The erosion of rights by past breach

Legal rights may erode as a result of past, uncontested, breach.In light of ongoing violations, the rightholder's lacklusterenforcement may result in the loss of the entitlement. The doctrinesof course of performance in contract law and adverse possessionin property law are prominent examples of this widespread erosionphenomenon. In analyzing the effects of such laws, the articleconfronts two conflicting intuitions. On the one hand, the 'licence'to continue breach prospectively encourages opportunism. Onthe other hand, the risk of erosion may reinforce the rightholder'smotivation to take antierosion measures, bolstering the credibilityof the threat to enforce, thus better preserving the entitlement.The article proves that these two effects of erosion rules alwaysbalance out. The same amount of value will be extracted fromthe rightholder, irrespective of the law's erosion doctrine.The article also demonstrates the limits of this 'irrelevance'claim and the factors that may lead to its collapse. It appliesthe analysis to offer new perspectives on various prominentlegal rules.     

The Subjugation of Pacifism in UK Parliamentary Discourse: Analysing the 2015 Debate on Bombing Syria

ABSTRACT

This article shows how pacifism is discursively constituted within politics. Employing Critical Discourse Analysis, it demonstrates how official narratives worked to depoliticise pacifism during the 2015 House of Commons debate on taking military action against ISIS in Syria. It argues that the current rejection of pacifism within politics rests upon a flawed narrative and considers the interests that are served by this. Overall, this article calls for pacifism to be de-subjugated and considers the profound political implication this would have.     

Patenting and Invention Activity of U.S. Scientists and Engineers in the Academic Sector: Comparisons with Industry

Analyses have been performed of the patenting and invention activity of U.S. scientists and engineers (S&Es) in the academic sector and comparisons have been made with their counterparts in industry. The analyses are based upon survey questions concerning patent applications, grant awards and commercialization outcomes from two 1995 National Science Foundation (NSF) nationally representative workforce surveys. A series of new indicators – patent activity rates, patent activity shares and patent success rates – has been defined and utilized to examine patent activity by employment sector, educational field, demographic variables, status and location of university faculty, technological area, and selected S&E job characteristics. It is recommended that NSF collect data on patenting activity, including commercialization outcomes, in its surveys of the S&E workforce at least every four years. Data should also be collected on university-industry collaboration in patent activity in the U.S., and between S&Es in the U.S. and other countries.