Controversial Cases Research Articles

Spory o wykładnię znamion przestępstwa kradzieży energii (art. 278 § 5 k.k.) – czy prawnicy znają fizykę?

This article aims at analyzing the constituent elements of a criminal offense, based on Art. 278 § 5 k.k. The result of the analysis is the conclusion that in practice, only electricity can be the object of that offense. Therefore it must be specified accordingly in the provision of Art. 278 § 5 k.k. The study of literature led to the conclusion that the authors often mistakenly specify the object of that crime in a manner contrary to the principles of physics. This article presents the disputed issue of classifying the energy consumption by an entity authorized under an agreement with the provider, but with an understatement of the amounts of energy consumed by that entity. The author concluded that the classification of such act is possible based on Art. 278 § 5 and 286 § 1 k.k., depending on the definition of the result of an act which, at the time it was committed, was liable to evaluation under criminal law. The analysis also includes the controversial legal case of conscious use of energy consumed by the means of an illegal tapping into the power grid or causing a malfunction in a device designed to measure the amount of energy consumed by other persons who have not committed such an action. The study of literature led to the conclusion that according to the currently prevailing view such behavior does not fulfill the constituent elements of a crime. The author further concludes that due to the difficulties with the determination of the value of the object in question during the taking of evidence, the act of „stealing” electricity has rightly not undergone decriminalization; which could otherwise result in allegations on the grounds of infringement of the substantive law.

WILD MAMMALS OF ANCIENT NORTH CHINA

AbstractHuman activity has eliminated many of the natural lowland ecosystems of the Middle and Lower Yellow River Valley, and has modified the rest, making it difficult to understand what species are native to the region. As a step towards the reconstruction of these lost environments, this paper employs zooarchaeological and other evidence to identify the native mammals of the region. We provide basic ecological information about these animals and discuss controversial or difficult cases in more depth. Our goal is not only to study China's environmental history, but also to make clear that conventional understandings of species ranges are based on the distributions of animals in the modern period, when many had already been eliminated from large areas by human activity.

Debates over dam removal in Japan

AbstractJapan is facing a severe problem with the aging of its infrastructure, including dams. We studied eight controversial cases (the Ararse, Okusawa, Setoishi, Tamayodo, Minochi, Yasuoka, Tsuga and Nibutani Dam) involving dam removal in Japan and elucidated the triggers and suggested reasons for the debate. Renewal of water rights was a major trigger in three of the eight cases. Environmental reasons in five cases were not relevant to the demolition decision regarding dams conferring public benefit, even if restoration of the river environment was a recognized benefit. Compared with single‐purpose dams, the removal debate for a multi‐purpose dam, based on economic reasons regarding a single function, did not gain traction. Among the eight cases, there has been no case triggered by the renewal of water right by reason of economics, which should be highlighted options for stock management purposes.

Are current effectiveness criteria fit for purpose? Using a controversial strategic assessment as a test case

The aim of this paper is to test the broader utility of the sustainability assessment effectiveness framework of Bond et al. (2015) by applying it to a controversial strategic assessment case study. The effectiveness framework comprises six dimensions: procedural effectiveness, substantive effectiveness, transactive effectiveness, normative effectiveness, pluralism, and knowledge and learning. It was originally developed to evaluate sustainability assessment at a system-wide level and it has not been previously applied to a specific case study. The analysis was conducted through document review and the first-hand experience of two of the authors who were involved in the case study in different capacities. The case study selected was the strategic assessment of the proposed Browse Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Precinct in Western Australia, which was conducted over the period 2007–2015 under the strategic assessment provisions of both the Western Australian and Australian Commonwealth environmental legislation. The framework provided a useful structure within which this complex case study could be explored, its strengths and weaknesses brought to light, and the interactions between the dimensions highlighted. We also found opportunities for refinement of the framework. As a result of this analysis we propose to replace the final three dimensions of the framework with legitimacy, where a legitimate process is one which all stakeholders agree is fair and which delivers an acceptable outcome for all parties, though we acknowledge the need for further conceptualisation of this dimension. We also suggest that the concept of substantive effectiveness should be expanded to incorporate the unintended consequences of impact assessment. Our research thus makes both a useful addition to the literature already published on the Browse case study, as well as to the literature on impact assessment effectiveness.

