This report analyzes the use of special prosecutors and independent counsels that were authorized under now-expired provisions of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, as well as the use of special counsels that are currently authorized by DOJ regulations. A glossary of terms at the beginning of the report briefly defines these italicized terms (see Table 1). The report continues with an examination of various constitutional issues relevant to these efforts.

This report discusses whether Congressional censure of the President is constitutional and provides examples of past Congressional censures of presidents.

Ireland, like many other countries with high rates of economic growth, is urbanising rapidly. There has been considerable emphasis on planning for this through the National Development Plan, the National Spatial Strategy, development guidelines and other measures. Through these the state intends that a proper planning process will lead growth rather than leaving it to market forces to drive development in what are regarded as undesirable directions. The latter it is feared will lead to unsuitable social, economic or physical outcomes. Unintended results have flowed from the implementation, or flawed implementation of many of these policies and have given rise to the issues noted by the All Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution in their recent call for submissions on a variety of problems. All planning suffers from the deficiency that it is not possible to forecast accurately what will be the circumstances that will apply during the currency of a plan or what the outcome will be. Consequently all plans must be tentative and flexible to a greater or lesser extent depending on the accuracy of the information used in the formulation process and the dynamism of the environment in which the plan will operate. Overconfidence in the efficacy of planning and a lack of proper and efficient methods to provide for the necessary flexibility could be among the explanations for the perceived failures in planning. But also the legislative framework for the planning system could contain detailed flaws that mitigate against the plans prepared and operated under it. This paper discusses issues around these and is intended as a contribution to the deliberations of the committee.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Arabs indisputably desire more predictable, responsive, and fair laws, even as the Middle East presents acute challenges to rule-of-law reform. David M. Mednicoff's Carnegie Paper argues that to achieve the most success, the United States should focus less on the performance of courts and concentrate on building a broad social understanding of legal rights and respect for the law's authority. Law school curriculum enhancement, funding of independent local media projects that provide information about law, and collaboration with indigenous human rights groups would help advance these long-term goals of rule-of-law reform. Legalism Sans Frontiéres? U.S. Rule of Law Aid in the Arab World is the latest paper in the Carnegie Endowment's Rule of Law Series, which provides analyses by experts on rule-of-law development about key questions in the field.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace