National Resolution Research Articles

Real world data for real world problems: Importance of appropriate spatial resolution modelling to inform decision makers in marine management

Effective management of marine ecosystems requires informed decision-making based on accurate, comprehensive and appropriate data. Mapping habitats can form an important part of these processes so that decision makers can ensure the pressures exerted by human activities can be assessed while considering the sensitivity of the environment. Predictive models can be utilised to understand the distribution of species and habitats (e.g. biotopes) without incurring the expense of wide scale surveys. If predictive models are used in decision-making care must be taken in interpreting model results. The spatial resolution at which habitat modelling is conducted can greatly influence the decision outcomes. Whilst national resolution habitat maps serve as valuable resources for informing overarching policy making, for development level decisions fine resolution habitat information is needed. This paper explores the importance of spatial resolution modelling in marine management decision-making processes, using four spatial resolutions (50 m, 100 m, 200 m and 500 m) to model the presence of a protected habitat, maerl beds, within the Fetlar-Haroldswick Marine Protected Area in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. Outputs were compared for model performance between the resolutions and area of modelled maerl bed coverage. Simulations of real-world marine activities, explore the magnitude of overlap attributable to varied spatial resolution models, with an emphasis on the presumed ‘need’ for management. This study shows the importance of considering spatial resolution in modelling outputs and highlights the challenges associated with using models to guide decision-making, direct pressures on protected habitats, and cumulative impacts. It carries significance for maximising economic opportunity while safeguarding marine features. For real-world applications coarse resolution data may suffice for strategic, large-scale decisions, but finer resolutions are imperative for consenting or managing individual marine activities. By emphasising the need for appropriate spatial resolution modelling, these findings contribute to the development of sustainable management strategies that are appropriate to the scale of the decision. Addressing the complexities of real-world decision-making and understanding the magnitude of spatial resolution required for the marine environment are a crucial principle that can also enhance and be applied to other disciplines including, terrestrial ecology, urban planning and the assessment of potential climate change impacts. Failing to model appropriately means that real-world pressures and impacts occurring on a finer scale then the available data may have their impacts over or underestimated, hindering effective governance. Whilst we are striving to meet our national and international obligations and objectives through effective marine governance, this paper highlights the challenges of real-world decision-making where data is not yet available at a suitable resolution to address these issues.

China's Foreign Investment Law and TRIMs Agreement: Conflicts, Amendments, and Applications

This article explores the developmental trajectory of China's Foreign Investment Law and its consistency issues with the WTO TRIMs Agreement. Covering four developmental stages from 1979 to 2020, it provides a detailed account of the evolution and amendments of China's legal framework on foreign investment. The article identifies inconsistencies in national treatment, elimination of quantitative restrictions, and transparency principles, analyzing adjustments and revisions made across these stages to align with international trade environments and WTO requirements. Despite significant progress, the article highlights areas for further improvement, such as the implementation of national treatment principles and resolution of transparency issues.

China's Foreign Investment Law and TRIMs Agreement: Conflicts, Amendments, and Applications

This article explores the developmental trajectory of China's Foreign Investment Law and its consistency issues with the WTO TRIMs Agreement. Covering four developmental stages from 1979 to 2020, it provides a detailed account of the evolution and amendments of China's legal framework on foreign investment. The article identifies inconsistencies in national treatment, elimination of quantitative restrictions, and transparency principles, analyzing adjustments and revisions made across these stages to align with international trade environments and WTO requirements. Despite significant progress, the article highlights areas for further improvement, such as the implementation of national treatment principles and resolution of transparency issues.

Obligation to State Reasons: Clear Principle with (Still) Unclear Scope? In Search of an Adequate Standard of Reasoning for a Decision Based on Confidential Data (Joined Cases C???584/20 P and C???621/20 P Commission and SRB v Landesbank Baden-Württemberg)

This article provides an analysis of the judgment of the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice (the Court) of 15 July 2021 delivered in Joined Cases C-584/20 P and C-621/20 P (Commission and SRB v Landesbank Baden-W??rttemberg), which offers valuable insights into the question of the scope of the obligation to state reasons. In particular, the judgment clarifies how that obligation should be weighed, if necessary, with the obligation to protect the confidential data within the EU decision-making process. While the judgment specifically pertains to a decision of the Single Resolution Board regarding the calculation of ex-ante contributions to the Single Resolution Fund, its implications extend to all areas of EU law where the EU administration relies on confidential information in order to adopt a decision. Additionally, the judgment holds particular significance for the National Resolution Authorities of the Member States non-participating in the Banking Union, since they are required to calculate ex‐ante contributions to their national resolution financing arrangement and must, for this purpose, rely on the methodology provided by the EU legislator, as interpreted by the Court. Finally, the authors argue that regardless of its significance, the judgment leaves several questions unanswered regarding the adequacy of the reasoning of an administrative decision based on confidential data.

