bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Role of National Parliaments in the Making of European Law
Authors: Pratt Timothy
Published: July 2016

While the Community Treaties provided the institutional framework for the European Community, much of what now makes up the constitution of the European Union was not provided for in those Treaties, but evolved within that framework. This is certainly true of the role of national parliaments. There is nothing about the role of national parliaments in any of the Treaties concluded prior to the Maastricht Treaty, and even then the references appear not in the body of the Treaty, but only in two Declarations annexed to it, one on the role of national parliaments in the European Union and the other on the Conference of the Parliaments. While the former states that it is important to encourage greater involvement of national parliaments in the activities of the European Union, it gives no indication of what that involvement should be. The Treaty of Amsterdam goes a step further. It includes a protocol on the role of national parliaments. This is important in that, for the first time, it gives substantive treaty recognition to their involvement in European Union activities. But, while it is markedly more supportive than the Maastricht Declarations, it does not confer any specific powers on national parliaments, nor does it attempt to define their functions.
Cutting Your Losses in the Enforcement Deficit: A Community Right to the Recovery of Unlawfully Levied Charges?
Authors: Dougan Michael
Published: July 2016

The development of a “Community remedial competence” has become the subject of increasing academic analysis, and a burgeoning source of litigation by traders dissatisfied with the levels of judicial protection offered by domestic rules of the Member States. Such litigants are anxious to invoke principles of Community law to support their claims as these principles can, in theory, prescribe more effective means of redress.
Is anything more Important than Consumer Welfare (in Article 81 EC)? Reflections of a Community Lawyer
Authors: Townley Christopher
Published: July 2016

This chapter discusses whether Article 81 EC has a unique consumer welfare goal. It argues that public policy goals must also be considered within Article 81 EC today.

Competition policy cannot be made rational until one decides what it is there to achieve and whether it is to have one goal, or many. Community competition law’s goals are rarely discussed, but many of the Commission’s policy statements now assert that the objective of Article 81 EC is to protect competition on the market as a means of enhancing consumer welfare and ensuring an efficient allocation of resources. There is no room in the Commission’s new world for public policy goals. Many Community competition lawyers support the Commission’s new approach.
Viking and Laval: Issues of Horizontal Direct Effect
Authors: Dashwood Alan
Published: July 2016

It is more than 40 years since the Court of Justice first articulated in Van Gend en Loos the principle that has come to be known as the direct effect of Community law, and which means, in broad terms, that rules derived from the EC Treaty, so long as they are capable of being applied using ordinary judicial techniques, form part of the law available to courts and tribunals in the Member States for resolving disputes before them. As the Court famously stated:

… the Community constitutes a new legal order of international law ... the subjects of which comprise not only the Member States but also their nationals ... Independently of the legislation of Member States, Community law therefore not only imposes obligations on individuals but is also intended to confer upon them rights which become part of their legal heritage.
A Human Rights Analysis of theVikingandLavalJudgments
Authors: Novitz Tonia
Published: July 2016

In 2007, Brian Bercusson observed that:

[T]he future of the trade union movement, but also of the EU, may depend on whether on judgment day the European Court of Justice decides that the EU legal order upholds the right of trade unions to take transnational collective action.

Previously, deference to domestic labour legislation did not translate into judicial recognition of a right to collective bargaining or a strike. There was only speculation that this should be the case, accompanied by significant opposition from the UK to such a prospect. Judgment day has since come and we have been told that ‘[t]he right to take collective action, including the right to strike, must … be recognised as a fundamental right which forms an integral part of the general principles of Community law’. Indeed, it also seems that such a right extends at least in theory to secondary and transnational action.
Risk and the European Convention on Human Rights: Towards a New Approach
Authors: Hilson Christopher
Published: July 2016

