The Non-Compliance Mechanism Under the Aarhus Convention as ‘Soft’ Enforcement of International Environmental Law: Not So Soft After All!

Netherlands International Law Review - This article engages in the exercise of measuring the ‘degree of judiciality’ of the Non-Compliance Mechanism under the Aarhus Convention by...     

Corruption,Centralization and Competition: Evidence from Russian Public Procurement

ABSTRACT

This paper estimates the impact of corruption on the incentives of procurers to maintain honest competition in tenders. Customers, who procure for themselves, and Agencies, who procure for the customers in their region are considered. Basing on a large dataset of open auctions conducted by Russian regional-level authorities in 2011, the analysis shows that in highly corrupt regions, Agencies fail to arrange competitive tenders and most of auctions have one bidder. Customers attract more bidders for large contracts, but rebates are usually low. Therefore, procurement centralization may reduce the corruption of Customers, but cannot solve the problem of low competition.     

Bankrolling Repression? Modeling Third‐Party Influence on Protests and Repression

Ukraine's anti‐government protests in 2013–2014, and the ensuing removal of President Yanukovich, raised much speculation about Russia's role in the outcome of the crisis, as well as more general questions related to third‐party influence on domestic protests and repression. Does third‐party assistance to the government increase the level of government repression or deter protesters? Does the leader removal indicate that foreign involvement was a failure? Or can a third party gain from involvement, even if its protégé leader is removed from power? We model external influence on the onset of protests and repression as a game between the government, the protesters, and a third party that supports the government. The main finding is that a third party may “bankroll” repression against the protesters, even at the risk of the removal of their protégé leader, with the goal of deterring future protests within its sphere of interest.     

High resolution Y chromosome typing: 19 STRs amplified in three multiplex reactions

Nineteen Y-specific short tandem repeat (STR) loci have been amplified in 768 samples from the Iberian Peninsula in order to evaluate their usefulness in forensic casework. Two previously published multiplex reactions by Thomas et al. [Hum. Genet. 6 (1999) 577] (MS1, modified here: DYS19, DYS388, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392 and DYS393) and by Ayub et al. [Nucl. Acids Res. 28 (2000) e8] (CTS: DYS434, DYS435, DYS436, DYS437, DYS438 and DYS439) plus a novel one reported here (EBF: DYS385, DYS389, DYS460, DYS461, DYS462 and amelogenin) have been used. DYS385, DYS439 and DYS391 were the most informative loci with allele diversities of 0.7997, 0.6683 and 0.5940, respectively. A total of 635 different haplotypes were observed, of which 573 (90.24%) were found in single individuals. The overall haplotype diversity was 0.9988 and that obtained by each multiplex system was 0.9812 for EBF, 0.9292 for MS1 and 0.9089 for CTS.     

Management of Victimized Patients in Greek Primary Care Settings: A Pilot Study

The study explored the perceptions and practices of general practitioners (GPs) regarding the identification and management of victimized patients in primary care settings. A qualitative study was conducted employing three focus groups and a total of 18 GPs drawn from Greek General Practice Networks. Participants discussed issues of identification, assessment, recording, and referral of victimized patients at their clinical setting. Important points raised were the role ambiguity in the management of the victimized patients, the lack of confidence in diagnosing the problem, the discomfort in discussing Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) with their patients, the mistrust in the referral services, and the confidentiality issues affecting their recording practices. This preliminary information is expected to guide large-scale surveys and future interventions.     

Putin's struggle for federalism: Structures,operation, and the commitment problem

This article provides an analysis of the institutional mechanisms that are required to ensure the effective functioning of federalism in Russian politics. A common contention in the literature on federalism is that, in addition to fundamental requirements such as the constitutionally defined division of powers between the federation and its constituent units, and the supremacy of the federal constitution, some ancillary structures are necessary. Of particular importance are institutions of inter-governmental co-operation, transparent means for the mobility of officials between the centre and the regions, and integrated systems of national parties. The functioning of these institutions must also reflect the culture and ethic of federalism. This article examines how well these three factors have been implemented in Russia in the course of Putin's reforms. It is shown that a preliminary network of such institutions has been created. However, their operational ethic, and in particular the lack of commitment to federal values, it is argued, could act as an impediment to the successful evolution of the federal state in Russia.