Advance euthanasia directives: a controversial case and its ethical implications

Authorising euthanasia and assisted suicide with advance euthanasia directives (AEDs) is permitted, yet debated, in the Netherlands. We focus on a recent controversial case in which a Dutch woman with...

Digital detritus: 'Error' and the logic of opacity in social media content moderation

The late 2016 case of the Facebook content moderation controversy over the infamous Vietnam-era photo, “The Terror of War,” is examined in this paper for both its specifics, as well as a mechanism to engage in a larger discussion of the politics and economics of the content moderation of user-generated content. In the context of mainstream commercial social media platforms, obfuscation and secrecy work together to form an operating logic of opacity, a term and concept introduced in this paper. The lack of clarity around platform policies, procedures and the values that inform them lead users to wildly different interpretations of the user experience on the same site, resulting in confusion in no small part by the platforms’ own design. Platforms operationalize their content moderation practices under a complex web of nebulous rules and procedural opacity, while governments and other actors clamor for tighter controls on some material, and other members of civil society demand greater freedoms for online expression. Few parties acknowledge the fact that mainstream social media platforms are already highly regulated, albeit rarely in such a way that can be satisfactory to all. The final turn in the paper connects the functions of the commercial content moderation process on social media platforms like Facebook to their output, being either the content that appears on a site, or content that is rescinded: digital detritus. While meaning and intent of user-generated content may often be imagined to be the most important factors by which content is evaluated for a site, this paper argues that its value to the platform as a potentially revenue-generating commodity is actually the key criterion and the one to which all moderation decisions are ultimately reduced. The result is commercialized online spaces that have far less to offer in terms of political and democratic challenge to the status quo and which, in fact, may serve to reify and consolidate power rather than confront it.

Iranian Women in Focus at Tehran’s Fajr Film Festival

Iranian Women in Focus at Tehran’s Fajr Film Festival

Las declaraciones de los Estados y la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Derecho del Mar de 1982. Su aplicación al sistema de solución de controversias en el asunto del Mar del Sur de China (Filipinas v. China)

El presente trabajo analiza el uso de las declaraciones interpretativas y sus actuales desafíos, con especial énfasis en la situación que presentan los artículos 287, 298, 309 y 310 de la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Derecho del Mar de 1982 a la luz del caso reciente y no por ello menos polémico: la controversia entre Filipinas y China en el área del Mar del Sur de China.

The RARE Leadership Model, Jacob Zuma and Nkandla: Thoughts on the Virtues of Leadership

Scholarly and journalistic work on the critical state of leadership in Africa abound. Hellicy Ngambi (2011) attributes Africa’s poor development, despite its wealth of diversity in natural and human resources, to leadership issues that need to be explored, considered and addressed. To confront the development challenges of a continent diverse in human and natural resources she proposes her principal and value-based, RARE (Responsible, Accountable, Relevant and Ethical) leadership model, as the most effective leadership approach. Popular perceptions suggest that, under the leadership of Jacob Zuma, the reality surrounding the leadership of many African countries has now also become the reality of South Africa. This article makes a distinction between ‘leadership as influence’ and ‘leadership with character’ – the latter embodied in the attributes of Ngambi’s RARE leadership model. Ngambi recommends that further studies be conducted to explore the application of RARE leadership. Referring to the controversial Nkandla case, in which unlawful conduct and maladministration was found to have occurred in relation to the upgrades of Jacob Zuma’s private residence, this paper explores the applicability of the RARE leadership model to an assessment of the leadership of South Africa’s president.  Â

Automated Processing of Personal Data for the Evaluation of Personality Traits: Legal and Ethical Issues

