Entrenching Bills of Rights

The entrenchment of a bill of rights, and the consequent removalof the matters covered in the bill from the domain of the legislature,is commonly thought to constitute a transfer of power from thelegislature to the courts. Yet the simple answer to this thoughtis that, strictly speaking, no such transfer takes place, forin acquiring power to determine the content of a bill of rightsthe courts do not acquire the power to legislate that the billdenies to the legislature. The more complex response is thatwhat the courts acquire when a bill of rights is entrenchedis the power to set a constitutional agenda, a power that thelegislature may never have had and so has not necessarily lost,a power the political significance of which depends on the formand content of what is entrenched and the value and characterof the power it leaves in the hands of the legislature. In particular,the entrenchment of a project of governance (as typified bythe positive duties conventionally associated with economicand social rights) raises concerns about the power exercisedby courts that are not raised by the entrenchment of a projectof non-governance (as typified by the negative duties conventionallyassociated with civil and political liberties). Non-governancemay be objectionable, but not because the courts secure it.Governance, however, may be objectionable just because the courtssecure it.     

More Sinned Against than Sinning? The Case of the Arab Office, Washington, 1945-1948

In 1945, as a final settlement of the Palestine question drew near, the Arab states established the Arab Office, Washington, as part of their unprecedented effort to influence public and elite opinion on this matter in the United States. It was staffed by many of the leading young Arab intellectuals of the era. This article charts the Arab Office's attempt to reduce American support for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. In particular, it examines the accusations, made at the time, that the Arab Office, in pursuing its anti-Zionist agenda had co-operated with leading American anti-Semites and was under the control of the notorious former Mufti of Jerusalem, who had collaborated with Hitler during the Second World War.     

Norms,Behavioral Compliance,and Status Attribution in International Politics

Extant work on status attribution has largely focused on major powers or state capabilities as key explanatory factors driving these social processes and suggests that status considerations increase conflicts between states. We argue for a more comprehensive approach to status attribution that considers international norms as another major factor that is weighed in the attribution process. We contend that states (policymakers) evaluate one another not only on the basis of economic and military capabilities but also on the extent to which there is behavioral conformance with normative expectations and reward one another dependent upon whether these expectations are met. However, this attribution of status is dependent upon the level of contestation pertaining to that norm. Using a data set that assesses consistency with six different norms (resource transference, multilateralism, economic liberalism, democratic governance, respect for human rights, and peaceful dispute resolution), we find that status attribution is associated with norm-consistent behavior but only when these norms are uncontested at the global level.     

Investigating the Postmortem Molecular Biology of Cartilage and its Potential Forensic Applications

This study investigated the postmortem molecular changes that articular cartilage undergoes following burial. Fresh pig trotters were interred in 30‐cm‐deep graves at two distinct locations exhibiting dissimilar soil environments for up to 42 days. Extracts of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint cartilage from trotters disinterred weekly over 6 weeks were analyzed by Western blot against the monoclonal antibody 2‐B‐6 to assess aggrecan degradation. In both soil conditions, aggrecan degradation by‐products of decreasing molecular size and complexity were observed up to 21 days postmortem. Degradation products were undetected after this time and coincided with MCP/MTP joint exposure to the soil environment. These results show that cartilage proteoglycans undergo an ordered molecular breakdown, the analysis of which may have forensic applications. This model may prove useful for use as a human model and for forensic investigations concerning crimes against animals and the mortality of endangered species.