Constitutional Law in Twenty Years from Now

The principles of constitutional law as those of many other disciplines seem to develop and to be replaced by new paradigms in the light of globalization. The present article using the genre of constitutional futurology attempts to determine whether this change is real or an illusory impression, and to predict the future of constitutional law and of scholarship reflecting on constitutional issues. A mighty forecast emerges from the interplay of opposing forces. While the withering away of the constitutionalist paradigm is unlikely partly because of the lack of a new generation of legal scholars following new patterns of thinking, partly because there is no reason to assume that the prevalent socioeconomic order would cease to exist , the essay maps a number of possible challenges like genetic engineering or personal computers interconnected in the World Wide Web , which constitutionalists shall expect to face in theory and in practice alike.     

Scope of liability: the vanishing distinction between negligence and strict liability

The duty-of-care requirement cannot be used anymore as the touchstone to differentiate negligence from strict liability because it can be found in many forms of the latter. Duty of care is smuggled into strict liability hidden under the scope of liability requirement (traditionally called “proximate causation”). As far as the scope of liability requirement is common to negligence and to many forms of strict liability, there is a fairly large common ground to both liability rules, and consequently the marginal Hand formula is applied to both rules. Indeed, under a negligence rule, the marginal Hand formula is applied twice: first to assess whether or not the defendant did breach his or her duty of care, and, second, to delimit whether or not the defendant’s behavior was a proximate cause of the harm suffered by the victim. However, under a strict liability rule, the Hand formula is applied only once when the proximate causation question is raised. Traditional law and economics analysis has almost always taken the normative question raised by the causation requirement as given, which is a potential major problem due to the importance of scope of liability or proximate causation in legal practice. Defining the scope of liability, that is to say, the boundaries of the pool of potential defendants, is the basic legal policy decision for each and every liability rule. In the normative model presented in this paper, the government first chooses efficient scope of liability, and given the scope of liability, the government then decides the liability rule and damages that guarantee efficient precaution. In the article, most known scope of liability rationales developed by both common law and civil law systems are discussed in order to show the substantial common ground between negligence and strict liability.     

Poverty and prosperity among migrant settlers in the Amazon rainforest frontier of Ecuador

Household‐level interview data from a probability sample survey conducted in the northeastern Ecuadorian Amazon in 1990 are used to examine the determinants of income and assets among migrant farmers in the agricultural frontier. Multivariate analysis indicates that size of plot owned, proximity to markets, duration of residence, quality of soil, receipt of technical assistance, off‐farm employment and initial wealth positively influence current household income and wealth. More land in cattle pasture is also associated with higher status. Some settlers are prospering relative to others despite variable soil quality, unsustainable land uses, geographic isolation, apparent scarcity of labor, and lack of supportive infrastructure. The article closes with a discussion of implications for policies to assist small farmers, with some consideration of the potential ecological consequences of farmers’ activities.     

Europe wrestling with technology

Postmodernism is currently being debated as if it were a panacea for a range of cultural, political and theoretical ills. This paper argues that postmodernism has possibilities, but that these possibilities are far fewer than either its proponents hope or its opponents fear. Moreover, the paper argues that far too many contributions to debates about postmodernism - both pro and anti - are very careless about the way they construct the politics of postmodernism.     

The age at marriage of migrants during the industrial revolution in the region of liège

The article examines the cities and towns in the Liège region during industrialization in the ninteenth century, focusing on the relationship between marriage, migration, and entry of people into urban areas. The average age at marriage was higher for in-migrants than for natives, but so was the intensity of nuptiality. Thus, the average age at marriage is not the sole statistic through which to approach questions about the socio-demographic consequences of arrival into town. Towns had several, seemingly closed, marriage markets, and it is important to pay attention to differential behaviors by taking this fact into account. Moreover, in-migration to an industrial city created opportunities to contract marriage, for women as well as men. Sometimes marriages occurred in the village, and were contracted to escape the old system and to prepare for the migration to the city of the young couple. Structural as well as life-course approaches must be combined for a thorough understanding of migration to industrializing cities.