A Legal Notion of Adverse Inference in WTO Case Law

Gathering evidence is of utmost importance in any legal proceeding. However, sometimes, one of the parties may hide specific evidence, which complicates the adjudicators’ reaching of a fair conclusion. For such cases, judges or arbitrators can use several tools, one of which is adverse inference. An adverse inference is a negative conclusion that may be drawn from a party’s failure to provide some evidence without a valid excuse for non-production. By drawing it, adjudicators assume this evidence would harm the party’s interests. At the same time, adverse inference is quite a radical tool because it may strongly impact the final decision. Because of this, adjudicators are sometimes cautious about using it. This paper analyzes the notion of adverse inference in the context of the dispute resolution mechanism available in the WTO. In particular, three cases were summarized in which the Appellate Body made interesting findings regarding the application of adverse inference. As a result of the work, conclusions from these cases are made that can be used by lawyers in future WTO disputes, as well as in other international and national dispute resolution fora.

Spatial context matters: Assessing how future renewable energy pathways will impact nature and society

Pathways to decarbonisation are commonly explored by government and industry through the use of energy system models. However, such models rarely consider where new energy infrastructure might be located. This is problematic as the spatial context of new renewable energy infrastructure will determine, in part, the environmental, social, and technical impacts of the energy transition. This paper presents the ADVENT-NEV model which brings together innovations in energy and natural capital modelling to identify the optimal locations of multiple renewable energy technologies at a national scale and high spatial resolution. Using Great Britain as a case study, the results show how the spatial distribution of renewable energy technologies changes when a natural capital approach is taken. In particular, the least-cost locations for onshore wind farms and bioenergy crops are highly influenced by the value of carbon sequestration, or emissions associated with their land use change. Siting using a natural capital approach produced appreciable ecosystem service benefits, such that the overall welfare gain to society was estimated at nearly £25 B. Overall, this paper demonstrates that understanding the geospatial context of the energy transition is essential to identifying which renewable energy pathways are consistent with decarbonisation and environmental objectives.

Inter-agency Cooperation Within the SRM: Legal and Operational Challenges for the Cooperation Between Banking Supervision and Resolution Authorities in the EU and With Third-country Authorities

Abstract 900 In bank resolution, swift and effective cooperation of different actors is of essence, particularly in cross-border cases. While the same can be said about cross-border insolvency management generally, the European framework for the recovery and resolution of failing banks and, in particular, the centralisation of resolution powers within the Single Resolution Mechanism stand out as particularly complex – and, at the same time, remains to some extent untested to the present date. Against this backdrop, the present article explores the statutory framework for cooperation between the Single Resolution Board, the European Central Bank in its capacity as supervisory authority within the Single Supervisory Mechanism, National Resolution Authorities and Third Country authorities. It concludes that, while the legal and institutional arrangements governing inter-agency cooperation are generally sound, operationalisation in actual cases might still be exposed to unexpected disruptions, especially in cases where political interests are at stake.

‘The Full Strength of the Human Spirit’: Rwanda Launches Policy Boosting ADR Use

The Rwanda Ministry of Justice has presented to the public a new national conflict resolution policy aiming at handling disputes using alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

Modeling of Aquatic Ecosystem Dynamics in a Run‐of‐River Reservoir in the Brazil

AbstractThe maximum specific pollutant loads of nutrients and carbonaceous organic matter of the effluent—in an initially oligotrophic or mesotrophic state artificial run‐of‐river reservoir—should be studied in order to serve as a basis for future hydroelectric in tropical regions. Two different hydrological scenarios in the central tropical region of Brazil are analyzed; a historical and a synthetic one. The maximum specific load that the artificial run‐of‐river reservoir of a hydroelectric power plant supports is evaluated in order to meet the environmental limits defined by national resolution. An analysis of lateral and vertical dispersion between epilimnion and hypolimnion is performed. The maximum permissible loads for the historical hydrological scenario with a long‐term average flow of 247.2 m3 s−1 are 70.017 kg BOD hm−3 d−1, 0.131 kg Ptotal hm−3 d−1, and 2.626 kg Ntotal hm−3 d−1. For the synthetic hydrological scenario with a long‐term average flow equaling 140.4 m3 s−1, the maximum permissible loads are 55.576 kg BOD hm−3 d−1, 0.096 kg Ptotal hm−3 d−1, and 1.925 kg Ntotal hm−3 d−1. The proposal of this study is to provide an aid to the decision‐making process of environmental managers and consultants in artificial run‐of‐river reservoirs in tropical regions with similar hydrological regimes.

