Academic literature on the topic 'English civil justice system'

The civil procedure system in England requires the court to give permission for expert evidence to be used by a party. The expert owes an overriding duty to the interests of justice and to the court. This article considers the different forms of expert evidence (including the single, joint expert, who is shared by the parties) and the increasing degree of judicial management of such evidence.

The global trend towards civilianization of military justice systems has had its own unique impact on Singapore’s brand of military justice, in particular its mode of trial by General Court-Martial. This paper explores the development of Singapore’s military justice system since Singapore’s independence, comparing it to developments in the United Kingdom and Canada, two countries that have also civilianized their military justice systems with input from their civil courts, and in the case of the uk, the European Court of Human Rights. These jurisdictions provide a useful comparison on the progress of Singapore’s civilianization reform given both their shared origin of military justice in the English court-martial system and the focus of all three jurisdictions on better protecting the rights of accused servicemen.

This article examines various innovations within the modern English civil justice system. In particular, the English procedural code, CPR (1998) Rule 1.4, requires the court to further the overriding objective by `actively' managing cases. This radical innovation gave English judges a new role. Before 1999 most judges had not become involved systematically and actively in case management. They had instead prided themselves on being detached from the preparations for trial other than to respond to applications brought before them by the parties.

Modern legal systems, including the English, emphasise the need to promote mediation, uphold arbitration (which bypasses the courts), and achieve settlements. These are regarded as preferable to lengthy court proceedings culminating in trial. In England the Jackson reforms of April 2013 aim to control costs and stream-line proceedings. However, it is here argued that the challenges of promoting affordability and accessibility must not be permitted to undermine accuracy and that public adjudication in the courts of civil claims, including clarification of points of law, remain important for the vitality and health of the legal system. Inaccurate judicial decision-making would be unacceptably rough justice. It will be shunned. Furthermore, although mediation and arbitration have their place, both have their dangers, if they cause public adjudication to become too scarce or unreliable. For neither mediation nor arbitration involves public judgment of disputed matters of fact and law.

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to examine the interaction between the court and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in the legal administration of civil justice. It addresses the following questions. What is the relationship between ADR and the concept of justice? How do we make sense of the anti-ADR views, in particular the serious threat to the rule of law? What role does, and should, the court play in alternative processes? It argues that integrating ADR into the court system broadens the notion of justice and its access, and that, under the rule of law, judges should play a more central role to ensure the use, quality and integrity of alternative processes. This paper extends our understanding of the relationship among justice, ADR and the court from an internal perspective. It also points out the need to expand the case management responsibilities of judges, and their delegates in the Online Court, on ADR.

Following Sir Rupert Jackson's report on the costs regime (Reforming Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales-Implementation of Lord Justice Jackson's Recommendations: The Government Response (Cm 8041, 2011)), many procedural changes, notably affecting costs, were introduced on 1 April 2013. These include: introduction of qualified one way costs shifting, damages based agreements, increased damages and the changes to CPR Part 36 (costs implications of rejected settlement offers). The problems and uncertainties generated by this new set of costs rules will probably occupy the courts, notably the higher courts, for at least ten years.

This paper critically considers judicial approaches to and promotion of mediation within the English civil justice system. It argues that the overzealous judicial emphasis on mediation in the ADR jurisprudence has restricted the wider concepts of ADR and ‘dispute resolution’ which in turn has created what the author terms ‘judicial mediation bias’. The paper critically explores these issues through an analysis of the ADR jurisprudence, with a focus on key Court of Appeal ADR authorities, and successive civil justice reforms. The paper makes proposals for reform, including the potential use of stages one and two of Lord Justice Briggs’ online court to promote a greater application of a variety of ADR procedures, in particular, judicial early neutral evaluation and collaborative dispute resolution.

This article explains the differences and similarities between the British legal system and German Law and reflects their application to Indonesian law which was influenced by the swift flow of legalism. The writing uses a normative juridical method with a comparative law approach. Authors use English common law sources along with their application and German civil law along with their application under the stuffenbau theory. The difference between these legal systems is the common law system prioritizes precedent application, while the civil law system prioritizes statutes. Furthermore, these systems also have similarities whereas both systems are applying customs, doctrines, and legal interpretations as to their complementary legal instruments. The authors address that Indonesia needs to apply methods beyond the statute approach, and Indonesia shall take into account customs, doctrines, and interpretations to achieve justice.

