Beyond the Goods/Resources Dichotomy: Animal Labor and Trade Law

Abstract

Since its inception, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has, in a rather self-evident manner, treated animals as objects of trade: Animals must be either goods or natural resources subject to the terms and conditions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). However, broader public and legal efforts to recategorize animals from goods to “sentient beings,” which are emerging across the world, are casting serious doubt on these assumptions. Using animals’ subjectivity as a starting point, a new and bourgeoning strand of anthropological, ethical, and political studies argues that animals should properly be recognized as working subjects. Be it guide dogs, truffle hogs, logging elephants, or dairy cows—working animals, they argue, are owed wholly new legal and ethical duties. This article builds on these arguments to examine the consequences of “animal labor” for trade law: Are animals wrongly classified as commodities or resources? Is there a need and room to recognize animals as service providers under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)? What are the legal consequences of this proposed change? This article sets out to answer these questions and argues that recognizing animals as workers in trade law is conceptually coherent and can play a crucial role in empowering states to protect animals effectively at the international level.     

Administrative reform in china: Issues and prospects

China's experience of organizational reform is representative of the country's attempts to implement more general administrative reform. Forty years of organizational reform have produced only short-term successes. In the 1988 reforms, however, leaders proposed for the first time to re-define the role of the state in society. In general, the reforms have been undermined by political, economic, and institutional problems. These include conflicting elite priorities, cycles of economic centralization and decentralization, the interdependence of government agencies and economic enterprises, and the lack of incentives to economize. Consequently, the organizational reform management institutions are very weak. Successful implementation of organizational reform in the future depends to a large extent on further economic development.     

Alternative sanctions for drug users: fruitless efforts or miracle solution?

In most Western European countries, including Belgium, judicial alternative sanctions are increasingly being used for drug users. Because no study into the effectiveness of Belgian judicial alternatives for drug users has yet been carried out, this became the objective of the current research. The design of this study comprises a pre and post measurement of the criminal activity, drug use and situation in different spheres of life of 565 drug-dependent offenders. Two conclusions can be drawn. First, after an alternative sanction or measure is imposed, there is a reduction in the criminal activity of the offender. Second, this crime reduction goes hand in hand with a progress in several relevant life spheres.     

A report of the 2002–2008 paternity testing workshops of the English speaking working group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics

The English Speaking Working Group (ESWG) of the International Society for Forensic Genetics (ISFG) offers an annual Paternity Testing Workshop open to all members of the group. Blood samples, a questionnaire and a paper challenge are sent to the participants. Here, we present the results of the 2002–2008 Paternity Testing Workshops with the objective to evaluate the uniformity of DNA-profiling and conclusions of the participating laboratories as well as to clarify tendencies in typing strategies and biostatistical evaluations of the laboratories. The numbers of participating laboratories increased from 46 in 2002 to 68 in 2008. The results showed an increasing degree of concordance concerning methods and DNA systems used and a high degree of uniformity in typing results with discrepancies in 0.1 and 0.3 % of all submitted PCR-based results. The paper challenges showed uniformity in the calculation of the weight of evidence for simple cases with straight-forward genetic constellations. However, a high degree of variation existed in complex scenarios with rare genetic constellations such as genetic inconsistencies/possible silent alleles, rare alleles and haplotypes.     

Inter- and intra-subject variability in ethanol pharmacokinetic parameters: effects of testing interval and dose

Calculation of a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at the time of an offence by forward or back-extrapolation, using population average values for ethanol pharmacokinetic parameters or a single estimate of individual specific parameters, ignores the possibility of inter- and intra-subject variability. In order to estimate inter- and intra-subject variability in the elimination rate and absorption rate, BAC was measured over time in 12 male volunteers on 4 occasions. Subjects received 0.44 g kg(-1) body weight of ethanol on the first study day, and 0.70 g kg(-1) body weight on subsequent study days 1, 11 and 12 weeks later, to enable comparisons in variability over short and long time periods and when the same or different doses were administered. Evidence of both inter- and intra-subject variability was found, with inter-subject variability substantially smaller than intra-subject variability when the dose varied. Forensically important differences in pharmacokinetic parameters were observed within individuals between occasions. These findings could have an important impact on medico-legal issues related to ethanol pharmacokinetics.     

A Study of the Background Levels of Male DNA on Underpants Worn by Females

This study is the first to examine the background level of male DNA on underpants worn by females in the absence of sexual contact. Here, we examined 103 samples from the inside front of underpants from 85 female volunteers. Samples were examined for the presence of male DNA using NGM SElect and PowerPlex Y23 kits. Only five samples gave a “complete” Y-STR profile, even though 83.5% of our volunteers cohabited with a male. In all cases where a partner reference sample was available, the Y-STR profile matched the cohabiting partner. We have demonstrated that a Y-STR profile is not expected on the inside front of underpants worn by females after social contact alone. The results of this study are informative for evaluating the significance of a Y-STR profile on underpants in cases of alleged sexual assault.     

Who Cares? Welfare and Consent to Child Emigration from England to Canada, 1870–1918

Liverpool Law Review - From the 1870’s, children in the care of charities or state provided institutions, including workhouses and industrial schools, were subject to the practice of...     

The Influences of Family and Place on Rural Adolescents’ Educational Aspirations and Post-secondary Enrollment

Despite the large contingent of students living in rural areas, existing research on the processes that precede the college enrollment of rural adolescents is limited. With a particular focus on gender, this study investigated rural adolescents’ perceptions of family and place and how these perceptions related to their educational aspirations and subsequent college enrollment using a nationwide sample of rural adolescents (N?=?3456; 52.5% female). Female adolescents reported higher academic achievement, educational aspirations, parental expectations, and family responsibility and enrolled in two-year and four-year institutions at greater rates compared to male adolescents, who reported significantly higher rural identity and perceptions of job opportunities in the rural community. Utilizing a multiple group moderated mediation approach, the results provided evidence that adolescents’ increased perceptions of their parents’ educational expectations were associated with increased educational aspirations and college enrollment and that adolescents’ increased perceptions of job opportunities in their rural community were associated with decreased educational aspirations. In addition, the results showed that gender moderated the relation between perceptions of job opportunities in the rural community and postsecondary enrollment. These findings highlight how the developmental resources of family and place relate to adolescents’ educational aspirations and subsequent postsecondary enrollment.