The aim of this chapter is to provide an initial attempt at analysis of the place of risk within the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and, where appropriate, the Commission, focusing on the related issues of public concern and perception of risk and how the ECHR dispute bodies have addressed these. It will argue that, for quite some time, the Court has tended to adopt a particular, liberal conception of risk in which it stresses the right of applicants to be provided with information on risk to enable them to make effective choices. Historically, where public concerns in relation to particular risks are greater than those of scientific experts—nuclear radiation being the prime example in the case law—the Court has adopted a particularly restrictive approach, stressing the need for risk to be ‘imminent’ in order to engage the relevant Convention protections. However, more recently, there have been emerging but as yet still rather undeveloped signs of the Court adopting a more sensitive approach to risk. One possible explanation for this lies in the Court’s growing awareness of and reference to the Aarhus Convention. What we have yet to see—because there has not yet been a recent, post-Aarhus example involving such facts—is a case where no imminent risk is evident. Nevertheless, the chapter concludes that the Court’s old-style approach to public concern in such cases, in which it rode roughshod over rights to judicial review, is out of line with the third, access to justice limb of Aarhus.
Private Party Liability in EU Law: In Search of the General Regime
Authors: Leczykiewicz Dorota
Published: July 2016

The emergence of private party liability in damages is EU law has been much discussed by academics, but it is clear from the case law of the Court of Justice that we do not yet have a principle of private party liability analogous to the principle of Member State liability. This chapter examines under what conditions it would be justified to claim that there was indeed a general principle of private party liability in EU law. Furthermore, the chapter explains that the introduction of the general principle of private party liability would require a thorough clarification of some of the most fundamental, yet still unclear, concepts of EU law, such as direct effect, the horizontal applicability of EU norms and the principle of effective judicial protection. It is argued that the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice to introduce a general regime of private party liability in damages is not without controversy and that the judicial creation of the principle will be legitimate only if adequate normative justification is provided for its presence in EU law. In this respect, it has to be recognised that EU competition law is not an adequate legal setting for the general regime to be born, because it does not bring to light tensions arising in other contexts.
Trust and EU Law and Governance
Authors: Maher Imelda
Published: July 2016

The impetus for this chapter is the extraordinary difficulties surrounding the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty. It aims to provide a framework within which to explore trust in EU law. The question of trust has become even more significant since the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty with the emergence of the fiscal crisis in Greece and in the wider eurozone. This chapter initially seeks to locate the question of trust within the much-discussed notion of the democratic deficit in the EU, drawing on the work of Snell. It argues that the question of democratic deficit raises questions about trust in the EU, and that institutionalised distrust is what is required in order to secure appropriate trust in EU law and governance. It then examines the nature of trust before turning to two major crises of distrust in the EU: the Irish referenda on the Lisbon Treaty and the ongoing difficulties presented to the eurozone of the indebtedness of some of its members.
From Washington with Love—Investor–State Arbitration and the Jurisdictional Monopoly of the Court of Justice of the European Union
Authors: Strik Philip
Published: July 2016

While investor–State arbitration is to a large extent detached from the EU legal order, EU law has recently started to be invoked in investor-State arbitration proceedings. In the context of intra-EU bilateral investment treaties, the Commission has expressed the view that investor-State arbitration gives rise to a number of ‘arbitration risks’ for the EU legal order. Not only can it solicit investors to engage in forum-shopping, but it can also result in questions of EU law not being litigated in Member State or Union courts. This chapter explores the extent to which the compatibility of investor–State arbitration with the EU legal order is in issue. It examines the main features of investor-State arbitration as concerns its interplay with the EU legal order, as well as the Court of Justice’s case law on issues of compatibility between systems of international dispute settlement and the EU legal order. The chapter highlights that the way in which investor–State arbitral tribunals handle issues of EU law, as well as the involvement of interested parties, may foster the synergy between investor–State arbitration and the EU legal order.
Brussels I and Third States: Future Imperfect?
Authors: Fentiman Richard
Published: July 2016

In December 2010 the European Commission published its long-awaited proposals for the reform of the Brussels I Regulation on civil jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments. These concern matters of considerable practical importance. But they also expose fundamental questions about the Regulation’s proper scope, and its role in complex commercial disputes, which will persist long after the terms of the amended Regulation are settled.
Ploughing Their Own Furrow: Subnational Regions and the Regulation of GM Crop Cultivation
Authors: Hunt Jo
Published: July 2016