This paper examines the approach under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to profiling and (automated) decision-making as well as the corresponding legal and ethical implications. The definition of profiling under the GDPR is analysed in relation to different degrees of automation when it comes to decision-making based on the processing of personal or non-personal data. A two-step approach to profiling and decision-making, which can be found in the structure and wording of the GDPR, is described and analysed. It is argued that the use of this model helps understand how profiling and decision-making are conducted and how the two steps are interconnected. Furthermore, the two-step approach allows to identify various legal implications of profiling and the corresponding decision-making, such as those related to privacy and economic freedom. Further, the discussion of ethical aspects draws on two recent and controversial use cases. The first example deals with discriminatory effects that may result from profiling. The second one concerns opaque automated decision-making in the context of credit scoring. This ethical assessment is based on the ethical framework supplied by the wording of the GDPR.

A Controversial Case of Ajay Singh – Spice Jet takeover

India's Security Market regulator.i.e., Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) thinks that the most important regulation of the Indian Securities Market that is the Take Over Code has been through a tough time and has been tested quite a few times due to numerous corporate takeover clashes and struggles in India. Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) having the main aim and purpose of protecting the rights of shareholders being affected due to the corporate takeovers is very strict regarding the application of the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011. However, the proper application of the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011 has been very ambiguous and the interpretation of the same depends upon case to case coming before the Board's ambit. Many loopholes have been found and are continuously under the scrutiny of SEBI. Reacting to the evolving times, Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has actively taken part in making fundamental changes and amending Takeover Code from time to time to be at par with the changing society and international standards of takeover and merger regimes. SEBI has also provided us with many clarifications on the provisions of the Takeover Code. But one such instance where SEBI went easy on the party was during the takeover of the low-cost airline Spice jet. The takeover in 2015 was very unique because of two major reasons. They are: • It noticed the comeback of Mr. Ajay Singh, the co-founder of the carrier airline who had left the business a few years ago. • And it was also one of the first instances where the purchase price of the takeover was not mentioned and no mandatory open offer was made to the existing shareholders of the airline company. Besides all the controversy in place, SEBI decided that the entire takeover procedure was legitimate and the exemption for not making a mandatory open offer to the existing shareholders of the company was correct in place and was in accordance with the Regulations in the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011. This paper will be giving the necessary details about the background of the deal, will analyse dynamics of the transaction and will also discuss about the controversy involved with this deal and what the Authorities decided.

Archives in Africa: an Overview with Examples of Recent Initiatives

There are between 195 and 200 countries in the world (depending upon whether or not certain controversial cases are included), of which 54 are in Africa. All of these countries have some sort of archives service in one or more institutions, and there are usually around 195 countries represented in the membership of the International Council on Archives (ICA). The archival collections which are universally held are governmental archives. Every country with membership of ICA has an archives service which collects and preserves records of national government, in part or in whole. A great majority of ICA member countries (but not all) also hold archives of local, municipal or regional government, as well as collections of parliamentary papers (which are generally regarded as distinct from papers of government).

