227 research outputs found
The International Court of Justice and the International Customary Law Game of Cards
No full textTheorizing customary international law as a formal source of law makes it possible to think of it as an integrating, anti-particularistic element of the international legal order: a potential antidote to fragmentation. On the other hand, enrolling customary law in the fight against fragmentation entails the need to define as neatly as possible the contours of an orthodox conception of custom as a source of law in a formal sense, and to close ranks around it. The recent International Law Commission’s bid to establish signposts for custom formation and identifi- cation suggests that such an entrenchment has reached an advanced stage of institutionalization. What role is International Court of Justice (ICJ) playing in this respect? The ICJ may wish to make the rest of the international legal milieu believe that there is only one method for finding out custom – its own method – and that may well be its strategy. Be that as it may, one thing is clear: if the ICJ aspires, as it were, to the role of a methodological lighthouse, it must have a recognizable method, one that is intelligible enough to be replicated by other law-applying agencies. The ICJ’s judicial output may lead to higher degrees of overall systemic coherence by stimulating uniform application of customary international law in two hypothetical ‘modes-of-play’.The first one,which may be called ‘structural’, would consist in working out a method for the identification of customary rules that is detailed and unambiguous enough as to reduce the risks of divergent rulings by other courts and tribunals to a minimum. On this score one is always tempted to argue that the intrinsic indeterminacy of the customary process places limits on attempts at defining bright-line criteria. This paper tries to dispel this ordinary misconception. The second mode-of-play, which may be described as ‘incremental’, would not commit the ICJ to go beyond a broad-brush characterization of the customary process like the one that made its judgment in the 'North Sea Continental Shelf' cases so prominent. The Court’s opinions about the content of customary law would be widely accepted not on account of the method underpinning them – which may well remain a mystery, or be just a bluff – but as a consequence of the Court’s authoritativeness. In this paper, I contend that the ICJ has acted with extreme caution on both fronts, thus failing to strengthen or stabilize international law’s putative ‘centre’. In the tense atmosphere so typical of the international customary law poker game, the Court has been playing its cards close to its chest. And the attitude of its fellow players – the International Law Commission (ILC), doctrine, and States – is not fundamentally different. Not blessed with a good hand, the ILC and doctrine sit nervously at the table and keep a watchful eye on States and the Court, both of which wear a poker face. Here I say something about the vain search for a ‘framework custom’, understood as the product of a uniform practice of States concerning the identification of customary rules, taking into account, inter alia, the first reactions of States to the inquisitive attitude lately taken by the ILC in its work on the topic. Afterwards, I try to expose the predicament of international legal doctrine, suspended as it is between a scientific outlook on the game and an emotional approach to the authority of the ICJ, before concluding by imagining what a showdown would reveal about the players’ cards
National supreme courts and the development of ECHR rights
No full textThe evolution of rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has in recent years engendered the question of how far national supreme courts ought to go in interpreting the Convention standards evolutively. Should national courts, in other words, play an active role in the development of the Convention, or must they defer this development to the Court? Examining the jurisprudence of national supreme courts in the U.K., France, and Germany, the present article examines this question both "normatively," by way of looking at the external exigencies of the Strasbourg jurisprudence, and "descriptively," by way of looking at what in point of fact the national courts have done in this regard. The three national judiciaries studied here have approached this in various ways. The common theme is that all three systems have gone very far in taking onboard a national concept of the ECHR precept of "evolutive interpretation.". © The Author 2011. Oxford University Press and New York University School of Law. All rights reserved
Det grandiose selvet hos Agnar Mykle : slik det er beskrevet i Anders Hegers biografi "et diktet liv"
No full textAnders Heger’s biography “Et diktet liv” of the controversial norwegian author Agnar Mykle came in for a good deal of criticism over the intimate descriptions of Mykle’s personality. Heger was accused for moralizing about Mykle’s egocentric behaviour and megalomania, and that the biography is a project of reductionism that creates an aversion to Mykle and his works. My assertion is that the extreme personality traits of Mykle, who satisfies the criteria for narcissistic personality disorder (DSM-IV), triggers immediate and unconscious psychological reactions, in psychiatric practice known as transferences, that emerge during the reading of the biography. If this is not considered in the subsequent process of interpretation, there is a great risk that important aspects of Mykle’s life, thoughts and actions could be misunderstood, and false conclusions about his mental state could be drawn. The purpose of this analysis is to explain Mykle’s exaggerated view of his own importance and power through the use of Heinz Kohut’s theory of the self (psychoanalytic selfpsychology).
