawed. Rather, a more sophisticated approach is required, which allows the law to be read in the light of pragmatic and policy considerations.  This makes positivism more palatable as a concept, and strengthens its validity at the heart of legal philosophy.

Positivism is only one in a series of mainstream legal theories which satisfy the rational and logical requirements of academics and practitioners alike.  Its intellectual sophistication sets it apart from the more basic natural law theory, although it is by no means an utterly definitive set of beliefs.  All in all, this is an area of study that is rapidly developing, producing new and more complex arguments with every empirical text.

Limited liability is one of the most successful commercial creations of all time, almost singularly responsible for the growth and expansion of capitalism.  Encouraging risk and promoting successful enterprise through both small and large businesses alike, limited liability has been the driving force behind economic success in the Western world and is one of the most celebrated legal creations of all time.  But what is it about limited liability that makes it so successful?  Indeed, is the structure of limited liability fair as regards creditors, who ultimately bear the brunt of this mechanism?

Limited liability in general means a sacrifice of privacy in return for the benefit of limited personal liability.  In layman’s terms, this means that the company promoter is not personally liable for any of the company’s debts, thus encouraging risk and promoting enterprise.  For most small businesses, it is a lifeline, and without it the economy would level out and stifle with fewer new start-ups each year.  At the back end, however, these businesses leave behind a trail of debts that ultimately result in financial loss for lenders and those that operate on credit terms.  This raises the general question of whether limited liability as a creation is fair for the creditors it so apparently prejudices?

Limited liability has given life to companies across the world, by providing the reassurances necessary to entrepreneurs to take the risk, safe in the knowledge that personally speaking they should come out unscathed.  From this, more companies have grown and flourished, which has led to more jobs and better state welfare for virtually all capitalist economies.  The strength of this function has gone a long way towards building the great superpowers, and is seriously underestimated as a legal construct.

Limited liability leaves a gap in the pockets of those companies that lend money or offer their customers credit terms during the course of their business.  As a consequence of the promoter’s ability to walk away with his hands clean, many businesses find the squeeze of bad debts too severe, and end up having to take on credit of their own to meet the shortcomings.  In theory, limited liability leaves creditors in a weak situation, with relatively limited powers to regain the full amount of any monies due.

In reality, limited liability doesn’t operate in that way.  Of course, many businesses go under every year as their owners walk free of encumbrance, but generally speaking the economic world does not work between insolvent companies.  However, the flexibility allowed by limited liability has meant debt in a sense has become effective currency, and has helped businesses to survive during tough times, and to seek the financial help necessary without the appropriate risk.

Limited liability might be seen as slightly unfair at the razor’s edge, but it works all round to ensure that everyone has access to credit and the benefits of limitation of damages when it is necessary.  Ultimately, it promotes a more competitive, lower-risk environment within which business can flourish and economies can grow and multiply, providing jobs and economic strength to nations embracing its basic form.  As legal fictions go, the limited company has undoubtedly prove itself to be one of the most popular ever created, and its growth looks set to continue as it is developed and refined across the world.

It is predicted that, by 2020, depression will be the world’s second biggest cause of death and disability. This is a condition that leaves people unable to cope with daily life, and can lead to suicide, which is now one of the most common causes of death among young men. But despite being one of the world’s most prevalent illnesses, depression is still misunderstood and stigmatised.

Despite extensive research into mental illnesses, there is much experts still do not understand. But there are some things we do know. We know, depressed people aren’t crazy, and they usually get better. We know there is a difference between feeling down and clinical depression, even though we may confusingly describe our low moods as feeling depressed.

The World Health Organisation predicts that the incidence of mental illnesses will surge over the next 20 years, so that by 2020, depression will be the leading cause of disability, and the second biggest contributor to the global burden of disease. Although low – income families are more at risk, depression effects people in every class, in every country in the world.

It is difficult to know, what has led to the recent in depression and suicide rates. As our scientific understanding of mental illness progresses, the stigma associated with depression is being slowly eroded. This may mean that people are now more willing to admit they suffer from depression, resulting in larger numbers being diagnosed by doctors, and increasing prescriptions of antidepressant drugs.

If someone becomes depressed it is important that he or she doesn’t stay ignored. The most important thing is to be there for him or her, and to be a good listener.

We are what we do. If we take pride of being who we are, we should put our very best in everything we do. A good professional is someone who is comfortable with his life choices, and it’s also someone who’s willing to work hard to be held in high ranks among his peers. When it comes to the nursing career, working at a magnet hospital is arguably one of the most notorious achievements when could possibly hope for. The “Magnet” status provides a clear proof that a nurse works hard to be among the best; it’s only by making patients the top priority that such a status is possible… after all nursing is all about patient care. In order to become a top nurse, a professional must be willing to put forth outstanding clinical practice, and by doing so, such professional is likely to receive this special recognition.

A magnet nurse is one who attracts the best reputation, and a magnet hospital is what which attracts the best nurses. Needless to say, being employed by a hospital which is recognized with “Magnet” status can provide any nurse with a valuable asset from a professional and personal standpoint. In order to achieve this status, a hospital must show high patient satisfaction and lowest mortality rates; furthermore, it must also show a remarkable nurse-to-patient ratio, which provides yet another reason why this kind of hospital is one of the most desirable employment sits for any nurse who takes pride in being a good professional. When it comes to magnet status, nurses and hospitals provide each other with mutual advantage, bonded with the cornerstones of professionalism and service quality. All in all, this is a top standard where the nursing career is concerned.