Terrorism,Conflicts and the Responsibility to Protect Cultural Heritage

Abstract

Intentional destruction of cultural heritage is a well-known phenomenon which has been particularly exacerbated in recent times. Its common denominator is represented by the intent to persecute the communities for which that heritage represents an essential element of their cultural identity and distinctiveness. In legal terms, it produces different implications, to the point that – depending on the circumstances in which it is perpetrated – it may be qualified as a war crime, crime against humanity, violation of internationally recognised human rights, or evidence of the existence of the intent to commit genocide. Since the whole international community is seriously affected by the destruction of cultural heritage, it is indispensable that the doctrine of responsibility to protect (R2P) be put into practice seriously and effectively with the purpose of protecting humanity against the irreplaceable loss of its heritage.     

Determinants of the university technology transfer policy-mix: a cross-national analysis of gap-funding instruments

University–industry technology transfer (TT) has become increasingly institutionalized and is supported by numerous reforms and initiatives at the national, regional and university levels. Most countries have implemented a policy mix involving a range of instruments to support the commercialization of research. Still, there is no systematic evidence indicating why the mix of policy instruments differs between countries. This study offers a novel cross-national investigation of the policy mix emphasizing the level of centralization and decentralization of policy instruments. We map and analyze two specific types of public instruments aimed at addressing the so-called funding gap in TT: proof of concept programs (POCs) and university-oriented seed funds (USFs). Based on a survey across 21 European countries, we find that such instruments are widely used but are organized differently depending on the level of implementation of TT practices in the country and the specific type of instrument considered. More precisely, we find a U-shaped relationship between the use of centralized gap-funding instruments and the country’s implementation of TT practices. Moreover, the type of gap-funding instrument (POC or USF) moderates this relationship. We discuss the implications of our findings and suggest that the policy mix of gap-funding instruments evolve with the maturity of the national TT infrastructure.     

Employee Insolvency Priorities and Employment Protection in France,Germany, and the United Kingdom

When an employer becomes insolvent, employees’ claims for unpaid wages and contributions may be protected through statutory priorities, social security schemes, or a combination of both. This article compares the interplay of employee statutory priorities, if they exist, and social security schemes in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. While France protects employees through both a statutory priority and a social security scheme, Germany and the United Kingdom have progressively reduced employment protection over the last forty years. Theories of varieties of capitalism and of legal origins cannot fully describe and explain the development of employment protection strategies in these countries. The evolution of the German and British regimes, in particular, are better explained as a sign of profound cultural shifts regarding the position of labour within firms and vis‐à‐vis other stakeholders. Finally, I also show that a cumulative application of employee priorities and insurance schemes is not necessarily redundant.     

Drug Contamination of U.S. Paper Currency and Forensic Relevance of Canine Alert to Paper Currency: A Critical Review of the Scientific Literature

Several studies have reported on wide‐spread contamination of U.S. paper currency with cocaine and to a lesser extent other illicit drugs. Canines are trained and employed to search for and alert to drugs. Canine alert to currency has been used as evidence that currency has been directly involved in illicit drug trafficking to justify currency seizure and forfeiture. This assertion, particularly when the only evidence is based upon canine alert, has been challenged in the courts considering that most currency in circulation is contaminated with cocaine. Comprehensive review of the scientific literature establishes that (i) 67–100% of circulated U.S. currency is contaminated with cocaine ranging from a few nanograms to over one milligram/bill (ii) various biological and environmental parameters impact canine alert to drugs. It is concluded that canine alert to U.S. currency is not sufficiently reliable to determine that currency was directly used in an illicit drug transaction.     

A Retributive Justification for not Punishing Bare Intentions or: On the Moral Relevance of the ‘Now-Belief’

According to criminal law a person should not be punished for a bare intention to commit a crime. While theorists have provided consequentialist and epistemic justifications of this tenet, no convincing retributive justification thereof has yet been advanced. The present paper attempts to fill this lacuna through arguing that there is an important moral difference between a future-directed and a present-directed intention to act wrongfully. Such difference is due to the restraining influence exercised in the decisional process by the ‘now-belief’, i.e. the belief that the time has come to act, which is exclusively involved in the latter type of intention.     

Political Information, Political Involvement, and Reliance on Ideology in Political Evaluation

Many studies have focused on the relationship between political information and the use of ideology. Here, we argue that two “evaluative motivations”—general investment of the self in politics and extremity of partisanship—serve as moderators of this relationship. Specifically, we use data from two recent national surveys to test whether the possession of information is more strongly associated with a tendency to approach politics in an ideological fashion among individuals high in both types of evaluative motivation. Results supported this hypothesis, revealing that information was more strongly associated with ideological constraint and with a tendency to give polarized evaluations of conservatives and liberals among those who highly invest the self in politics and those with more extreme partisanship. As such, this study suggests that information and involvement interact to shape the use of ideology.