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Is it moral, socially and environmentally ethical for large dominant power companies generating energy mainly from burning coal and lignite to turn off other RES-based energy sources, is it consistent with climate policy and is it consistent with human rights?
In a situation of rising energy prices and the need to accelerate the processes of green transformation of the economy, is it moral, social and environmental to shut down the large dominant power companies that generate energy mainly from burning coal and lignite other sources of energy, including mainly the cheapest and emission-free generation of electricity, shutting down power plants based on photovoltaic panels, not accepting periodic increases in energy production generated from the sun and wind, so as not to reduce energy production from dirty, high-emission energy based on burning coal is moral, socially and environmentally ethical, is in line with climate policy and is in line with human rights?
I ask because such an irrational situation exists in the country where I operate. In my opinion, in a situation of rising energy prices and the need to accelerate the processes of green transformation of the economy, the shutdown of power plants based on photovoltaic panels by the large dominant power companies that produce energy mainly from the combustion of coal and lignite other sources of energy, including mainly the cheapest and emission-free production of electricity, not adopting a periodic increase in energy production generated from the sun and wind, so as not to reduce energy production from dirty, high-emission coal-burning power plants is not moral, socially and environmentally ethical, not in line with sound climate policy and not in line with human rights. The key problem with climate, environmental and energy policy is that it is not conducted fairly. Instead, it is conducted haphazardly, shortsightedly, unstrategically and is politicized in the negative sense of the word. Despite the fact that most of the mining sector, coal and lignite mines, companies in the energy sector and the country's largest fuel and energy company, which holds more than 90 percent of the domestic market share in the sale of motor fuels, are state-owned companies and could carry out in an efficient, comprehensive and strategic manner the process of green energy transition, they unfortunately do not do so. There are many indications that climate, environmental and energy policies are being conducted haphazardly and short-sightedly. The full synergy and correlation that should occur between these policies is missing. Unfortunately, economic aspects are also not key, as they are mixed with political aspects, in which the economic calculus is not treated as a principled factor, and this is in addition to the high level of indebtedness of the state's public finance system and the growing level of the budget deficit in the central state budget. The government has pledged to implement the green transformation of the economy in accordance with the European Union's Green Deal plan. The country receives subsidies from the European Union for the implementation of this plan, including subsidies from the National Reconstruction Plan, which should be allocated mainly to efficiently carried out green investments to carry out the green transformation of the energy industry and achieve the goal of building a sustainable, emission-free energy industry in the shortest possible time. However, this is not happening. Onshore wind power development is still administratively and normatively largely restricted. On sunny, cloudless days and when the wind is blowing, additional energy is generated from already installed photovoltaic panels and wind farms, which is not collected from prosumers by large power companies due to unsuitable transmission networks. Besides, the dominant power companies in the market do not collect clean energy from the mentioned RES sources in order not to reduce the production of energy generated by the conventional method of burning coal and lignite. In addition, the dominant energy companies are lobbying in the political sphere to restrict the development of RES and are causing restrictions on the process of issuing permits for citizens to make further connections to the power grid of prosumer wind turbines and/or photovoltaic installations built by citizens. In addition, there is another extension of the start of construction and implementation of the project to build the first nuclear power plant in a country where the energy industry still relies 3/4 on conventional energy production, i.e. on the basis of burning fossils, much of which is imported, there are situations of energy shortages and eggs to buy from abroad, and the quality of air due to the dominance of combustion energy in the heating season is among the worst in Europe. On the basis of my research, I conclude that this activity is immoral, socially and environmentally unethical, does not comply with climate policy and is not compatible with human rights. Confirmation of the aforementioned thesis is provided by the results of the research I described in my publications given below.
In the following article, I have included the results of the research conducted on the connection of the issue of sustainable development, the genesis and meaning of the Sustainable Development Goals, the essence of sustainable development in the context of social, normative, economic, environmental, climate, and human rights aspects, etc. The research also addressed the issue of key determinants of human existential security as an element of the concept of sustainable development.
HUMAN SECURITY AS AN ELEMENT OF THE CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN INTERNATIONAL LAW
I am conducting research on this issue. I have included the conclusions of my research in the following article:
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY DEVELOPMENT AS A KEY ELEMENT OF THE PRO-ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE ECONOMY TOWARDS GREEN ECONOMY AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY
The key issues of the problematic sources of Poland's exceptionally deep energy cross in 2022 are described in my co-authored article below:
POLAND'S 2022 ENERGY CRISIS AS A RESULT OF THE WAR IN UKRAINE AND YEARS OF NEGLECT TO CARRY OUT A GREEN TRANSFORMATION OF THE ENERGY SECTOR
In view of the above, I address the following question to the esteemed community of scientists and researchers:
In a situation of rising energy prices and the need to accelerate the processes of green transformation of the economy, does the shutdown of other sources of energy by the large dominant power companies that produce energy mainly from the combustion of coal and lignite, including mainly the cheapest and emission-free production of electricity, shutting down power plants based on photovoltaic panels, not accepting periodic increases in energy production generated from the sun and wind, so as not to reduce energy production from dirty, high-emission power generation based on burning coal is moral, socially and environmentally ethical, is in line with climate policy and is it compatible with human rights?
Is it moral, socially and environmentally ethical for large dominant power companies that generate energy mainly from burning coal and lignite to shut down other RES-based energy sources, is it consistent with climate policy and is it consistent with human rights?
What do you think about this topic?
What is your opinion on this issue?
Please answer,
I invite everyone to join the discussion,
Thank you very much,
Best regards,
Dariusz Prokopowicz
The above text is entirely my own work written by me on the basis of my research.
In writing this text, I did not use other sources or automatic text generation systems.
Copyright by Dariusz Prokopowicz
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Dear Dariusz,
Thank you for posing a technical question that combines international law (consensus decisions by the world's peoples, put into treaties, on the key approaches consistent with human survival and with the long term survival of their nations and the cultures within them and that are essentially the definition of universal "morality") with social science standards. My answer as an international lawyer and social scientist is a definite YES, through application of the UN Genocide Convention, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and other resolutions that are implementing documents that specify indigenous people's rights to their environments and their protection as well as declarations on sustainability like the Rio Convention. This isn't directly enforceable on energy/power companies since the law binds governments to act, but many such companies are state owned and of course they are state chartered and regulated, and this question isn't just about energy companies. It applies to other actors as well, including the international community itself. You can see in my articles on ResearchGate that I have analyzed the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as themselves in violation of international law (and largely promoting company interests) and even the discipline of Economics ("Is Ecoomics in Violation of International Law?") to show how the standards would be applied in courts under international law.
David Lempert, Ph.D., J.D., M.B.A., E.D. (Hon.)
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Dear All,
I trust this message finds you in good spirits.
This is my first post to the community.
I have written an article that I am planning to submit for publication, however, I have trouble selecting the genre. My submission revolves around assisted suicide and includes elements of both criminal and Human rights Laws; it explores whether an individual assisting in the suicide is a murderer or not and also analyses the human rights considerations that concern the right to life. Most journals that I have researched either ask for the area of law or are specific to an area of law. i.e Criminal Law or Contract Law
I have never submitted an article before so please forgive any mistakes that I may have made in using the correct jargon whilst asking my question.
Kind Regards
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You might want to focus on one area of law not both to maintain the focus on the topic and avoid referencing to something that is not actually relevant but seemed relevant to you at first.
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Are individual rights COMPLETELY dismissible under the notion they are not absolute? How My answer: No because human rights are linked to diversity, equity and inclusion as described in the following essays:
General Ethics:
General Ethics:
General Ethics:
General Ethics:
General Ethics:
LGBTQAA+ rights:
LGBTQAA+ rights:
Theology:
Theology:
Theology:
Politics:
Politics:
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Ηuman rights that are not absolute are harder to assert. Dismissibiliy is a matter or circumstances, region of application and other factors.
