Modes Of Resolution Research Articles

Review of <i>Representing Justice: Invention, Controversy, and Rights in City-States and Democratic Courtrooms</i> by Judith Resnik and Dennis Curtis (Yale University Press, New Haven, 2011)

“Monumental” is the best way to describe Judith Resnik and Dennis Curtis’s tome, Representing Justice, which features over 250 images depicting the rich, complex, and often fraught relationship between art and adjudication. The reader is invited to join the authors through their inquisitive meanderings through cities, palaces, museums and courtrooms to uncover how cultures and societies have translated ideas about justice into art. Far from simply being a paean to justice-themed art, however, the book uses the plasticity of justice as a visual symbol to critique our single-minded focus on justice as a “first virtue.” By fixing our gaze too tightly on justice, we have lost sight of the other virtues required of institutions that govern complex, diverse societies that aspire to democratic self-rule. Despite their worries about justice’s ultimate inadequacy, however the authors’ tone is nostalgic and reverential. They ultimately lament the disappearance of traditional courtrooms in favor of alternative modes of dispute resolution. Critics may ask whether the two main lines of critique in the book — of our overreliance on the idea of justice on the one hand, and of the gradual obsolescence of the public ideal of justice as a result of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, on the other — pull in separate directions, but no critic can fail to be dazzled by the artistic and philosophical scope of the book.

Geography, China's Path and State-Society Relations: Redressing Western Misinterpretations

The complexity of China's state-society relations is often underestimated, or completely neglected, by Western commentators, journalists, politicians and, at times, academics. There especially seems to be a lack of theoretical ideas and systematic analysis in geographical studies. The overall outcome of said underestimation is the proliferation of misinterpretations on the meaning-sense of evolving relational configurations between power, people and places in China. Hence the Western ability (institutions and common people) to understand and judge, as objectively as possible, ongoing socio-economic and political trends in China, its hybrid experimental path and general development trajectory, is concretely invalidated. Starting from this standpoint and drawing from different sources, this paper first suggests that the changing characteristics of the current Chinese multi-scalar politico-socio-economic processes cannot be simply reduced to “capitalism.” Secondly, to get a better understanding of China in a comparative perspective — by analyzing the country's direction of development and governance — I summarize some instructive traits of state-society relations, arguing that the nature and significance of these differ, when they are not quite the reverse, from the prevailing (mis) interpretations by Western agents. I specifically refer to the need to (re)interpret two points from a comparative standpoint: a) the state's popular legitimacy and socio-economic dynamism, and b) the variegated modes of conflict resolution and financial governance.

Measurement of the native oxide thickness on a reference relief pitch structure on a single-crystal silicon substrate

A reference relief pitch structure formed on a single-crystal silicon surface is investigated. The structure consists of trapezoidal elements (protrusions) with a pitch of 2 μm. The protrusions with upper bases of about 100 and 10 nm are located in one chip. The lateral surface of the element is tilted relative to its base by an angle of 54.7°. The entire structure is coated with the native oxide formed at room temperature. The oxide thickness is measured on an atomic-resolution transmission electron microscope in the mode of direct resolution of the crystal structure. In the measurements, the known distance between the {111} planes was used. It is established that the native oxide thickness depends on the sizes of both the protrusion’s upper base and bottom profile between the neighboring protrusions. It is demonstrated experimentally that in the region of the bottom, the native oxide thickness increases from 2.4 nm in the center of the bottom to 5 nm at the left and right bottom edges.

Probing nuclear activity versus star formation at z ∼ 0.8 using near-infrared multi-object spectroscopy

We present near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic observations of 28 X-ray and mid-infrared selected sources at a median redshift of z~0.8 in the Extended Groth Strip (EGS). To date this is the largest compilation of NIR spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGN) at this redshift. The data were obtained using the multi-object spectroscopic mode of the Long-slit Intermediate Resolution Infrared Spectrograph (LIRIS) at the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope (WHT). These galaxies are representative of a larger sample studied in a previous work, consisting of over a hundred X-ray selected sources with mid-infrared counterparts, which were classified either as AGN-dominated or host galaxy-dominated, depending on the shape of their spectral energy distributions (SEDs). Here we present new NIR spectra of 13 and 15 sources of each class respectively. We detect the H alpha line at > 1.5 sigma above the continuum for the majority of the galaxies. Using attenuation-corrected H alpha luminosities and observed Spitzer/MIPS 24 micron fluxes, and after subtracting an AGN component estimated using an AGN empirical correlation and multi-frequency SED fits, we obtain average star formation rates (SFRs) of 7+/-7 and 20+/-50 Msun/yr respectively (median SFRs = 7 and 5 Msun/yr). These values are lower than the SFRs reported in the literature for different samples of non-active star-forming galaxies of similar stellar masses and redshifts (M* ~ 10^11 Msun and z~1). In spite of the small size of the sample studied here, as well as the uncertainty affecting the AGN-corrected SFRs, we speculate with the possibility of AGN quenching the star formation in galaxies at z~0.8. Alternatively, we might be seeing a delay between the offset of the star formation and AGN activity, as observed in the local universe.

