The impact of human rights INGO activities on economic sanctions

What impact do human rights international non-governmental organizations (hereafter HROs) have on the initiation of economic sanctions? The extant literatures on sanctions and transnational non-state groups have largely overlooked the role, if any, the activities of these transnational non-state actors have on the use of economic coercion as a popular policy tool. In this study, we argue that HROs could affect sanction decisions through two distinct mechanisms: information production (“shaming and blaming”) and local empowerment (local presence). By bringing poor human rights performers into the international spotlight, we argue that this effect should hold even after accounting for human rights practices in the targeted countries. Using dyadic data on HROs and economic sanctions, we find robust support for our basic argument that HRO activities increase the likelihood of sanction events against repressive regimes. Additionally, much of the empirical support highlights the role of information production, as opposed to local empowerment, in leading to sanction onset. Overall, our findings indicate that HROs are powerful actors in influencing foreign policy decisions between states.     

An Evaluation of Standardized Software for Processing GC/MS Data from Different Vendors' Instruments in a Forensic Laboratory

Forensic science laboratories perform analyses on a variety of materials using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Instruments from different vendors may be used, requiring analysts to be proficient in the use of multiple proprietary software packages for collecting and processing data. There is no standardized GC/MS software available that can acquire data from different vendors' instruments. However, there are third‐party processing software products that can import data files in different formats. The Centre of Forensic Sciences compared the data processing performance of one such product, ACD/MS Manager Suite, with three instrument vendors' software used for casework analysis. This product was tested for its compatibility with the existing software, its capability to load and present data, and to initiate searches of commercial libraries. The study shows that the MS Manager module provides a means for the forensic analyst to view, process, and report on data from different sources in one software package.     

‘Modernising’ data protection Convention 108: A safe basis for a global privacy treaty?

Proposals for the reform or ‘modernisation’ of Council of Europe Data Protection Convention 108 have now been forwarded from the Convention's Consultative Committee for consideration by the Council of Ministers. This article assesses the changes proposed, which strengthen the obligations of Parties to implement the Convention as a matter of effective practice, not just as a law on paper. It tightens most of the existing data protection principles, and adds new ones which better align the Convention with the EU Directive (and proposed Regulation). The Convention Committee will have explicit new functions including assessing candidates for accession, and periodically reviewing implementation by existing parties. However, the proposals concerning the required standard for data export limitations are in some respects ill-defined and dangerous for data subjects. The existing standard that personal data can only be exported if the recipient provides ‘adequate’ protection has been abandoned for an undefined requirement of ‘appropriate’ protection. The article situates the risk of abandoning meaningful data export restrictions in the context of the USA's push for ‘interoperability’ of very different data protection standards.     

Mobilizing Law in Latin America: An Evaluation of Black's Theory in Brazil

This research addresses two separate but related questions. First, to what extent are sociological theories proposed to explain legal behavior in Western societies applicable to non‐Western contexts? And second, to what degree is Black's theory of law generalizable, as he contends, “across time and space?” Our research merges these questions by exploring the applicability of Black's theory in a Latin American context. Data collected from a nationally representative survey in Brazil suggest support for Black's propositions regarding the impact of vertical, horizontal, cultural, and normative status on the likelihood of mobilizing the law, as well as the feasibility of using his framework for understanding legal behavior in non‐Western settings. Our discussion considers implications and directions for future analyses in both the Brazilian and cross‐cultural contexts.     

Estimating the speed of vehicles: the influence of stereotypes

Abstract

Davies and Patel (2005, Legal and Criminological Psychology, 10, 45–62) demonstrated that stereotypes associated with particular types of car influenced judgements of culpability in a road accident report. This study explores whether stereotypes influence judgements of the speed of different vehicles. In Experiment 1, participants observed films of a BMW 3 Series and VW Polo being driven at 20, 40 and 60 mph. Accuracy of speed estimates was high and no effect of stereotyping was observed. This finding was replicated in Experiment 2 when the stereotype of a ‘typical’ BMW or Polo driver was instantiated prior to viewing the films and despite participants predicting that the speed of the BMW would be substantially higher than the Polo. In Experiment 3, speed estimates were made unexpectedly a day after viewing the films. In accordance with the stereotype, the BMW was now judged as being driven significantly faster than the Polo at the same actual speed. Consistent with findings from person perception, these results suggest that when unambiguous countervailing information is present, stereotypical influences are minimised or overwhelmed, but much stronger effects occur when access to critical information is impaired or ambiguous. The implications of these findings for witness estimates of vehicle speed are discussed.     