This analysis of Agnar Mykle shows that Heger’s portrait of him describes the continuity in the development of the grandiose self into the massive megalomania of his adult life. This megalomania is expressed in his arrogant behaviour, assumed entitlement to grandiosity, the selfishness and the exploitive use of others primarily to meet his own needs and desires. In Kohut’s theory his desperate search for power and attention is considered as a psychological mechanism for compensating an incoherent and vulnerable self. The theory emphasizes the parent’s functions as necessary regulators, modulators and protectors of the child’s self-esteem, and Mykle’s retention of the primitive grandiose impulses in the adult is considered as a developmental pathology of the self that is in part a result of lack of empathic responsiveness from his parents. Kohut’s theory adds increased coherence and insight into the grandiose dimension of Agnar Mykle, and the analysis shows that this is continual part of his personality and not a reflection of episodic madness
Right for the wrong reasons: Silih v Slovenia and jurisdiction rations temporise in the European Court of Human Rights
No full textTreaties as a rule do not have retroactive effect. This has lead some courts to believe that cases involving facts occurring before the entry into effect of a treaty must fall outside the jurisdiction ratione temporis of the court in issue. When jurisdiction derives from a treaty, the potential retroactivity of the court’s jurisdiction is, however, distinct from the retroactivity of the obligations arising out of the treaty itself. The PCIJ settled this important question already in its 1939 judgment in Electricity Company of Sofia. The European Court of Human Rights for a long time took a more restrictive approach. It was only in its 2009 judgment Šilih that the European Court caught up with general international law. Nowhere, however, does the European Court say that it wants to diverge from the international jurisprudence; the divergence seems to be caused by a failure to understand the line of authority starting with Electricity Company of Sofia. The European Court made its leap averring that the only basis on which it could abandon its restrictive approach was through evolutionary interpretation. Though the material result in Šilih was right it was so for the wrong reasons. Had the European Court instead taken seriously the international jurisprudence then this manoeuvre, which has lead in its turn to criticism from national courts, would have been obviated
Recent occupation of the Alberta Aspen Parkland Ecoregion by moose
No full textSignificant mortality of moose (Alces alces) occurred throughout broad regions of northern and western Alberta in early 1999. Occurrences involving moose were recorded at local Alberta Natural Resources Service (NRS) district offices. A total of 1130 occurrence reports involving moose throughout Alberta between January 1 and April 30, 1999 were submitted to the author for review. Although there was considerable inherent bias in the sample, some general patterns emerged. Most moose (92%) had evidence of hairloss and 28% of them were dead. In the overall sample, 35% were calves; however in the subsample of dead moose with hairloss, 43% were calves. It is assumed that the hairloss was a result of infestation with winter tick, Dermacentor albipictus. Most occurrences (96%) were within the boreal habitats of northern and western Alberta and half of them were recorded in March (50%). It is apparent that excessive mortality of moose, particularly calves, occurred in late winter. The outbreak is considered a direct result of the interactions among moose, ticks, habitat, and weather. Weather appears to have been the ultimate force driving the interactions. Late winter snow cover and moose densities may provide clues for potential management actions in the subsequent fall period
Simultaneous siRNA targeting of Src and downstream signaling molecules inhibit tumor formation and metastasis of a human model breast cancer cell line.