How to Know the Truth: Accommodating Religious Belief in the Law of Libel

While religious pluralism, liberty and equality are now general cultural and legal expectations in the UK, the history of interplay between religious identities is one of intellectually - and sometimes physically - violent discord. Today, religious frictions persist as an inevitable facet of a plural society. Both low-level antipathies and serious religious disputes are driven by such factors as long-standing and incipient factionalism within religious groupings, more or less aggressive secularist critique, and resentment among some faiths of the proselytizing zeal of others. From time to time, the law of libel is invoked to resolve disputes engendered by religious difference, notwithstanding that it is inherently difficult for any purportedly neutral, secular law properly to adjudicate between competing conceptions of the righteous and the good. This paper proceeds in four parts. First, we outline the basic features of English libel law to underpin the subsequent discussion. Secondly, we suggest a typology of criticism of religious faiths and their adherents, and indicate how each type of allegation would be countenanced by the law. Thirdly, we criticize the approach adopted by the English courts to one type of allegation: those that involve specific allegations of fact but which rest on questions of religious doctrine. We find that by abjuring any role on grounds of non-justiciability and deference to religious modes of dispute resolution, the courts may systematize the disadvantage of already marginalized groups. Finally, we suggest a conceptually and jurisprudentially preferable manner for the resolution of such cases that would properly ensure the neutrality of libel law as between disparate views on questions of religious faith.

Litigation as dispute resolution mechanism in Islamic finance: Malaysian experience

Litigation as the popular mode of dispute resolution in Islamic finance has proven inadequate in its application and interpretation of Shariah. Trails of Islamic finance cases have shown that civil court judges have no problems deciding on the civil law issues pertaining to Islamic finance, however, they are unsuited for adjudicating the Shariah issues. Section 55–58 of the Central Bank Act 2009 accords formal recognition to the Shariah Advisory Council (SAC) as their rulings is binding to the Islamic financial institutions and the courts. Post 2009 have seen that cases of law challenged the said sections as unconstitutional. The objective of this paper is to analyse the role of SAC either as expert ascertain or expert determination of the rulings on Islamic finance. In the course of discussion, s. 55–58 of Central Bank of Malaysia Act 2009 and Article 121(1) of the Constitution are analysed. Findings of the study showed that the role of SAC is merely expert ascertain of the rulings since they have no judicial power. Islamic financial law is divine in nature and different from the man made laws.

Arbitration & Alternative Dispute Resolution in India: Issues & Challenges in International Commercial Arbitration

Despite the increasing inflow of foreign capital in the Indian economy, India’s potential to attract to attract FDI from the world has not yet been fully trapped most probably due to the lack of an efficient dispute resolution system in the country. Due to the slow pace of the Indian Courts, Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 was introduced as a solution to the international commercial settlement disputes in India.Arbitration law in India is modeled on the UNCITRAL Model of arbitration which empowers the parties to resolve disputes without approaching the Court of Law which has made it the preferred mode of dispute resolution in international commercial transactions of India. The 1996 Act provides choices to the parties in international commercial arbitration for deciding the nature of arbitration like ad hoc arbitration, institutional arbitration, where retired judges of High Courts/ Supreme Courts acts as arbitrators. These dispute resolution methods lacks efficiency due to the lack of ability on part of retired judges to work efficiently, or the time consuming factor where it takes 3-5 years for settlement. Even low fees payable at institutional arbitration to arbitrators is a hindrance in the commercial arbitration, as it does not have good arbitrators working in it.Furthermore, International arbitration outside India attracts disputing parties to enlist the services outside India. International arbitration outside India can be held under the auspices of institutions like London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the ICC International Court of Arbitration (ICC), the American Arbitration Association (AAA), the World Intellectual Property Arbitration (WIPO), the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce and the International Council for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) which provide procedural rules, fixed arbitration costs, and various support services which are is big issue/challenge for the dispute resolution for Indian contexts. The paper would provide suggestions with respect to Enforcement of Foreign Awards in India, lowering of bias or fraud in dispute resolution.