A distinctive feature of modern Canada is the dualism of its legal system. This means that in the country there are two systems of law - continental (Roman-German) and Anglo-Saxon (precedent). Each of these systems differ in their approaches to the understanding of law and justice implementation. However, the main difference is due to the fact that each of these systems relies on its own sources of law. If the basis of the criminal and private law in general, and the federation of nine provinces in particular is common (case) law of England, in the province of Quebec are used English (basically) criminal law and French civil law in its origin. Historically, this was due to the fact that at the time of the conquest of the colony of New France (now Quebec) in the XVIII century it had a relatively developed legal system, including the system of administration of justice. At the heart of the local sources of law were kutyums of Paris, supplementing ordinances of the French kings. Inclusion of New France in the possession of the English Crown was for the new authorities a precedent - the first time in the history of the British colonial empire it acquired a part of the territory with a Christian population and European law. In fact, the British colonial authorities had to make a choice, which was to determine the vector of further legal development of not only the newly conquered colony, but the whole of British North America. According to the rules of English case law the medieval English monarch (as sovereign) could either admit the law to of its new ownershipin force at the time of the conquest, or introduce there English law in force at the time. In view of the prevailing circumstances of the specific historical issue of the replacement of French law (including sources and the administration of justice) in English it turned out to be extremely difficult from the socio-political and a formal legal point of view. This article analyzes the problems encountered during the initial stage of the legal system of the British colony of Quebec and, in particular, of the sources of its territorial law.

In this article, the author attempts to comprehensively consider such a concept as “flash justice”. The study of this concept, new for Russian science, takes place through the prism of law enforcement practice and the use of many illustrative examples of judicial acts, interviews with representatives of the judicial system and other sources of information. The mentioned phenomenon is considered and evaluated from the point of view of not only civil and arbitration, but also criminal proceedings, where examples are more colorful and clear. The author also cites foreign, in particular English, legal experience as an example. Thus, it is noted that a draft judicial act can be prepared by both the court staff, and its individual provisions can be prepared by the parties. At the same time, the existing guarantees related to the prevention of misleading the judge, as the author notes, contribute to the formulation of the draft court decision, which reflects only the objective facts established by the court and meets the criteria of truth and legality. Also, the article indirectly touches on certain retrospective aspects related to the development of the institution of judicial decision, as well as its transformations in the light of the changing external conditions of the administration of justice.

The unreasonable length of Italian civil proceedings goes on filling pages of newspapers and magazines. According to some authoritative views, the inefficiency of the civil justice system helps explain why the Italian model legislation on civil proceedings, as well as its academic research, are not as influential on the European scene as they were in the past. It is interesting to note that an opposed thesis has pointed out that the Italian procedurallaw and recent researches in civil proceedings lack a clear, up-to-date, principle-oriented and comprehensive approach towards problems and challenges that contemporary civil justice systems face today. Such an outdated and overly complicated approach might contribute to the inefficiency of the Italian civiljustice system. The Italian Law Journal, which aims to both spread knowledge (and criticism) of the Italian legal system and foster international debate among lawyers of different traditions, may be an appropriate venue for deepening our understanding of the current performance of the Italian civil justice system. Itmay, in particular, assist in ascertaining the major causes of the inefficiencies, with a view to assessing (in a subsequent article) if the prevailing way of thinking of legal scholars may, in the end, exacerbate the relevant problems.
La longitud poco razonable de los procesos civiles italianos continúa llenando páginas de periódicos y revistas. De acuerdo con algunas opiniones autorizadas, la ineficiencia del sistema de justicia civil ayuda a explicar el motivo por el cual el modelo italiano de legislación en materia de procedimiento civil, así como su investigación académica, no sean tan influyentes en la escena europea como lo fueron en el pasado. Es interesante notar que una tesis opuesta ha señalado que el derecho procesal italiano y las investigaciones recientes sobre el proceso civil carecen de un enfoque claro, integral, actualizado y orientado por principios sobre los problemas y desafíos que el sistema de justicia civil afronta actualmente. Tal enfoque anticuado y demasiado complicado podría contribuir a la ineficiencia del sistema de justicia civil italiano. El Italian Law Journal, cuyo objetivo es la difusión de conocimiento (y crítica) del sistema legal italiano y la promoción del debate internacional entre abogados de distintas tradiciones, puede ser un modo apropiado para profundizar nuestra comprensión del desempeño actual del sistema de justicia civil italiano. Puede, en particular, ayudar a determinar las principales causas de las ineficiencias con el fin de evaluar (en un artículo posterior) si la forma predominante de pensamiento de los estudiosos del derecho posiblemente, al final, exacerba problemas relevantes.

