EU–Korea relations in a changing world project: main results and recommendations

The paper provides an overview of the most important results of a project on EU–Korea economic and regulatory relations funded by the European Commission. The paper first outlines the emergence and development of EU–Korea relations. In the second part, the paper presents the main findings clustered in three thematic areas. A first thematic area focuses on a discussion of the EU–Korea Free Trade Agreement. The second cluster analyzes EU–Korea cooperation on regulatory policies with a main focus on cooperation in the policy areas of security (arms trade and control), chemical regulation, environmental regulation, education, development cooperation and industrial policy. The third part focuses on EU–Korea cooperation concerning regional and international issues. In the third part, the paper presents the main recommendations which were formulated on the basis of the project.     

Federalism and Decentralization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Five Patterns of Evolution

Abstract

The 1990s were marked by democratic reforms throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. This went in tandem with decentralization reforms which either created or strengthened subnational levels of government. More than twenty years later it seems everywhere to the south of the Sahara there is a gap between the institutional/constitutional blueprints introducing the reforms and the facts on the ground. Understanding and explaining this gap in the workings of federalism and decentralization is important to both theorists and practitioners. This article proposes five benchmarks in order to map out the evolutionary patterns of the last two decades: a) symmetrical recentralization; b) differentiated performance; c) legitimizing traditional authority structures and indigenous conflict resolution; d) politicization of local conflicts over land, water, and other natural resources; and e) federal extinction.     

Facial symmetry in robust anthropometrics

Image analysis methods commonly used in forensic anthropology do not have desirable robustness properties, which can be ensured by robust statistical methods. In this paper, the face localization in images is carried out by detecting symmetric areas in the images. Symmetry is measured between two neighboring rectangular areas in the images using a new robust correlation coefficient, which down-weights regions in the face violating the symmetry. Raw images of faces without usual preliminary transformations are considered. The robust correlation coefficient based on the least weighted squares regression yields very promising results also in the localization of such faces, which are not entirely symmetric. Standard methods of statistical machine learning are applied for comparison. The robust correlation analysis can be applicable to other problems of forensic anthropology.     

Does Mirror Imaging a Radiograph Affect Reliability of Age Assessment Using the Greulich and Pyle Atlas?*

Abstract: Age estimation is routinely undertaken by comparing radiographs of the individual in question to published reference samples of individuals of known age. This study examines the reliability of age estimation utilizing the Greulich and Pyle atlas in relation to both left‐ and right‐hand/wrist radiographs and explores whether reversing right‐hand/wrist radiographs, so that they are in the same anatomical orientation as those images used in the atlas affects reliability. A total of 403 left‐hand/wrist radiographs and 415 right‐hand/wrist radiographs were age assessed using the Greulich and Pyle atlas. Analysis showed that there is no significant loss in reliability when radiographs of the right hand (women R² = 0.887 and men R² = 0.907) are utilized instead of the left (women R² = 0.939 and men R² = 0.940) or when they are assessed as mirror images to those printed in the reference atlas (reversed female left hand R² = 0.929 and reversed male left hand R² = 0.931).     

Body recovery from hostile environments--a test of three kits

Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) procedures and protocols have largely been standardised through the creation of, and amendments to, the INTERPOL DVI Guide. Whilst robust in addressing the recovery of mass fatality victims resulting from natural disasters, accidents and acts of terrorism, the guide does not explore the problematic issue of recovery of fatalities during active conflicts or peacekeeping operations where the environment may be hostile and the time taken to perform the task may impact significantly on the risk of injury or additional fatalities. This study tested the viability of the current UK style body recovery kit for use in a hostile environment simulation and compared its performance to two new bespoke kits specifically designed by the first author for this purpose. The aim was to recover the maximum amount of available physical evidence to support possible future judicial review, maintain respectful dignity for the deceased and focus on the safety of those fulfilling this task who may be operating on the front line. The kits were tested by military personnel experienced in hostile environment deployment. The trials showed that the time taken to record and recover the deceased could be reduced from 40 min using the standard DVI kit to just over 2 min using a bespoke kit. It was also shown that evidential recovery was not adversely affected and it is suggested that personal safety could be significantly enhanced if the proposed methodology and kit were adopted.     

