Beyond Bounded Space: Europe,Security, and the Global Circulation of Infectious Disease

Abstract

The threat of pandemic spans beyond traditional security concerns to challenge conventional understandings of urgency, power, the threat–defence dynamics of states and the protection of sovereignty itself. This paper argues that confronting this non-conventional threat in Europe requires not only moving beyond a linear understanding of the proximity of threat across space and time to recognise the global circulation of disease, but also a reconceptualisation of how Europe is understood. In effectively confronting the challenge of infectious disease to the region, Europe needs to be understood less as a territorially bounded space, and more as a dynamic and fluid one, constituting a node within broader interdependent systems of circulation.     

The right of the child to be heard in education litigation: an analysis of the ‘intelligent design’ Pennsylvania case on the separation of Church and State in the public schools

This paper examines a seminal case in US education law regarding the separation of Church and State in the public schools. The issue decided was whether it is constitutional under American law for a school district to mandate reference to ‘intelligent design’ (ID) as an alternative to the theory of evolution whilst instructing students only in the latter. ID theory postulates an unspecified ‘master intelligence’ as being responsible for the origins of life. A Pennsylvania court found that ID was a religious theory and held the school district had officially endorsed ID contrary to constitutional requirements. The issue of children's participation rights was not raised by the parties or the Court and student views were not solicited. The reasons for this failure to allow students to be heard in the judicial proceedings are explored as are the implications for how the notion of children's rights is understood in North America.     

The Cocoon of Power: Democratic Implications of Interinstitutional Agreements

Abstract:  This article assesses Interinstitutional Agreements (IIAs) in terms of democratic theory. It starts from the premise that democratic rules as developed in the national context may be used as a yardstick for supranational governance as well. Thus, parliamentarisation of the Union is defined as an increase in democracy, although relating problems such as weak European party systems, low turnouts, and remoteness are not to be neglected. The article evaluates several case studies on IIAs in this vein and asks whether they strengthen the European Parliament or not, and why. It arrives at conclusions that allow for differentiation: empowerment of the European Parliament occurs in particular when authorisation to conclude an IIA stems from the Treaty or from the power that the European Parliament has in crucial fields such as the budget and is willing to use for this purpose. Success is, however, not guaranteed in every case, and is sometimes more symbolic than real. However, a democratic critique must also stress negative consequences of IIAs in terms of responsivity, accountability, and transparency.     

Children's right to be educated for tolerance: minority rights and inclusion

States do not make a genuine commitment to peace where children's right to be educated for tolerance is denied. Education for tolerance is considered a central aim of education, as set out in Article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Hence, states are obliged under the convention to create conditions conducive to such an education. Such conditions undoubtedly include providing an opportunity in an educational setting for some level of interaction between children of different backgrounds (while still maintaining whatever educational programmes are deemed necessary for the preservation of the culture of various minority groups). To eliminate the opportunity for any level of educational integration between children from the dominant group and from various national minority groups or other identifiable groups (such as disabled and non-disabled children, citizen and immigrant or child refugee groups) is to infringe upon children's fundamental human right to free association. Such an association is necessary for children's positive mental and spiritual development. The courts have unfortunately been inconsistent in protecting the right to a tolerant educational setting since they often regard children's education rights as subsumed under parental liberty rights.     

When special needs categories for exceptional students overlap mental health diagnoses: The Canadian experience and its Charter implications

This paper explores Canadian 'educational' categorical systems for special needs students and their relation to mental health diagnoses. Parents wishing to access special education services for their children are generally required to consent to their children being formally assessed. Frequently, the school board committee will require a psychological or psychiatric assessment which may lead to diagnosis of a mental health disorder that overlaps with the special needs category to which the child is assigned. This paper explores whether Canadian parents of exceptional students are in fact providing fully informed and voluntary consent given: (a) frequent parental lack of understanding of the overlap between the so-called 'educational' special needs category and a mental health diagnosis; and (b) the power of the school board to proceed with a special education placement based on a particular category even without parental agreement. The argument is made that making special education service eligibility contingent on meeting the criteria for one or more government approved categories of 'disorder' or 'impairments', some of which overlap mental health diagnoses, infringes Canadian Charter s.15 equality rights as well as s.7 liberty and security of the person rights.