But generally, absolute ones do not get dismissed by claims such as "violation of rights of others by assertng one's rights"
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The European project: ERIH was founded by The European Science Foundation (ESF) and transfered to ERIH + provide by Norwegian NSD. I should be a platform of European humanistic discurs. Does it realy plays thsi role in your context?
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ERIH PLUS is more and more important for HEIs and researchers.
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With the increase in cases of attacks on journalists in the Arab world in general and the occupied State of Palestine in particular. Is there a glimmer of hope to legislate binding international rules that limit the violation of the sanctity of journalists and not prevent them from exercising their role by revealing the facts and communicating information to the international community about any violations of human rights law?
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With the presence of international and non-international organizations concerned with the rights of journalists, but they still record cases of violations against journalists, and we should not forget what the Israeli forces have done in the cold-blooded killing of journalist Shireen Abu Aqila, a journalist affiliated with one of the well-known news stations. We regret that the texts related to the protection of journalists are ineffective and do not impose penalties for those who violate these scattered texts in international charters and laws. And with the presence of Reporters Without Borders and the International Federation of Journalists in addition to regional and international organizations. However, silencing is still the norm. We hope to legislate an international convention to protect journalists and be binding on all countries, even if they do not ratify it..
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Dear friends!
I hope you are doing well. I recently wrote an article dealing with democracy in Russia. What do you think? Will there be democracy in Russia, what factors are in play? Article can be found here below:
Best wishes Henrik
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In the United States, another culture war is flaring up around encyclopedias.
Under pressure from liberal activists, the popular Merriam-Webster dictionary changed the definition of a woman. This is now an individual who has the opposite gender identity of a male.
By itself, characterization through negation is already original. It cannot be determined otherwise in the era of the deconstruction of the cultural foundations of society. No wonder even Biden's candidate for the Supreme Court at the hearing stated that she was not a biologist - and therefore did not know who women were.
Another war has unfolded around the term “recession”. Wikipedia began to feverishly make changes, until they completely removed the presence of two consecutive quarters with a fall in the economy from the definition of a recession. Just to help Biden deny the fact that the US economy has already fallen into recession for a longer time.
This kind of Orwellianism - with the twisting of the most basic concepts - will become more and more as we continue to be dragged into the abyss of the cultural revolution.
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After the abolition of the death penalty in some countries, did crime rate increase or decrease in those countries? Which better serves justice: the deterrent effect -if any- of the death penalty or the risk of executing a wrongfully convicted human being?
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Dear RG friends, this question 'how effective is the death penalty as a deterrent?' should actually not be asked. After all, carrying out the death penalty is a question of ethics. As long as we as humans are not the creator of life, we are not allowed to end life through capital punishment. The death penalty is the ultimate act that fits into the philosophical movement 'The Enlightenment' where 'man' places himself above God. All the best, stay safe and healthy, Carl
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If there is gender discrimination in course of employment, whether the employer shall be liable if the discriminating act was done by the employees or agents, what is the approach to make a determination concerning the sanctions to the employer? What specific sanctions (legal responsibilities) should the employer be subjected to?
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It can be a civil law problem as the discriminated person claims for damages against the tort upon the dignity rule and personal rights protection. (Civil law liability) On the other hand, the ombudsman or a specialized agency can impose a fine on the employer. (Public law liability)
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Is health in Kenya adequately financed? Relatedly, is there a need for additional sources of revenue to fund health? The limited resources that are available to the Kenyan government are prioritised in the budget that earmarks how much is to be allocated to each public sector. Regrettably, health financing has been on a reducing scale and the government is considering ways to broaden its revenue base for financing health. I want to pick up on the argument of limited resources and posit Islamic taxation as an alternative source of revenue potentially available to the Kenyan government for financing health. Scholars have considered the argument of limited resources from the lens of prioritisation – that is the need to make the best possible use of these limited resources to continually improve the well-being of society and increase the revenue in the long term. Other scholars have posited that the argument on limited resources is to be examined by inquiring into different ways by which the resource base can be increased. Among the latter scholars, many suggest an examination of the tax policy of a state to increase taxation. Tax increments place a higher burden on the poor and middle-income earners, and is therefore not a persuasive approach to broadening the tax base. If the discourse on limited resources is to be analysed further from the scholarship on broadening the tax base then isnt it important to also address it from a different discipline, Islamic taxation?
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I am glad you agree Adheem Naeem tax is indeed a valuable government source of revenue. Zakat would greatly contribute to its increase provided its linked directly towards development.
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When, where, and by whom were they implemented? Why do you think they were successful?
Centuries of linguistic imposition associated with colonial expansion, followed by the monolingual policies of governments seeking to create national identities, and more recently the global expansion of corporate power and communications networks, have taken their toll on many languages, to the point where some have become extinct and others are faced with the challenge of revitalizing themselves to avoid extinction. Some language communities have had more success than others in meeting this challenge and fortifying their mother tongues. I am interested in reading more about these efforts, and I think that the diverse, multicultural composition of ResearchGate makes it an ideal forum for discussing this topic.
I am attaching the English version of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights (Barcelona, 1996) as an initial contribution to the discussion.
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Psycholinguistics/Hemispheric Lateralization of Language
ontents
  • 1 Introduction
  • 2 The History of Discoveries
    • 2.1 Jean Baptiste Bouillaud and Simon Alexandre Ernest Aubertin
    • 2.2 Paul Broca
    • 2.3 Carl Wernicke
  • 3 Methods of Assessing Lateralization
    • 3.1 Lesion Studies
    • 3.2 Split Brain Studies
    • 3.3 Wada test
    • 3.4 Functional transcranial Doppler ultrasonography
    • 3.5 Electrical stimulation, TMS and Imaging
  • 4 Cerebral Dominance: Language Functions of The Left and Right Hemispheres
  • 5 Anatomical Asymmetries
  • 6 Proposed Correlations
    • 6.1 Handedness
    • 6.2 Sex Differences
    • 6.3 Sign Language and Bilingualism
    • 6.4 Culture and Language Lateralization
  • 7 Reorganization following brain injury
  • 8 Learning Exercise: 8 Questions on Hemispheric Language Lateralization
  • 9 References
Introduction
Hemispheric lateralization refers to the distinction between functions of the right and left hemispheres of the brain. If one hemisphere is more heavily involved in a specific function, it is often referred to as being dominant (Bear et al., 2007). Lateralization is of interest with regards to language, as it is believed that language is a heavily lateralized function: certain aspects of language are found to be localized in the left hemisphere, while others are found in the right, with the left hemisphere most often dominant. This was initially proposed by early lesion-deficit models and studies with split-brain patients, and has been shown in more recent years through tests like the Wada test and imaging studies. There have been studies which show that there are anatomic asymmetries located near and around the regions associated with language, and each hemisphere has shown to play its own but separate role in the production and comprehension of speech. The hemispheric lateralization of language functions has been suggested to be associated with both handedness, sex, bilingualism, sign-language, and a variance amongst cultures. It has also been proposed that a reorganization occurs following brain injury that involves a shifting of lateralized function, as long as the injury occurs early in life.
The History of Discoveries
Jean Baptiste Bouillaud and Simon Alexandre Ernest Aubertin
French physician Jean Baptiste Bouillaud (1796-1881) was one of the earliest proponents of hemispheric language lateralization. On February 21, 1825, Bouillaud presented a paper to the Royal Academy of Medicine in France which suggested that, because so many human tasks are performed using the right hand (such as writing), the left hemisphere might be the in control of that hand. This observation implies that language, at the core of writing, would be localized in the left hemisphere. It was already known at this time that motor function was primarily controlled by the hemisphere ipsilateral to the side of the body through lesion studies. Bouillaud also proposed that speech is localized in the frontal lobes, a theory that was carried on by Bouillaud’s son-in-law Simon Alexandre Ernest Aubertin (1825-1893), who went on to work with famed French neurologist Paul Broca in 1861. Together, Aubertin and Broca examined a patient with a left frontal lobe lesion who had lost nearly all ability to speak; this case and several others similar to it became the basis behind the earliest theories of language lateralization.