Lay participation in the criminal justice process in the form of a jury is a celebrated phenomenon throughout the common law jurisdictions. While not claiming credit for its origin, England, as the latent cradle of the modern jury, disseminated this mode of trial to a great part of the world through colonization. Yet, trial by jury does not enjoy constitutional protection under English law. The system has been under severe criticism, curtailment and considerable pressure in recent times, perhaps far more than in other countries. Critics have demanded reform or outright abolition and supporters have opposed the demands just as vehemently and any reform achieved has been piecemeal and reluctant. The furore has helped to galvanise robust and extensive intellectual debate on the subject. It has also spurned extensive academic research. Trial by jury remains central to a tiny but significant part of the Criminal Justice System. Yet, the jury, unlike other decision-making bodies, retains the power to deliver a verdict that is unique by its lack of an explanation. The issue does not sit comfortably with those who would have the system abolished or pray fair trials. The matter is traced to antiquity and the modern democracy struggles to articulate jury accountability. This paper, the first to investigate the place of an explained verdict in the English Criminal Justice System, explores the competence of the jury to articulate an explanation for its verdict. In that pursuit, the paper engages in an analysis of the current state of jury trials in relevant legal and academic literature. It also engages in a comparative analysis of other jurisdictions and finds it instructive and prudent to draw extensively from the legal and social scientific experiences and experiments in selected parts of the world including the new quasi-jury systems in Europe. It explores the literature of legal scholarship and the social sciences and investigates the human psychology of decision-making based on selected text. Finally, it articulates the argument embodied in the hypothesis and the challenges facing its findings. The thesis concludes by examining the implications for its conclusions and sets the stage for areas of further research.

The partisan election of state judges and costly litigation make the civil justice system in the United States vulnerable because they undermine the values upon which the system was founded. The public’s trust that courts administer justice fairly and impartially is questioned by partisan elections funded by large corporations. Moreover, with the advent of electronically stored information, and the market’s control over the price of legal resources, access to the civil justice system is limited by wealth. This thesis seeks to address these problems and analyze the solutions that are most effective and comprehensive.

In classical terms, democracy is synonymous with direct participation. However, as states grew and direct public participation became more difficult, a more minimal concept of democracy associated with enfranchisement was adopted. Democracy, however, should not be limited to the enfranchisement of the masses. It ought to include some level of direct public participation in branches of the government such as the judicial system.

Historians of English crime and criminal justice agree that females are more leniently treated by the criminal justice system. Fewer females are prosecuted for unlawful activities, and, when they are, they are more readily acquitted, or receive lighter sentences than males. However, reasons for this remain elusive. References to the paternalism of those involved in the system, together with notions about masculinity and femininity in a patriarchally ordered society, have been offered in the absence of other more focused and systematic evidence.;This thesis follows a systematic enquiry about three crimes which attributed the death sentence - shoplifting, pickpocketing, and uttering forged Bank of England notes. The period of the study covers the 1780s to the 1830s, and is centred on London and Middlesex. It considers involvement in each crime by gender. The approach seeks to avoid the over-generalisation resulting from synthesis of statistics for a wide variety of offences, and to allow a clearer view of how men and women operated in committing offences. This systematic approach follows the offenders involved in the three crimes through the criminal justice system, so far as it is possible to do so, since the public trial and sentencing at the Old Bailey were not the end of the decision-making story. Previous studies have largely neglected to follow-through to the stage of commutation of sentences and pardons where influences on the decision-makers differed from those on decision-makers at earlier stages of the system.;In particular, this thesis focuses on the gendered context of the specific behaviour of male and female offenders in the selected offences, on the effects of a patriarchal system of justice, and on the needs of the State to make political decisions about the disposal of offenders.

This study uses the concepts of distributive justice and procedural justice to examine Saudi Arabian civil service employees' determinants of fairness in their performance appraisal system. A survey of 400 civil service employees in different public sector agencies in two major cities of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh and Jeddah, was conducted. Seven hypotheses were proposed and tested. The composite dependent variable was the "Perceived satisfaction and fairness of the performance appraisal system." Data were collected by means of a questionnaire. Multiple regressions and T-tests analyses were used to analyze the gathered data. The study found that perceptions of fairness among Saudi civil service employees an their performance appraisal system were strongly related to four procedural justice factors: (1) feedback received from the performance evaluation process helped to identify strengths and weaknesses of employees' performance, (2) the extent to which performance appraisal was used for setting goals for future performance, (3) participation in goal setting, and (4) whether the performance appraisal was used for determining training needs. These findings provide strong support for procedural justice theories. Moreover, this study found that cultural values may not be a significant factor in explaining Saudi civil service employees' reaction to their performance appraisal system. Finally, findings of this study have important implications for multinational companies and their consultants.