This chapter provides a case study in regulatory multi-level governance within the European Union, with a substantive focus on the regime in place for the authorisation of cultivation of genetically modified crops. Whilst presenting a detailed account of the supranational level regime, it seeks explicitly to write in the subnational, regional dimension to our accounts of policy evolution in this highly controversial area. The chapter considers regions’ ‘upstream’ engagement in the policy processes at EU level, through judicial challenge to EU measures as well as attempts to influence supranational level legislative reform, which is currently ongoing. In this regard, it looks both at the role of regions within this process, and within the terms of the resultant legislation. In addition, the chapter considers regions’ ‘downstream’ engagement, in their implementation and application of the existing rules. As a number of regions have sought to declare themselves GM-free zones, this chapter explores the legality of such local and regional GM crop cultivation bans, as a matter of EU law. In short, the chapter contributes further to our understandings of the place held by regions within the EU system of governance demonstrating how regions may themselves be both legal and political actors of significance within the EU order, whose interests are not always congruent with that of their Member State.
One Law, Two Competitions: An Enquiry into the Contradictions of Free Movement Law
Authors: Saydé Alexandre
Published: July 2016

The long-established contradictions of free movement law are caused by the implicit reference to two contradictory paradigms of economic integration. The first paradigm seeks to avoid the competition among private businesses being distorted by national regulations, therefore aiming at the creation of a ‘level playing field’ (regulatory neutrality paradigm). The second paradigm seeks to ensure the proper functioning of the process of competition among Member States, and accordingly aims at maximising the opportunities for ‘regulatory arbitrage’ (regulatory competition paradigm). In more detail, the tension between those two paradigms of economic integration results in three central nodes of internal market law: the eventuality of a positive harmonisation, the negative harmonisation conundrum, and the regulatory mobility dilemma. In sum, one (free movement) law is assigned the contradictory mission of ensuring the proper functioning of two competitive processes: the competition among private businesses (regulatory neutrality) and among Member States (regulatory competition).
Varieties of Capitalism and the Limits of European Economic Integration
Authors: Snell Jukka
Published: July 2016

This chapter considers European economic integration from the perspective of varieties of capitalism. It notes the main threats that integration potentially entails both for liberal and coordinated market economies, and assesses the likelihood of damage to the different models, in particular following the Lisbon Treaty. It is argued descriptively that both types of capitalism can continue to coexist in the European Union, and normatively that it is vital that the integration project is managed in a way that does not fundamentally endanger them.
The Protection of the Right to Work Through the European Convention on Human Rights
Authors: Mantouvalou Virginia
Published: July 2016

The right to work was until recently under-explored in academic literature and judicial decision-making. Classified often as a social right, it was viewed as a non-justiciable entitlement. Today, as the right to work is sometimes used as a slogan in favour of deregulation of the labour market, as well as a slogan against immigration and unionisation, the analysis of the right to work as part of a labour law agenda is crucial. Against this background, this chapter examines the right to work in the European Convention on Human Rights. Even though the right to work is not explicitly protected in the ECHR, the chapter identifies in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights certain principles that underpin the right to work, which can serve as guidance in the interpretation of existing provisions of the Convention.
The Judicial Protection of Individual Rights and the Principle of Proportionality after the Lisbon Treaty
Authors: Mengozzi Paolo
Published: July 2016

The aim of this chapter is to illustrate how the principle of proportionality as derived from the legal orders of the Member States has been incorporated in the legal order of the European Union as well as codified in the Treaties. The chapter revolves around two key arguments. It emphasises, first, that the principle of proportionality has been used as a criterion for controlling the legality of the acts of the Union and of those of the Member States when implementing Union law. Secondly, it is argued that, more recently, the same principle has been used by the Court of Justice of the European Union as a useful instrument towards ensuring an even stronger coordination with national judges.
Balancing Fundamental Rights in EU Law
Authors: Rosas Allan
Published: July 2016

It appears more and more often that cases brought before the European Court of Justice raise issues relating to two or more fundamental rights and the relation between them. In such situations, it is often necessary to establish a ‘balance’ between the fundamental rights concerned. In some cases, one of the rights involved is not a fundamental right in the strict sense but, for instance, an economic freedom (such as the free movement of goods) recognised under the basic EU Treaties. Another configuration may be a situation where, for instance, two of the fundamental rights which are at issue are to be found in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights but only one of them appears in the European Convention on Human Rights. In such situations, one wonders what would be the relevance of Article 52(3) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which establishes a direct link between the Charter and the European Convention. The present contribution will look at the question of balancing of EU fundamental rights in general and also at more specific problems arising in this context, such as the two problems identified above.
Untying the Market Access Knot: Advertising Restrictions and the Free Movement of Goods and Services
Authors: Doukas Dimitrios
Published: July 2016

