Building a post-war justice system in Afghanistan

This paper examines key dimensions of justice in post–war Afghanistan. These areshari'a(Islamic law), traditional institutions of informal justice (jirga), the Afghan interim legal framework, and human rights principles. It is argued that despite their apparent incompatibility, these various dimensions of justice could be integrated within a coherent framework of a new justice system in post–war Afghanistan –– a framework that would promote interaction between local institutions of informal justice and a district level court of justice, on the one hand, and between these two and a proposed human rights unit, on the other. On the basis of this analysis, an experimental model of a system of justice is proposed, which integrates local jirga and human rights units into the existing formal justice (based on shari'a and positive law) and law–enforcement institutions. This experimental model provides a multi–dimensional framework that both reflects the cultural and religious values of Afghan society, and at the same time, has the capacity to draw on human rights principles. It is maintained that the model has the capacity to deliver justice expeditiously and in cost–effective ways; it also has a strong potential to act as a channel of communication between ordinary people and a modern participatory state in post–war Afghanistan. However, in order to test the applicability of this model in the real world, it needs first to be thoroughly discussed among Afghan and international legal experts as well as among ordinary Afghan people, and then piloted in selected districts in Afghanistan.     

The Drowning Index: Implementation in Drowning,Mechanical Asphyxia,and Acute Myocardial Infarct Cases

Drowning is a diagnosis of exclusion based on circumstantial and autopsy correlation. Sugimura proposed a threshold value of 14.1 for the Drowning Index (DI), the ratio of lung and pleural fluid to spleen weight, as a surrogate marker to diagnose drowning. We questioned the use of DI in diagnosing drowning. We compared DI between three groups—drowning, mechanical asphyxia, and myocardial infarct—seen at Broward MEO from 2008 to 2009. Only 9.4% of 53 drownings exceeded the DI threshold of 14.1, while 30% of 10 mechanical asphyxias and 40% of 10 myocardial infarcts had DI >14.1. Sensitivity for the DI test was <10% and specificity 60–70%. Median DI values for all groups were <10. Mann–Whitney U‐test was not statistically significant between groups. The DI is neither sensitive nor specific and lacks any utility in the diagnosis of drowning.     

Algor mortis: an erroneous measurement following postmortem refrigeration

Determination of the time of death is one goal of medicolegal death investigations. Algor mortis has been used as a measure of the postmortem interval (PMI). We prospectively recorded the core temperatures of 19 adult bodies entering our morgue cooler and at 3, 6, and 9 h of refrigeration. We then compared the cooling rate with the calculated body mass index (BMI). For each individual body, the rate of cooling was fairly linear with no evidence of a plateau. There was fair to moderate correlation between the BMI and the cooling rate: cooling rate = -0.052 (BMI) + 3.52. The probability of linearity in any given case was 36%. Variables affecting this correlation included the presence and the layers of clothing and if the clothing was wet. Our data confirm that algor mortis is of very limited utility in determining the PMI in bodies that have been refrigerated.     

Using Trading Zones and Life Cycle Analysis to Understand Nanotechnology Regulation

This article reviews the public health and environmental regulations applicable to nanotechnology using a life cycle model from basic research through end-of-life for products. Given nanotechnology's immense promise and public investment, regulations are important, balancing risk with the public good. Trading zones and earth systems engineering management assist in explaining potential solutions to gaps in an otherwise complex, overlapping regulatory system.