A Study on the Local Education Autonomy System in Japan in Relation to the Educational Superintendent

The purpose of this study is to identify the problems with the education autonomy system and conflicts of the Japan, which is implementing the local education autonomy system to find a way to resolve conflicts and disputes that occur between the Minister of Education and the educational superintendent., and to suggest reasonable improvements. In Japan, as in Korea, there are conflicts and disputes between the central government and local governments. However, what is different from us is that the autonomy of local governments has been strengthened following the decentralization reform promoted by Japan in the 1990s. The Local Autonomy Act restricts the central government's involvement with local governments, and requires its intervention to meet the specified requirements and to follow due process, detailed in the relevant laws. In other words, the case of Japan, where there is a legal regulation making the central government not restricting or interfering autonomy of local governments, suggests that more detailed regulations are required within the scope that the government’s involvement and intervention doesn’t undermine the autonomy of local governments to us, where the requirements and process of the central governments’ intervention in local governments are simplified. In Korea, similar to the National and Local Dispute Resolution Committee in Japan, an administrative consultation and mediation committee exists under Article 168, but it is ineffective because there are insufficient regulations on the authority of the committee and the effect of the decision of the committee on the central and local governments. It is necessary to prepare a new type of dispute mediation body and related regulations that can minimize the loss that may occur in case of a dispute or conflict through comparative review of dispute mediation bodies in Korea and Japan.

Overcoming challenges to the adjudication of election-related disputes at the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights: Perspectives from the Ngandu case

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights is increasingly taking on the role of a regional electoral adjudication body in resolving election-related human rights violations. While this role is essential because of the contested nature of elections in Africa and the inability of many national election resolution mechanisms to sanction election irregularities, the African Commission must master the intricacies of election dispute resolution in member states for its recommendations to be based on sound legal principles. Its decision in the Ngandu case provides an opportunity to assess the nature of some of the challenges faced by the Commission when adjudicating election-related disputes and how to overcome these. In this decision, the African Commission found that the Democratic Republic of the Congo had violated the complainant's right to defence, to political participation and to work following the annulment of his election as a member of the National Assembly by the country's interim Constitutional Court (the Supreme Court of justice). The analysis of the case suggests that, despite the African Commission's ability to re-affirm the relevance of the right to political participation for the consolidation of democracy in Africa and protecting the right to a fair trial and to work, it must address three types of challenges in its role as election-adjudication body using the procedural mechanisms provided for in both the African Charter and the Rules of Procedure. These challenges are the knowledge of electoral justice systems operating in the DRC and Africa at large; the impossibility of restitution as a form of reparation; and the state's participation in proceedings and the implementation of recommendations.

Not just sand: The folly of dismantling the environmental protection of dunes in Brazil

The Brazilian federal government has followed an open agenda and land use policy against existing legislation in the past three years using the false argument that it hinders national development. A recent loss has been the repeal of national resolution CONAMA 303/2002. With the action of the Brazilian government to revoke this resolution, the mobile and eolian dunes are currently without legal national protection, and are available for real estate, industry (e.g., wind farms), and urban development, among other activities. In this context, the occupation of the mobile dunes promoted by the revocation of CONAMA 303 increases the risk of erosion of the beaches, damage to estuaries with mangroves, and destabilization of the coastline as a whole owing to the interruption of wind corridors of sand transport. The dunes are also one of the main freshwater reservoirs in Brazil. Therefore, the occupation of the dunes and encouragement of their impermeabilization by the attempted permanent repeal of CONAMA 303 resolution clearly puts the water security of Northeast Brazil (a semiarid region) at risk. This incentive to occupy mobile dunes by changing legislation will have a synergistic impact and amplify the predicted effects of climate change with negative repercussions on the sedimentary balance, tourist activities, and blue carbon sequestration. In addition, the vast quantity and value of goods and services provided to society and discussed in this article are sufficient to justify their conservation and a permanent decision from Supreme Court to keep the CONAMA 303 active.

