Challenging international law: a dilemma of private security companies

Since the end of the Cold War, there has been a marked increase in the sale of military services by private security companies (PSCs).1 ?1. The term private security company is used throughout the article instead of private military companies or private military firms. View all notes These companies sell anything from combat support for government military operations to military training and assistance, logistical support and more conventional security protection services. They have undertaken operations in countries as diverse as Sierra Leone, Croatia, and Columbia and now Iraq and Afghanistan. The presence of these companies on the international stage raises fundamental questions about the way war is now being fought. Unfortunately, the legal issues raised by their presence in conflicts have not yet been properly addressed. This article sets out to examine the suitability of international law in defining and controlling the activities of PSCs on the battlefield. It then goes on to discuss the problems associated with national regulation. Here the focus is on the attempts by the United States (US), South Africa, and United Kingdom (UK) governments to introduce effective legislation to control the industry.     

A PCR multiplex and database for forensic DNA identification of dogs

Animal-derived trace evidence is a common finding at crime scenes and may provide an important link between victim(s) and suspect(s). A database of 558 dogs of pure and mixed breeds is described and analyzed with two PCR multiplexes of 17 microsatellites. Summary statistics (number of alleles, expected and observed heterozygosity and power of exclusion) are compared between breeds. Marked population substructure in dog breeds indicates significant inbreeding, and the use of a conservative theta value is recommended in likelihood calculations for determining the significance of a DNA match. Evidence is presented that the informativeness of the canine microsatellites, despite inbreeding, is comparable to the human CODIS loci. Two cases utilizing canine DNA typing, State of Washington v. Kenneth Leuluaialii and George Tuilefano and Crown v. Daniel McGowan, illustrate the potential of canine microsatellite markers for forensic investigations.     

Development and evaluation of a standard method for the quantitative determination of elements in float glass samples by LA-ICP-MS

Forensic analysis of glass samples was performed in different laboratories within the NITE-CRIME (Natural Isotopes and Trace Elements in Criminalistics and Environmental Forensics) European Network, using a variety of Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) systems. The main objective of the interlaboratory tests was to cross-validate the different combinations of laser ablation systems with different ICP-MS instruments. A first study using widely available samples, such as the NIST SRM 610 and NIST SRM 612 reference glasses, led to deviations in the determined concentrations for trace elements amongst the laboratories up to 60%. Extensive discussion among the laboratories and the production of new glass reference standards (FGS 1 and FGS 2) established an improved analytical protocol, which was tested on a well-characterized float glass sample (FG 10-1 from the BKA Wiesbaden collection). Subsequently, interlaboratory tests produced improved results for nearly all elements with a deviation of < 10%, demonstrating that LA-ICP-MS can deliver absolute quantitative measurements on major, minor and trace elements in float glass samples for forensic and other purposes.     

Conduct and its Consequences: Attempts at Debiasing Jury Judgments

Jurors in negligence cases are supposed to judge a defendant by the reasonableness of his or her conduct and not by the consequences of that conduct. But several studies have shown that a cognitive heuristic known as hindsight bias can skew post hoc judgments of some prior behavior. Thus, jurors who must evaluate the actions of a defendant may be influenced inappropriately by the consequences of those actions. A complementary problem arises when jurors must evaluate the injuries incurred by the plaintiff. Here, jurors' knowledge about the defendant's allegedly negligent conduct can proactively influence their assessment of the plaintiff's injuries and determination of damages. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of two procedural techniques intended to reduce or eliminate the impact of hindsight bias in negligence cases—multiple admonitions from a judge about the proper use of evidence—and bifurcation (actually withholding irrelevant evidence from jurors). We presented a re-enacted automobile negligence trial to 355 jury-eligible adults drawn from the community, varied the evidence and instructions that they heard, and measured liability judgments and damage awards from individual jurors both before and after deliberating, and from juries. Results showed that admonitions were generally ineffective in guiding jurors to the proper use of evidence but that bifurcation was relatively more effective. Deliberations had no curative effect on jurors' misapplication of evidence.     

Rural and urban differences in the commission of animal cruelty

Despite the recent surge in society's interest in human violence, relatively few studies have been conducted examining the closely related phenomenon of animal cruelty. Although several researchers have begun to identify some of the correlates of animal cruelty, few have attempted to understand how differences in the backgrounds of rural and urban residents have led to their abuse of animals. Using survey data from 261 inmates, the authors investigate how demographic, familial differences and species type have contributed to the frequency of acts of animal cruelty. In general, early exposure to animal abuse is a strong predictor of the subsequent behavior. However, rural inmates learned to be cruel by watching family members exclusively, whereas urban inmates learned from family members and friends. Moreover, urban inmates chose dogs, cats, and wild animals as their target animals; however, rural inmates chose only cats.