Individual Property Restitution: from Deng to Pinheiro - and the Challenges Ahead

The issue of housing and property restitution for refugees andinternally displaced persons (IDPs) has received considerableattention in the past decade.¹ Conflicts and wars in differentparts of the world have shown how housing and property rightsare systematically violated during armed strives. Intentionaldestruction of property, arbitrary confiscation of housing andsecondary occupation are just some of the most common practicesin violation of individual property rights. In addition to beingan individual's right, the international community has increasinglyconsidered post-conflict housing and property restitution asa key component of the broader objective of peace building,and as a means of promoting restorative justice within society.Both at operational and at normative level, several initiativeshave contributed to enforcing property restitution rights: fromthe establishment in the mid 1990s of institutions mandatedto resolve conflicting property claims to the adoption in 2005of the so-called ‘Pinheiro Principles’, the firstinternational standard exclusively addressing property restitutionrights. This paper explores the strengthening of international normsin the field of individual property restitution for refugeesand IDPs over the past decade, and argues that the currentlyavailable normative standards reflect a partial understandingof displacement and restitution. With an almost exclusive focuson individual real property restitution, and an explicit preferencefor return among solutions to displacement, such standards undervaluethe importance of alternative remedies and overlook the rightsof non-returnees. After a brief overview on the emergence ofa right to individual property restitution in internationallaw and policy (part 1), this paper will concentrate its attentionon three legal documents addressing property and displacement:the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement of 1998, theInternational Law Association Declaration of Principles on IDPsof 2000, and the Pinheiro Principles of 2005 (part 2). The firsttwo documents confine their scope to displacement within nationalborders, whereas the Pinheiro Principles encompass restitutionrights for both IDPs and refugees and represent the most recentand comprehensive standard on the topic. Despite the remarkabledevelopments at normative level, epitomized by the approvalof the Pinheiro Principles, this paper highlights the followingproblematic areas: the role played by physical return in theconceptualisation of property restitution; the supremacy givento individual real property restitution over other types ofremedies; and the impact of the passage of time on restitutionrights (part 3). The paper concludes by arguing that restitutionmust be conceived independently from return and must consequentlygo beyond individual real property restitution, in order toprovide effective redress to refugees and displaced persons(part 4).     

New challenges for universities in the knowledge triangle

This paper discusses the role of higher education institutions within the framework of the knowledge triangle between academic education, scientific research and innovation, as it has gained importance in recent years as a framework for innovation policies especially in the OECD and Europe. First, complementary concepts of universities’ outreach activities and extended role model such as ‘third mission’, ‘triple helix’, ‘entrepreneurial or civic university’ models and ‘smart specialization’ are reflected against their fit with the concept of the knowledge triangle, also with respect to new requirements for university governance. Second, a new understanding of spillovers between public sectors research and the business sector according to knowledge triangle is presented.

     

Looking towards the East: the High Representative’s role in EU foreign policy on Kosovo and Ukraine

ASBTRACT

My article addresses the role of the two post-Lisbon High Representatives (HRs), Catherine Ashton and Federica Mogherini, in EU approach to the Eastern neighbourhood. Adopting a broad conceptualisation of EU foreign policy and drawing on the scholarly literature on new intergovernmentalism, it focuses on events that marked the HRs' mandates in the cases of Kosovo and Ukraine. In the case of Kosovo, it examines the HRs' role in the conclusion of the so-called Brussels Agreement (April 2013); and of the August 2015 agreements. In the case of Ukraine, it reconstructs how the HRs dealt with the events leading up to the November 2013 Vilnius Summit; and with those leading up to the conclusion in February 2015 of the Minsk II Agreement. The article argues that the European Council exerts tight control over the post-Lisbon HR, and EU foreign policy-making processes more generally. Nonetheless, the empirical analysis demonstrates that, under certain circumstance, the HR can significantly influence EU foreign policy in the post-Lisbon era.     

Challenging the representation of ethnically divided cities: perspectives from Mostar

ABSTRACT

In this introduction, we discuss the scope of the edited volume by outlining the position of Mostar within much broader academic debates on ‘ethnically divided cities’. We question the representations of such contested cities as hopeless spaces of division, and suggest to explore instead the cracks that challenge overpowering logics of partition: the self-directed attempts at inter-ethnic solidarity, grassroots movements for social justice and dignity, and the inconsistent ways people in these cities inhabit and perform ethnic identities. We also introduce the themes of this Special Issue; Divided Cities as Complex Cities; Memories, Affect and Everyday Life; and Grassroots Politics.     