How to wage warfare without going to war?

AbstractWhy did the USSR not become involved in the Second World War from autumn 1939, while waging its own wars? Why did France and Britain not declare war on the Soviets when the Red Army crossed the Polish border? The answers lie in breaking down the barriers between diplomatic and military histories of the USSR and reading Stalin’s discourse and practices in autumn 1939 in the wider European context of external policies of intervention and aggression. A compelling argument can be made that the lack of reaction to the Soviet aggression of Poland and its demands on the Baltic states in autumn 1939 arose from the ambiguous situation created by the pact and from the splintered vision of conflict that was characteristic of the interwar period. Those who saw the war in terms of the need to resist two forms of totalitarianism in 1939 were few and far between. In Moscow, theoreticians and practitioners of international relations and law shared much in the way of reading and experience with their European counterparts when it came to observing modes of aggression and conflict resolution. Political differences and ideological struggles across Europe did not hinder the formation of a transnational repertoire of types of discourse and practices understood and called on by the USSR. On the other hand, Moscow did maintain specific policies marked by revolutionary convictions: only when these were publicly held up to legitimise warfare did they meet with overtly hostile reactions, as shown by the Winter War.

Comment faire la guerre sans y aller ?. La guerre de 1939 de Stalin vue à travers le prisme des autres agressions contemporaines

AbstractWhy did the USSR not become involved in the Second World War from autumn 1939, while waging its own wars? Why did France and Britain not declare war on the Soviets when the Red Army crossed the Polish border? The answers lie in breaking down the barriers between diplomatic and military histories of the USSR and reading Stalin’s discourse and practices in autumn 1939 in the wider European context of external policies of intervention and aggression. A compelling argument can be made that the lack of reaction to the Soviet aggression of Poland and its demands on the Baltic states in autumn 1939 arose from the ambiguous situation created by the pact and from the splintered vision of conflict that was characteristic of the interwar period. Those who saw the war in terms of the need to resist two forms of totalitarianism in 1939 were few and far between. In Moscow, theoreticians and practitioners of international relations and law shared much in the way of reading and experience with their European counterparts when it came to observing modes of aggression and conflict resolution. Political differences and ideological struggles across Europe did not hinder the formation of a transnational repertoire of types of discourse and practices understood and called on by the USSR. On the other hand, Moscow did maintain specific policies marked by revolutionary convictions: only when these were publicly held up to legitimise warfare did they meet with overtly hostile reactions, as shown by the Winter War.

ADR and Independent Dispute Evaluation

The combination of lawyers’ economic self-interest, caseload demands, knowledge deficiencies and employer and opponent behavior in many instances creates a situation where clients would be wise to obtain the medical equivalent of second opinions in determining how to resolve legal disputes or evaluate the consequences of important transactions. As I attempt to show in the analysis clients often receive inferior service as well as being subjected to processes that serve the financial interests of their lawyers rather than their own. The analysis contained here focuses solely on dispute resolution as offering a bundle of distinct and overlapping methods available to attempt to resolve a client’s dispute in the most effective manner possible. It is a pragmatic analysis that avoids the morally preferential connotations of ADR as being a preferable approach compared to authoritative litigation. For this analysis the only principle is that of providing the client with the best outcome that can be reasonably achieved through whatever mode of dispute resolution that can be identified as being the most effective approach. This might be something as simple as not joining in a dispute because the financial, time, energy and emotional costs are such that even a “successful” outcome is a loss when judged according to a critical parameter. The argument made here is that there is a need for a consultative tier of independent case and transaction evaluators who are capable of providing clients with honest evaluations of the disputes and transactions in ways that ensure that a client’s primary lawyers come to realize they are answerable for their conduct. Of course, there should not be a need for such second opinions in relation to the quality of service provided people seeking legal help because we already owe it to clients to provide pragmatic and detailed evaluations about what approaches are possible and preferable. This includes the outcome probabilities for each path of action, the strengths and weaknesses of each side of the dispute, the timing and conditions of how the interactions are likely to play out, and the costs of the dispute depending on how the parties proceed. Objective evaluative counseling is one of the most difficult aspects of a lawyer’s provision of quality professional services to a client and for various reasons is an area in which lawyers often fail their clients.

