International judges and prosecutors are today present in various places around the world. They are supposed to function as a complement to the national judiciary and help in the up-building of rule of law. However, there are various problems and questions regarding the work they accomplish, which will be discussed throughout this thesis. Kosovo has been chosen as an example since it has a long experience of international judges and prosecutors. Further on it has been debated if the international personnel in the Kosovar judicial system contribute to the capacity-building or not. The following text also brings up several types of courts where the international judges and prosecutors are present. The reason for this is to give an idea of the various forms of international involvement that exists, but also to discuss where justice should be done.

The aim of the thesis has been to find some key problems regarding international judges and prosecutors in national legal systems to be able to make better in the future. During the analyse of those questions various materials have been used, such as regulations, reports and previous research. The conclusion that has been drawn is that international judges and prosecutors can play an important role in the building of rule of law in national legal systems. However, the cooperation among internationals and nationals has to be deeper. Therefore some questions regarding for example salary and language problems must be solved so that the cooperation has the possibility to grow stronger in the future. 

Ordre public är ett förbehåll som förekommer inom den internationella privaträtten. Förbehållet möjliggör undantag i ett enskilt fall från att tillämpa eller erkänna en utländsk rättsregel eller avgörande. För att ordre public-förbehållet ska bli tillämpligt krävs att erkännandet eller tillämpningen skulle vara uppenbart stridande mot den svenska rättsordningen. Vad som faller inom tillämpningen har inte exakt specificerats i lagen, utan har lämnats till rättstillämparen i det enskilda fallet att avgöra.

Tillämpas ordre public-förbehållet kan den stötande rättsregeln eller avgörandet skjutas åt sidan och därmed bortses från. Ibland måste dock en bortskjuten rättsregel ersättas. Huvudre-geln är att svensk lag ersätter den stötande rättsregeln, men andra förfarandet är tänkbara. Ordre public-förbehållet har i svensk rätt karaktären av en generalklausul, med ett innehåll som växlar i takt med samhällets utveckling.

Svenska rättskipare har varit restriktiva med att tillämpa ordre public. Det förekommer att en domstol undkommit ordre public-tillämpning genom att modifiera lagvalsreglerna, så att den stötande rättsregeln inte blir tillämplig. En konsekvens som kan uppstå när ordre public tilllämpas så ett äktenskap vägras erkännande, är förekomsten av haltande äktenskap, där ett äktenskap erkännas i ett land men inte i ett annat.

Vid frågan om ordre public-förbehållet, gäller att vid erkännande av utländska äktenskap till-lämpas förbehållet ibland när någon mycket ung ingått äktenskap, när någon tvingats att gifta sig eller när parterna är närbesläktade. Däremot tillämpas förbehållet normalt sett inte vid erkännande av utländska äktenskap när det gäller polygami eller fullmaktäktenskap. Vad det gäller utländska regler kring hindersprövning kan sägas utan större tvekan att sådana regler som är diskriminerande mot personer med viss ras- religions- eller könstillhörighet strider mot svensk ordre public. Utländska äktenskapsskillnader ska endast i undantagsfall anses strida mot svensk ordre public, vad det gäller de materiella grunderna. Däremot kan en äktenskapsskillnad strida mot svensk processuell ordre public om t.ex. en part inte fått chansen att föra sin talan. Tydligt är också att parternas anknytning till Sverige är av vikt för bedömningen av om ordre public ska tillämpas eller inte.

Den slutsats som kan dras är att förekomsten av vissa faktorer kan starkt bidra till att ordre public-förbehållet aktualiseras. Avseende äktenskapsmål och ordre public gäller att ju mer stötande ett rättsförhållande är och ju närmare parternas anknytning till Sverige är, desto större är sannolikheten att ordre public kommer att tillämpas.

Purpose: Parenting programmes are seen as feasible and cost-effective in preventing early behavioural problems in children and adolescents. A number of studies have concluded that such programmes are effective in reducing child problem behaviours and improving the skills and well-being of parents. Nevertheless, less is known about long-term programme effects.

Design/methodology/approach: A non meta-analytic discussion.

Findings: Long-term evaluations of parenting programmes suffer from a number of methodological weaknesses resulting in an inability to make robust causal inferences about child and parent outcomes in the longer term. The current evidence is favorable but is likely to be biased by methodological weaknesses. There is a need for more studies of greater methodological strength to obtain conclusive evidence that would guide empirical research, practice and policy.

Originality/value: The paper discusses weaknesses in long-term evaluations of parenting programmes and highlights concrete future directions toward improving the quality of study design, evaluation and data analysis.