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Paul Broca, image obtained from Clower, W. T., Finger, S. (2001)
Paul Broca
French neurologist Paul Broca (1824-1880) is often credited as being the first to expound upon this theory of language lateralization. In 1861, a 51-year-old patient named Leborgne came to Broca; Leborgne was almost completely unable to speak and suffered from cellulitis of the right leg. Leborgne was able to comprehend language but was mostly unable to produce it. He responded to almost everything with the word “tan” and thus came to be known as Tan. Broca theorized that Tan must have a lesion of the left frontal lobe, and this theory was confirmed in autopsy when Tan died later that year (Bear et al., 2007). In 1863, Broca published a paper in which he described eight cases of patients with damage to the left frontal lobe, all of whom had lost their ability to produce language, and included evidence of right frontal lesions having little effect on articulate speech (Bear et al., 2007). These findings led Broca to propose, in 1864, that the expression of language is controlled by a specific hemisphere, most often the left (Bear et al., 2007). “On parle avec l’hemisphere gauche,” Broca concluded (Purves et al., 2008)- we speak with the left hemisphere.
Carl Wernicke
German anatomist Carl Wernicke (1848-1904) is also known as an early supporter of the theory of language lateralization. In 1874, Wernicke found an area in the temporal lobe of the left hemisphere, distinct from that which Broca had described, which disrupted language capabilities (Bear et al., 2007). He then went on to provide the earliest map of left hemisphere language organization and processing.
Methods of Assessing Lateralization
Lesion Studies
A good deal of what we know about language lateralization comes from studying the loss of language abilities following brain injury (Bear et al., 2007). Aphasia, the partial or complete loss of language abilities occurring after brain damage, is the source of much of the information on this subject (Bear et al., 2007). As shown in the studies of Bouillaud, Aubertin, Broca and Wernicke described above, lesion studies combined with autopsy reports can tell us a a lot about the localization of language, which ultimately has supplied information on lateralization. Lesion studies have shown that, not only is the left cerebral hemisphere most often dominant for language, but also that the right hemisphere generally is not, as lesions in the right hemisphere rarely disturb speech and language function (Bear et al., 2007).
The dangers of using lesion studies are, of course, that they may overemphasize the relevance of particular localized areas and their associated functions. The connection between brain regions and behaviours is not always simple, and is often based on a larger network of connections. This is shown in the fact that the severity of an individual’s aphasia is often related to the amount of tissue damaged around the lesion itself (Bear et al., 2007). It is also known that there is a difference in the severity of the deficit depending on whether the area was removed surgically, or was caused by stroke. This is the case because strokes affect both the cortex and the subcortical structures; this is due to the location of the middle cerebral artery, which supplies blood to the areas associated with language, as well as involvement of the basal ganglia, and is often the cause of stroke. As such, surgically produced lesions tend to have milder effects than those resulting from stroke (Bear et al., 2007).
File:Splitbrain.jpg
An example of a study involving language in a split-brain patient. The individual says he does not see anything, because the dominant left hemisphere cannot "speak". Image obtained from Experiment Module: What Split Brains Tell Us About Language
Split Brain Studies
Studies of patients who have had commissurotomies (split-brain patients) have provided significant information about language lateralization. Commissurotomy is a surgical procedure in which the hemispheres are disconnected by cutting the corpus callosum, the massive bundle of 200 million axons connecting the right and left hemisphere (Bear et al., 2007). Following this procedure, almost all communication between the hemispheres is lost, and each hemisphere then acts independently of the other. What is striking about split-brain patients with regards to the study of language lateralization is that a word may be presented to the right hemisphere of a patient whose left hemisphere is dominant, and when the patient is asked to name the word they will say that nothing is there. This is because, although the right hemisphere “saw” the word, it is the left hemisphere which “speaks.” If that same word is presented to the left hemisphere, the patient is able to verbalize the response (Bear et al., 2007). As such, split-brain patients have presented substantial evidence that language function is generally lateralized in the left hemisphere.
Wada test
The Wada test was created by Juhn Wada at the Montreal Neurological Institute in 1949, and was designed specifically to study lateralization. A fast-acting barbiturate such as sodium amytal is injected into the carotid artery on one side (although current procedures prefer to use a catheter which is inserted into the femoral artery), and is then transported to the cerebral hemisphere on the opposite side. It then serves to anaesthetize that side of the brain for approximately 10 minutes, after which it begins to wear off and the functions which were disrupted by the anaesthetic gradually return, often displaying aphasic errors (Bear et al., 2007; Wada and Rasmussen, 1960). During the time in which the patient is anaesthetized, he or she is assessed on their ability to use language. If the left hemisphere is anaesthetized and is the dominant hemisphere, the patient loses all ability to speak, whereas if the left hemisphere is anaesthetized but the right hemisphere is dominant, the patient will continue to speak throughout the procedure (Bear et al., 2007).
In a study published in 1977, Brenda Milner used the Wada test to demonstrate that 98% of right-handed people and 70% of left-handed people have a dominant left hemisphere with regards to language and speech function. Her results also showed that 2% of right-handed people have a dominant right hemisphere, which is the same percentage of patients that display aphasia following a lesion to the right hemisphere (Branch et al., 1964).
This procedure is also used prior to brain surgery in order to determine the dominant hemisphere, so as to avoid removal of an area associated with speech and language.
Functional transcranial Doppler ultrasonography
Functional transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (fTCD) is a non-invasive method for examining event-related changes in cerebral blood flow velocity in the middle cerebral arteries(Knecht et al., 1998). This technique can reliably assess which hemisphere is dominant and to what extent, which regards to language lateralization. Studies using fTCD have shown a linear relationship between handedness and language (Knecht et al., 2000).
Electrical stimulation, TMS and Imaging
Electrical stimulation was pioneered by Wilder Penfield and his colleagues at the Montreal Neurological Institute in the 1930s, and helped to identify certain lateralized areas associated with speech and language. Electrical stimulation is the application of an electrical current directly to the cortical tissue of a patient who is conscious. Penfield found that stimulating the left frontal or temporal regions of the left hemisphere with an electrical current accelerated the production of speech. He also found that stimulation can cause inhibition in complex functions like language, as applying a current to the areas associated with speech production in the left hemisphere while the patient is engaged in speech serves to disrupt this behaviour (Penfield, 1963). This procedure is performed during surgery while the skull is removed, and as such it is not a commonly used method of assessment.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive procedure, often combined in studies with MRI, which has helped to map the regions associated with speech, showing lateralization to be dominant in the left hemisphere. TMS has also shown that, following brain injury, it is more likely that it is the tissue surrounding the lesion that acts in a compensatory way rather than the opposite hemisphere providing compensation. The major drawback of TMS is, of course, the fact that the magnetic stimulation must pass through the scalp, skull, and meninges before stimulating the brain region of choice.
Imaging studies have proven to be incredibly useful in determining lateralization of language abilities. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) have been able to show the complex circuitry associated with speech and language; they have also proven to be consistent with the findings from previous lesion studies, as well as Penfield’s electric stimulation (Bear et al., 2007). There has been some controversy regarding bilateral activation shown in fMRI studies, the reasons unknown, however it has been suggested that perhaps the right hemisphere is involved in aspects of speech that are not measured by such tests as the Wada procedure (Bear et al., 2007). A significant finding is that fMRI results during developmental years show activation during speech and the use of language mainly in the left hemisphere, providing further evidence in support of left hemisphere dominance (Bear et al., 2007).