Onwards and Sidewards? The Curious Case of the Responsibility to Protect and Mass Violence in Africa

This article approaches Responsibility to Protect (R2P) from the ground up. Selecting African cases of mass atrocity in the age of R2P, it identifies key general features of contemporary violence. The article goes on to consider the nature and extent of R2P practice in each case. The argument is that R2P engagements in these conflicts display a mixture of weakness and irrelevance. The result of this is that R2P has failed significantly to reduce human suffering in any of the cases dealt with. The article notes that this clear failure does not seem to perturb the mainstream of academic R2P discourses, which, although critical at times, remain confident that R2P is making some difference and represents the best way forward. The article explores how this kind of discourse is propounded in the scholarly work on R2P. This leads us towards an argument that R2P as a discourse and international project can run in parallel with continuing mass suffering in African civil wars without being profoundly troubled.     

The role of cognition in fitness to stand trial: a systematic review

The aim of the current paper was to systematically review the quality and design of the literature examining cognition and fitness to stand trial (FST). Ten empirical studies published between 1970 and July 2013 met the inclusion criteria. All studies utilised cross-sectional designs and six were prospective. Study quality was appraised based on FST research guidelines. The study quality was highly variable. Intelligence was controlled statistically in only half of the included studies. Cognitive processes, specifically, processing speed, verbal memory and visuoperceptual skills differentiated fit and unfit groups. Aspects of executive functioning, including social knowledge and abstract thinking, influenced FST. Future studies should use prospective consecutive designs and multivariate statistical strategies that control for potential confounds. Comprehensive assessment across a number of cognitive domains is needed in order to validate research conducted to date and guide forensic assessment of FST.     

Scrambling for contact: The determinants of inter-NGO cooperation in non-Western countries

When do non-governmental organizations (NGOs) cooperate with each other? Even with much touting of the positive effects of inter-NGO cooperation on humanitarian outcomes, the extant literature offers us few insights into the determinants of this cooperation, especially in a cross-national framework. Drawing on both the current NGO literature and the larger cross-disciplinary literature on inter-organizational cooperation, I argue that both trust and opportunity are needed for inter-NGO cooperation. Trust in other organizations is highly dependent on governance structures within the state. Similarly, in the uncertain situation of humanitarian disasters and development work in non-Western states, security concerns and a lack of a coordinating leadership body can limit the opportunities of NGOs to collaborate. The presence of humanitarian state interveners can act to mitigate these concerns and provide NGOs with more opportunities to collaborate. Using a novel measure of NGO to NGO cooperation in non-Western countries, empirical results of this project largely support the hypotheses derived from this trust and opportunity framework.     

Sensitivity of TATP to a TASER Electrical Output

A series of experiments were performed to evaluate and document the effect of a TASER (“stun gun”) on triacetone triperoxide (TATP), an easily manufactured explosive used often in IEDs and suicide bombing vests. TATP samples were synthesized and subjected to several tests of their sensitivity. These samples were run through a BAM Friction test with a result of <0.5 N, Impact Test with a result of 5.8 ± 0.4 cm, and Electrostatic Discharge test with a result of 0.073 ± 0.018 J. In addition, TATP was shocked with a TASER in a variety of configurations. The TATP reacted in 17/17 tests when the TASER arced through the TATP and 0/4 times when the TATP was configured in such a way that the TATP was not subjected to the electrical arc. Based on the experimental data, TATP will readily explode in a variety of configurations by a TASER or similar device. Testing should be expanded, as the data presented here are limited to a single formulation of TATP. Just one of a large array of TASER‐like devices by a single manufacturer were tested; other devices, scenarios and formulations of TATP and other likely threat materials should be assessed.     

Lawyers for God and Neighbor: The Emergence of “Law as a Calling” as a Mobilizing Frame for Christian Lawyers

Drawing on movement framing, collective identity, and mobilization scholarship, this article examines the emergence and potential effects of framing “law as a calling” for the Christian Lawyering community. The article finds that the term should have strong resonance and salience in the broader Christian community. It also finds that because of its interpretive malleability, “law as a calling” has been discussed and actualized in three related, but distinct, ways. That is, “law as a calling” has been conceptualized as requiring Christian Lawyers to turn inward, turn outward by pursuing social justice, and turn outward as a culture warrior. The article argues that while the different interpretations of “law as a calling” address a range of needs required to mobilize potential and existing Christian L/lawyers, the different ideological factions of self‐identifying Christian Lawyers emphasize different understandings of “law as a calling.”