Magister Legum - LLM
Civil litigation is the primary method of dispute resolution in the South African civil justice system. This process is characterised by a number of shortcomings which include the adversarial nature of the process which often creates further conflict between disputing parties and often results in permanently destroyed relationships between them. Further shortcomings include the highly complex, costly and time-consuming nature of civil litigation. These shortcomings infringe on the constitutional imperative of access to justice for South Africans, particularly for the indigent members of society. In addition, court rolls have become overburdened due to the rapidly increasing volume of litigation at court. This often results in extensive waiting periods before matters are heard at court and further infringes the attainment of access to justice. While progress has been made in enhancing the civil justice system over the years, the aforementioned shortcomings prevail. In recent years the South African government has introduced the concept of mandatory court based mediation to the civil justice system with the view of promoting access to justice and enhancing the civil justice system. In a nutshell, mandatory court based mediation refers a civil dispute to mediation once an appearance to defend is entered at court, in order to attempt the settlement of the matter. In the event of the dispute not being resolved, the matter is then referred back to the conventional litigation process for resolution. Mandatory court based mediation, while controversial and bearing valid criticism; aims to promote access to justice and reconciliation between aggrieved parties and remedies a number of the shortcomings currently plaguing the South African civil justice system. In answering the research question of whether this ADR process is suitable to implement in South Africa in order to remedy the shortcomings of its civil justice system, the following aspects are considered in this thesis: the benefits, advantages, and the constitutionality of mandatory court based mediation, as well as the criticisms and challenges of the process. South Africa may have an adversarial civil justice system, but is no stranger to the practice of mediation. Within South African civil law a number of fields have mentioned mediation as the preferred method of dispute resolution over years. These areas of law will be highlighted in this thesis. Internationally, the jurisdiction of the Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria will also be highlighted. This analysis is done in order to assess the implementation and function of a mediation system, as a preferred method of dispute resolution, across all areas of civil law within an adversarial civil justice system. The current civil justice system in South Africa needs to be remedied due to its negative impact on civil disputants and the nation of South Africa in a broader sense. This thesis does not suggest that mandatory court based mediation is a panacea for all ills plaguing the country’s civil justice system. However, this ADR process may suit South Africa and its implementation may make a considerable remedial contribution and possibly significantly enhance its civil justice system.

This study highlights the complexities associated with South Africa’s adversarial civil justice system, and analyses how mediation as an alternative dispute resolution procedure can play a role in remedying issues relating to high costs, delays and overburdened court rolls. The research outlines the historical development of mediation in South Africa and investigates whether the mandatory mediation models found in South African family law and labour law have effectively transformed South Africa’s civil justice system. The study assesses the mediation rules contained in the Magistrates’ Court Rules and Uniform Rules of Court, and determines the potential the rules have in reforming the South African civil justice system. This research also investigates the benefits and shortcomings of the mandatory mediation models that have been adopted in Canada and Australia. A comparative analysis with South Africa’s civil justice system is conducted, and recommendations are made for instances that are applicable to the South African context. The research critically discusses the constitutionality of mandatory mediation, and the advantages and disadvantages associated with the procedure. This mini dissertation argues that non-adversarial procedures such as, mandatory mediation are effective in remedying some of the challenges faced by South Africa’s civil justice system. However, the research also determines that mandatory mediation is not appropriate for all civil disputes, andthe benefits attached to an adversarial justice system should not be lost in the pursuit of applying non-adversarial procedures.
Mini dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2020.
Mercantile Law
LLM
Restricted

Neoliberalism once started as an economic theory but overtime has developed into an arm of state social control. This thesis asks if neoliberal economic policies have affected civil liberties in the United States and sets out to understand this relationship in several ways. Firstly, by investigating the shift from Keynesianism to market fundamentalism. Secondly, by evaluating the growth in the prison industrial complex. Third, by asking questions of growing social insecurity from an increasingly privatized social safety net. This thesis explored four hypotheses, each one finding support. The overall argument is that the economic sphere and the free market has obstructed the social sphere. Finally, the thesis concludes with a brief discussion of toxic individualism as it relates to socialization after a long period of extreme market privatization.
Master of Arts
Ever since the 1980s, the United States has experienced an increase in incarceration rates, and simultaneously a more substantial shift in economic practices, from Keynesianism to what became colloquially known as "trickle down economics." This thesis argues that the economic change, defined in this work as neoliberalism, subsequently affected how welfare and social services manage social insecurity in the United States, including the criminal justice system. This paper will discuss the tenets of neoliberalism and how these core tenets, i.e. privatization, affected the welfare state and the prison industrial complex.

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. This chapter discusses the civil justice system. Civil justice is concerned with the private dispute between individuals in the absence of the state. It seeks to solve disputes before they have had a chance to enter the legal structure, through the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Civil justice follows a similar pattern to its criminal counterpart; however, some of the procedural rules—specifically those relating to evidence—appear to be much more relaxed than in the criminal justice system. During the process of civil justice, a number of issues may arise which would bring the procedure to an end. These issues include ADR, through which parties may decide to settle the case at any point; default judgment, wherein judgment may be entered against a defendant at any point in the proceedings; and offers to settle, known as ‘Part 36 Offers’, in which an individual makes an offer to another without prejudice.

