This chapter describes professional issues within clinical psychology. It includes summaries of several national conferences on training, the development of the doctor of psychology (PsyD) degree, and the establishment of the clinical scientist model, the scientist-practitioner model, and the practitioner-scholar model of clinical training. It also outlines the contours of professional regulation including via certification and licensure by state clinical psychology boards, and the American Board of Professional Psychology. It also discusses the ethical standards of the American Psychological Association, and regulation of clinical psychologists’ behavior by the APA ethics committee and state licensing boards. The chapter tells the story of how clinical psychologists gained the right to practice psychotherapy independently and to receive insurance coverage for mental health services, summarizes the impact of changes in the economics of mental health service delivery, and provides the latest information on the controversy over clinicians’ right to prescribe medication. There is also a review of efforts being made to enhance clinicians’ multicultural competence and, based on historical and current forces in the field, a set of predictions about where clinical psychology is heading in the future.

John Bell’s work consistently interrogates why legal systems are the way that they are. French legal cultures drew out the importance of understanding a system’s legal culture(s). In a joint project with David Ibbetson, European Legal Development, a broader methodology and programme for comparative legal analysis emerged. Their focus was twofold: to shift analysis from legal rules towards their direction of travel over time and, crucially, to provide insight into the specific factors, perhaps distinct between systems, that accounted for a given national narrative. In this chapter, using a core problem in medical liability, an Anglo-Germanic case study of Bell and Ibbetson’s methodology is provided. First, the German system, which Bell and Ibbetson did not consider in relation to medical liability is examined. Second, through a reassessment of key English sources, a plausible alternative to their suggested narrative of homogenous development is constructed. Finally, their assumptions about the relationship between legal and social change and identify key questions for future applications are reflected on.

This chapter examines the link between the legitimacy of international commercial courts and the ethics of their judges. It starts from the premise that the professional ethics of judges are not only a matter of their personal and professional integrity. Instead, the chapter argues, the international and cross-cultural context of international commercial courts may affect what is considered appropriate for a judge. To demonstrate this argument, the chapter analyses ethical rules regarding ex parte communication between judges and parties or their lawyers, and the cultural differences among legal systems. It concludes by calling on the host States to commit energy and resources to develop separate codes of conduct for the judges presiding in the international commercial courts that they have created.

This chapter discusses the political, professional and legal aspects of non-medical prescribing from its inception in the 1990s to the present day. It considers important legal cases that illustrate the key issues of autonomy, negligence and consent and illustrates how these scenarios can impact on prescribing practice on a daily basis. The role of professional regulators is highlighted and the notion that patients/clients are no longer subservient to benign medical paternalism but rather are seen as consumers of healthcare is considered. New educational aspirations are mentioned with a reliance on evidenced-based practice and a holistic humanised approach to care delivery

Professional regulation occurs in, and for, many professions in Australia. Similar to the legal and engineering professions, regulation in the education profession is a key factor in the development and maintenance of appropriate standards for members of the profession. There are a number of professional bodies, one in each state and territory in Australia, that exist to manage registration of members of the teaching profession (i.e. school teachers). In addition to this, they ensure that members fulfil a number of requirements to continue to be part of, and practise in, the profession in their jurisdiction. Refer to Table 10.1 in Chapter 10 for the names of each of these state and territory professional bodies, established to ensure the apposite professional standing of teachers in the community. In this chapter we first explore professional regulation in general and then consider the multidimensional approach to regulation that is at work at a number of levels in the various jurisdictions in Australia. We proceed to elucidate teacher registration by exploring what teachers have to do to initially become registered and remain registered, and conclude by examining why there is a need for professional regulation in the first instance.

What will lead to meaningful change in legal education? And what should be the direction(s) of change? In the United States, as elsewhere, law schools are caught between critics who want them to be more responsive to the changing legal market and the needs of private employers, and critics who want them to do more to resist and shape the private market and promote the public good. These critiques are not wholly incompatible as a blueprint for curricular reform. Increasing students’ exposure to new skills and technologies, experiential training and projects, and collaboration with other professions, provides ‘opportunities for critical analysis and reflection’ as well as making students more employable.