Inter-parliamentary European Union–Latin American Caribbean (EU-LAC) relations and the increasing political convergence among Latin American regional parliaments (2006–15)

Europe and Latin America present a long-standing tradition of parliamentary diplomacy and particularly in the development of regional parliaments. Since the 1970s, inter-parliamentary relations between the two regions have been institutionalized, first by the regular dialogue of the European Parliament with the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino) and more recently, in 2006, with the creation of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat). Apart from representatives of Parlatino, EuroLat includes in the European Union-Latin American Caribbean (EU-LAC) parliamentary dialogue members of other regional assemblies created in recent decades, such as the Andean Parliament, the Central American Parliament and the Mercosur Parliament. However, recent EuroLat meetings have made evident a polarization of positions on regional politics between European and Latin American sides, especially regarding the political and human rights situation in Venezuela. In this sense, the present paper analyzes the impact of EU-LAC relations on the political convergence of Latin American parliaments concerning regional political issues. The aim is to discuss how institutionalized relations with the European Parliament, through EuroLat, increased convergence among Latin American parliamentarians. This argument is exemplified by the joint defensive position on the Venezuelan political situation adopted by Latin American parliamentarians vis-à-vis the European Parliament's condemnatory position.     

The transformation of hi no maru in postwar Okinawa: from symbol of hope to object of contempt

Starting in the early 1950s, the Japanese flag hi no maru was a cherished symbol in Okinawa of the movement for an end to the postwar U.S. military occupation and reversion to Japanese sovereignty. The flag represented an appeal for liberation from U.S. military rule that dragged on for twenty years (1945–1972) after mainland Japan regained its sovereignty in 1952; and, for elimination, or at least reduction, of the overwhelming size and number of American bases on the island. However, the 1969 Okinawa Reversion Agreement between the U.S. and Japanese governments broke both of the Japanese government’s promises that, after reversion, Okinawa would have no nuclear weapons, and that U.S. bases would be reduced to mainland levels. The grossly disproportionate U.S. military remains to this day, and a “secret agreement” permits the United States to bring back nuclear weapons. Today many in Okinawa associate hi no maru with this discriminatory policy which imposes 74 percent of the total U.S. military presence in Japan on this small island prefecture comprising 0.2 percent of the nation’s land area. For historians, the flag also represents atrocities committed by Imperial Japanese soldiers during the Pacific War and the Japanese government’s continuing reluctance to acknowledge them.     

贪污贿赂案件侦查地域管辖制度的构建

侦查地域管辖是指在侦查职能管辖的基础上,由何地的侦查机关行使管辖权的职权划分。侦查地域管辖既不同于审判地域管辖。也不同于以该地域为基础的侦查级别管辖。我国刑事诉讼法没有对侦查地域管辖作出明确规定。实践中套用审判地域管辖或由侦查机关将“犯罪地”与“职能管辖”相结合来确定侦查地域管辖权的做法。既不科学也不合理。建议以公正、效率为原则。为贪污贿赂犯罪案件建立侦查管辖决定权与实际侦查权分离,侦查管辖决定权上移的侦查地域管辖制度。     

日美防卫技术合作演变的逻辑

防卫技术合作是日美同盟关系深化的重要体现,也是安全合作以及同盟管控的组成部分。日美防卫技术合作的进展受防卫技术合作的制度化水平和日本在同盟关系中自主化水平双重因素的影响。20世纪80年代以前,受日本武器出口规范和技术能力的限制,日美之间的防卫技术合作以美国单方面援助日本为主。其后,日本在技术上取得较大突破,开始在对美技术合作与自主技术研发之间寻求平衡,但技术合作制度化水平较低,影响了两国的合作。进入21世纪第二个10年之后,日本在解禁“武器出口三原则”的同时,进一步加强技术研发能力、深化与美国的防卫技术合作,并寻求技术合作的多元化。通过日美战斗机研发合作的案例可以发现,看似日本对美国渐趋自主,但仍然难以摆脱对美防卫技术依存的困境。日美之间防卫技术合作的深度以及日本防卫合作对象多元化的广度将是影响日本未来防卫产业发展的重要因素。     

Sickle Cell Trait as a Contributory Cause of Death in Natural Disease

Sickle cell trait (SCT) affects 300 million people globally, and awareness is growing that SCT is not an entirely benign condition; however, most reported cases have been non‐natural deaths. Autopsy records from the Baylor University Medical Center (BUMC) in Dallas, Texas, contained seven natural deaths from January 2007 to October 2013 in which micro‐occlusive sickling was identified at autopsy and SCT confirmed by postmortem hemoglobin fractionation. Sickle crisis was never diagnosed clinically. These cases illustrate the importance of red cell morphology in autopsy material. When sickling is suspected, hemoglobin fractionation should be performed. If confirmed, SCT should be listed as an autopsy finding and the severity and distribution of sickling documented. Extensive micro‐occlusive sickling should be considered contributory to death; however, its relative importance depends on all facts of the case. Accurate reporting should facilitate further research and the development of evidence‐based preventative and supportive strategies for these patients.     

