Small arms and light weapons: the disjunction problem

ABSTRACT

Growing in range and urgency, humanitarian needs now pose increasingly acute questions for national security policy formulation. Whether over forced migration, food scarcity or nefarious electronic penetration, state security preferences face uneasy accommodations with individual needs be it for child survival, basic sustenance or rights to privacy. This paper deliberates a further field of increasingly apparent value contest: that involving the transfer, diversion and lethal use of small arms and light weapons (SALW). After outlining the scale of this phenomenon, existing regulatory mechanisms over SALW transfers are assessed. It is argued that these controls are inadequate, a deficiency that is embedded within a range of inter-linked disjunctions. They are outlined in a model that is evaluated against empirical findings. Where SALW control inadequacy is causally connected to the disjunctive model, it is argued, current levels of SALW-induced casualties are unlikely to abate. The paper concludes by considering feasible options for enhanced management of global SALW proliferation.     

公共服务供给机制转型中的公益性岗位研究

我国自2002年起开始施行公益性岗位的政策,这一政策对拓宽就业渠道、缓解失业压力起到了一定的作用。但目前依靠政府进一步开发和购买公益性岗位的难度很大。本文对国内外公共服务供给机制转型进行了比较分析,在此基础上提出以下建议:我国应进一步完善公共服务的供给机制,以社区为平台,通过推动购买服务的方式,调动社会组织服务社区和吸收就业的功能,以推动公益性岗位的增加。     

论法律选择中的替代条款——兼评《涉外民事关系法律适用法》第41条

替代条款要求在案件与一国有更密切联系时,排除冲突规则对案件的适用,发挥最密切联系原则的矫正功能。替代条款是法律选择的灵活性超越确定性的明证,是＂方法＂对＂规则＂的融合和革新,是英美法的自由裁量主义和大陆法的严格规则主义的较量。替代条款的盛行同样诠释了法的正义价值和安全价值之间博弈发展的古老命题,彰显了法律现实主义在冲突法领域的一度勃兴和鼎盛。《涉外民事关系法律适用法》在合同领域没有采用我国已有立法和各国立法中的替代条款,实为一大憾事。     

More with Less? Fiscal Decentralisation,Public Health Spending and Health Sector Performance

Decentralisation is considered a panacea for deficient public sector performance by many. However, recent trends of health sector recentralisation in several OECD countries suggest the opposite. Taking on a cross‐country perspective, I examine two hypotheses, namely that decentralisation leads to an increase in public health spending (H1) and to poor health sector outcomes (H2). The evidence I present suggests that decentralising spending tends to lead to larger public health sectors and to poorer health sector outcomes. However, decentralising tax authority has no effect on the size of the health sector and may actually have a positive effect on health sector performance. The broader lesson is that while general fiscal decentralisation research tends to imply that its conclusions are valid for all policy areas in a similar way, sector‐specific insights can reveal a more nuanced view on the consequences of fiscal decentralisation.     

The Management of Democratic Elections in Africa (MDEA) programme at the university of South Africa: Is this the right path towards African solutions?

There have been a number of initiatives in Africa to rid the Continent of political instability, conflict, poverty and disease. Many have argued that aid from the West has helped Africa in many ways—from stopping wars, to food relief and rescuing the African environment. Yet others have slated Western involvement which they contend, frequently leaves Africans dependant rather than capable of solving their own problems. In line with the pan-Africanist and the African Union (AU) ideals, there is now a realisation by Africans that there is a need to find African solutions to African challenges and problems. This review article explores the University of South Africa’s (Unisa’s) Management of Democratic Elections in Africa (MDEA) programme, by looking at its objectives and the reason why it must be labelled a Programme, its mandate, which is in line with the brief of the AU and pan-Africanist ideals. The article focuses on how Unisa’s programme responds to the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG); and how it has attempted to facilitate knowledge for peace in Africa, through empowering electoral officials from various African states. The article concludes by looking at the successes and limitations of the Programme over a five-year period, from its inception in 2011.     