Getting Divorced Online: Procedural and Outcome Justice in Online Divorce Mediation

In this paper we discuss a study of the experiences of 126 individuals who participated in online divorce mediation in The Netherlands. Divorce is a dispute in which the parties have to distribute a large pool of assets and responsibilities. The distributive dimension of divorce substantiates the expectation that one of the parties may be more content with the outcome than the other. The results of the study show that the divorcees do not differ substantially in how they perceive the quality of the procedure and the quality of the outcome. Both parties assigned relatively high scores to both the procedure and the outcome. This finding suggests that the online mediation process and its outcome are perceived as equally fair by both parties. However, there is a noticeable distinction within the couples in the reported costs of the procedure. Men tend to report higher monetary and time costs, whereas women are more concerned with the intangible costs of the online mediation – negative emotions and damage to important relationships. Overall, our findings suggest that online divorce mediation is a viable alternative to both offline mediation and other more traditional modes of dispute resolution in divorce.

Post-adversarial and post-inquisitorial justice: Transcending traditional penological paradigms

Criminal justice systems are under constant strain. Rising case loads, crowded court dockets, growing prison populations and high recidivism rates have resulted in growing frustration with systems that have been criticized as being expensive, out of date, complex, unfair, slow and lacking regard for victims of crime and for the public generally. One consequence of these criticisms has been a search for different and innovative methods of dealing with crime and associated social problems. In a number of common law countries, theories and practices of restorative justice and therapeutic jurisprudence have developed, creating more inclusive, optimistic and positive frameworks for justice systems and transforming the ways in which dispute resolution systems are conceived of and operate. In these jurisdictions, the growth of interest in different modes of dispute resolution reflects a deep disenchantment with the traditional, confrontational techniques that are inherent in the common law adversarial system. Though therapeutic jurisprudence and restorative justice are the best-known of such theories, they are not the only ones to have been developed, articulated and practised. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that some of these innovations could be considered by inquisitorial systems, albeit with due regard to the historical, political and cultural differences between the two systems. It argues that adversarial and inquisitorial justice systems should be transformed rather than hybridized, hence the terms ‘postadversarial’ and ‘post-inquisitorial’ justice.

Jürgen Habermas and Islamic fundamentalism: on the limits of discourse ethics

Using the example of contemporary Islamic fundamentalism, and especially the writings of Sayyid Qutb, this article raises questions about discourse ethics as a mode of conflict resolution. It appears that discourse ethics is only relevant when all parties have already agreed to settle disputes deliberatively and already share the notions of rational deliberation and individual autonomy. This raises questions not only about the capability of discourse ethics to incorporate a deep plurality of worldviews, but also about its capability to successfully solve disputes. When confronting situations where the willingness to deliberate is absent, discourse ethics is left standing empty handed. This, I argue, is due to both the conceptual distinction between communicative action and strategic action, as well as the abstracted nature of Habermas's discourse ethics.

Singing with conviction: New Zealand prisons and Maori populations

This article describes the Singing with Conviction pilot project (SWCPP) facilitated by Arts Access Aotearoa in the New Zealand prison system in 200405. The pilot project was modelled in part on competitive prison singing groups in South Africa, with adaptations made for the New Zealand cultural context. The analysis proceeds in two steps. First, I describe the pilot project, placing it in relation to a more-encompassing arts strategy for marginalized prison populations. Second, I explore ethnic dimensions of the SWCPP related to New Zealand's Maori population, quantifying the disproportionate representation of Maori persons in New Zealand's prisons and summarizing recent efforts to incorporate indigenous Maori modes of punishment and dispute resolution within New Zealand's criminal justice system. I conclude with general reflections on how a prison choir project might better serve a bicultural population.

Conflict resolution in the parent–child, marital, and peer contexts and children’s aggression in the peer group: A process-oriented cultural perspective.

Theories of socialization propose that children's ability to handle conflicts is learned at home through mechanisms of participation and observation-participating in parent-child conflict and observing the conflicts between parents. We assessed modes of conflict resolution in the parent-child, marriage, and peer-group contexts among 141 Israeli and Palestinian families and their 1st-born toddler. We observed the ecology of parent-child conflict during home visits, the couple's discussion of marital conflicts, and children's conflicts with peers as well as aggressive behavior at child care. Israeli families used more open-ended tactics, including negotiation and disregard, and conflict was often resolved by compromise, whereas Palestinian families tended to consent or object. During marital discussions, Israeli couples showed more emotional empathy, whereas Palestinians displayed more instrumental solutions. Modes of conflict resolution across contexts were interrelated in culture-specific ways. Child aggression was predicted by higher marital hostility, more coparental undermining behavior, and ineffective discipline in both cultures. Greater family compromise and marital empathy predicted lower aggression among Israeli toddlers, whereas more resolution by consent predicted lower aggression among Palestinians. Considering the cultural basis of conflict resolution within close relationships may expand understanding on the roots of aggression.

