This chapter takes a relatively broad approach to defences, covering a range of factors that might serve to exculpate a defendant who might otherwise appear to have committed an offence. The defences examined here are arranged into two, imperfectly realised, categories. The first group have been termed ‘mental state defences’ and the second ‘self-help defences’. The group titled ‘mental state defences’ are so categorised because they depend to a greater or lesser extent on the contention that the accused did not possess the requisite mens rea to commit the offence. In assessing whether an accused may be able to rely on a defence a number of subjective and objective elements have to be applied and analysed. It is important to understand that the considerations informing the development of each of the defences are often very different and sometimes controversial. The groupings are far from perfectly realised and the rationales and doctrines of each of the defences may manifest as many dissimilarities as they do similarities. It is hoped that the arrangement of the material in this chapter will aid understanding by drawing comparisons across different aspects of the criminal law.

The crimes of murder and manslaughter as well as any statutorily created offences involving the death of a person, such as dangerous driving causing death or assaults causing death are homicides in the sense of unlawful killings. Homicides may, however, be lawful insofar as being justified by, for example, self-defence or acting in the defence of another person; or being excused as a result of duress. They may be the consequence of an accident or an accused may not be criminally responsible because they suffer from a mental illness.This chapter will explore and analyse the crimes of murder, manslaughter and various statutory crimes involving particular types of conduct which cause the death of another person, including assaults, driving vehicles and administering drugs or other acts to hasten death. Murder is the most serious form of unlawful homicide and, with culpability rooted largely in the intentional nature of the killing, it attracts severe punishment up to a maximum of imprisonment for life. This penalty may be mandatory and may mean for the term of the offender’s natural life in some jurisdictions or in specific circumstances.

A nonliberal democracy differs from a liberal democracy in the assertion that the claims of neutrality, objectivity, and equality valued so deeply by liberal democrats are in practice means of marginalizing and devaluing nondominant cultures. Many group-rights theorists argue for group rights on the basis of liberal acceptance of self-determination. The reason that neutrality is seen as a manifestly 'liberal' value is, according to Brian Barry, because the critics of liberalism tend to conflate 'second-order' and 'first-order' conceptions of appropriate behaviour. This chapter argues that 'culture' and 'identity' are the concepts which prevent exponents of democracy from seeing the relevant similarities between the discredited communist version of democracy and the contemporary identity-based account of democracy. Political systems based upon cultural identity are structured very clearly upon the vital importance of the distinction between 'us' and 'them'.

In May 1974 a two week long industrial stoppage spearheaded by a little known group of loyalist trade unionists brought about the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive and ended a political process which had begun two years earlier with the suspension of the Northern Ireland Parliament. A political initiative which was intended to replace an unstable system of government had ended in abject failure after only five months. Given the time, effort and political capital invested by Governments and political parties in the Castle talks and Sunningdale Agreement why had the outworking proved such a failure? The answer to this question lies partly in the fact that the Ulster Workers' Council strike represented a 'perfect storm' in terms of its ability to destroy Sunningdale. It drew together all of the unionist opponents (and to some degree republican opponents as well) of power-sharing and the Council of Ireland and highlighted the flaws and inconsistencies in the arguments and actions of those who supported Sunningdale. The chapter will look at the course of events leading up to, and during, the strike examining the motivations of the main political actors and the pressures on each group. The article will also argue that the UWC strike reflected a particular combination of attitudes and circumstances at a specific moment in time which meant that the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive was an almost inevitable outcome.

This chapter presents the indicators of regulatory quality. It draws on the discussion of the notion of quality, the role of different stakeholders, the suggestions arising out of the literature, the new initiatives of Member States and the EU in terms of measurement, and the questionnaire dataset. The chapter first discusses the definition, purpose, limitations and types of indicators, and then illustrates how indicators of regulatory quality can be used in the EU. Finally, it develops indicators. It fleshes out the basic elements of a possible open method of coordination applied to indicators of regulatory quality. It argues that the only feasible way to make progress with quality measures is via facilitated coordination.