Social alienation and marginalization among immigrant youth are important risk factors for their adjustment and integration into the host society. Thus, it is very essential to develop a comprehensive understanding on why some immigrant youth feel belong to the host society whereas others do not. One of the indicators of societal belongingness among immigrant youth could be related to the nature of their interpersonal experiences in school with their peers and teachers. Immigrant youth who experience positive inter-ethnic contact in class and treated fairly by their teachers may develop greater feelings of class belonging and social trust, and in turn, they may feel part of the host society. To test these conceptual arguments, we examined (1) whether positive inter-ethnic class climate and fair treatment of teachers are associated with societal belonging, and (2) whether adolescents’ feelings of class belonging and social trust explain these links.The data came from the first wave of an ongoing three-year longitudinal study, the Youth & Diversity Project. The analytical sample included youth with at least one parent born outside of Sweden (N = 423; Mage = 13.19, SD = .51; 44% girls). The results of mediation analysis showed that class belonging significantly mediated the association between positive inter-ethnic class climate and societal belonging, βind=.13, z = 3.85, p < .001, 95% CI: .08, .22. In addition, social trust significantly mediated the link between fair treatment of teachers and societal belonging, βind=.04, z = 1.96, p < .05, 95% CI: .01, .08. Overall, these findings suggest that experiencing positive inter-ethnic relationships in school may help immigrant youth develop connection to their immediate social context, and in turn build feelings of societal belonging. Furthermore, fair treatment of teachers may promote social trust among immigrant youth, and indirectly lead to feeling belong to the larger society.

Prevention field has achieved major advances in developing, implementing, and testing the efficacy of preventive interventions in controlled settings. Nevertheless, there is still a gap in translating the success of programs in efficacy trials into real-life settings. Dissemination of evidence-based programs is a major challenge. The authors argue that promoting adoption of evidence-based programs requires further improvements in three areas, and collaboration between researchers and practitioners. First, there is a need to develop a holistic assessment system encompassing both risk/need and readiness assessments. Second, there is need for new methods for improving implementation quality. Third, prevention research needs to focus more on identifying the mechanisms that explain how programs work and the core elements of the program. Both researchers and practitioners have roles and opportunities to collaborate to achieve developments in these areas.

Background and aims: The Örebro Prevention Programme (ÖPP) was found previously to be effective in reducing drunkenness among adolescents [Cohen's d = 0.35, number needed to treat (NNT) = 7.7]. The current study tested the mediating role of parents’ restrictive attitudes to underage drinking in explaining the effectiveness of the ÖPP, and the potential moderating role of gender, immigration status, peers’ and parents’ drinking and parent–adolescent relationship quality.

Design: A quasi‐experimental matched‐control group study with assessments at baseline, and at 18‐ and 30‐month follow‐ups.

Participants: Of the 895 target youths at ages 12–13 years, 811 youths and 651 parents at baseline, 653 youths and 524 parents at 18‐month and 705 youths and 506 parents at 30‐month follow‐up participated in the study.

Measurements: Youths reported on their past month drunkenness, their parents’ and peers’ alcohol use and the quality of their relationship with parents. Parents reported on their attitudes to underage drinking.

Findings: The mediation analyses, using latent growth curve modeling, showed that changes in parents’ restrictive attitudes to underage drinking explained the impact of the ÖPP on changes in youth drunkenness, which was reduced, and onset of monthly drunkenness, which was delayed, relative to controls. Mediation effect explained 57 and 45% of the effects on drunkenness and onset of monthly drunkenness, respectively. The programme effects on both parents’ attitudes and youth drunkenness were similar across gender, immigrant status, parents’ and peers’ alcohol use and parent–youth relationship quality.

Conclusions: Increasing parents’ restrictive attitudes to youth drinking appears to be an effective and robust strategy for reducing heavy underage drinking regardless of the adolescents’ gender, cultural origin, peers’ and parents’ drinking and relationship quality with parents.

One of the key goals of the European Family Support Network (Eurofamnet) is to develop and disseminate a quality standards document. This document aims at identifying the basic characteristics to develop, implement, test, and disseminate high-quality family support programs in the European context. The current presentation focuses on the process of development and key aspects of the proposed Eurofamnet Quality Standards Document.

The development process of the Eurofamnet Quality Standards Document started with an extensive review of the published quality standards documents and the scientific publications focusing on preventive interventions for families and children. The review of these documents focused on identifying the proposed standards for and the characteristics of high-quality programs. 

A thematic analysis revealed the importance of four phases in conceptualizing standards for family support programs. These are (1) program formulation, (2) program delivery, (3) program evaluation, and (4) dissemination. The Eurofamnet Quality Standards Document proposes that the processes and the outcomes of these four phases of the intervention cycle are guided by five fundamental considerations. Actions that are taken and the outcomes of these actions in each of these four phases are (1) responsive, (2) feasible, (3) ethical, (4) reflective, and (5) sustainable.

Overall, the Eurofamnet Quality Standards Document aims at setting up a set of guiding principles for practitioners and researchers who work with family support programs that are accessible and in line with the latest advances in research and praxis.