The Implied Duty of Mutual Trust and Confidence: An Emerging Overarching Principle?

There is an argument in academic circles that the implied dutyof mutual trust and confidence will evolve to form an all-embracingsuper-principle under which each of the more ‘traditional’implied duties will rest, including the employer’s impliedduty to exercise reasonable care for the welfare and well beingof the employee. The theme of this article is that, on balance,there is no evidence for the emergence of the implied duty ofmutual trust and confidence as a super-principle. If anything,the recent trends in the case law emphasise the distinctivenessof the employer’s duties to exercise reasonable care andtrust and confidence. The article’s aim was to demonstratethat both duties are separate, free-standing duties, sittingon an equal plane in terms of importance. To rationalise one,or all of the implied duties (i.e. the duty to exercise reasonablecare and/or all of the other ‘traditional duties’),as one of the means by which the super-principle of trust andconfidence is, or may be expressed, is to a large extent, aspirational.     

Indigenismo and the Avant‐garde: Jorge Sanjinés' Early Films and the National Project

Jorge Sanjinés' 1960s films Revolución and Ukamau challenge the class and ethnic hierarchies of Bolivian society by casting the proletarian and indigenous masses as revolutionary liberators. The new national imaginary they evoke is tightly bound to the experimental cinematic techniques they employ, since their rejection of rationalist, realist aesthetics signals a partial undermining of the linear time of the modern nation. Ukamau both recalls and resists previous Bolivian indigenismo, which sought to co‐opt the Indian into a national mestizo consciousness. Its exoticist portrayal of the Indian ultimately limits its political effectiveness, but textual and contextual analyses show subversive Indian agency leaking through.     

The New Antidemocrats

Democratization has lately received new rounds of criticism from antidemocrats on both the right and the left. As the prevalence of democracy throughout the world has surpassed that of dictatorship and other forms of undemocratic government, nostalgia for authoritarianism has blurred the realities of the depredations of dictatorship. Increasingly, the new antidemocrats suggest that the problems of democracy require nondemocratic solutions. But while all democracies will necessarily fall short of their ideal, the solution lies within democratic traditions. The challenge is to motivate future generations to improve on existing democracy, not to replace democratic structures with a system that is simpler, more comfortable, and less demanding of those who live under it.     

DNA commission of the International Society of Forensic Genetics: Recommendations on the interpretation of mixtures

The DNA commission of the International Society of Forensic Genetics (ISFG) was convened at the 21st congress of the International Society for Forensic Genetics held between 13 and 17 September in the Azores, Portugal. The purpose of the group was to agree on guidelines to encourage best practice that can be universally applied to assist with mixture interpretation. In addition the commission was tasked to provide guidance on low copy number (LCN) reporting. Our discussions have highlighted a significant need for continuing education and research into this area. We have attempted to present a consensus from experts but to be practical we do not claim to have conveyed a clear vision in every respect in this difficult subject. For this reason, we propose to allow a period of time for feedback and reflection by the scientific community. Then the DNA commission will meet again to consider further recommendations.