No full textSrc and signaling molecules downstream of Src, including signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) and cMyc, have been implicated in the development, maintenance and/or progression of several types of human cancers, including breast cancer. Here we report the ability of siRNA-mediated Src knock-down alone, and simultaneous knock-down of Src and Stat3 and/or cMyc to inhibit the neoplastic phenotype of a highly metastatic human model breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-435S, a widely used model for breast cancer research.Src and its downstream signaling partners were specifically targeted and knocked-down using siRNA. Changes in the growth properties of the cultured cancer cells/tumors were documented using assays that included anchorage-dependent and -independent (in soft agar) cell growth, apoptosis, and both primary and metastatic tumor growth in the mouse tumor model. siRNA-mediated Src knock-down alone, and simultaneous knock-down of Src and Stat3 and/or cMyc inhibited the neoplastic phenotype of a highly metastatic human model breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-435S. This knock-down resulted in reduced growth in monolayer and soft agar cultures, and a reduced ability to form primary tumors in NOD/SCID mice. In addition, direct intra-tumoral injection of siRNAs targeting these signaling molecules resulted in a substantial inhibition of tumor metastases as well as of primary tumor growth. Simultaneous knock-down of Src and Stat3, and/or Myc exhibited the greatest effects resulting in substantial inhibition of primary tumor growth and metastasis.These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of simultaneous targeting of Src and the downstream signaling partners Stat3 and/or cMyc to inhibit the growth and oncogenic properties of a human cancer cell line. This knowledge may be very useful in the development of future therapeutic approaches involving targeting of specific genes products involved in tumor growth and metastasis
Multilingual cyberpragmatics in instructional settings. Exploring gender and age effects in Catalan, Spanish and English email requests
No full textThe present study focuses on email communication in the multilingual university setting. Previous studies dealing with similar settings point to the lack of politeness markers in students’ email messages [Bjorge, A. (2007). Power distance in English lingua franca email communication. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 17(1), 60–80], requests tend to be more direct and they may not match with the degree of imposition or social distance involved. Students’ lack of netiquette and the lack of physical presence on the Internet may influence their pragmatic behaviour. In addition to that, other studies [Barón, J., & Ortega, M. (2018). Investigating age differences in e-mail pragmatic performance. System, 78, 148–178] point to age effects and further confirm the preference for direct pragmatic forms. Nevertheless, very few studies have adopted a multilingual perspective. For this reason, we have examined 250 email requests to faculty. Openings and requests produced in Catalan, Spanish or English were analysed. Our main goal was to confirm whether students’ requests would devoid politeness markers and whether openings would show a lack of netiquette. We were also interested in identifying age and gender effects and in finding out if the pragmatic forms chosen would be in line with the politeness orientation of the language involved. Results are in line with previous studies but they also contradict them adding interesting information on the way multilingualism is displayed in email interaction
On-line liquid chromatography-accurate radioisotope counting coupled with a radioactivity detector and mass spectrometer for metabolite identification in drug discovery and development
No full textEndothelin-1 production by the canine macrophage cell line DH82: Enhanced production in response to microbial challenge
No full textCbl-associated protein is tyrosine phosphorylated by c-Abl and c-Src kinases
No full textBackground: The c-Cbl-associated protein (CAP), also known as ponsin, localizes to focal adhesions and stress fibers and is involved in signaling events. Phosphorylation has been described for the other two members of the sorbin homology family, vinexin and ArgBP2, but no data exist about the putative phosphorylation of CAP. According to previous findings, CAP binds to tyrosine kinase c-Abl. However, it is not known if CAP is a substrate of c-Abl or other tyrosine kinases or if phosphorylation regulates its localization.
Results: We here show that CAP is Tyr phosphorylated by and interacts with both c-Abl and c-Src. One major phosphorylation site, Tyr360, and two minor contributors Tyr326 and Tyr632 were identified as Abl phosphorylation sites, whereas Src preferentially phosphorylates Tyr326 and Tyr360. Phosphorylation of CAP was not necessary for its localization to focal adhesions and stress fibers, but Tyr326Phe substitution alters the function of CAP during cell spreading.
Conclusion: This is the first demonstration of phosphorylation of CAP by any kinase. Our findings suggest that coordinated action of Src and Abl might regulate the function of CAP and reveal a functional role especially for the Src-mediated Tyr phosphorylation of CAP in cell spreading
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