The use of either the nose or outer ear as a means of determining the postmortem period of a human corpse.

Presented in this paper are the initial results involving the use of the nose or outer ear as temperature measurement sites to determine the postmortem period of the human corpse. Simple mathematical models for both sites are developed based on cooling curves of five corpses. Analysis of errors between actual and calculated postmortem intervals suggest that in its present form, the described methods would not be suitable for use in accurately determining the time since death of human corpses.     

Scanning electron microscopy: application in the identification of diatoms in cases of drowning.

A simple and rapid method is described for processing organ and water samples for the identification of diatoms so that they can be studied and recorded for taxonomic and diagnostic purposes. Samples are treated with concentrated nitric acid; the fluid obtained is centrifuged, and its sediment is dried, coated, and examined under the scanning electron microscope. The method does not alter the morphology of diatoms and allows the study of freshwater and seawater species present in the organs of bodies found in the water, making possible the diagnosis of drowning under specific conditions.     

WINNING COALITIONS AND ETHNO-REGIONAL POLITICS: THE FAILURE OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE 1990 AND 1995 ELECTIONS IN COTE D'IVOIRE

Why is that former dominant or single party regimes, especiallythose in Africa, have generally survived and even emerged strengthenedafter the introduction of multi-party competitive elections?In Côte d'lvoire since 1990 the ruling party has beenable to win elections by using incumbency to present itselfas the organization most likely to be capable of putting togethera winning coalition. In a society segmented by a multiplicityof cultural and religious divisions and where political poweris a zero-sum game, the logic of democratic representation meansthat no group can afford to be excluded. Yet in the 1990 and1995 Ivorian elections .the opposition attacked die ethnic characterof the government and deliberately mobilized ethnic minorities,regional and religious (Islamic) sentiments. They thereforefailed to escape, in electoral terms, from their extremely localizedstrongholds. Their attempt to mobilize around an anti-foreignerplatform in 1990 rebounded in 1995 when the government itselftook over their ‘ultra-nationalist’ stance by excludingnon-Ivorians from the elections. The consequent exclusion ofthe opposition's favoured Presidential candidate and the failureof the opposition alliance to agree on a non-northern, non-Islamicalternative candidate led to a violent boycott and the eventualcollapse of the opposition alliance.     

SINGLE ISSUE LOCAL AUTHORITY ASSOCIATIONS: A NEW SPECIES FOR A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT

The purpose of this article is to explore the emergence of single issue local authority associations as a response to the changing nature of the central-local government policy community in the past decade. The main theme of the article is that a gap has been created by the restructuring of local governance that neither individual local authorities nor the broad local authority associations are equipped to fill. Hence, new single issue local authority associations such as the Coalfield Communities Campaign , have been formed. They are necessitated by the unwillingness of broad local authority associations to preoccupy themselves with sectional and possibly divisive single issues and the inability of individual local authorities to command sufficient power within the policy community. As such they may well represent a fundamental change in the policy network, though it remains to be seen whether or not they will have a long-term role.     

Unmasking the Crimes of the Powerful

Even in formally open, liberal, democratic states, a series of barriers exist as obstacles to critical criminologists who wish to conduct research that scrutinises the activities of powerful states and corporations. Much evidence suggests that in the current political climate, the barring of access to sources of data, neo-liberal re-configurations in the funding of research, and the narrowing of publishing and dissemination opportunities to counter-hegemonic voices are severely limiting the ability to conduct critical research. This article reports on recent experiences of researchers concerned with unmasking the crimes of the powerful and argues that, despite the obstacles power sources use to obscure and mystify the illegal and violent practices engaged in by states and corporations, there remains fertile space around research agendas, and in universities, for critical researchers to exploit. To gain insight from the ways in which researchers can, and do, establish alternative agendas, this article seeks to explore some of the principles that might inform and encourage those forms of resistance, and to establish how critical criminologists might continue to subject the powerful to scrutiny. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

出入境法律制度与北京奥运安全

安全问题始终是所有奥运主办城市面对的核心问题。从世界范围来看,奥运举办国家对出入本国国境的活动进行了有效的控制和防范,这是保障国家安全和奥运安全的第一步。我国现行出入境法律制度能否适应这一历史要求,为2008年北京奥运提供安全、完善的社会法制环境?如何完善出入境领域的立法、加强执法以保障奥运安全?本文在深入调研基础上,对出入境领域的立法、执法现状中存在的问题进行了深入研究,并提出了相应的对策。     

The Demarcation of Straddling Villages in Accordance with the International Court of Justice Jurisprudence: The Cameroon-Nigeria Experience

Bi a ba ran eniyan ni ise eru ologbon afi ti omo je (Where instructionsare insensitive and befitting of a slave, a reasonable fellowamends it sensitively and delivers it in a manner befittingthe free).¹

The existence of straddling settlements between Cameroon andNigeria is one of the features of their geographical locationas neighbouring West African States. Although the existenceof these settlements did not constitute a central part of theboundary dispute between both States, implementation of therecent World Court judgment presents crucial dilemmas as tothe treatment of straddling communities in particular and, tosome extent, boundary villages as well. This article exploresthe alternatives that may be adopted in attaining a fair andjust implementation of the Court's judgment in relation to straddlingvillages and boundary communities. The delimitation and demarcationof straddling villages and villages that fall into another State'sterritory are bound to be an increasingly common feature ofthe work of international courts and demarcation commissionsas populations increase and the need to definitively specifyborders increases. It is, therefore, necessary that a specializedjurisprudence is developed for this area of law. This article,therefore, attempts to highlight difficulties in the jurisprudenceof the International Court of Justice in its work in this areaand suggests a typology of factors that may be adopted in varyingdelimitation lines by adjudicators and demarcators. It alsoattempts a digest of what may represent good practice in thelaw of boundary delimitation and demarcation by examining similarcases around the world. The argument presented is that thereis enough within the corpus of international law and internationalrelations for courts to avoid splitting communities needlesslyor subjecting populations to the whims and caprice of hostileStates' territorial jurisdiction, particularly in relation toa continent such as Africa, which has suffered a long and unfairhistory of balkanization of its peoples and civilizations. Thearticle makes the case that the World Court needs more law elaborationif not judicial activism in its delimitation work to avoid inadvertentcomplicity in the abuse of peoples' rights and to attain a morerobust resolution of boundary disputes. The view advanced isthat where aspects of the Court's delimitation may be unsatisfactoryand contrary to the mutual interests of disputants, those chargedwith the task of implementing the Court's judgment must notbe slavish in their appreciation of the spirit of judicial resolution.Where there is the danger that human and generational rightswould be needlessly compromised, nothing apart from an unimaginativeand unco-operative approach prevents demarcators from independentlyadopting a more holistic resolution of the dispute in the interestof human justice, such as by (within very strict limits) varyingdelimitation lines suggested by the Court in particular sectors.