More than a dozen years since the Keck judgment, its effect of breaking the dogmatic convergence between the free movement of goods and that of services, already established in the case law of the ECJ by the early 1990s, cannot be underestimated. As is well known, this convergence primarily relied on such a broad interpretation of the scope of Articles 28 and 49 EC as to include any obstacles to intra-Community trade arising from measures applying beyond discrimination unless justified. The basic divergence introduced by Keck into the Court’s approach to the free movement provisions on goods and services can best be illustrated by the case law reviewing measures relating to advertising and other marketing methods. This paper will draw on a broad definition of advertising, which will include any commercial communication, ie any form of communication designed to promote, directly or indirectly, the goods, services or image of a company, organisation or person exercising a commercial, industrial or other professional activity.
The Boundaries of Sovereignty: The ECJ’s Controversial Role Applying Internal Market Law to Direct Tax Measures
Authors: Kingston Suzanne
Published: July 2016

It is safe to say that any description of tax as ‘exciting’ tends to be greeted with at least mild scepticism by non-tax specialists. Yet the ECJ’s role applying the Treaty free movement rules in the direct tax sphere is one of the most exciting, controversial and seemingly intractable areas of ECJ competence at present. This paper seeks to demonstrate why no Community lawyer should miss out on the drama unfolding in Luxembourg.
Co-creating European Union Citizenship: Institutional Process and Crescive Norms
Authors: Kostakopoulou Dora
Published: July 2016

By focusing on processes and institutional change, EU citizenship emerges as a co-created institution. It is the product of institutional design and co-creation by actors at all levels of governance and is shaped by multilogues at the ‘top’, ‘bottom’ and ‘sideways’, as well as by citizens’ formal and informal actions. A co-creation perspective leads us to reconsider state-centred assumptions about which form of citizenship should be predominant and the dualism of centralism (supra-nationalism) versus ‘home-rule’ (intergovernmentalism), and to embrace a genuinely citizen-centred perspective. The chapter develops the co-creation paradigm, examines its dimensions, various forms and patterns and, by discussing the post-Rottmann and Zambrano case law (McCarthy, Dereci, Iida, O, S and L and Ymeraga) as well as Tsakouridis and PI, sheds light onto the complex dynamics that make EU citizenship a vehicle of transformative institutional change but that can also work against it.
Ready to Do Whatever it Takes? The Legal Mandate of the European Central Bank and the Economic Crisis
Authors: Wilsher Daniel
Published: July 2016

To complement the ‘no shared liability’ rule and public deficit limits, the Maastricht Treaty gave the European Central Bank (ECB) a narrow remit to focus on price stability. Crucially, as a ‘non-sovereign’ central bank, it was unclear that the ECB would act as lender of last resort in the event of market panics. The neoliberal orthodoxy at the heart of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) held that moral hazard and inflationary risks militated against anything resembling ‘illegal monetary financing’. Following monetary union, markets under-priced risks and encouraged bubbles, but, with the onset of the crisis, sentiment overshot the other way, starving credit from banks and later sovereigns. With bailout funds limited and austerity failing to improve debt spreads, sovereigns became illiquid. ECB officials reluctantly concluded that an uncontrolled sovereign default would threaten the continuation of monetary union. The ECB was thus forced de facto to expand its mandate, first to help banks and, later, to help sovereigns facing loss of access to bond markets. Ultimately this was successful in restoring confidence, but the ECB remained uncomfortable with its role. It has continued to stress its legal limitations and has pressed for reformed governance to enforce fiscal discipline. The economic case for a lender of last resort in a crisis was always strong, but brings with it a worsening moral hazard problem that may invite leaders to avoid the deeper political changes necessary to rebalance the Eurozone.
From ‘Don’t Mention the Titanium Dioxide Judgment’ to ‘I Mentioned it Once, But I Think I Got Away with it All Right’: Reflections on the Choice of Legal Basis in EU External Relations after the Legal Basis for Restrictive Measures Judgment
Authors: de Baere Geert
Published: July 2016