Water Quality From Gualaxo Do Norte And Carmo Rivers (Minas Gerais, Brazil) After The Fundão Dam Failure

Mining waste is rich in trace elements, which present a high toxic potential and may represent a risk for aquatic ecosystems. The Fundão dam failure, considered the largest environmental disaster in the world, affected 663.2 km of watercourses, including Carmo and Gualaxo do Norte Rivers. The ore tail also affected the riverside communities, destroying villages, killing people and affecting the subsistence farming. To evaluate the influence of the mine tailing wave on the water quality of the Carmo and Gualaxo do Norte Rivers water samples were collected at nine points located in Barra Longa during the rainy season. Physicochemical parameters (conductivity, resistivity, EH, total dissolved solids, pH and temperature) and major, minor and trace elements concentrations (Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Sc, Sr, V, Zn, As, Pb, Al, Fe, Mn, Ca, K, Mg and P) were evaluated and compared with previous studies and conformity limits established by a national resolution (CONAMA Resolution N°357/2005). Only conductivity, Fe and Mn presented non-conformity values according to CONAMA Resolution N°357/2005. These results may be related not only to the dam burst but also to the rainy season and non-detectable pollution sources. Furthermore, the decreased levels in the toxic elements in the rivers over time, may be related to its association with sediments in addition to their flux to the Atlantic Ocean. Thus, after nearly six years, the environmental and social impacts are still alive and the minerals dragged to the riverbed could bring cumulative effects for the entire environment what means an uncertain future to the Rio Doce Basin and adjacent coastal zone.

The diffusion of National Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policies: A Network Approach

This paper investigates the adoption of national domain name dispute resolution policies (NDRPs) by country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD). We examine the textual similarity between different NDRPs (35 documents) using Exponential Random Graph Modeling (ERGM). First, we measure similarity between the texts (i.e., cosine similarity) and use it to construct a 35*35 adjacency matrix for a directed network early to late adopters. Using EGRM, we predict which nodal attributes and dyadic attributes predict the observed network. We conclude by discussing what the findings imply about the emergence of a global policy regime for the Internet.

Multilevel cooperation in the EU resolution of cross-border bank groups: lessons from the non-euro area Member States joining the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM)

Cross-border banking presents a unique set of challenges in the EU from the perspective of arranging administrative oversight structures. Structuring cooperation between different EU and national authorities in a way which is conducive to trust-building and mutual engagement is an essential condition for overcoming disintegrative tendencies in the internal market. To assess how the existing EU arrangements fare in this regard in the context of EU resolution law, this article comparatively analyses the different models of multilevel administrative cooperation in the post-crisis EU framework. These are specifically the centralised model of the European Banking Union (Single Resolution Mechanism) and the relatively looser networked model of the resolution colleges. The multilevel cooperation under both models is nuanced given the distinct roles of the national resolution authorities, EU agencies and the differentiated status of non-euro area Member States in the EBU (Croatia, Bulgaria). The article’s findings allow to identify specific problems of constitutional nature pertaining to the accountability of administrative cooperation, equality of Member States and the implications of Meroni doctrine’s distortive effects.

Dewatering, Stabilization, and Final Disposal of Waste Activated Sludge in Constructed Wetlands

Objective: This research aimed to assay the dehydration and stabilization of surplus biosolids from a wastewater activated sludge treatment plant, with sludge-treatment wetlands, at the Iguazú National Park (Misiones, Argentina). Materials and Methods: A 12-cell sludge-treatment reed beds (STRB) system was built and operated for four years. Afterwards, the accumulated sediments were analyzed for total solids (TS) concentration, volatile solids (VS) reduction, specific oxygen-uptake rate (SOUR), and heavy metals and pathogens concentrations. Results and Discussion: TS concentration increased from 0.55 % to 14.3 %, VS were reduced by 33.3 %, and SOUR lowered to 1.09 mg O2gTS-1 h-1. These figures and the final concentrations of heavy metals and pathogenic microorganisms (102 MPN E.coli.gTS-1) indicated a degree of stabilization and sanitation that allowed classifying these biosolids as Class A, according to the Argentine guidelines, National Resolution 410/18, and enabled their reuse for soil amendment in landscapes and other agronomic purposes. Conclusion: The technology tested showed good results applied under a tropical climate, with annual temperatures between 17 and 27 °C, rainfall of 1870 mm y-1, and planted with autochthonous vegetation. Furthermore, it allowed the reuse of 221 t (144 m3) of a harmless product in an environmentally sustainable way.

Economic Effect and Resolution Idea of the THAAD Political Conflict on South Korea’s Exports to China

South Korea deployed the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) antimissile system in response to North Korea’s nuclear test, leading to the Chinese government’s opposition to THAAD, citing national security concerns. Chinese consumers held a large-scale “boycott for Korean products” campaign in 2014. In the same year, the China–South Korea free trade agreement (FTA) was signed. This study compares the double-difference (DID) and triple-difference (DDD) models using the impact of the THAAD political conflict on South Korean exports. In the DID model, THAAD reduced South Korean exports, while in the DDD model, the FTA effectively alleviated the impact of THAAD. The net difference of the FTA’s impact on the commodities boycotted in response to the THAAD conflict exists because some boycotted commodities were promoted by the FTA while others were not. The effect of the THAAD event shock was significant only in the first two years, with minimal subsequent changes in growth. THAAD and FTA’s dynamic effects provide evidence of how political conflict can eventually influence popular opinion and how the trade policy plays a significant role in the national conflict resolution. Finally, the study provides additional evidence on the effect of non-tariff barriers triggered by THAAD on the service industry.

