O uso da força no Direito Internacional = Use of force in Public International Law

Versão online da Revista Brasileira de Estudos Políticos, Belo Horizonte, nº 107, pp. 149-200, jul./dez.2013

Psychological safety, authentic leadership and social networks : A psycho-structural approach to the study of groups

Tese de Doutoramento em Psicologia na área de especialização de Psicologia das Organizações apresentada ao ISPA - Instituto Universitário

Physical activity in 22 African countries: results from the World Health Organization STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance.

BACKGROUND: Baseline physical activity data are needed to effectively plan programs and policies to prevent noncommunicable diseases, but for many African countries these data are lacking. PURPOSE: To describe and compare levels and patterns of physical activity among adults across 22 African countries. METHODS: Data from 57,038 individuals from 22 countries (11 national and 11 subnational samples) that participated in the STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance (2003-2009) were analyzed in 2010. The validated Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) was used to assess days and duration of physical activity at work, for transport, and during leisure time in a typical week. RESULTS: Overall, 83.8% of men and 75.7% of women met WHO physical activity recommendations (at least 150 minutes of moderate activity per week or equivalent). Country prevalence ranged from 46.8% (Mali) to 96.0% (Mozambique). Physical activity, both at work and for transport, including walking, had large contributions to overall physical activity, while physical activity during leisure time was rare in the analyzed countries. CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity levels varied greatly across African countries and population subgroups. Leisure time activity was consistently low. These data will be useful to inform policymakers and to guide interventions to promote physical activity.

The likelihood approach to compare populations : a study on DNA evidence and pitfalls of intuitions

The paper follows on from earlier work [Taroni F and Aitken CGG. Probabilistic reasoning in the law, Part 1: assessment of probabilities and explanation of the value of DNA evidence. Science & Justice 1998; 38: 165-177]. Different explanations of the value of DNA evidence were presented to students from two schools of forensic science and to members of fifteen laboratories all around the world. The responses were divided into two groups; those which came from a school or laboratory identified as Bayesian and those which came from a school or laboratory identified as non-Bayesian. The paper analyses these responses using a likelihood approach. This approach is more consistent with a Bayesian analysis than one based on a frequentist approach, as was reported by Taroni F and Aitken CGG. [Probabilistic reasoning in the law, Part 1: assessment of probabilities and explanation of the value of DNA evidence] in Science & Justice 1998.

Compensation for environmental damages under international law

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to clarify the contribution of international dispute adjudication mechanisms in regard to environmental protection. Most specifically, the study aims to identify and develop the criterion adopted by the international judge in relation to the compensation for environmental damages. In this perspective, the study identifies some gaps between international responsibility and environmental protection interests. The premise sustained all along the study is that compensation is determinant to conciliate environmental prerogatives with mechanisms of international adjudication, in particular the system of international responsibility. Supported by the analysis of treaties, international decisions and secondary sources, the thesis defends the idea that some elements of international law allow the adjudicator to adapt the compensation to attend certain environmental interests, creating a new approach which was entitled 'fair compensation'. The antithesis of this approach is the idea that compensation in international law is limited exclusively to the strict reparation of the material losses incurred by the victim. As a synthesis, the study defends the specificity of environmental damages in relation to other kind of damages that are subject to compensation under international law. The measure upon which compensation for environmental damages could be classified as a specific type of damage under international law remains to be determined. The main conclusion of the study is that the existing standard of compensation defined by the theory and practice of international law is impossible to be strictly respected in cases involving environmental damages. This limitation is mainly due to the complexity of the notion of environment, which is constantly conflicting with the anthropologic view of legal theory. The study supports the idea that the establishment of a 'fair compensation' which takes into account the political, legal and technical context of the environmental damage, is the best possible approach to conciliate internationally responsibility and environmental interests. This could be implemented by the observance of certain elements by the international judge/arbitrator through a case-by-case analysis.

Current developments in the radiotherapy approach to elderly and frail patients with glioblastoma multiforme.

The benefit of postoperative radiotherapy (RT) has been demonstrated in elderly patients aged 65 years or older with glioblastoma multiforme. Hypofractionated RT schedules can reduce the time and morbidity of treatment while maintaining comparable survival outcomes to lengthy conventional RT. Current international randomized clinical trials are studying the optimized hypofractionated RT regimens, hypofractionated RT in comparison with temozolomide chemotherapy and hypofractionated RT in comparison with the same RT plus temozolomide. Given the guarded prognosis of the elderly and frail patients, quality of life and side effects of treatment should be closely examined. As more than half of cancers in the world occur in developing countries, hypofractionated RT could be better utilized as a cost-effective treatment for this group of patients.