An Instance of Reasonable Universality: The Scilingo Case

The Audiencia Nacional's (AN) decision in Scilingo is not wellargued in all its implications and, on some points, the Courtengages in legal acrobatics; the decision therefore lends itselfto criticism. Nevertheless, the AN was right in exercising itsjurisdiction over Scilingo's extraterritorial crimes, both fromthe viewpoint of international law (on the basis of so-calledconditional universality) and of domestic law (on the strengthof Spanish rules of procedural and substantive criminal law).Furthermore, although crimes against humanity were providedfor in the Spanish criminal code only in 2003, Scilingo's trialand conviction for crimes against humanity is not at odds withthe principle of legality (nullum crimen sine lege). Indeed,at the time of commission of his alleged crimes, rules of customaryinternational law prohibiting such crimes already existed ininternational law and the corresponding domestic provisionswere in force in the Spanish legal order. These rules and provisionsbecame directly applicable as soon as Spanish law provided fora penalty attaching to such crimes.     

Withering consent,but mutual dependency: UN peace operations and African assertiveness

Consent has always been a cornerstone of UN peacekeeping. However, consent in peace operations is often elusive, as recent events in a number of African countries, where the heads of state have explicitly requested the departure or the downsizing of UN missions, have demonstrated. This paper uses evidence from Côte d'Ivoire and Chad to explore the game of conflicting priorities and mutual dependency that underlines UN peacekeeping missions' relations with African host states. It argues that such a dynamic renders consent ambiguous and volatile. African leaders maximise possible benefits that they can obtain from a UN mission, while minimising the potential menace that ‘liberal peace’-style peace-building may pose to their rule. Withdrawal of consent may be facilitated when alternative ‘resources of extraversion’ become available, such as those provided by natural goods or by emerging commercial players. The current situation poses a difficult dilemma to the UN, balancing between keeping peacekeeping missions on the ground with limited or no consent, or leaving and risking breaking its implicit engagements with the civilian population.     

Effects of Different Temperatures on the Development of Dermestes Frischii and Dermestes Undulatus (Coleoptera,Dermestidae): Comparison Between Species

Dermestidae could be useful in forensic investigations to assess the PMI as adults and larvae colonize dried remains. We reared two species of Dermestidae (Dermestes frischii and Dermestes undulatus) to understand the effects of different temperatures on the length of their whole life cycle and on their immature stages. Both species were reared at 23°C ± 0.5, RH 75% and at 26°C ± 0.5, 75% RH. Our result shows that the temperature is the main factor that influences the development of those species; in fact, increasing temperature leads to a shorter development cycle (59.8 ± 0.5 and 38.1 ± 0.2 for D. frischii; 50.6 ± 0.6 and 36.2 ± 0.2 for D. undulatus). Furthermore, we found that the number of the molts before the pupa decreases from 5–7 to 5–6 for D. frischii and from 4–6 to 4–5 for D. undulatus, respectively, at 23°C and 26°C.     

Unexpected perinatal death and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): anatomopathologic and legal aspects

This work intends to be a review of the recent histopathological findings elicited by research into sudden and unexpected perinatal death and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) that have dictated a novel approach to the inherent problems by pathologists, especially those entrusted with forensic medical authority. The new approach stems from the recent advances made in the understanding of neuro- and/or cardiac-conduction-system diseases present in unexpected perinatal death and SIDS. These demand that an accurate morphologic examination be performed of these structures, which modulate respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, and arousal activities, in all victims of sudden death. A histopathologic study of an ample register of cases of victims of sudden death, either perinatally or in early infancy, has demonstrated frequent alterations both of the autonomic nervous system (especially hypoplasia of the arcuate nucleus) and of the cardiac conduction system (accessory atrioventricular pathways). The present research provides an in-depth study of the many still-controversial aspects underlying perinatal unexpected death and SIDS and is recommended for professionals working in the forensic field, whose greater insight into this problem will allow more complete medicolegal documentation.     

The politics of security reform in post-2011 Tunisia: assessing the role of exogenous shocks,domestic policy entrepreneurs and external actors

Abstract

In post—2011 Tunisia, the reform of the security sector has proceeded haphazardly, hindering security efficiency and lowering the overall effectiveness in countering threats. Since 2015, the combination of three factors — external shocks, international actors' pressures and domestic configurations of political power — have paved the way for a progressive overhaul of the efficiency of security agencies. Following the 2015 terrorist attacks, that destabilized the political system and risked derailing the trajectory of democratic consolidation, European powers exerted pressure to improve efficiency in the security sector. Lastly, these push factors needed an enabling condition, a strong presidency of the republic, to make the changes happen. The measures adopted reflect a technical and supposedly depoliticized view of reforms, in line with a broader post‐interventionist trend in Security Assistance. Based on process-tracing, the analysis of primary documents and several in‐depth interviews carried out between 2015 and 2017, the article illustrates the workings of the policy process in the security arena. It sheds light on the conditions that made possible the adoption of reforms, the role external actors played in pushing for change and in creating a new multilateral mechanism, the G7+, which produced an unintended set of domestic consequences.