Considerations on the application of the NCWO principle under the SRM Regulation

The aim of this article is to make certain specific considerations on the application of the ‘no creditor worse off (NCWO) principle’ (or safeguard) under the Regulation governing the Single Resolution Mechanism and the Single Resolution Fund (SRMR). Even though the field of application of the SRMR also covers other financial firms, the article’s focus, which is structured in four sections, is (solely) on credit institutions. Section 1 overviews the provisions of the SRMR dealing with the third resolution condition, namely the public interest criterion, on the basis of which the decision is taken by the Single Resolution Board whether a credit institution determined as failing or likely to fail should be resolved or wound up. It is only when the public interest criterion is met and the Board takes a decision on the resolution of the credit institution concerned, that the NCWO principle is applicable. Section 2 discusses the provisions governing the NCWO principle under international and EU banking law. In this respect, after a brief overview of the international financial standards adopted by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) on banking resolution, including on the NCWO principle (under 2.1), this principle is analysed as a general principle governing resolution under the SRMR; its perimeter of application and the obligations imposed on national resolution authorities (NRAs) in this respect are also discussed (under 2.2). The following two sections deal then, in turn, with two specific aspects of application of the NCWO principle under the SRMR: mandatory and optional exclusion of deposits from bail-in (Section 3), as well as ex-ante and ex-post valuations for the purposes of resolution (Section 4). The final Section 5 concludes.

Enhancing resilience through capacity building in LCCAP formulation in the local government of Aurora, Philippines

Climate Disaster Risk Assessment (CDRA) and Local Climate Change Action Plan (LCCAP) provide the scientific and legal platform for climate change adaptation and mitigation in the Philippines. This APN CAPaBLE project responds to the limited technical capacity of local government units (LGUs) to comply with this requirement through collaborative capacity building. Evaluation of CDRA and LCCAP led to a National Interagency Technical and Policy Forum to formulate action plans and fast-track preparations. The initial stage of the project demonstrated collaborative advantage as a condition for mobilizing human and financial resources was enabled. Collaborative inertia set in once the technical limitations of Aurora LGUs surfaced to complete the CDRA. This mirrored the results of the institutional capacity survey, administered to 87 disaster risk reduction and management Technical Working Group (TWG) members, highlighting the LGUs limitations in data availability and functional knowledge on climate change. Thus, a shift in capacity building strategy through focused mentoring and managing LGU expectations was done. The Aurora LGUs successfully completed its CDRA and LCCAP requirements through a lengthy and arduous process. It was acknowledged that CDRA preparation has a steep learning curve and competes heavily with other multiple functions and pressing demands from the LGUs. The national interagency forum resolution suggested that the CDRA be assigned to another government agency while LGUs shift capacity development initiatives to understanding and mainstreaming scientific assessment into local plans. The project experience highlights the difficult, yet promising, path to human security development and resilience building and underscored prudence and urgency of adaptation planning at the local level.

WHAT DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION REAPS IN INDIA - A DIVIDEND OR A DISASTER

Demographic transition has been experienced by every country. Demographic dividend not only depends on changing age structure but also on human capital. With more people in the labor force and fewer children to support, a country has a window of opportunity for economic growth if the right social and economic investments and policies are made in health, education, governance and the economy. Indian economy has been experiencing a steady economic growth rate for the last two decades (though in recent times it shows a declining trend). The most significant feature of this growth phenomenon is that it has been service sector led growth and there has been a marked change in employment pattern. More skillful, technically sound, computer literate, vocationally trained human resources are required to achieve faster economic growth. The higher education system in India has undergone massive expansion in the postindependence period with a national resolution to establish several universities, technical institutes, research institutions professional and non-professional colleges across the country. After independence the Government of India laid stress on Primary Health Care and India has put in sustained efforts to better the health care system across the country. But Indian higher education system has certain limitations such as inadequate physical infrastructure, lack of quality and excellence & dearth of quality faculty members etc. The government initiative was not enough to meet the demands from a growing population be it in primary, secondary or tertiary health care. The present study tries to highlight whether India would be able to transform her favorable demographic structure into demographic dividend or face a disaste