Una novela criminal

that the narration is sometimes punctuated by observations originating from what appears to be the author’s voice adds to this impression. For example, the last page features comments directed at readers: “you find this character to be less than convincing ” and “what you find most shocking.” At once playful and directive, these instances of metacommentary ask readers to reconsider their initial reading. Edward Ousselin Western Washington University Jorge Volpi Una novela criminal Madrid. Alfaguara. 2018. 504 pages. Mexican novelist Jorge Volpi has won the 2018 Alfaguara Novel Prize with Una novela criminal, a documentary novel examining the use of illegal tactics by Mexican law enforcement in the fight against the scourge of kidnappings that has afflicted the country for decades. On December 9, 2005, Mexican police staged the capture of Israel Vallarta and Florence Cassez, whom they claimed were the ringleaders of a kidnapping gang later named the Zodiacs. Mexico’s major multimedia conglomerates covered the farce on live television and, along with police authorities, perpetuated a hoax that led to the torture and destruction of many innocent people. The police rolled out three kidnapping victims, who likely were real victims of an unrelated case, for display in broadcasts that created permanent doubt and confusion in the Mexican populace regarding the guilt or innocence of the accused. In the broadcasts, Vallarta, who had obviously been tortured and was under duress, was coerced into answering questions from reporters. The authorities, and in all probability the media, did not expect their fiction to be exposed. Vallarta and Cassez were not arrested on December 9 but on an earlier date. Additionally, no one had foreseen the impact that Cassez’s arrest would have for the case. Cassez, a citizen of France who was originally sentenced to ninety-six years in prison, garnered the support of two French presidents in her seven-year tribulation in Mexican jails before finally gaining her freedom in 2013. As the travesty was exposed, the authorities continued to promulgate the idea that Israel was the ringleader of the Zodiac gang, and other members of his family were arrested, tortured , and jailed. Although he has not been sentenced, more than twelve years after the nightmare in which he was forced to participate in his own staged capture by Mexican authorities, Vallarta remains in prison. Prior to 2008, when Mexico instituted judicial reforms, there was no presumption of innocence in the country’s courts. The author sadly notes that many of the changes, which are on the books, have yet to materialize in practice. Volpi, an accomplished writer interested in ethical issues, skillfully re-creates the events of this egregious violation of civil and human rights. Although he characterizes his work as a “novela documental” or a “novela sin ficción,” he admits that there are places where he has used his imagination to fill voids in the records and coverage of these events. He also struggles to sort out the fictions from the facts of the case. Over a three-year period, he read everything written about this episode, reviewed all related media, and interviewed many of the principal participants. With this preparation , he thoroughly dissects this highly controversial and complex case, introducing numerous institutions and powerful Hwang Sok-yong Familiar Things Trans. Sora Kim-Russell Scribe Renowned Korean author Hwang Sok-yong blends the biting hardships of Korea’s political and economic landscape with elements of the fantastic when a boy living on a landfill island discovers ancient spirits. Hwang’s writing is rich with symbolism, cautionary lessons, and the potential for redemption in a society that has forgotten how to cherish both things and people. Jin Eun-young We, Day by Day Trans. Daniel Parker & YoungShil Ji White Pine Press Korean poet Jin Eun-young returns for her fourth volume of verse as she stakes out territory that is both surreal and evocative. With poems that mine philosophical as well as emotional veins, We, Day by Day will dazzle readers with its rapid-fire patter of images, ideas, and inventive forms. Nota Bene WORLDLIT.ORG 81 individuals within and outside the Mexican government who played, or may have played, a role in this ongoing injustice. With Una...

A Federal Question Doctrine for EU Fundamental Rights Law: Making Sense of Articles 51 and 53 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights

The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (Charter) has attracted both praise and criticism. The specific critique is that there is no way of knowing where the stopping point for the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) reaching into national law is. On one level, this is the problem of how easily the jurisdiction of the CJEU in fundamental rights cases is triggered: it is addressed by Article 51 of the Charter and the sometimes very controversial case law thereunder. On another level, however, the question becomes what room is left for rights protected under national or international law, even if the CJEU may have jurisdiction over the matter. This is addressed by Article 53 of the Charter, which, unfortunately, does not receive sufficient attention in the case law. Accordingly, there does not appear much, if any, room for deviation from the EU standard. This is due to the fact that, somewhat counterintuitively, EU fundamental rights law is often perceived as dealing with powers rather than rights. Using US law as a point of comparison, it will be argued that the focus needs to shift back to rights, which must lie at the heart of a more comprehensive EU fundamental rights doctrine. The argument will proceed as follows: first, I will explain the lack of coherence in EU fundamental rights law, which is in particular due to an unsatisfactory trade-off between a competency-based approach and a pure rights rationale. Second, I will argue that a more fruitful interaction between Article 51 of the Charter (dealing with EU jurisdiction), and Article 53 (dealing with standards of rights protection) would improve this trade-off. Third, I will show that re-focusing on rights would make room for a more coherent and comprehensive EU fundamental rights doctrine that would also fit into EU internal market, citizenship, and private law.