Cerebral Dominance: Language Functions of The Left and Right Hemispheres
The perisylvian cortex of the left hemisphere is involved in language production and comprehension, which is why it is often referred to as dominant, or said to "speak" (Ojemann, G. A., 1991; Purves et al., 2008). Roger Sperry and his colleagues’ split-brain studies have shown that the left hemisphere is also responsible for lexical and syntactic language (grammatical rules, sentence structure), writing and speech (Purves at al., 2008). Other aspects of language which are thought to be governed in most people by the left hemisphere include audition of language-related sounds, recognition of letters and words, phonetics and semantics.
The right hemisphere, though generally not dominant in terms of linguistic ability, has its role in the use of language. Split-brain studies present evidence that, despite the right hemisphere having no “speech,” it is still able to understand language through the auditory system. It also has a small amount of reading ability and word recognition. Lesion studies of patients who have right hemisphere lesions show a reduction in verbal fluency and deficits in the understanding and use of prosody. Patients who have had their right hemisphere surgically removed (hemispherectomy) show no aphasia, but do show less obvious deficiencies in areas such as verbal selection and understanding of metaphor. It has thus been concluded that the right hemisphere is most often responsible for the prosodic and emotional elements of speech and language (Purves et al., 2008).
Anatomical Asymmetries
The structural differences between the right and left hemisphere may play a role in the lateralization of language. In the nineteenth century, anatomists observed that the left hemisphere’s Sylvian fissure (lateral sulcus) is longer and less steep than that of the right (Bear et al., 2007). In 1980, Graham Ratcliffe and his colleagues used evidence of this asymmetry of the Sylvian fissure, shown in carotid angiogram, combined with results of Wada testing, and found that individuals with speech regions located in the left hemisphere had a mean difference of 27 degrees in the angle of the blood vessels leaving the posterior end of the Sylvian fissure, while those with language located in the right hemisphere had a mean angle of zero degrees.
File:Planum temporale.jpg
Asymmetry of the planum temporale. Image obtained from Labspace:Understanding Dyslexia
In the 1960s, Norman Geschwind and his colleagues at Harvard Medical School found that the planum temporale, the superior portion of the temporal lobe, is larger in the left hemisphere in almost two thirds of humans (Geschwind & Levitsky, 1968), an observation which was later confirmed with MRI (Bear et al., 2007; Purves et al., 2008). This asymmetry exists even in the brain of the human fetus (Bear et al., 2007). The correlation of this asymmetry with the left hemisphere’s language dominance is refuted by many due to the fact that 67% of people show this structural asymmetry, while 97% show left hemispheric dominance. Another problem which exists in examining asymmetry of the planum temporale is how the anterior and posterior borders of this region are defined, and the fact that investigators differ in this definition. This is especially a problem when the transverse gyrus of Heschl, used to mark the anterior of the planum temporale, appear in double (which is not unusual). There are differing opinions as to whether or not the second transverse gyrus should be defined as being within the planum temporale, or outside of it (Beardon, A. A., 1997).
Proposed Correlations
Handedness
The correlation between handedness and hemispheric lateralization is described in the results of the Wada test, described above. The majority of the population is right handed (approximately 90%), and the Wada test results propose that 93% of people’s left hemisphere is dominant for language (Bear et al., 2007). A linear relationship between handedness and langage has been shown using fTCD in a study done by Knecht et al. (2008); their findings show an 27% incidence for right hemisphere dominance in their group of left-handers, a finding consistent with the notion of there being a linear relationship between handedness and incidence of right hemisphere dominance in left-handers (Knecht et al., 2000). This study used a word generation task, and admits that perhaps a measurement of prosody or other such suspected right hemisphere functions may have a different relationship with handedness (Knecht et al., 2000). It is also true that correlation does not necessarily imply causation, and it is also suggested that there is no direct relationship between handedness and language at all, as the majority of left-handers also have their language lateralized in the left hemisphere (Purves et al., 2008). It is, however, a physical example of functional asymmetry, and it is certainly possible that a more substantial connection between handedness and language will be found.
Sex Differences
The tendency for women to score higher than men on language-related tasks is perhaps the result of the fact that women also tend to have a larger corpus callosum than men, indicating more neural connections between the right and left hemispheres. fMRI studies show that women have more bilateral activation than men when performing rhyming tasks, and PET studies show that women have more bilateral activation than men during reading tasks. Perhaps the bilateral activation implies the use of what are thought to be right hemisphere language abilities, such as prosody and intonation. Research has also shown that women have a greater ability to recover from left hemisphere brain damage; the evidence provided by the imaging studies in combination with the results of recovery following injury have led to the controversial suggestion that language is more unilateral in men than in women.
Sign Language and Bilingualism
Sign language has shown to be lateralized in the left hemisphere of the brain, in the left frontal and temporal lobes. This is known through the use of lesion studies, in which the patients had left hemisphere lesions in the areas associated with language which impaired their ability to sign, while right hemisphere lesions in the same areas show no linguistic deficit (Hickock et al., 1998). Lesions in the right hemisphere of signers did, however, show a limited use of spatial information encoded iconically (which is when the sign is similar-looking to its referent). This is in keeping with the belief that visuo-spatial ability is a right hemisphere function and suggests that the role of the right hemisphere in sign language is in the non-linguistic features of sign language.
Bilingualism is thought to be an overlapping of populations of neurons corresponding to each language, all of which are located in the frontal and temporal regions of the left hemisphere associated with speech comprehension and speech production.
Culture and Language Lateralization
When thinking of language there is a tendency to focus on that language in which you think, however it has been proposed that lateralization of language functions can vary from culture to culture. Asian languages show more bilateral activation during speech than European languages, likely because Asian languages employ a far greater use of right hemisphere abilities, for example prosody, and the use of spatial processing for the more “pictorial” Chinese characters; Native American languages also show a good deal of bilateral activity.
Reorganization following brain injury
Studies have been done following brain injury to determine the level of recovery of language and speech ability, and whether or not recovery is based on lateralized function. Bryan Woods and Hans-Leukas Teuber looked at patients with prenatal and early postnatal brain injury located in either the right or left hemisphere and drew several conclusions. First, if the injury occurs very early, language ability may survive even after left hemisphere brain damage. Second, they found that an appropriation of language regions by the right hemisphere is responsible for the survival of these abilities, but because of this there is a tendency for visuo-spatial ability to be diminished. Third, right hemisphere lesions have the same effect in prenatal and early postnatal patients as they do in adults. Brenda Milner and Ted Rasmussen used the Wada test to determine that early brain injury can cause either left, right or bilateral speech dominance, and that those who retained left hemisphere dominance had damage that was not in either the anterior (Broca’s) or posterior (Wernicke’s) speech zone. Those whose dominance shifted to the right hemisphere most often had damage to these areas. Milner and Rasmussen also found that brain damage which occurs after the age of 5 does not cause a shift in lateralization but rather reorganizes within the hemisphere, potentially employing surrounding areas to take responsibility for some aspects of speech.
In patients who have had hemispherectomy of the left hemisphere, the right hemisphere can often gain considerable language ability. When performed in adulthood, speech comprehension is usually retained (though speech production suffers severe deficits); reading capability is small, and there is usually no writing capability at all.
Learning Exercise: 8 Questions on Hemispheric Language Lateralization
1. In terms of hemispheric lateralization and split-brain patients (individuals which have had commissurotomies), if the word “pencil” was presented to the right field of vision of a split-brain patient and he/she was asked to report what they had seen, the patient would respond:
a) by selecting a pencil with the contralateral hand
b) by saying the word “pencil”
c) by saying “nothing is there”
d) by selecting a pencil with the ipsilateral hand
2. The left hemisphere is responsible for all aspects of syntax, except parsing. True or false?
3. What is the structural evidence given to explain the fact that women tend to score higher than men on language-related tasks? What implications might this have on gender differences in patients with aphasia?
4. What 3 conclusions did Bryan Woods and Hans-Leukas Teuber draw regarding the reorganization of language ability following brain injury? Would there be differences in such reorganization in people who are hearing impaired?