This chapter examines the choice of legal basis in EU external relations post-Lisbon in the light of the judgment of the Court of Justice in the Legal Basis for Restrictive Measures case. Before reaching the conclusion that the regulation at issue there was rightly based on Article 215(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and rejecting the European Parliament’s argument that the measure ought to have been taken on the basis of Article 75 TFEU, the Court made a number of important observations on the principles to be followed when choosing a legal basis and recalled some of its earlier case law, in particular Titanium Dioxide and its progeny. This chapter reflects upon the application of those principles in a post-Lisbon framework.
Invalidity, Disapplication and the Construction of Acts of Parliament: Their Relationship with Parliamentary Sovereignty in the Light of the European Communities Act and the Human Rights Act
Authors: Lindell Geoffrey
Published: July 2016

An Act passed by a Parliament may fail to apply to a given set of circumstances for one of two reasons, neither of which is mutually exclusive of the other. The first of those reasons is that the Act falls outside the legislative competence of the Parliament, in which case it is usually said that the Act is unconstitutional or legally invalid. The second is that the Act does not attempt to apply even though the Parliament possessed the competence to make it apply to the same circumstances. The process by which it is determined that the Act does not apply for that reason is one of statutory construction or interpretation. It is possible to describe such an Act as merely non-applicable or non-operative. There will be situations where both reasons may coincide, especially if there is created a statutory presumption in favour of giving an Act a construction, which will ensure its validity. But only the first of the two reasons mentioned above involves a challenge to the supremacy of the Parliament concerned.
The European Convention on State Immunity and International Crimes
Authors: O’Keefe Roger
Published: July 2016

The European Convention on State Immunity provides for the immunity of states and their organs from the domestic courts of the respective Contracting States. In doing so, it makes no apparent distinction between those courts’ civil and criminal jurisdictions. Yet the vexed question of the immunity of state officials from the latter, especially in respect of crimes established under international law, has been spectacularly brought to the fore by the Pinochet case. It is on this question—the immunity of individual state officials from the criminal jurisdiction of foreign states specifically in respect of international crimes—that this article focuses.
The Transmission State Principle: The End of the Broadcasting Sovereignty of the Member States?
Authors: Katsirea Irini
Published: July 2016

Observers of the media policies of the European Union contend that the transmission state principle of the Television Without Frontiers Directive, by ruling out the restriction of transfrontier broadcasts, which are in compliance with the laws of the originating state, has signified the end of the broadcasting sovereignty of the Member States. The transmission state principle is central to the objective of the Television Without Frontiers Directive to create an internal market in broadcasting services. Laid down initially in Article 2(2) of Directive 89/552/EEC, it has been transferred to Article 2a(1) following the adoption of the revised Directive 97/36/EC. The meaning of the principle has remained the same: Member States are obliged to ensure the unhindered reception of broadcasts lawfully transmitted in their state of origin. They only have a limited possibility to derogate provisionally from the transmission state principle, when foreign television broadcasts manifestly, seriously and gravely breach provisions concerning the protection of minors or public order.
The Internet and its Regulation in the European Union
Authors: Savin Andrej
Published: July 2016

The internet belongs to that important group of phenomena that require a fundamental rethinking of law and its ultimate change. The rules made for printed media could not be applied to radio or television when they appeared. Traditional regulatory models for electronic communication arguably cannot be carbon-copied into the Internet world. Like other revolutions brought about by science, the Internet does not lend itself to current regulatory models but requires their rethinking.
Between Persecution and Protection: Refugees and the New European Asylum Policy
Authors: Guild Elspeth
Published: July 2016

The admission, reception and treatment of asylum seekers in the European Union has been an issue of continuing political and legal concern throughout the 1990’s. The rising numbers of persons seeking protection at the beginning of the period coupled with a rapidly developing regional jurisprudence on the right to protection from the European Court of Human Rights in particular, changed the nature of the debate. The Member States began to search for common policies and practices as regards asylum through intergovernmental measures. With the Amsterdam Treaty, the most important aspects of asylum have been transferred to the EC Treaty: criteria and mechanisms for determining which Member State is responsible for considering an application for asylum; minimum standards on reception of asylum seekers; minimum standards with respect to the qualification of nationals of third countries as refugees; minimum standards on procedures for granting and withdrawing refugee status amongst others.
Enlarging the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice: Problems of Diversity and EU Instruments and Strategies
Authors: Monar Jörg
Published: July 2016

