The European Union and Human Rights: Towards A Post-National Human Rights Institution?

There is growing evidence that the European Union (EU) is becomingmore involved in human rights protection and has the capacityto turn into an unprecedented post-national human rights protectioninstitution. Based on that evidence, this article suggests differentarguments in favour of a further development in this direction.These arguments stem not only from a general global justiceapproach to post-national institutions’ responsibilities,but also from the concept of human rights itself and the specificneeds of human rights protection at the post-national level.The EU's institutional framework presents advantages that fitthe general criteria of institutional design in the human rightscontext. Of course, many doubts and critiques may be raisedagainst an entity which started primarily as a functional andeconomic institution, and important reforms, some of which areventured in the present article, are still needed to get theEU closer to this institutional ideal. More generally, the articleemphasises the unique example and precedent the EU may constitutefor normative institutional thinking about global justice atthe post-national level.     

Proof of Concept Centers in the United States: an exploratory look

In this paper we identify the population of 32 US university-related Proof of Concept Centers (PoCCs), and we present a model of technology development that identifies the economic role of PoCCs within that model. We examine the broad technology transfer challenges that PoCCs have been established to address. Further, we argue that PoCCs are a growing technology infrastructure in the United States, and they are important as a possible element of our national innovation system.     

Criteria-Based Content Analysis: An empirical test of its underlying processes

Abstract

Criteria-Based Content Analysis (CBCA) is a tool to assess the veracity of written statements, and is used as evidence in criminal courts in several countries in the world. CBCA scores are expected to be higher for truth tellers than for liars. The underlying assumption of CBCA is that (i) lying is cognitively more difficult than truth telling, and (ii) that liars are more concerned with the impression they make on others than truth tellers. However, these assumptions have not been tested to date. In the present experiment 80 participants (undergraduate students) lied or told the truth about an event. Afterwards, they completed a questionnaire measuring “cognitive load” and “tendency to control speech”. The interviews were transcribed and coded by trained CBCA raters. In agreement with CBCA assumptions, (i) truth tellers obtained higher scores than liars, (ii) liars experienced more cognitive load than truth tellers, and (iii) liars tried harder to control their speech. However, cognitive load and speech control were not correlated with CBCA scores in the predicted way.     

Scottish Presbyterian networks in Ulster and the Irish House of Commons, 1692–1714

SUMMARY

Throughout the seventeenth century Ireland gradually came under British control, culminating in the reimplementation and consolidation of the Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy rule in the aftermath of the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688–91. The Irish Parliament became the vehicle for securing the Ascendancy position within eighteenth-century Irish society. Although the Catholic threat never disappeared, some within the Ascendancy focussed their attentions towards the Scottish Presbyterian community in Ulster, a resilient and growing group that had been reinforced by 40,000–70,000 Scottish migrants arriving in Ireland during the 1690s. Viewed as a stubborn sect who controlled the majority of trade in Ulster, some within the Ascendancy feared that their supposed economic control of the province would ultimately lead to political control of the region, and possibly Ireland as a whole. Indeed, during the parliamentary sessions of 1692, 1695–99, 1703–13 and 1713, when the foundations for securing the Ascendancy were put in place, so too was legislation designed to curtail the strength of the Scottish Presbyterians in Ulster. This article examines whether the Scottish Presbyterian community deserved to be considered such a threat to Irish political elites by analysing the role and networks of Ulster MPs of Scottish Presbyterian origin in the Irish House of Commons during the reigns of King William and Queen Anne. The article also analyses the impact of legislation passed against nonconformists in Ireland during this period in order to assess what effect it had on the Scottish Presbyterian community.     

Sexual grooming of children: Review of literature and theoretical considerations

Abstract

The current review aims to outline the existing understanding of sexual grooming. Issues of poor definition, the adoption of the term “grooming” and the prevalence of sexual grooming will be discussed. Consideration will be given to how prominent theories of child sexual abuse often neglect sexual grooming. This will be followed by a detailed account of the existing knowledge within the literature. Three types of sexual grooming were thus identified: self-grooming, grooming the environment and significant others and grooming the child. Based on these findings, a new definition of sexual grooming is suggested. Furthermore, the findings correspond well with current models of the sexual offence process. A more comprehensive understanding of sexual grooming is required to facilitate a preventative approach to child protection.     

Does a therapeutic court context matter?: The likelihood of imprisonment for Indigenous and non-Indigenous offenders sentenced in problem-solving courts

A key aspect of the focal concerns perspective of sentencing is that time and information restrictions within the courtroom create the conditions under which perceptual shorthands may impact sentencing determinations. These shorthands are based stereotypes related to offender characteristics including minority group statuses (i.e. ethnicity, race, Indigenous status) (Steffensmeier et al., 1998). To date, sentencing scholars drawing on the focal concerns perspective have only considered the impact of minority group statuses on sentencing in the mainstream courts (Mitchell, 2005; Spohn, 2000). Utilizing multiple regression techniques the current paper explores the impact of Indigenous status on the decision to imprison in the problem solving courts of South Australia. Unlike the mainstream courts, sentencing determinations within the therapeutic problem-solving court environment involve a more extensive examination of offenders and their cases and by extension, perceptual shorthands should be less influential. Evidence supporting this argument is provided by the current research. Results show a direct relationship between Indigenous status and the likelihood of imprisonment, with leniency being extended to Indigenous offenders.     

Scotland,Renewable Energy and the Independence Debate: Will Head or Heart Rule the Roost?

Political support for renewable energy development, especially offshore renewables, is particularly conspicuous in Scotland and is a centrepiece of SNP policy. However, this is built on something of a paradox because, put simply, without the subsidies paid by electricity consumers in the rest of the UK, the Scottish Government's ambitious targets for renewable energy would be politically unachievable. We argue in this paper that if Scotland does move towards independence, then there could be little reason for the UK to continue paying (much) of the subsidies since the resulting renewable generation would no longer contribute towards UK renewable energy targets. We suggest that the potential scenarios, and their implications, needs to be far better considered in the arguments around the Scottish constitutional position and the broader aims of UK energy policy.     

Services Trade: Past Liberalization and Future Challenges

Services trade has truly become an engine of world growth. Overthe past two decades, international trade in services has grownfaster than world merchandize trade, which in turn has grownfaster than world output. A combination of policy liberalizationand technological progress has facilitated trade in many previouslyuntradable services. However, very little progress has beenmade towards new policy liberalization in the ongoing Doha DevelopmentRound. This article discusses trade in services in five sections.Following a short introduction, Section I presents data on thepast growth of services trade flows and makes rough projectionsof future expansion. The second and third sections summarizethe achievements of the WTO in the service field, both as anegotiating forum and a dispute settlement system. The thirdsection also emphasizes how FTAs are now playing the leadingrole in services liberalization. The fourth section critiquesthe absence of progress in the Doha Round and the fifth sectionexamines the hot issue of services outsourcing. The concludingsection offers policy recommendations for containing a possibleprotectionist backlash and promoting new liberalization.