Das GRADE-System: ein internationaler Ansatz zur Vereinheitlichung der Graduierung von Evidenz und Empfehlungen in Leitlinien. [The GRADE System: an international approach to standardize the graduation of evidence and recommendations in guidelines]

Clinical practice guidelines have become an important source of information to support clinicians in the management of individual patients. However, current guideline methods have limitations that include the lack of separating the quality of evidence from the strength of recommendations. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) working group, an international collaboration of guideline developers, methodologists, and clinicians have developed a system that addresses these shortcomings. Core elements include transparent methodology for grading the quality of evidence, the distinction between quality of the evidence and strength of a recommendation, an explicit balancing of benefits and harms of health care interventions, an explicit recognition of the values and preferences that underlie recommendations. The GRADE system has been piloted in various practice settings to ensure that it captures the complexity involved in evidence assessment and grading recommendations while maintaining simplicity and practicality. Many guideline organizations and medical societies have endorsed the system and adopted it for their guideline processes.

An alternative approach to the prevention of doping in cycling

The article proposes an alternative approach to policies for preventing doping in cycling, based on in-depth analysis of the functioning of nine of the 40 world professional teams and the careers of the 2,351 riders who were or have been professionals since 2005. The first part shows that the instruments of prevention have been based on a questionable understanding of doping as an individual moral fault, and have not produced the expected results. The second part proposes to analyse the ways in which teams and riders produce their achievments, so as to put forward an alternative to the anti-doping policies used hitherto, which have little impact on riders. The study shows that it is more pertinent to examine the forms of employment and the business models, because these have important effects on cycling professionals' conditions of work. It makes it possible to identify three dimensions of the risk of doping on which organisations can act in their antidoping policies: team organisation, riders' preparation and workload, and the precarity of employment.

Repensando la relación entre la ley y la violencia hacia las mujeres. Una aproximación a los discursos de los/las agentes del ámbito judicial en relación a la ley integral de violencia de género en España = Rethinking the relationship between law and violence against women. an approach to the juridical agents' discourses in relation to the integral law of gender-based violence

Of the many dimensions of the problem of violence exercised by men toward women in the context of the relations of partner or ex partner, this article deals with the analysis of the discursive productions of the institutional actors that are part of the judicial process. Our intention is to investigate the relationship between criminal law and gender-based violence starting from the implementation of the Law of Integral Gender-based Violence in Spain (LO. 1 / 2004) from a theoretical perspective which includes contributions from social psychology, and socio-legal feminism. We have approached the legal instrument - the Law of Integral Gender-based Violence - through the discourse of legal officers with a perspective that questions the values, so often proclaimed, of universality, objectivity and neutrality of the law

The collective dimension of freedom of religion or belief in international law : the application of findings to the case of Turkey

Pertinent domestic and international developments involving issues related to tensions affecting religious or belief communities have been increasingly occupying the international law agenda. Those who generate and, thus, shape international law jurisprudence are in the process of seeking some of the answers to these questions. Thus the need for reconceptualization of the right to freedom of religion or belief continues as demands to the right to freedom of religion or belief challenge the boundaries of religious freedom in national and international law. This thesis aims to contribute to the process of “re-conceptualization” by exploring the notion of the collective dimension of freedom of religion or belief with a view to advance the protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief. The case of Turkey provides a useful test case where both the domestic legislation can be assessed against international standards, while at the same time lessons can be drawn for the improvement of the standard of international review of the protection of the collective dimension of freedom of religion or belief. The right to freedom of religion or belief, as enshrined in international human rights documents, is unique in its formulation in that it provides protection for the enjoyment of the rights “in community with others”.1 It cannot be realized in isolation; it crosses categories of human rights with aspects that are individual, aspects that can be effectively realized only in an organized community of individuals and aspects that belong to the field of economic, social and cultural rights such as those related to religious or moral education. This study centers on two primary questions; first, what is the scope and nature of protection afforded to the collective dimension of freedom of religion or belief in international law, and, secondly, how does the protection of the collective dimension of freedom of religion or belief in Turkey compare and contrast to international standards? Section I explores and examines the notion of the collective dimension of freedom of religion or belief, and the scope of its protection in international law with particular reference to the right to acquire legal personality and autonomy religious/belief communities. In Section II, the case study on Turkey constitutes the applied part of the thesis; here, the protection of the collective dimension is assessed with a view to evaluate the compliance of Turkish legislation and practice with international norms as well as seeking to identify how the standard of international review of the collective dimension of freedom of religion or belief can be improved.