5. Through what anatomical system is the right hemisphere able to understand language? What happens to language ability following a removal of the right hemisphere? In what ways do individuals who have had their right hemisphere removed differ from split-brain patients?
6. What were the symptoms of the patient “Tan” which, when presented to neurologist Paul Broca in 1861, propelled Broca to his theory regarding hemispheric language lateralization? Based on current methods of assessment, would Broca's theory still be considered valid today? Why or why not?
7. Which type of study would be best used in order to assess anatomical asymmetry and why?
8. Which type of study is most useful in assessing the connection between hemispheric language lateralization and handedness, and why?
References
Beaton, A. A. (1997). The Relation of Planum Temporale Asymmetry and Morphology of the Corpus Callosum to Handedness, Gender, and Dyslexia: A Review of the Evidence. Brain and Language 60, 255–322
Bear, M. F., Connors, B. W., Paradiso, M. A. (2007). Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain, 3rd edition. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: USA.
Branch, C., Milner, B., Rasmussen, T. (1964). Intracarotid Sodium Amytal for the Lateralization of Cerebral Speech Dominance. Journal of Neurosurgery, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp 399-405.
Clower, W. T., Finger, S. (2001). Discovering Trepanation: The Contribution of Paul Broca. Neurosurgery, Vol. 49, No. 6, pp 1417-1426.
Geschwind, N., Levitsky, W. (1968). Human Brain: Left-Right Asymmetries in Temporal Speech Region. Science, New Series, Vol. 161, No. 3837, pp. 186-187.
Hickok, G., Bellugi, U., Klima, E. S. (1998). The neural organization of language: evidence from sign language aphasia. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp 129-136.
Jay, T. B. (2003). The Psychology of Language. Prentice Hall: New Jersey, USA.
Knecht, S., Deppe, M., Ebner, A., Henningsen, H., Huber, T., Jokeit, H, Ringelstein, E.-B. (1998). Noninvasive Determination of Language Lateralization by Functional Transcranial Doppler Sonography : A Comparison With the Wada Test. Stroke, Vol. 29, pp 82-86.
Knecht, S., Deppe, M., Drager, B., Bobe, L., Lohmann, H., Ringelstein, E.-B., Henningsen, H. (2000). Language lateralization in healthy right-handers. Brain, Vol. 123, pp 74-81.
Kolb, B., Whishaw, I. Q. (2009). Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology, 6th edition. Worth Publishers: USA.
Ojemann, G. A. (1991). Cortical Organization of Language. The Journal of Neuroscience, Vol. 7, pp 2281-2287.
Penfield, W. (1963). The Brain's Record of Auditory and Visual Experience. Brain, Vol. 86, No. 4, pp. 595-696.
Purves, D., Augustine, G. J., Fitzpatrick, D., Hall, W. C., LaMantia, A., McNamara, J. O., White, L. E. (2008). Neuroscience, 4th edition. Sinauer Associates, Inc.: Massachusetts, USA.
Wada, J., Rasmussen, T. (1960). Intracarotid Injection of Sodium Amytal for the Lateralization of Cerebral Speech Dominance Experimental and Clinical Observations. Journal of Neurosurgery, Vol. 17, No. 2.
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I am a master students who is currently looking for a topic to research on in the field of SRHR of youth particularly women in developing countries, i need help in finding research gaps that i can do for my research paper.
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You can consider; The influence of parent-adolescent communication on adolescents' reproductive health
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Fragmentation and Integration in Human Rights Law
Users’ Perspectives Edited by Eva Brems, Professor and Saïla Ouald-Chaib, Post Doctoral Researcher, Human Rights Centre, Ghent University, Belgium
From the perspective of rights holders and duty bearers, human rights law appears as an increasingly complex field of law, consisting of different levels, actors and norms. The fragmentation of human rights law has resulted in an uncoordinated legal architecture that may in some circumstances create obstacles for effective human rights protection. Against this background, this volume examines how to make sense – in both theoretical and practical terms - of these multiple layers of human rights law through which human rights users have to navigate.
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Agree... Indigenous peoples never claimed for human rights, however this is how some institutions and organisms still use as a language to make decisions and whatsoever....shame!
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The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) grants certain rights to indigenous peoples that are not enjoyed by non-indigenous people.
Do you know of any research that argues for expanding the rights of non-indigenous peoples and references UNDRIP?
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Addressing the slavery, rapes, killings, and destruction of natural resources without free, prior, and informed consent in the Amazon are addressed by UNDRIP. The Preamble, articles 29, 32, of UNDRIP state so. I think that climate change is of global concern. Indigenous peoples overwhelmingly feel the brunt of climate change because they live on the margins and often off of the land. Furthermore, although UNDRIP demands that indigenous peoples be involved in development decisions, it does not secure the entire world from the costs of climate change. Further global agreements may be necessary to reverse or reduce global warming.
The meeting is not the first of its kind. A year ago the Pope recognized the Church’s role in cultural genocide. I think indigenous peoples need to have their stories heard in the West for there to be "attention.” I share your hope that a boomerang effect can trigger an end to the abuses perpetrated by corporations and nations against the indigenous peoples of the Amazon.
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The Conservative manifesto  for the forthcoming election states that under a Conservative government, British troops would in future be subject to the Law of Armed Conflict, which includes the Geneva Convention and UK Service Law, not subject to the European Convention on Human Rights. The party will ‘strengthen legal services regulation’ and restrict legal aid for ‘unscrupulous law firms that issue vexatious legal claims against the armed forces’.
Does this represent a postive or negative effect on the concept of an international rule of law?
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First of all we must bear in kind that IHRL is intended to protect individuals. That protection is both negative and positive. Negative in he sense that even in times of conflict soldiers should not violate the rights of individuals. Positive in that they must also protect those individuals from harm. These obligations extend to peacekeeping troops as well and rights guaranteed to individuals must be ensured to everyone within their area of control.
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I am especially interested in the decisions of the high courts (supreme courts, constitutional courts) and their judicial reactions to the scope of application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (national understanding and interpretation of the art. 51/1 of the Charter). Thanks a lot.
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I forgot to mention the Constitutional Court of my own country, its search engine gives you all the rulings in which the Charter is mentioned : http://www.const-court.be/ > Bienvenue (Français) > Moteur de recherche > Normes de référence > Date: 07-12-2000
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In another thread on the issue of International Human Rights law that has proven very popular, I have noticed that the discussion has degenerated into a a quasi-vitriolic exchange between pro versus anti-immigration sentiments. My question is this: given the incendiary rhetoric, particularly in Europe, concerning immigration, is it possible, for purposes of formal academic analysis to separate the wider problem of immigration from the narrower, and more technical issue, of multi-culturalism? That is, to what extent is it possible to discuss and analyze the question of movements of peoples across borders (a universal phenomenon within World History) as a separate issue from the managerial, technocratic, bureaucratic and bio-power dimensions of the social engineering process known as multi-culturalism, which seems to be wholly unique to Western Europe, North America, and Australasia?
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I think that Canada and Australia wanted to avoid the empty concept in place in Britain and therefore their definitions and policies are much more developed, after all these are countries that needed migrants but they had to think well how to choose their citizens (and they implemented points-based systems for a reason - to evaluate human capital skills).
What is valid for cheap labour is also valid for international students or jobs in the US going to China and India. Some research papers have pointed out that there were excellent foreign students among terrorists in the UK and US. The same goes for some regulations in the US regarding aviation pilots because it is easy to start such a course, no matter one's status.
Multiculturalism is not as positive as it sounds but the receiving country is also responsible for security, selection and business (incl. universities) compliance with local and national laws. 
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That psychoanalytic authors can provide theoretical and technical resources to the approach, intervention and approach with patients who have been victims of serious human rights violations?
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Frantz Fanon's work which draws from his experience as a medical practitioner during WW2, makes an outstanding contribution in that respect.