This chapter discusses the engagement of the Orthodox tradition with democratic ideas, specifically assessing the issues relating to the relationship of the Orthodox Church to the State and to the nation. Orthodox churches have been able to live with a variety of political regimes. The traditionally dominant Orthodox churches tend to look to the past, focusing at the institutional level on developing close ties with the State and arguing that this was perfectly legitimate in countries where the majority of the population identified, however loosely, with the Orthodox tradition. The chapter also shows that Orthodox churches have to some degree sought special rights in terms of access to education, some degree of state funding and provision of religious support in prisons, hospitals and army units. The Orthodox churches have been hampered by the more limited range of theological and intellectual resources dealing with socio-political issues.

This chapter aims to tell the story of how the Christian churches have responded to democracy. There can be little doubt that during the ‘third wave’, the Catholic Church did become an institution which tended to support those arguing for an end to the abuse of human rights and the bringing down of authoritarian regimes. The Roman Catholic Church may not have been the primary contributor to democratic governance in Latin America. The question of the political implications of the Pentecostal explosion ties in with a second issue that relates to what has been called the ‘southernisation’ of Christianity, as the traditional ‘West’ ceases to represent the core of the ‘Christian world’. Over the last half century, Christianity has had to engage with the democratic experiment as never before.

This chapter investigates the role of individual leaders and the peculiarly Catholic transnational dimension in bringing about change, and some of the ways in which religious organisations contributed to the negotiation of transition. It explores how Catholic hierarchies and churches have coped with the realities of democratic politics. The ability of the Catholic Church to play the ‘defender of the nation’ role was aided by the fact that the ‘occupying’ power was perceived to be of a different religious tradition. The process of democratic consolidation is explored. In most of the ‘third wave’ countries, the dominant religious institutions have made public their commitment to democratic politics and acceptance of democratic norms. The limits of religious contributions to democratic consolidation are then assessed. The hegemonic theory and rational choice theory perhaps offer slightly more insight into why national hierarchies adopted a primarily supporting or constraining position with regard to political change.

This chapter examines the developments in Anglo-Protestant culture, with particular reference to its likely consequences for the evolution of American democracy. The factors contributing to the emergence of the Christian Right correspond to those underlying the wider rise of political religion in various parts of the world. The Christian Right threatened American democracy. It promotes a socially conservative agenda. The argument of the Christian Right is that post-war ‘judicial tyranny’ has reinterpreted the First Amendment in such as way as to distort the intention of the founders by creating ever-larger hurdles to religious involvement in politics. There is an interesting parallel between Samuel Huntington's argument that Anglo-Protestant culture is somehow central to American identity and Christian Right claims that good governance requires Christian input into the political process. Christian Right leaders are concerned with their loss of power and authority.

This book discusses the concept of regulatory quality, approaching regulatory reform by taking the institutional context and the policy process into consideration, and using indicators to measure the quality of policies designed to enhance the ability of governments and EU institutions to deliver high-quality regulation. It designs regulatory indicators by considering four classic tools: impact assessment; consultation; simplification; and access and regulatory transparency. This chapter introduces the main themes and explains the regulatory reform and better regulation policy.

This chapter addresses liberalism and pluralism. It explains how traditionally dominant churches have handled the acceptance of a wider range of sexual difference, with the focus on homosexuality, and the growth of religious free markets. The chapter then investigates the role of Orthodoxy in civil-society-building in Russia and the experience of minority Orthodox communities in the USA. For all religious institutions, the pluralism associated with democratic political orders creates real problems. It is suggested that Eastern Orthodoxy has struggled with the democratic experiment in countries where it has traditionally been dominant. An impressionistic survey of the Orthodox experience in America largely mirrors that of the much larger Catholic community. The Russian Orthodox Church's political presence and anti-pluralist stance in a context of incomplete or ‘managed’ democratisation has been one of a number of factors that have hindered the full acceptance of social and political pluralism in Russia.