Some reflections on the legitimacy of international trial justice

This paper addresses a number of interrelated conceptual difficulties that impact adversely on the ability of international criminal trials to deliver outcomes perceived as legitimate by victims and communities in post-conflict states. It begins by exploring the extent to which those moral justifications for punishment espoused by international courts are instrumental in marginalizing the aspirations for justice of victims and victim communities, and suggests how a greater appreciation of the sociological context of punishing international crimes can contribute towards an improved understanding of normative practice. The paper then examines the relationship between perceptions of international crime and punishment, and the broader issue of whether international criminal law provides an appropriate normative structure for giving effect to those universal humanitarian values concerned with punishment in an increasingly pluralistic world. Finally, the paper considers how the theory and practice of punishing international crimes can more effectively satisfy both local and global aspirations for post-conflict justice through enhancing the transformative capacity of international criminal trials.     

Stopping the illegal trafficking of human beings

The transnational sex industry experienced a surge during the 1990swith the breakup of the former Soviet Union. The virtual enslavementof a growing number of women into the global prostitution market fromthis region of the world has begun to be documented in an on-goingmanner by independent non-governmental organizations that trackmigration patterns and international criminal activity. The emergenceof this phenomenon in Europe expands the study of the transnationalsex industry well beyond Southeast Asia and Asia, where it has beenexamined primarily to date. Governments and internationalgovernmental organizations such as the United Nations are also nowfocusing on this issue from local and global perspectives. In thispaper, the roles that transnational police organizations can play, andhave been playing, regarding preventing and investigating the activitiesof the transnational sex industry, are explored. After sketching thescope of the problem, identifying the players of interest, and examiningthe roles that they have been performing to date, recommendations areoffered for strengthening police response in this area.     

Medical research on patients with dementia--the role of advance directives in European legal instruments

Current international legal instruments recognise the use of advance directives to carry on the will of the dementing research participant beyond the boundaries of her present legal capacity. Advance directives are gaining greater recognition in patient care than in medical research, where their legal status is still somewhat unclear. In particular, the three major international documents on medical research - the Council of Europe Convention on Biomedicine and Human Rights (ETS 164), its Additional Protocol on Biomedical Research (ETS 195), and Directive 2001/20/EC on Clinical Trials on Medicinal Products--give conflicting messages on the legal status of advance directives in medical research. This article examines the provisions in these documents and their national applications in Finland and the United Kingdom.     

Transplantation of organs and tissues and some reflections on the "solidarity" of the human cadaver in Portugal

The article presents the legal situation of transplantation medicine in Portugal and presents some interesting statistical data. The author defends the opting-out system and presents an argument in favour of such solution, taking into account the mandatory nature of forensic autopsies.