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Human Rights Law and Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan. My main area of interest is in relation to the effect of the law on the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
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Hello Michael ,
please find the files in the attachment.
I have investigated this issue, we can discuss it later. 
cheers
ali 
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Please give me some idea of the right to identity in European laws
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Hello,
In terms of EU Law, I'm not sure about right to identity but there are a few cases on the right to a name, including Konstantinidis and Garcia Avello, and these two more recent ones:
•Case C-208/09 Ilonka Sayn-Wittgenstein v Landeshauptmann von Wien [2010] ECR I-13693
•Case C-391/09 Malgožata Runevič-Vardyn and Łukasz Paweł Wardyn v Vilniaus miesto savivaldybės administracija and Others (CJEU, 12 May 2011)
Let me know if I can be of further help.
Best regards,
Richard Lang
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I am writing a thesis abut the right of the child to be heard, in special the participation right in judicial and administrative procedures affecting them. I need information in the fields of human rights, comparative law, legal and sociological studies, etc. all information will be welcome.
My investigation is centered in the participation right of the child and all the rights related: the right to be respected, the right to information, the right to be heard, the right to express their points of views, in special in the judicial and administrative process, in special in what concern children and young people in conflict of law.
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A virginity test is the practice and process of determining whether a female person is a virgin, i.e., whether she has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The test involves an inspection of a female's hymen, on the assumption that her hymen can only be torn as a result of sexual intercourse. This practice is very common in Kwazulu Natal in South Africa
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The practice is discriminatory in the sense of Article 1 of CEDAW because there is no comparable "virginity test" imposed on men. Specifically, the practice is also a violation of Article 16 (1) (a) of CEDAW because women will not have the same rights and opportunities to get married after they have had sexual intercourse - or had their hymen damaged in other ways - while no comparable restriction exists for men. Pursuant to Article 2 of CEDAW, the government is under an obligation to take all necessary measures to end such discrimination. Where necessary, this will require not only legislative but also administrative and penal measures.
The obligations on the government under Article 2 of CEDAW are very specific. I would argue that the Government of Kwazulu Natal and of South Africa as a whole, since the problem has been brought to their attention many times, is under an obligation to act without further delay. Further inaction or ineffective action would be a violation of the spirit and the wording of CEDAW.
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A pregnant lady with poly trauma due to assault admitted in hospital and she complaint to pain in abdomen as she was hit in her abdomen, during her course of treatment she aborted.
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In Pakistan the relevant provisions are contained in section 338, 338-A, 338-B and 338- C and section 338-F of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860. 
Section 338. Isqat-i-Haml (اسقاط حمل) .Whoever causes a woman with child whose organs have not been formed, to miscarry, if such miscarriage is not aused in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the3 women or providing necessary treartment to her, is said to cause isqat-i-haml. 
Explanation:- A woman who causes herself to miscarry, is within the meaning of this section.
Section 338-A. Punishment for Isqat-i-Haml. whoever causes Isqati-Haml shall be liable to punishment as ta`zir
(a) with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, if isqat-i-haml is caused with the consent of the woman or
(b) with imprisonment of either description for term which may extend to ten years if isqat-i-haml is caused without the consent of the woman;
Provided that , if as a result of  isqat haml any hurt is caused to the woman or she dies, the convict shall also be liable to the punishment provided for such hurt or death, as the case may be.
Section Section 338-B. Isqat-i-Janin (اسقاط جنين)ز Whoever, causes a woman with aq child someof whose limbs or organs have been formed, to miscarry, if such miscarriage is not in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the woman, is said to cause Isqat--Janin.
Explanation. a woman who causes herself tro miscarry is within the meaning of this section..
Punishment for Isqat-i-Janin. whoever causes isqat Janin shall be liable to:
(a) one twewntieth of the diyat if the c hild is boprn dead;
(b) full diyat if the child is born alive but dies as a result of any act of the offender; and
(c) imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years as ta`zir.
Provided that if there are more than one child in the womb of th e woman, the offender shall be liable to separate, duiyat or ta`zir, as the case may be, for every such child:
Provided further that if, as a resultof Isqat-i-Janin, any hurt is caused to the mwoman or she dies, the ofender shall also  be liable to the punishment provided for such hurt or death, as the case may be.
Section 338-D. Confirmation of sentence of death by way of qisas or ta`zir etc.- A sentence of death awarded by way of Qisas or Ta`zir, or a sentence of qisas awarded for  causing hurt, shall not be executed, unless it is confirmed by the HIgh Court.:
Section 338-E. Waiver or compounding of offences. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Chapter and section 345 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (V of 1898), all offences under this Chapter may be waived or compounded and the provisions of section 309 and 310 shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to the waiver or compounding of such offences:
Provided that , where an offence has been waived or compounded, the court may, in his discretion having regard to the fact and circumstances of the case, acquit or award ta`zir tot he offender according to the nature of the offence.
(2) All questions relating to waiver or compounding of an offence or awarding of punishment under section 310 whether before or after the passing of any sentence, shall be determined byTrial Court;
Provided that where the sentence of qisas or any otfher sentence is waived or compounded during the pendency of an appeal, such question may be determined by the Appellate Court.
338-F. Interpretation. In the interpretation and application of the provisions  of  this Chapter , and in respect of matters ancillary or akin thereto, the Court shall be guided by the Injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Holy Quran and Sunnah.
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The Table is in the attached file
I'd be very greatful If you could tell me which countries have ratified the ACHR.
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Dear Amanj Ali Qadir, 
Help is always valuable! Thank you!
Best Regards, Thomas
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All informations will be welcomed! 
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Thank you for your answer Muhammad Attarfar. 
I know that human rights records in these countries are not the best it can be but, in the course of my research in international law, I need some information about the Arab Court of Human Rights. I read somewhere that, on the 7th septembre 2014, the Council of the Arab League adopted resolution 7790 adopting the Statut of the Arab Court of Human rights which should be in Bahreïn. Since I don't speak arabic I can't find any info on the internet...
I wish you a nice day
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Gender studies and advocacy have been understood to proceed from the premise that women and girls are victimized by various forms of discrimination which adversely affect their individual and collective development and depreciate their societal value. Therefore gender advocates seek to correct the imbalances. The question is: where both boys and girls suffer similar abuses, how should gender advocacy be adjusted to accommodate all interests?
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I believe the fundamental premise behind gender studies (and anything that flows from there) is recognition of the differentiated burdens and benefits placed on different genders. While one could argue who suffers greater burdens but I think men suffer in different ways from patriarchy and enjoy a different set of benefits as opposed to women/girls; and unless this fact is acknowledged I suppose problem resolution and/or transitioning towards equity is difficult (whether we choose to refer to it as gender equity/feminism/substantive equality and so on). Even in respect to the specific burdens women shoulder, integration of men into the dialogue is imperative (for the flows take place men and women) and along with it a dialogue on the burdens men shoulder is also imperative (such as, the great burden of being masculine at all times/ repression of display of emotions, inherent expectations to be the bread winner and so on). Also, so many issues affect both men and women, say CSA, and in some ways the burden on boys is greater for in many cultures it is unacceptable for boys/men to talk about sexual abuse. I think it is only ethical to do so, I believe this shall also make both groups more sensitive and open to examining how gender plays out in their lives/community.
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First, I am looking for information about criminal and/or religious trials where Hudud or Hodood punishments could have been imposed, to be able to draw conclusions about the percentage of cases where such punishments are imposed versus the cases where the courts opt for other forms of punishment.
Second, I am looking for information about the actual application of the Hudud punishments, i.e. where and when was the judgment executed and a person's hand was cut off, or a person was flogged or stoned, versus cases where the judgment was pronounced but not executed.
Finally, for cases where Hudud punishments were imposed (and executed), I would like to find out whether the court followed Islamic law correctly, including the very strict requirements on evidence, or was motivated more by public opinion and external pressure, i.e. I am looking for the reasoning or motivation of such judgments to see whether the judges provide solid justification for their decisions.