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. This chapter discusses the civil justice system. Civil justice is concerned with the private dispute between individuals in the absence of the state. It seeks to solve disputes before they have had a chance to enter the legal structure, through the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Civil justice follows a similar pattern to its criminal counterpart; however, some of the procedural rules — specifically those relating to evidence — appear to be much more relaxed than in the criminal justice system. During the process of civil justice, a number of issues may arise which brings the procedure to an end. These issues include ADR, through which parties may decide to settle the case at any point; default judgment, wherein judgment may be entered against a defendant at any point in the proceedings; and offers to settle, known as a ‘Part 36 Offer’, in which an individual makes an offer to another without prejudice.

This chapter addresses the issues and arguments surrounding access to justice. The chapter considers changes and proposed changes to legal aid provision. There is an outline of the basic principles relating to public funding in both civil and criminal cases. Different methods of funding civil legal representation are discussed including CFAs and DBAs. Organizations involved in giving legal advice, including Citizens Advice and law centres, are also included in the discussion about the availability of legal advice.

The sanitary crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in several changes in the way courts communicate, can be reached and handle cases. The so-called videoconferencing became one of the accepted ways of the hearings. This kind of videoconferencing took place on online videoconference solutions, which differ a lot from the conventional videoconference systems. After the exceptional situation, it remained a question whether the digital revolution of court proceedings had arrived or the use of videoconferencing should remain an exceptional instrument. The application of a videoconference system is the subject of the right to a fair trial, in this regard it has been contested by the European Court of Human Rights in several cases. This case law stated several expectations and reveals many aspects, which have to be applied to the online videoconference solutions. On the other hand, the wider use of legal tech instruments is the subject of the political will. The political support is crystallizing within the EU, whose right to act is limited. The interim measures which were introduced under the emergency law regimes on national level show a number of experiences on how the continuous and legally founded functioning of the justice system can be ensured, for example by the use of online video hearings. The balance between the effectivity and the legality is a crucial question. Upon the above-mentioned sources, the paper introduces the differences of the two methods of videoconferencing. It examines the legal requirements, details the experiences and shows the opportunities of the use of videoconference systems and online videoconference solutions in civil cases. The use of videoconference in civil hearings can be an instrument conforming to procedural right. The general application of videoconference, especially the online solution lowers the threshold to access the justice, accelerates the procedures, ensures social distancing, but requires both legal and technical preparedness.

First of all, the thesis provides a general analysis of EU Council Decisions no. 2015/1523 and no. 2015/1601, which were accepted with the goals of solving the migration crisis, establoshing relocation quotas and tackling asylum seekers, who were apparently motivated by the provision of international protection of such persons from the Hellenic Republic and the Italian Republic. Furthermore, the paper defines the basic concepts related to the issue, especially asylum, asylum seeker, relocation, relocation order, Dublin system and the like. From the point of view of the material discussed, the paper outlines the basic contours of the Lisbon Treaty, the causal link between the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty and the legal binding effect of relocation quotas for EU Member States. Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which newly introduces shared competences in the areas of asylum, migration, external border control and police and judicial cooperation in criminal and civil mattersis also part of the analysis. Following the above interpretation, the paper examines the action against the Czech Republic brought by the European Commission on 22 December 2017 for alleged breach of the Czech Republic‘s relocation obligations and the proceedings. In addition, the action brought by the Republic of Hungary, the Slovak Republic and the Republic of Poland (intervening) is requesting a ruling from the Court of Justice of the EU to set the decision of the EU Council of 22 September 2015 under No. 2015/1601, which is laying down mandatory migration quotas for member states aside

