Rescinding the signature of an international treaty: the United States and the rome statute establishing the international criminal court

The international communiry's efforts to create a global permanent penal court culminated in the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court of 1998. Although the United States of America initially signed it, it later withdrew the signature thus signalling its very strong opposition to it. This article attempts, on the one hand, to examine and analyze the US opposition from the standpoint of international relations and diplomatic law and, on the other, to determine its legaliry in the context of the law of treaties.     

A Statistical Method for Reassociating Human Tali and Calcanei from a Commingled Context

In a commingled context, assessing that a talus and a calcaneus correspond to the same individual could become a primary step for accurately sorting human remains. For this purpose, the lengths and widths of the trochlea, posterior calcaneal articular surface, and posterior talar articular surface were measured in 197 individuals (105 males, 92 females) from the Athens Collection. A total of 12 highly accurate equations for reassociating tali and calcanei were developed, using simple and multiple linear regression analysis and they were found to be suitable for sorting commingled human remains. Bilateral asymmetry and sex did not have an effect on the accuracy of the method.     

Sexual dimorphism in permanent teeth of modern Greeks

Sex determination is considered an important step in reconstructing the biological profile of unknown individuals from a forensic context. Forensic anthropologists have long used teeth as an additional tool for sex determination as they resist postmortem destruction. In this case the use of population-specific data is necessary since sexual dimorphism varies between different populations. Currently there are no odontometric standards for determining sex in Greek populations. The purpose of this study is to examine the degree of sexual dimorphism in permanent teeth of modern Greeks. A total of 839 permanent teeth in 133 individuals (70 males and 63 females) from the Athens Collection were examined. Mesiodistal and buccolingual crown and cervical diameters of both maxillary and mandibular teeth were measured. It was found that males have bigger teeth than females and in 65 out of 88 dimensions measured, male teeth exceeded female teeth significantly (P<0.05). Canines were the most dimorphic teeth followed by first premolars, maxillary second premolar and mandibular second molar. Although other teeth were also sexually dimorphic they did not have a statistically significant difference in all dimensions. The most dimorphic dimension was buccolingual cervical diameter followed by buccolingual crown diameter. A comparison of sexual dimorphism in teeth between different populations showed that it differs among different groups. European population groups presented the highest degree of sexual dimorphism in teeth whereas Native South Americans the lowest.     

NATO Intervention in Yugoslavia: Prelude to 'Perpetual Peace'?

The professed intention of NATO's intervention in Yugoslavia in March 1999 was to defend the human rights of an oppressed minority within a sovereign state. Many left-wing intellectuals claimed that to override national sovereignty was necessary for the salvation of the Kosovars, and that this reflects a new 'Kantian' conception of international relations in the post-Cold-War era, a conception which now remains to be actualized as a 'new international law of world citizens'. This paper seeks to refute these two arguments, that offer a moral interpretation of the war against Yugoslavia, not in order to question the project of 'perpetual peace' in its entirety, but to point out the need to reflect on its broader economic and political conditions, which are very far from being met.     

The Enlargement of the UN Security Council: Reflections from the Current Debate

In this article an attempt is made to take stock of recent developments (1997–2000) regarding the ongoing debate on the UN Security Council enlargement. The comprehensive plan for reform, known as the 'Razali Plan', its repercussions on the debate as well as the attitude of the membership of the UN are among the issues discussed here. We argue that the only realistic proposition for the time being is an expansion of the non-permanent membership of the Security Council, which could give some impetus to the process of comprehensive reform.     

Unusual Elevator-Related Deaths: A Report of Two Cases

We present two cases of elevator-related deaths that occurred in two different elevators, and deaths were caused by a similar, but unusual, mechanism. An elevator is a platform or compartment housed in a shaft for raising and lowering people or things to different levels. Elevator-related deaths and injuries are rarely reported in the literature. In most of these cases, cause of death was attributed to falls. It seems that most of the elevator accidents may be attributed to factors related to device maintenance inadequacies or even to device malfunctioning. In our cases, both elevator cars were not equipped with full-length inner doors, thus allowing both accidents to occur. Since 2014, the European Union adopted a relative directive, which imposes the need to equip all elevators with such full-length doors. The enforcement of the above-mentioned EU Directive is crucial, in order to prevent similar accidents in the future.     

Self-immolation Suicide in Greece: A Forensic Psychiatric Autopsy Study between 2011 and 2019

Self-immolation is a rare suicide method in the developed countries of the western world (0.06–1%); however, it has relatively higher prevalence rates in the developing countries of Asia and Africa (6–57%). The present study aims to examine self-immolation suicides within the Greek mainland (Attiki, Thrace, and Peloponnese) over a period of 9 years (2011–2019) in order to investigate the phenomenon in the Greek population forensically, identify the characteristics and motivations of suicide victims, explore its associations to socio-cultural or psychiatric factors, and describe a fatal case of suicide by self-immolation that was partially recorded on camera. The medical files (autopsy reports) of cases performed at the Departments of Forensic Medicine of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Democritus University of Thrace, and the Forensic Service of Messinia—Peloponnese were retrospectively examined yielding 19 cases of suicides by self-immolation. A 3.7% prevalence of suicide by self-immolation among suicide fatalities within the Greek population was estimated. A distinctive feature of the Greek population regarding self-immolation was disclosed that it is being practiced predominantly by the elderly (mean age 2–3.5 decades higher than other countries). The phenomenon correlated strongly with poorly controlled mental disorders (mostly affective and adjustment disorders). Unlike other countries, there was no significant association with domestic or sexual violence, social or political protest, or religious issues. Therefore, the suicide victims preferred secluded or private outdoor locations (not public). Findings deriving from the examined variables localize Greek population culturally between the Western European and Asian African countries, but with its own idiosyncrasies.     

Does public sector efficiency matter? Revisiting the relation between fiscal size and economic growth in a world sample

This paper revisits the relationship between fiscal size and economic growth. Our work differs from the empirical growth literature because this relationship depends explicitly on the efficiency of the public sector. We use a sample of 64 countries, both developed and developing, in four five-year time periods between 1980 and 2000. Building on the work of Afonso et al. (Public Choice 123:321–347, 2005), we construct a measure of public sector efficiency in each country and each time period by calculating an output-to-input ratio. In addition, we get an estimate of technical efficiency of public spending for 52 countries from 1995 to 2000 by employing a stochastic frontier analysis. Using these two measures, we find evidence of a non-monotonic relation between fiscal size and economic growth that depends critically on the size-efficiency mix.     

Greek police officers' attitudes towards the mentally ill

The deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill and their shift into the community lead the police to play an important role in the management of acute psychiatric states. This study examines the attitudes of the Greek police towards the mentally ill, and the problems that arise during the transfer of mentally ill people to psychiatric emergency departments. Results highlight policemen misperceptions, and the difficulties encountered during transport procedures, which may be attributed to insufficient knowledge about mental illness and lack of training, respectively. Furthermore, this article discusses the need for police educational intervention, and the formation of specialized teams to improve the handling of mentally ill in crisis situations.     

The New SADC Tribunal: Or the Emasculation of an International Tribunal

Netherlands International Law Review - In 2010 the leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) took the contentious decision to suspend its Tribunal, established in 2000, following...