Incentivising Innovation? The competition law approach to the new challenge clauses in the competition rules for technology licensing agreements of the EU

Tutkielman aiheena on EU:n kilpailuoikeudellinen lähestymistapa challenge-lausekkeisiin teknologinsiirtosopimuksia koskevassa ryhmäpoikkeusasetuksessa. Teknologian lisensoinnin katsotaan olevan tärkeä väline teknologian kehityksen levittämisessä ja innovaation edistämisessä. Joissakin tapauksissa lisenssisopimus voi sisältää kilpailua rajoittavia lausekkeita, joiden voidaan kuitenkin nähdä hyödyttävän kilpailua kokonaisuutta arvostellen. Tällaisia lausekkeita ovat niin sanotut ”no-challenge” – lauseke, eli sopimusehto, jonka nojalla lisenssinsaaja sitoutuu olemaan haastamatta lisensoidun immateriaalioikeuden pätevyyttä ja ”termination-on-challenge” – lauseke, joka antaa lisensoijalle haastettaessa oikeuden päättää lisenssisopimus. Tutkielmassa perehdytään challenge -lausekkeiden hyväksyttävyyden arviointiin Euroopan unionin kilpailuoikeuden näkökulmasta uuden 1.5.2014 voimaan tulleen ryhmäpoikkeusasetuksen valossa. Muissa kuin yksinoikeuksia luovissa teknologiansiirtosopimuksissa olevat termination-on-challenge – lausekkeita tulee uusimmassa ryhmäpoikkeusetuksessa aina perustua yritysten itse suorittamaan tapauskohtaiseen arviointiin. No-challenge – lausekkeet ovat jatkossakin aiemman käytännön mukaisesti ryhmäpoikkeuksen soveltamisalan ulkopuolella. Komission on perustellut challenge - lausekkeiden jättämistä asetuksen ulkopuolelle julkisella intressillä, joka on päästä eroon mitättömistä immateriaalioikeuksista. Komission on katsonut, että challenge – lausekkeiden kilpailua rajoittava ominaisuus on mitättömien immateriaalioikeuksien esiintyminen markkinoilla, mikä osaltaan vääristää kilpailua ja hidastaa toimijoiden markkinoille pääsyä. Toisaalta lausekkeiden voidaan sanoa edistävän kilpailua, sillä ne usein tarjoavat immateriaalioikeuden haltijalle riittävän oikeussuojan ja kannustimen lisensoida teknologia, mikä lisää kilpailua, keksijöiden kannustimia panostaa innovaatioihin sekä vähentää transaktiokustannuksia. Tutkielman keskeinen tulos on ennen kaikkea challenge-lausekkeiden kilpailuvaikutusten tunnistamisessa ja komission perusteluiden kriittisessä arvioinnissa. Komission linjauksen perustelut eivät saa riittävää tukea ottaen huomioon vaikutustenarvioinnin, EU:n tuomioistuinkäytännön sekä taloustieteellisen lähestymistavan. Tutkielman tulosten pohjalta ja tukeutuen eri oikeuslähteisiin, taloustieteellisiin argumentteihin ja oikeusvertailevaan tutkimukseen, on mahdollista tehdä johtopäätöksiä niistä seikoista ja argumenteista, joilla on merkitystä uuden politiikkalinjauksen kilpailuvaikutuksiin.

Narratives of emergence: rising powers and the end of the Third World?

This article examines recent arguments from development economists, from historians and from international relations specialists that do challenge the continued relevance of the idea of the Third World. It then examines five reasons why these arguments are wrong. We can indeed understand much about emerging powers in terms of how they are seeking to navigate and best position themselves within an existing state-centric, liberal and capitalist order whilst accepting many of the underlying assumptions and values of that order. But the nature of that navigation has been shaped by their historical trajectory and by the developmental, societal and geopolitical context of their emergence.