The projects sponsored by the Gülen-inspired movement are numerous, international and costly in terms of human and financial capital. Critics of the movement often question the fi- nancing of these initiatives – with some convinced of collusion with Middle Eastern govern- ments, others (within Turkey) suspicious that Western governments are financially backing the projects. Aware of these criticisms, in a recent comment to a group of visiting follow- ers, Fethullah Gülen indicated greater financial transparency must become a priority for the movement. This paper addresses the financing of Gülen-inspired projects, based on interviews with busi- ness leaders in Turkey, as well as local businessmen throughout Turkey who constitute the financial infrastructure of the movement. In addition, the paper presents data from one local Gülen movement organisation in Houston, Texas, that collects thousands of dollars annually from local members, mostly students on small educational stipends. The paper is framed sociologically in terms of organisational theories of commitment. Beginning with Kanter (1972;1977) and including subsequent major figures in the organi- sational field (e.g. Reichers 1985; Meyer and Allen 1991; Hall 2002; Scott 2003), scholars have demonstrated a positive correlation between sacrifices asked of members and degree of commitment to the goals of the organisation. Using this perspective, the paper argues that the financial contributions made by members in the Gülen movement both demonstrate commit- ment to the ideals espoused by Fethullah Gülen and generate commitment to the movement. The paper presents empirical evidence, based on interviews with financial supporters both in Turkey and the U.S., of how financial resources are generated, the initiatives being supported and the impact of financial giving on the commitment of supporters. The Gülen movement is a civil society movement that arose in the late 1960s in Turkey, initially composed of a loose network of individuals who were inspired by M. Fethullah Gülen. As a state-approved mosque preacher, Gülen delivered sermons in cities throughout Turkey, beginning with a handful of listeners and gradually drawing tens of thousands of people. His sermons focused not only on religious texts but included a broad array of such topics as religion and science, social justice, human rights, moral values and the importance of education. Gülen repeatedly stressed the importance of educating the youth of society by establishing first-rate schools that expose students to the latest scientific knowledge in an at- mosphere of moral values. The projects sponsored by Gülen-inspired followers today number in the thousands, span international borders and are costly in terms of human and financial capital (Woodhall 2005). These initiatives include over 2000 schools and seven universities in more than ninety countries in five continents (Yavuz and Esposito 2003; Baskan 2004; Tekalan 2005), two modern hospitals, the Zaman newspaper (now in both a Turkish and English edition), a television channel (Samanyolu), a radio channel (Burc FM), CHA (a ma- jor Turkish news agency), Aksiyon (a leading weekly news magazine), national and interna- tional Gülen conferences, Ramadan interfaith dinners, interfaith dialog trips to Turkey from countries around the globe and the many programs sponsored by the Journalists and Writers Foundation. In addition, the Isik insurance company and Bank Asya, an Islamic bank, are af- filiated with the Gülen community. In 1993 the community also established the Business Life Cooperation Association (ISHAD) which has 470 members (Baskan 2004). Questions regarding the financing of these numerous and expensive projects are periodically raised by both critics of the Gülen Movement and newcomers to the movement who are invited to Gülen related events. Because of the large amounts of money involved in these projects, on occasion people have raised the possibility of a collusion between the movement and various governments, especially Saudi Arabia and/or Iran, and including the Turkish government. There has even been suspicion that the American CIA may be a financial partner behind the projects (Kalyoncu, forthcoming). Aware of these criticisms, in a recent comment to a group of visiting followers, Fethullah Gülen indicated that a priority must be proactive financial transparency. In this paper, we address directly the issue of the financing of Gülen inspired projects based on the little that is available in published sources, including an interview with Gülen himself, and supplementing that information with interviews with business leaders in Turkey who constitute the infrastructure of the movement. In addition, we present data from one local Gülen organization in Houston, Texas, that regularly collects over half a million dollars from local members, mostly students on small educational stipends. Our analysis is framed socio- logically in terms of organizational theories of commitment. We argue that the contributions made by rank and file movement members, as well as by wealthier sponsors, both demon- strate commitment to the ideals of the movement and simultaneously generate commitment to the movement. An analysis of Gülen-inspired financial contributions must include the ideological and reli- gious motivations inherent in the concepts of hizmet, himmet, sohbet, istisare, and mutevelli. For an understanding of these concepts, we are most indebted to the superb work of Mehmet Kalyoncu whose study of the Gülen movement in Mardin, a city in southeastern Turkey, was very helpful both in understanding these ideas and in demonstrating their applicability to the financing of local projects in the city.