Selective culturing and genus-specific PCR detection for identification of Aeromonas in tissue samples to assist the medico-legal diagnosis of death by drowning

The detection of autochthonous aquatic bacteria in tissue samples from drowning cases is increasingly considered as an alternative approach to assist the medico-legal diagnosis of death by drowning. Bacteria belonging to the genus Aeromonas may be suitable candidates for this application as they are ubiquitous in natural aquatic environments but are generally not part of the human microbiota. The research aims of this study were (i) to develop a sensitive, specific and rapid screening and confirmation method for Aeromonas species in tissue samples and (ii) to evaluate aseptic sternal puncture as a post-mortem sample technique and bone marrow as an alternative matrix to provide evidence of death by drowning. The presence of Aeromonas in tissue samples was verified by cultivation using the selective media Ampicillin Dextrin Agar (ADA) and Ryan's Aeromonas Medium. The use of ADA medium was found most optimal for the sensitive, inexpensive and quick detection of aeromonads in human tissue samples. Positive culture plates were confirmed by harvesting all colonies for DNA extraction and subsequent PCR amplification using Aeromonas genus-specific primers. Aeromonads were detected in lung swab, blood and bone marrow of drowned bodies (n=3), but were negative in these three matrices for all negative controls (n=90) tested. Bone marrow proved to be a suitable alternative matrix and can be sampled post-mortem by an aseptic sternal puncture. In conclusion, this study confirms previous indications that aeromonads in cultures from blood of water bodies can be considered a potential marker for drowning. Given the fact that the number of immersed bodies (drowned and non-drowned) included in this study is statistically not significant, however, more tissue samples need to be investigated to confirm the validity of these methods to aid the diagnosis of death by wet drowning.     

When risk‐based regulation aims low: A strategic framework

This article develops a strategic framework for regulators to employ when choosing intervention strategies for dealing with low risks and reviewing performance, building on the analysis by the same authors in the previous edition of this journal. The framework occupies the operational “middle ground” between risk analysis and formal enforcement action. At its core is a matrix, the Good Regulatory Intervention Design (GRID), which provides a framework to categorize sites or activities on the basis of two factors: the nature of the risk and the nature of the regulatee. Using GRID, regulators can select which intervention tools to use, and determine the overall level of regulatory intensity that should apply. GRID is accompanied by the Good Regulatory Assessment Framework (GRAF) for agencies to use in reviewing their performance and provides a step‐by‐step process for enabling “double loop learning.” The article also argues that the process of developing such a framework highlighted the extent to which “low risk” and “high risk” regulation are distinct. “Low risk” means “low priority.” Justifying why certain risks should not receive much regulatory attention requires a particular type of engagement, and has a bearing on the regulatory strategies that are adopted.     

Behold the shut-eyed sentry!

Whistleblowers, employees of conscience who report on wrongdoing, integrate into their socially useful role one of exposing institutional torpor and bureaucratic incompetence in those official structures responsible for the investigation and correction of wrongdoing. This paper reports on the finding from Australia's largest study into whistleblowers. It shows a crisis of competence in the official capacity of government structures to respond effectively to disclosures made in the public interest.     

Legal Aid in Mental Hospitals

This report on the experience of five in-hospital legal aid projects and one community-based project for the deinstitutionalized examines the workloads of the lawyers and paralegals who labor in this setting and the various approaches and predispositions they bring to the job or learn while they are at it. The caseloads as well as interviews and observations reveal enormous differences in approach from project to project. The work of some lawyers and their aides confirms the utility and importance of making legal aid directly available to patients on the hospital grounds. But the experience of a couple of other projects warns that certain styles of lawyering can be counterproductive and damaging. In general, lawyers in the mental hospital setting must avoid the legalistic and overly adversarial approach to the problems that are brought to them—many of which are of uncertain legal content, credibility, or psychological makeup. Lawyers must also be careful not to have their own legal priorities get in the way of the best interests of their patient-clients or even those of the hospital as a total institution. The best approach to lawyering in the institutional setting is one that softens the "traditional" legal and adversarial aspects in favor of a more mediatory stance in which fact finding, counseling, and the resolution of issues by compromise are dominant functions. And significant legal attention should be devoted to each of the major categories of problems faced by patients—commitment-discharge, institutional, and civil—if the institutional lawyer's credibility and effectiveness are to be maintained both with the patients and the staffs in charge of their treatment and custody.