Sources in Arabic are fine but for Urdu and other languages, I would need summaries in English, French, German, Spanish, or Italian.
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Appreciated colleague, let me you suggest these books
SCOLART, Deborah, L’islam, il reato, la pena. Dal fiqh alla codificazione, Roma, Istituto per l’Oriente, 2013, 424 pp.
PAPA, Massimo,  Afghanistan: Tradizione giuridica e ricostruzione dell'ordinamento tra Sari'a, consuetudini e diritto statale, Giappichelli Editore, 2006
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OPINION 2/13 OF THE COURT (Full Court) 18 December 2014
"Consequently, the Court (Full Court) gives the following Opinion:
The agreement on the accession of the European Union to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is not compatible with Article 6(2) TEU or with Protocol (No 8) relating to Article 6(2) of the Treaty on European Union on the accession of the Union to the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms."
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You nailed it, Ruben!  Empowering individuals is what it is all about in an age of fluid borders and porous nationalities.  Certainly the role of regionalization is not to make sure that individual Europeans wind up with less ability to pursue (on their own) the fundamental  rights and freedoms that are endemic to Democratic societies. 
The spirit of all of the regional and international pacts is to put 'meat' on the preamble to the European Convention on Human Rights, which provides; to-wit:  "Being resolved, as the governments of European countries which are like-minded and have a common heritage of political traditions, ideals, freedom and the rule of law, to take the first steps for the collective enforcement of certain of the rights stated in the [United Nations] Universal Declaration...."
Kudos, Ruben, for being able to cut through the crap and get to the underlying point,
Gwen
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As Israel shows no signs to finish the occupation and withdrew the IDF and settlements, more concerns are raised about its democratic viability
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Weird that one could call Israel a "democracy" when it keeps on justifying its occupation of Palestine and its corollary effects of settlement expansion despite it being against all international laws.
Israeli policies are not decided by the Jewish democrats but the extremist Zionists in its midst. How on earth could one accept the incendiary remarks of some of its Parliamentarians who have time and again labelled Palestinians as not fit to live and should all be killed? There are also the peace-loving ones among the Jews who can see through this extremist agenda of the Israeli state and rightly have been involved in campaigns of awareness to mobilize world opinion to reject the genocidal mindset of successive Israeli regimes.
Another thing. is it proper of a democracy to reject UN resolutions every time it call upon it to act as in 242?
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I have seen some citizens preferring to watch TV or go to movie theatres or do something else than going to a polling booth for casting their votes. This results in reduction in the percentage of voting which may amount to choosing a wrong or incompetent or corrupt candidate (due to possibility of illegal proxy or dummy voting by the corrupt candidates) as ministers. Secondly, taking part in the making of government of a country is supposed to be a fundamental human right which can be exercised by casting the vote.
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The Australian system is philosophically flawed in that a duty that is compelled is no duty.  Compulsory voting does not make any difference to the quality of the 'democracy' it purportedly serves as the Australian electorate have so graphical demonstrated.
The democratic process in the UK is no better than the one that operated in the GDR.  The SED was the 'establishment' and guaranteed a majority of seats in the redundant Volkskammer.  In the UK the establishment operates behind the facade of party politics and it matters little which of the main parties are elected.  The same is true in the US.  Whoever you vote for the 'government' is elected.  Or as Brecht suggested, it would perhaps be easier to dissolve the people and elect another one.
The 'democratic countries of the European Union do not of course have a vast secret police network in the form of the Ministry for State Security but if Erich Mielke had had access to the technology GCHQ and the NSA have he would not have need so many staff either.  
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There is no uniform definition of this right within the international framework. Someone has suggested the distinction between "core elements" of the right to health, and other conditions that could impair the right (i.e right to health environment, clean water etc...). The latter also overlaps, in some features, with the right to life. What's your opinion?
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Because "health" is a state there can be no right to have it. There can and must be a socially agreed upon right to a package of things that effect health (including public health interventions) to allow each individual to maximize their own health within resource constraints agreed upon by their society. Agreeing upon a global package (other than a bear minimum) is essentially impossible though because resource availability differs so much.
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In several writings it is set that the content of the peremptory norms of International Law or jus cogens is fluid, and it can be added with new basis when needed, demanding for so that the plaintif legislation or right be recognized as so by the International Community as a whole. But the express recongnition as a peremptory norm is yet to come to a large group of rights. Can we signal that such a recognition for Human Rights is approaching?
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While there may be a number of emerging jus cogens norms such as the prohibition of child soldiering after the Lubanga case (for which a few scholars are contending), or abrogation of head of state immunity (see earlier discussions debating this of this on this forum) in my opinion we remain a long way off from recognizing human rights on any broad scale as a jus cogens norm. There are many customary norms that might yet become jus cogens, but the time is not yet ripe for such large scale movement.
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According to art. 3.8 of the directive 2008/115 "voluntary departure" means compliance with the obligation to return within the time-limit fixed for that purpose in the return decision. Is it right to use this notion interchangeably with the notion "voluntary return"?
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I have heard "departure" used far more often than "return" because "return" implies that the migrant is going back to their home country, which might not always be the case. "Departure" is ultimately what the state is requiring the migrant to do, regardless of where the migrant departs to.
There is also the issue of how voluntary departure works in practice. Often times there are significant pressures put on migrants to take the option of leaving voluntarily, so much so that it is hardly voluntary. I recently heard an advocate refer to "voluntary deportation" to describe how coerced these choices often are. Of course there are legal and procedural differences between voluntary departure and deportation, but from the migrant's perspective their may be few differences in the experience.
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Council Directive 2001/55/EC on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons allows temporarily limited measures to receive refugees into the EU. Is there any legal reason the directive cannot be applied on the current situation of Syrians fleeing their country?
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The directive considers what to do when a mass influx of refugees either enters the European Union, or is going to enter in the very near future.
The directive applies"in the event of a mass influx or imminent mass influx of displaced persons from third countries who are unable to return to their country of origin, immediate and temporary protection to such persons" (Article 2(a))
Article 2(d): "mass influx" means arrival in the Community of a large number of displaced persons, who come from a specific country or geographical area, whether their arrival in the Community was spontaneous or aided, for example through an evacuation programme;
It does not say that the EU is going to create a means for refugees to enter the EU. Unless a "mass influx" of Syrians comes to the EU or is right on the border, the directive does not apply.
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I'm working on a legal research and I'm looking for relevant jurisprudence from ECHR regarding financial and tax matters and what is the impact on the national legislation on financial and tax law.
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Hi Gabriela,
Yes, there is a very definite connection. My area of interest is Article 9 of the European Convention of Human Rights (“the Convention”) guaranteeing religious freedom, taken in conjunction with Article 14 of the Convention which prohibits discrimination. Given that the discrimination against “new” religions in Europe is rampant, this is a goldmine for you in terms of finding cases which implicate financial and tax law matters. In a recent case, the Jehovah Witnesses Church (“The Church”) sued Austria for taxing The Church for a charitable gift it received. The tax was imposed because although The Church was registered under Austrian law as a “religious community”, it had not yet been granted the status of “religious society” under Austrian law (because it was a “new” religion, it had to go through a couple of hoops first – very discriminatory). Austria also used this same dubious distinction to deny The Church exemption from the Employment of Aliens Act, which meant The Church could not hire two Filipino ministers who spoke Tagalog to minister to members of The Church who spoke only Tagalog. While all of the Austrian domestic courts ruled against The Church, the European Court of Human Rights effectively reversed all of the Austrian courts and awarded damages to The Church. Article 41 allows for damages to be awarded to the victim of discrimination even where the law of the COE member state would not allow full compensation for the harm done. Read about this case (Jehovas Zeugen in Ősterreich v. Austria) here: <http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-113411>.