美国住宅缺陷默示担保制度及其对中国的启示

因住宅质量缺陷引起的纠纷在世界各国均是常见性的问题。因通过交易而获得住宅所有权的依据是不动产买卖合同,所以各国通常以合同法纠纷解决机制处理此类纠纷。美国合同法上的默示担保制度在解决此类纠纷方面显现出了较强的灵活性和旺盛的生命力。本文重点研讨了美国住宅缺陷默示担保责任的形成与发展、基本内容、责任主体、认定标准和救济方式,在与中国相关制度简要比较的基础上提出对我国的启示。     

知识产权与区域经济——从“温州模式”到“新温州模式”

立足于知识经济背景下,分别介绍了“温州模式”、 “新温州模式”以及“区域经济”等基本概念.通过详析“温州模式”的缺陷以及知识产权在推动“温州模式”向“新温州模式”转变过程中的作用等,进一步明确了“实施知识产权战略”的重大意义以及国家适时出台知识产权战略纲要实施细则的必要性和正确性.知识产权在建立“新温州模式”方面的良好示范效应,为当前全国其他各个区域经济寻求发展,有效解决企业面临的各项问题进行了一次有益的探索与尝试.     

一种可信在线电子证据保全关键技术研究

日益增长的电子证据给取证工作带来了挑战,传统的现场电子证据保全方式已经无法满足当前需求。根据当前电子证据保全委托数量大的特点,本文提出在线电子证据保全方法,利用网络自动完成证据保全委托与鉴定报告查询。为确保证据来源可靠与电子鉴定报告可信,本文引入S/MIME签名技术确保证据托管者身份与鉴定报告的法律效力,并在此基础上实现可信在线电子证据保全系统,该系统以在线接收电子证据的方式为外界提供证据保全服务,并通过符合17025标准的电子证据保全业务流程实现一条完整的证据链,最后由一份多人签名的鉴定报告确保证据保全的法律效力,方便电子证据的司法取证工作。     

Dynamics of Legitimation in Regional Organisations: The OAS and Non State Actors

ABSTRACT

Legitimation has been conceived mostly as an exercise in justification by international/regional organisations needing to convince audiences of the rightfulness of their behaviour. What we could call the external dimension of legitimation. The internal dimension, what happens between an organisation and its stakeholders, remains understudied. Analysing internal legitimation practices becomes important in the context of the opening-up of international organisations. Aside from the EU, however, evidence is still lacking as to the nature and extent of this opening-up, and the role of non-state actors (NSAs) in this context. The article seeks to fill part of this void using the OAS as a case study. It examines actors' practices during three central moments in the legitimation process. At each stage, OAS' legitimation-seeking practices and NSAs' legitimation/de-legitimation practices are analysed. The study reveals that NSAs have responded positively to the opening-up by the OAS despite tensions among member States.     

Concordance study between the AmpFlSTR MiniFiler PCR amplification kit and conventional STR typing kits

The AmpFlSTR MiniFiler polymerase chain reaction amplification kit developed by Applied Biosystems enables size reduction on eight of the larger STR loci amplified in the Identifiler kit, which will aid recovery of information from highly degraded DNA samples. The MiniFiler Kit amplifies CSF1PO, FGA, D2S1338, D7S820, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, and D21S11 as well as the sex-typing locus amelogenin. A total of 1308 samples were evaluated with both the MiniFiler and Identifiler STR kits: 449 African American, 445 Caucasian, 207 Hispanic, and 207 Asian individuals. Full concordance between Identifiler and MiniFiler Kits was observed in 99.7% (10,437 out of 10,464) STR allele calls compared. The 27 differences seen are listed in Table 1 and encompass the loci D13S317 (n = 14) and D16S539 (n = 10) as well as D18S51 (n = 1), D7S820 (n = 1), and CSF1PO (n = 1). Genotyping discrepancies between the Identifiler and MiniFiler kits were confirmed by reamplification of the samples and further testing using the PowerPlex 16 kit in many cases. DNA sequence analysis was also performed in order to understand the nature of the genetic variations causing the allele dropout or apparent repeat unit shift.