Migrations and marriage: a survey

In numerous studies about the relationships between economic growth and demographic expansion, the dyad “migration-marriage” plays a classical role. In his famous thesis on the Austrasian basin, Wrigley (1961)(p. 133) pointed out the high level of overall fertility in industrial regions. Haines (1979)(pp. 245–247) proposed a complex of explanations that linked economic structure, a sex-differentiated pattern of migration, the structure of the matrimonial market, the potential contribution of women and children to the family economy, and differential in infant and child mortality according to occupation. While Haines's study was focused on populations engaged in mining and heavy industry, Desama (1985)(pp. 97–100, 265) analyzed the case of a textile town and concentrated on the effects of changes in age and sex structures on nuptiality. In the wool city of Verviers during the first part of the nineteenth century, the intensity and timing of marriage were negatively affected by migration flows dominated by young women, with the consequence that the total fertility rate declines as immigration grew. Working on nineteenth century English communities, Ben Moshe and Friedlander (1986) systematized these approaches, and concluded that socioeconomic factors remained more important than cultural ones.     

Data for Y-chromosome haplotypes defined by 17 STRs (AmpFLSTR Yfiler) in two Tunisian Berber communities

The 17 Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) included in the AmpFLSTR Yfiler PCR Amplification Kit (AB Applied Biosystems) (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635 and GATA H4) were typed in two Berber communities, a small village (Takrouna) and a town (Sejenane), from North Tunisia. As expected, diversity was higher in the town, even when compared with a pool of three small Berber communities, probably due to the combination of different founder effects and genetic drifts operating in the small villages.     

Bioethics from a social perspective: European Biopolitics Conference]

The European Congress on biopolitics entitled "Connecting civil society implementing basic values" was held in March 2006 in Berlin. It was organised by the Heinrich B?ll foundation and the Institut Mensch, Ethik und Wissenschaft. The aim of the Congress was to provide a forum for discussion on the ethical and social aspects derived from biotechnology and genetics on human beings. This work summarises some of the aspects that reveal the international interest and relevance of this meeting.     

Virological analysis in the diagnosis of sudden children death: a medico-legal approach

Infections are considered to be an important cause of unexpected death in children. It has also been assumed that respiratory viruses are involved in the genesis of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The Spanish National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences act as the forensic reference centre for Spain. We analyse the experience of this centre in the virological study of 64 cases of sudden children death where viral serology, virological cultures, herpesviruses polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and electron microscopy were performed. According to pathological findings, death could only be attributed to an adenovirus infection in one amygdalitis with upper airways stenosis and asphyxia. Human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) was detected by PCR in one case with pathological findings characteristic of SIDS. Recent infection by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) were also detected. Meanwhile, 85.9% of the cases yielded negative viral results. Twenty-eight infants were finally categorised as SIDS. Pathological findings of infection were detected in 12 patients despite the negativity of viral analyses. Although viral infection is an uncommon cause of sudden children death, a complete microbiological investigation will help to solve the puzzle of SIDS. Definitive guidelines for microbiological analyses need to be updated whilst new pathogens are discovered or new techniques are implemented in order to clarify unsolved cases.     

Genetic data on nine STRs (CSF1PO, TPOX, THO1, F13AO1, FESFPS, vWA, D16S539, D7S820 and D13S317) and two VNTRs (D1S80 and D17S5) in Rosario population, Santa Fe Argentine

Allele frequencies for nine short tandem repeats (STRs) loci (CSF1PO, TPOX, THO1, F13AO1, FES/FPS, vWA, D16S539, D7S820 and D13S317) and two variable number tandem repeats (VNTRs) were obtained from a sample of 270 unrelated individuals born in the Rosario city, Santa Fe province of Argentina.