导致法医临床学鉴定结论偏差的原因

随着法制建设的日臻完善和人民群众法制意识的不断增强,法医活体检验方面存在的问题越来越多地被暴露出来,从而使法医临床学鉴定的科学性和公信度大打折扣,使法医鉴定工作陷入尴尬境地。     

Exploring the Effects of North–South and South–South Research Collaboration in Emerging Economies,the Colombian Case

International research collaboration (IRC) is associated with both positive and negative effects on the performance of research in emerging economies. While some authors claim that North–South collaborations improve scientific quality and visibility for Southern countries, others claim that it may entail the reorientation of research to comply with Northern agendas. South–South collaborations are thought to increase the focus on local affairs, therefore leading to a relatively small number of scientific international publications appearing in “high quality” journals. Research on the impact of IRC beyond publications in international journals has been neglected despite the importance of other products in knowledge creation. This research uses a broad range of scientific outputs to empirically assess such assumptions and explore the outcomes of IRC in Colombia. Results from multivariate regressions and nonparametric analyses show that, contrary to common assumptions, Colombian research teams collaborating with partners from the global South report higher scientific production, while those collaborating with Northern countries seem to contribute to local knowledge the most.     

全覆盖预算绩效管理的内容建构和路径探讨

经济新常态下,预算绩效管理已不再仅是对支出效率评估的工具,而是成为了实现国家治理现代化的保障机制。全覆盖预算绩效管理作为构建预算绩效管理体系的重要组成部分,以目标导向为原则,一方面旨在弥补传统预算绩效中存在的问题,另一方旨在构建起包括一般公共预算绩效管理体系、其它政府预算绩效管理体系和解决政府与社会企业的"五种合作模式"存在的部分问题的预算绩效管理体系。为推动全覆盖预算绩效管理的践行,应积极推进全覆盖与全方位预算绩效管理格局紧密配合、与全过程预算绩效管理链条有机联动的路径机制。同时,弥补全覆盖预算绩效管理相关的法律不足、建立健全全覆盖预算绩效考评监督体系等相关配套措施的顶层设计,从而推进"绩效管理平面化"向"绩效管理立体化"转变、实现财政支出效率和预算绩效管理的战略规划目标。     

Postmortem Computed Tomography in Firearm Homicides: A Retrospective Case Series,

Postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) is integrated into the evaluation of decedents in several American medical examiner offices and medicolegal death investigative centers in many other countries. We retrospectively investigated the value of PMCT in a series of firearm homicide cases from a statewide centralized medical examiner’s office that occurred during 2016. Autopsies were performed or supervised by board-certified forensic pathologists who reviewed the PMCT scans prior to autopsy. PMCT scans were re-evaluated by a forensic radiologist blinded to the autopsy findings and scored by body region (head–neck, thoracoabdominal, and extremities). Injury discrepancies were scored using a modified Goldman classification and analyzed with McNemar’s test. We included 60 males and 20 females (median age 31 years, range 3–73). Based on PMCT, 56 (79.1%) cases had injuries relevant to the cause of death in a single body region (24 head–neck region, 32 thoracoabdominal region). Out of these 56 cases, 9 had a missed major diagnosis by PMCT outside that region, including 6 extremity injuries visible during standard external examination. Yet all had evident lethal firearm injury. We showed that PMCT identifies major firearm injuries in homicide victims and excludes injuries related to the cause of death in other regions when a single body region is injured. Although PMCT has a known limited sensitivity for soft tissue and vascular pathology, it can be combined with external examination to potentially reduce or focus dissections in some of these cases depending on the circumstances and medicolegal needs.     

Combined Collection and Analysis of Inorganic and Organic Gunshot Residues

Gunshot residue (GSR) analysis and their interpretation provide crucial information on a criminal investigation involving the use of firearms. To date, several approaches have been proposed for the implementation of a combined sampling and analysis of inorganic (IGSR) and organic GSR (OGSR). However, it is not clear at this stage if concurrent analyses of both types of residue might be detrimental to the analysis of IGSR currently applied in forensic laboratories. Thus, this work aims to compare and evaluate three different protocols for the combined collection and analysis of IGSR and OGSR. These methods, respectively, involve the use of a modified stub (with two halves, one for the detection of IGSR and the other for the analysis of OGSR); the sequential recovery of GSR with two stubs mounted with different adhesives (double-sided carbon tape and Tesa® TACK) and the sequential analysis of IGSR and OGSR from a single carbon stub following carbon deposition. The detection of IGSR was carried out using SEM-EDX, while OGSR analysis was performed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). Obtained results for experiments performed using Geco Sinoxid^® ammunition indicated that sequential analysis was the most suitable protocol for the combined collection and analysis of both IGSR and OGSR. A higher number of inorganic (characteristic and consistent) particles and higher concentrations of ethylcentralite, N-nitrosodiphenylamine, diphenylamine, and nitroglycerin were recovered with this method.