Aim/Purpose: This paper provides the results of the preliminary analysis of the findings of an ongoing study that seeks to examine the social media use, cultural and political awareness, civic engagement, issue prioritization, and social activism of Gen Z students enrolled at four different institutional types located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The aim of this study is to look at the group as a whole as well as compare findings across populations. The institutional types under consideration include a mid-sized majority serving or otherwise referred to as a traditionally white institution (TWI) located in a small coastal city on the Atlantic Ocean, a small Historically Black University (HBCU) located in a rural area, a large community college located in a county that is a mixture of rural and suburban and which sits on the border of Maryland and Pennsylvania, and graduating high school students enrolled in career and technical education (CTE) programs in a large urban area. This exploration is purposed to examine the behaviors and expectations of Gen Z students within a representative American region during a time of tremendous turmoil and civil unrest in the United States. Background: Over 74 million strong, Gen Z makes up almost one-quarter of the U.S. population. They already outnumber any current living generation and are the first true digital natives. Born after 1996 and through 2012, they are known for their short attention spans and heightened ability to multi-task. Raised in the age of the smart phone, they have been tethered to digital devices from a young age with most having the preponderance of their childhood milestones commemorated online. Often called Zoomers, they are more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation and are on track to be the most well-educated generation in history. Gen Zers in the United States have been found in the research to be progressive and pro-government and viewing increasing racial and ethnic diversity as positive change. Finally, they are less likely to hold xenophobic beliefs such as the notion of American exceptionalism and superiority that have been popular with by prior generations. The United States has been in a period of social and civil unrest in recent years with concerns over systematic racism, rampant inequalities, political polarization, xenophobia, police violence, sexual assault and harassment, and the growing epidemic of gun violence. Anxieties stirred by the COVID-19 pandemic further compounded these issues resulting in a powder keg explosion occurring throughout the summer of 2020 and leading well into 2021. As a result, the United States has deteriorated significantly in the Civil Unrest Index falling from 91st to 34th. The vitriol, polarization, protests, murders, and shootings have all occurred during Gen Z’s formative years, and the limited research available indicates that it has shaped their values and political views. Methodology: The Mid-Atlantic region is a portion of the United States that exists as the overlap between the northeastern and southeastern portions of the country. It includes the nation’s capital, as well as large urban centers, small cities, suburbs, and rural enclaves. It is one of the most socially, economically, racially, and culturally diverse parts of the United States and is often referred to as the “typically American region.” An electronic survey was administered to students from 2019 through 2021 attending a high school dual enrollment program, a minority serving institution, a majority serving institution, and a community college all located within the larger mid-Atlantic region. The survey included a combination of multiple response, Likert scaled, dichotomous, open ended, and ordinal questions. It was developed in the Survey Monkey system and reviewed by several content and methodological experts in order to examine bias, vagueness, or potential semantic problems. Finally, the survey was pilot tested prior to implementation in order to explore the efficacy of the research methodology. It was then modified accordingly prior to widespread distribution to potential participants. The surveys were administered to students enrolled in classes taught by the authors all of whom are educators. Participation was voluntary, optional, and anonymous. Over 800 individuals completed the survey with just over 700 usable results, after partial completes and the responses of individuals outside of the 18-24 age range were removed. Findings: Participants in this study overwhelmingly were users of social media. In descending order, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Tik Tok were the most popular social media services reported as being used. When volume of use was considered, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and Twitter were the most cited with most participants reporting using Instagram and Snapchat multiple times a day. When asked to select which social media service they would use if forced to choose just one, the number one choice was YouTube followed by Instagram and Snapchat. Additionally, more than half of participants responded that they have uploaded a video to a video sharing site such as YouTube or Tik Tok. When asked about their familiarity with different technologies, participants overwhelmingly responded that they are “very familiar” with smart phones, searching the Web, social media, and email. About half the respondents said that they were “very familiar” with common computer applications such as the Microsoft Office Suite or Google Suite with another third saying that they were “somewhat familiar.” When asked about Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Blackboard, Course Compass, Canvas, Edmodo, Moodle, Course Sites, Google Classroom, Mindtap, Schoology, Absorb, D2L, itslearning, Otus, PowerSchool, or WizIQ, only 43% said they were “very familiar” with 31% responding that they were “somewhat familiar.” Finally, about half the students were either “very” or “somewhat” familiar with operating systems such as Windows. A few preferences with respect to technology in the teaching and learning process were explored in the survey. Most students (85%) responded that they want course announcements and reminders sent to their phones, 76% expect their courses to incorporate the use of technology, 71% want their courses to have course websites, and 71% said that they would rather watch a video than read a book chapter. When asked to consider the future, over 81% or respondents reported that technology will play a major role in their future career. Most participants considered themselves “informed” or “well informed” about current events although few considered themselves “very informed” or “well informed” about politics. When asked how they get their news, the most common forum reported for getting news and information about current events and politics was social media with 81% of respondents reporting. Gen Z is known to be an engaged generation and the participants in this study were not an exception. As such, it came as no surprise to discover that, in the past year more than 78% of respondents had educated friends or family about an important social or political issue, about half (48%) had donated to a cause of importance to them, more than a quarter (26%) had participated in a march or rally, and a quarter (26%) had actively boycotted a product or company. Further, about 37% consider themselves to be a social activist with another 41% responding that aren’t sure if they would consider themselves an activist and only 22% saying that they would not consider themselves an activist. When asked what issues were important to them, the most frequently cited were Black Lives Matter (75%), human trafficking (68%), sexual assault/harassment/Me Too (66.49%), gun violence (65.82%), women’s rights (65.15%), climate change (55.4%), immigration reform/deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) (48.8%), and LGBTQ+ rights (47.39%). When the schools were compared, there were only minor differences in social media use with the high school students indicating slightly more use of Tik Tok than the other participants. All groups were virtually equal when it came to how informed they perceived themselves about current events and politics. Consensus among groups existed with respect to how they get their news, and the community college and high school students were slightly more likely to have participated in a march, protest, or rally in the last 12 months than the university students. The community college and high school students were also slightly more likely to consider themselves social activists than the participants from either of the universities. When the importance of the issues was considered, significant differences based on institutional type were noted. Black Lives Matter (BLM) was identified as important by the largest portion of students attending the HBCU followed by the community college students and high school students. Less than half of the students attending the TWI considered BLM an important issue. Human trafficking was cited as important by a higher percentage of students attending the HBCU and urban high school than at the suburban and rural community college or the TWI. Sexual assault was considered important by the majority of students at all the schools with the percentage a bit smaller from the majority serving institution. About two thirds of the students at the high school, community college, and HBCU considered gun violence important versus about half the students at the majority serving institution. Women’s rights were reported as being important by more of the high school and HBCU participants than the community college or TWI. Climate change was considered important by about half the students at all schools with a slightly smaller portion reporting out the HBCU. Immigration reform/DACA was reported as important by half the high school, community college, and HBCU participants with only a third of the students from the majority serving institution citing it as an important issue. With respect to LGBTQ rights approximately half of the high school and community college participants cited it as important, 44.53% of the HBCU students, and only about a quarter of the students attending the majority serving institution. Contribution and Conclusion: This paper provides a timely investigation into the mindset of generation Z students living in the United States during a period of heightened civic unrest. This insight is useful to educators who should be informed about the generation of students that is currently populating higher education. The findings of this study are consistent with public opinion polls by Pew Research Center. According to the findings, the Gen Z students participating in this study are heavy users of multiple social media, expect technology to be integrated into teaching and learning, anticipate a future career where technology will play an important role, informed about current and political events, use social media as their main source for getting news and information, and fairly engaged in social activism. When institutional type was compared the students from the university with the more affluent and less diverse population were less likely to find social justice issues important than the other groups. Recommendations for Practitioners: During disruptive and contentious times, it is negligent to think that the abounding issues plaguing society are not important to our students. Gauging the issues of importance and levels of civic engagement provides us crucial information towards understanding the attitudes of students. Further, knowing how our students gain information, their social media usage, as well as how informed they are about current events and political issues can be used to more effectively communicate and educate. Recommendations for Researchers: As social media continues to proliferate daily life and become a vital means of news and information gathering, additional studies such as the one presented here are needed. Additionally, in other countries facing similarly turbulent times, measuring student interest, awareness, and engagement is highly informative. Impact on Society: During a highly contentious period replete with a large volume of civil unrest and compounded by a global pandemic, understanding the behaviors and attitudes of students can help us as higher education faculty be more attuned when it comes to the design and delivery of curriculum. Future Research This presentation presents preliminary findings. Data is still being collected and much more extensive statistical analyses will be performed.