Gender, Vulnerability, and the Optics of Violence: The Case of Afiya Siddiqui

Gender, Vulnerability, and the Optics of ViolenceThe Case of Afiya Siddiqui Khanum Shaikh (bio) To call the frame into question is to show that the frame never quite contained the scene it was meant to limn, that something was already outside, which made the very sense of the inside possible, recognizable. The frame never quite determined precisely what it is that we see, think, recognize, and apprehend. Something exceeds the frame that troubles our sense of reality; in other words, something occurs that does not conform to our established understanding of things. Judith Butler, Frames of War, 9 introduction In March 2003 the FBI issued an alert requesting information about Afiya Siddiqui, a Muslim woman of Pakistani origin who had been living in the United States since 1990. The FBI alert claimed that Khalid Sheikh Mohammad—one of the masterminds of the 911 attacks on the US—had implicated Siddiqui as someone who had provided administrative support for Al-Qaeda operations in the US. This was the first time the FBI had issued a notice linking a woman with Al-Qaeda’s operations. Then Attorney General John Ashcroft named Siddiqui as one of the seven most wanted Al-Qaeda fugitives and described her as “armed and dangerous” and as a “terrorist facilitator.”1 The US media also began circulating Siddiqui’s name, referring to her often as “Lady Al-Qaeda” or “Al-Qaeda Mom” or “Mata Hari of Al-Qaeda,” and casting her as a dangerous female terrorist.2 Seven years later, in 2010, a US criminal court convicted Siddiqui for attempted assault against US Army personnel in Afghanistan. What is especially noteworthy about this case is that Siddiqui was never charged with or convicted of terrorist activity, even as she has continued to [End Page 29] serve an eighty-six-year prison sentence for her criminal conviction since 2010 at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell, in Fort Worth, Texas. Siddiqui’s controversial case animated two contrasting discourses about Muslim women in the war on terror in the US and in Pakistan. In the US criminal case Siddiqui emerged as a threat to US national security and as a potentially dangerous agent of violence with links to global terrorist networks. Conversely, in Pakistan, her trial ignited a movement of protest among religio-political groups who deemed the criminal trial to be a cover-up for her enforced abduction and secret detention in joint US-Pakistan counterterrorism operations. In these mobilizations, Siddiqui is deployed as an injured and pious daughter of Pakistan who has suffered violations at the hand of US imperial power and its collaborations with a corrupt and weak Pakistani state rather than as an agent of violence herself. In this essay I juxtapose the mobilizations of Afiya Siddiqui as a deeply violated victim-subject of the war on terror among her supporters in Pakistan, on the one hand, with her emergence in the US criminal trial as an agent of violence and a threat to US national security, on the other. My review draws on feminist analyses of nationalism and nationalist movements and the centrality of the gendered body to the articulation of religio-political and nationalist projects.3 In Pakistan I examine the political and emotional force of her deployment within an “Islam vs. West” binary that posits Siddiqui’s imprisonment in the US as Western domination over an emasculated Pakistani state, and her recovery as a religious and moral obligation. I also build on Ramzi Kassem’s analysis of the gendered erasures in the war on terror, in which he examines how the US government’s strategy of regulating the optics of the violence in the extraterritorial front of the war on terror (i.e., its policies of rendition, detentions in secret prisons, interrogation practices, civilian deaths by drone strikes, etc.) is central to it self-production as a beacon of women’s rights, human rights, and democracy. To consider how various moments in her US trial produce her as a “possibly terrorist” subject who does not elicit sympathy, I draw on Judith Butler’s analysis of the mechanisms through which certain populations are “cast as threats to human life as we know it rather...

Science and Politics During the Cold War – The Controversial Case of Sexology in Communist Romania

The paper investigates how formal/informal networks of scientists, while facilitating the scientific West-East transfer in the Cold War context, shaped the scientific field of sexology by imposing personal scientific credos, in a particular national context. The paper shows that in the Cold War context, sexual science was present in Communist Romania, but neither as imitation of the regional scholarship, nor as a simple reproduction of western advancements in the field. The post-war Romanian scholarship in the field of sexology was the result of scientific interests of Stefan Milcu – long time party protégée and respected member of the international scientific community – and of its personal circle that included remarkable personalities such as Victor Săhleanu or Tudor Stoica. Presenting the public with information about sexual and re­productive functions, and sometimes even elaborated descriptions of sexual techniques, certainly was never meant to enhance the individual gratification or provoke any form of sexual revolution. The Romanian production of sex/educational manuals and of sexology works was part of a state policy towards a better, stable, family life, aiming for collective and social happiness.