Towards a socio-legal theory of contractual risk

- This paper deals with the risk of opportunism the usual risk in economic exchanges. Breach of contract is probably the most common event in daily life and has therefore attracted research and debates in many disciplines of the social sciences. This discussion deals with the current knowledge of the ways in which societies are coping with the risk of opportunism, distinguishing between three approaches with ascending degrees of complexity: theories of institutional support of contractual exchanges, theories of relational trust and theories of social systems of trust. As demonstrated in Fig. 1 these theories are chosen among many other competing approaches. Rather than being replaced by institutional economics or economic sociology, socio-legal knowledge is a necessary and valuable ingredient for theories of contractual risk. Without our knowledge of the protection of property rights in a particular society, of choices between formal and informal modes of conflict resolution made by business people or consumers, of obstacles in court proceedings and of problems when a lawyer is consulted, our neighbour disciplines come to either over-optimistic conclusions as regards institutional trust or to oversimplified models as regards personal trust and relationships.

Mediation – A Cultural Change

The growth of mediation in Hong Kong has gathered strength in recent years, and the introduction of the Civil Justice Reform will no doubt enhance the popularity of this mode of dispute resolution. This article discusses whether this growth in mediation has come at great expense to Hong Kong’s cultural beliefs and attitudes. When a dispute arises, the common practice is for the parties to use all means to win, whether they are right or wrong. This often results in endless litigation and deeply felt resentment between both parties. This article suggests that mediation is slowly overcoming this negative cultural attitude and that, with perseverance, mediation will greatly contribute to a culture of peace.

Involvement of Artemis in nonhomologous end-joining during immunoglobulin class switch recombination

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) introduced in the switch (S) regions are intermediates during immunoglobulin class switch recombination (CSR). These breaks are subsequently recognized, processed, and joined, leading to recombination of the two S regions. Nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) is believed to be the principle mechanism involved in DSB repair during CSR. One important component in NHEJ, Artemis, has however been considered to be dispensable for efficient CSR. In this study, we have characterized the S recombinational junctions from Artemis-deficient human B cells. Sμ–Sα junctions could be amplified from all patients tested and were characterized by a complete lack of “direct” end-joining and a remarkable shift in the use of an alternative, microhomology-based end-joining pathway. Sμ–Sγ junctions could only be amplified from one patient who carries “hypomorphic” mutations. Although these Sμ–Sγ junctions appear to be normal, a significant increase of an unusual type of sequential switching from immunoglobulin (Ig)M, through one IgG subclass, to a different IgG subclass was observed, and the Sγ–Sγ junctions showed long microhomologies. Thus, when the function of Artemis is impaired, varying modes of CSR junction resolution may be used for different S regions. Our findings strongly link Artemis to the predominant NHEJ pathway during CSR.

Beyond Contract - The Case for Default Arbitration in International Commercial Disputes

Arbitration is a creature of contract. It is a mode of dispute resolution which is only available to parties who have agreed to resort to it. Yet, it is widely perceived as the most suitable and the dominant method for the settlement of international commercial disputes. Why is it, then, that parties must opt in for a solution which appears as the most natural one in the community? The Article explores whether arbitration could become a default solution and thus lose its contractual foundation. The core of the Article discusses the numerous objections that such a proposition raises. Most importantly, I argue that the legitimacy of arbitrators would not be significantly lower than the legitimacy of courts, and that recent developments in specialized fields of international arbitration have shown that arbitrators can serve the public functions of courts. At the end of the Article, a model of non-consensual arbitration is proposed.

Pattern of human bites of the oro-facial region and the indigenous mode of resolution of the resultant conflict: University of Benin Teaching Hospital experience.

Human bite, especially involving the oro-facial region with the attendant aesthetic damage and psychological morbidity, would ordinarily attract legal action. The objective of this report is to present the pattern of human bite of the oro-facial region observed in patient victims at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital and to highlight the contribution of the indigenous mode of resolution of the resultant conflict. In a three year prospective study (2000 - 2003), six cases of oro-facial assault presented. The lower lips was involved in five of the six cases, the upper lip in one case while the nose was involved in one of those involving the lower lip. In all the six cases, there was indigenous social support and no legal action. It is concluded that the traditional support of this concept led to the early peaceful resolution of the conflicts in this community Keywords: Human bite, oro-facial regionNigerian Dental Journal Vol. 15 (1) 2007: pp. 52-55