Information security and associated vulnerabilities have long been a pressing challenge, from the fundamental scientific backstage to the frontline across the most diverse sectors of society. At the tip of the iceberg of this problem, the citizens immediately feel that the reservation of privacy and the degradation of the quality and security of the information and communication on which they depend for the day-to-day activities, already of crucial relevance, are at stake. Naturally though, the challenges do not end there. There is a whole infrastructure for storing information, processing and communication, whose security and reliability depend on key sectors gearing modern society – such as emergency communication systems (medical, civil and environmental protection, among others), transportation and geographic information, the financial communications systems at the backbone of day-to-day transactions, the information and telecommunications systems in general. And crucially the entire defence ecosystem that in essence is a stalwart in preventing our civilisation to self-annihilate in full fulfilment of the second principle of thermodynamics. The relevance of the problem further encompasses the preservation of crucial values such as the right to information, security and integrity of democratic processes, internal administration, justice, defence and sovereignty, ranging from the well-being of the citizen to the security of the nation and beyond. In the present communication, we take a look at how to scientifically and technically empower society to address these challenges, with the hope and pragmatism enabled by our emerging pathways in information physics and complexity. Edging beyond classical and quantum frontiers and their vulnerabilities to unveil new principles, methodologies and technologies at the core of the next generation system dynamic intelligence and security. To illustrate the concepts and tools, rather than going down the road of engineered systems that we can ultimately control, we take aim at the bewildering complexity of nature, deciphering new secrets in the mathematical codex underlying its complex coevolutionary phenomena that so heavily impact our lives, and ultimately bringing out novel insights, methods and technologies that propel information physics and security beyond quantum frontiers.