As an Estate Planning lawyer in the U.S., I am especially sensitive to the tax implications when an organization does not receive eleemosynary treatment under U.S. Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). Indeed, I will not allow my clients to make contributions to those organizations as the donations are not tax-deductible for Income Tax, Inheritance Tax, or Estate Tax purposes. U.S. attorneys do not believe in charity for charity’s sake – if it is not tax-deductible, it matters not how worthwhile the cause! Attorneys who do not adhere to this hard-nosed policy risk being sued by the decedent’s surviving kin who lose out on inheriting from the decedent because some “softy” attorney has allowed the decedent to leave a sizable bequest to a non-qualified charity and thus caused the estate to have to make a sizable contribution to “Uncle Sam” in the form of Estate Taxes!
Gabriela, so that you understand the tax implications of denial of 501(c)(3) status, look at page 67 of my book chapter, “Legislated Isomorphism of Immigrant Religions,” which you will find on RG. Also, for more about the “rampant discrimination” against “new” religions in Europe and the tepid role of the European Court of Human Rights in ending this discrimination, see my recent conference paper (also on RG), “A European 14th Amendment: Pre-Empting Prejudicial Local Regulations with Strict Construction of Article 9.”
Gwen
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French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre was a severe critic of liberal democracy and electoral politics. Even though Sartre drafted a new constitution for a postwar France (according to his biographer Annie Cohen-Solal), his philosophy challenges the idea of constitutionalism and civil law, which is largely accepted as a fundamental necessity for the creation and maintenance of a modern democratic society. How has European / Anglo-American constitutional law responded to existentialism? Has the field of Western legal theory / studies engaged with Sartre on any level? Which law journals would be the best to search through? Are there any relevant databases that I could search?
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Ronald Dworkin briefly (but quite positively) discusses Sartre in Justice for Hedgehogs, at 210 and (especially) 231.
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In the wake of human rights promotions all over, its scope is supposed to be extended to the sustainable development process and this question has the sole agenda of it.
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What I find interesting about this whole discussion, is that as far as I can see, no-one has mentioned the European Court of Human Rights, or explored the extent to which the European Convention on Human Rights recognises the nebulous concept of environmental rights - I'm talking here of a human right to a healthy environment, rather than the rights which may or may not attach to flora and fauna.
Firstly, let's tee up the legislative side. Neither the UDHR or the ECHR expressly recognise any human right to the environment.
However, the ECtHR has recognised that such a right might have an impact in some cases - I'll give a (very brief) summary of the ones I have encountered.
Powell & Rayner v UK (9310/01) 1990. Noise from Heathrow airport not a violation of Art 8 ECHR (right to a private and family life).
Hatton v UK (36022/97) 2003. Noise from Heathrow airport night-flights not a violation of Art 8.
Moreno Gomez v Spain (4143/02) 2004. Night-time noise from nightclubs was excessive, and was a breach of Art 8.
Dees v Hungary (2345/06) 2010. Noise from unregulated heavy traffic was a violation of Art 8.
(see also Mileva & Others v Bulgaria; Dubetska & others v Ukraine; Zammit Maempel & others v Malta; Miroslawa & Janusz Pawlak v Poland; Martinez & Manzano v Spain; and Zeynettin Oto v Turkey, all of which invoke Article 8 in relation to noise pollution)
Noise pollution has provided the bulk of cases referred to the ECtHR that can be linked to "environmental rights" but there are also cases on industrial pollution (Oneryildiz v Turkey (2004), Lopez Ostra v Spain (1994), Fadeyeva v Russia 92005), Giacomelli v Italy (2006), Guerra v Italy (1998), Taskin v Turney (2004) which again mainly invoke Article 8. Oneryildiz is the exception, where the court found a break of Article 2 (right to life).
The closest the court has yet come to recognising environmental rights was in Hamer v Belgium (21861/03) 2007, where the court said (para 79) "Financial imperatives and even certain fundamental rights, such as ownership, should not be afforded priority over environmental protection considerations, in particular when the state has legislated in this regard."
So, in direct answer to Sahab's question, I would have to say no, not yet, but change is slowly coming,
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Medicine is essentially a humanitarian profession. Those favoring the trend toward health care for profit claim that an increased role for entrepreneurs and competition in the delivery of health care will result in a more efficient and effective health care system. What is your opinion?
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In short - NO. The fundamental question to contemplate is: Is health a public good or a commodity? For me the answer is unequivocally clear - health and healthcare is a public good. Commercialization of healthcare results in huge inequalities, exploitation and ultimately poor outcomes.
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A new case of the General Court concerning the respect due to the fundamental rights in the field of competition law. Undertakings are most usually no natural persons, but they still have fundamental rights. The matter concerns the rights of defence and right to privacy and the relevant secondary law provision is the following:
Article 20 (4) Reg 1/2003- The Commission's powers of inspection:
Undertakings and associations of undertakings are required to submit to inspections ordered by decision of the Commission. The decision shall specify the subject matter and purpose of the inspection, appoint the date on which it is to begin and indicate the penalties provided for in Articles 23 and 24 and the right to have the decision reviewed by the Court of Justice. The Commission shall take such decisions after consulting the competition authority of the Member State in whose territory the inspection is to be conducted.
It is obvious that the fundamental rights have been considered by the EU law-maker when the Regulation has been passed, but the judicial review of the Commission inspection prerogatives in a specific case is still a possible way to challenge a Commission Decision concerning an infringement of competition law. Any reflections on the Court jurisprudence concerned with fundamental rights and competition rules?
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As stated doctrine, jurisprudence and international law in the case, it is argued that any person holding individual rights, may be taxable moral damage or injury. Similarly it can be said that legal persons or ideal existence can suffer grievances and collective entity that owns certain assets very personal, of course, excluding those rights arising in relations born, the site in the family, and you are depriving people of visible existence (1).
In the office of one of the committees of the "2nd Jornadas Sanjuaninas of Civil Law" (Argentina) said that: "... the people of ideal existence, when suffering an attributes or budgets of their legal status, are entitled to claim compensation for moral damages suffered ... "(2). The truth is that, it is conceivable that people of ideal existence may suffer this type of injury since the same addition to their "economic assets" are subjective rights holders other, making up what is called "moral heritage" , which has an objective content irrespective of the "feel or want" of the holder (3).
Any legal person, interacting through their bodies that govern, administer and represent, with the particularity that celebrates acts must be framed within the objective set out in its charter and special laws of matter (4). We clarify that the term "representation" is used for external relations, ie the links of the legal entity with the third (5). The trend is to ensure a third certainty as to their relationship with the legal entity, allowing those acts performed attributable to the Company and the same way that the damage to that representative will be a legal person.
In the situation of legal persons, there is an apparent inability to act otherwise than through individuals (6). Similarly, factors, administrators and representatives, in the discharge of their duties as such, must act with "loyalty and diligence of a good businessman" (7).
Bibliography
(1) MOISSET DE ESPANÉS, Luis., Daño moral y personas jurídicas, Zeus Córdoba, 1985, T.4, p.134 (Sección comentarios a fallos)
(2) BREBBIA, Roberto H., La lesión del patrimonio moral, Ed. La Rocca, Bs As, 2000, Primera Parte, p.251 y ss.
(3) ORGAZ, Alfredo., El Daño Resarcible, Ed. Bibliográfica Ameba, Bs As, 1960, p. 221 y ss.
(4) RICHARD Hugo, E. y MUIÑO Orlando M., Derecho Societario, Ed. Astrea, Bs.As, 2000, p. 210
(5) GHERSI Carlos A, Teoría general de la reparación de los daños, Ed. Astrea 1997, §. 104, p.211 y ss
(6) LOPEZ DE ZAVALIA, Teoría de los Contratos. Ed. Zavalía, Bs As., 1984, Parte general, p. 308 y ss
(7) RICHARD, Efraín H y ORLANDO Manuel M., Derecho Societario, Ed. Astrea, Bs As. 2000, § 112 p. 229 y ss.