A Menagerie of Moral Hazards: Regulating Genetically Modified Animals

Dairy cattle naturally grow long and dangerous horns. So as a protective measure, farmers permanently remove calves' small horns through a painful procedure. Recently, scientists have used modern genetic editing techniques to create dairy cattle that never develop horns, and so never need to be dehorned. The regulatory fate of these genetically dehorned cattle may be bound up with numerous more controversial cases from the same rapidly diversifying field: the genetic editing of animals. Or, at least so it could be under draft FDA guidance which closed for public commentary in June 2017. The FDA's challenge is to chart a flexible regulatory course. One which will support the potential of gene-editing technology, while staking out the boundaries of acceptable risks - i.e. the ethical boundaries - of the looming CRISPR zoo. Here we review the background to the draft guidance, as well as the scathing comments it received from disparate interest groups. The comments show that to foster public trust in how gene-editing technologies are used, it is imperative that the FDA re-engage with all stakeholders, including the public at large. In their draft guidance, the FDA proposed to regulate intentionally altered genomic DNA of animals as a drug being evaluated for use in animals. The originally altered animal, and all its progeny, would be subject to the animal drug regulations. They put out a call for comments on these proposed amendments. As we discuss here, a mere handful of the 151 comments they received were supportive, and most were extremely critical, including those from the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA). We argue that the FDA's proposals as they stand are unsatisfactory and should be withdrawn.

의료기관윤리위원회 활성화 방안: 임상윤리자문팀*

New legislation on hospice-palliative care and end-of-life decision-making in Korea comes into effect in February 2018. Hospital Ethics Committees (HECs) will play a key role in deciding controversial cases. HECs have existed in Korea for decades, but most of their work has been directed toward dispute mediation. With the new legislation coming into effect, HECs will now concentrate on end-of-life issues. However, since there are many other ethical issues that arise in clinical practice, the roles of HECs need to be reconsidered and perhaps reconfigured. Since HECs tend to convene on a monthly basis, they are illequipped to deal with end-of-life decisions, which often must be made within hours or a few days. Clinical ethics consultation teams can bridge the gap between the urgent demands of clinical practice and the slower and more formal activities of HECs. This article argues that it is necessary for HECs to delegate some of their roles or responsibilities to clinical ethics consultation teams.

Solving the two-dimensional Schrödinger equation using basis truncation: A hands-on review and a controversial case

Solutions of the Schrodinger equation by spanning the wave function in a complete basis is a common practice in many-body interacting systems. We shall study the case of a two-dimensional quantum system composed of two interacting spinless electrons and see that the correctness of the matrix approach depends inexplicably on the type of interaction existing between particles. Also, we shall extend the present study to other systems of special interest in order to ilustrate the method.

Violation and Confirmation of the Law: The Intricate Effects of the Invocation of the Law in Armed Conflict

Within the jus contra bellum there is an apparent contradiction between states’ verbal commitments to the law and the prevalence of armed conflicts. Taking this contradiction as a starting point, this article aims to provide empirical insights into how states invoke international law to justify their participation in armed conflicts. It develops a typology of how law can be confirmed by its invocation, taking an inductive approach based on case analysis. Do recent military interventions indicate a decline of international law? This article argues that there are three dimensions of confirmation. Firstly, law can be confirmed as an instrument of communication between states. Secondly, in a set of uncontroversial cases, the specific substantive rules of international law are confirmed through what is described as coherent practice. Thirdly, the article explains why even in controversial cases substantive rules may be confirmed through their invocation, even where the action is in fact illegal.