Ten years ago justice and home affairs (JHA) did not yet even exist as a EC/EU policy-making area. Yet—after modest beginnings in the context of the Maastricht Treaty’s “Third Pillar” in 1993—the development of EU policies in the JHA area was transformed into a fundamental treaty objective by the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam on 1 May 1999, Article 2 TEU providing for the maintenance and the development of the European Union as an “area of freedom, security and justice” (AFSJ). This new integration objective was strengthened by the introduction of a range of new policy objectives, the communitarisation of asylum, immigration and other issues of the former “Third Pillar”, the incorporation of the Schengen acquis, new and more appropriate legal instruments and improved judicial control. This, and the results of the Tampere European Council of October 1999, led to a further expansion of the scope of policy-making in justice and home affairs, with dozens of new legislative acts being adopted, a considerable number of new legislative initiatives and even the establishment of new bodies—such as the prosecution agency Eurojust and the European Police College. There is no other example in the history of EC/EU integration process of an area of previously loose intergovernmental co-operation ever having made its way so quickly to the top of the Union’s political and legislative agenda.
The Vertical Agreements Regulation: A Critical Appraisal
Authors: Taylor Paul M.
Published: July 2016

The Vertical Agreements Regulation may be judged in one of two ways, each yielding a different conclusion. It may be regarded, on the one hand, merely as a limited measure required at a particular time in the development of competition policy to correct some of the more obvious errors of previous Regulations. On the other hand, it may be assessed for its potential as a template for future Regulations. Is it to be regarded as a means of rectifying historic block exemptions or is it at the cutting edge of progressive policy? Without doubt it appears chronologically at one of the most important shifts in competition policy in decades and that is why there is much to be gained from reviewing the Regulation critically for improvements that can be carried forward into future Regulations.
Free Movement: The Workseeker as Citizen
Authors: Dougan Michael
Published: July 2016

This article is concerned with the legal position of Community nationals who move to another Member State in search of employment. Section II will summarise the traditional legal status of the workseeker viewed as an economic factor of production. Section III will explore the new legal status of the workseeker viewed as a citizen of the European Union. Section IV will offer some brief comments on the Commission’s 2001 proposal for an umbrella directive on free movement for Union citizens, and its implications for the migrant workseeker. It will be argued, through this analysis, that the institution of Union citizenship, so often criticised for its ‘us and them’ mentality in the treatment of third country nationals, is equally characterised by a ‘haves and have-nots’ approach to its own members—thus presenting a model which (albeit for perhaps understandable pragmatic reasons) is not necessarily in the best interests of maximising economic efficiency within the Common Market, places limits on certain of the political aspirations vested in the process of European integration, and questions the depth or at least the methodology of the Community’s stated commitment to attaining high levels of social protection.
The European Convention on Human Rights and International Public Order
Authors: Orakhelashvili Alexander
Published: July 2016

It is commonly assumed that the European Convention on Human Rights, being a treaty of specific nature, embodies elements of European public order. However, there seems to be no authoritative or generally accepted definition of the public order of Europe, of its essential components, and of its relationship with the notion of international public order. This article will examine these questions. In pursuing this goal, the law-enforcement resources accumulated within the European system of human rights protection will be examined in the context of interaction between the public order of Europe as part of the law of the European Convention, and international public order as part of general international law.
The Health of Nations and the Health of Europe
Authors: MacCormick Neil
Published: July 2016

It is an honour to be invited to give this year’s Mackenzie Stuart Lecture. Jack Mackenzie Stuart was a distinguished graduate of this University and of ours in Edinburgh. As a member, and subsequently the President, of the Court of Justice of the European Communities he made a great contribution to the cause of European integration through implementing the laws of the Communities, subsequently the ‘European Union’. As well as performing the ordinary tasks of judging and also latterly of presiding over the Court’s business, he was an apparently tireless publicist for that cause throughout Europe, but most particularly at home in the UK. By seeking to make the work of his Court and the law it administered less mystifying to the ordinary citizen and to the lawyerly public, he made it also less threatening.
Harmonisation of European Contract Law: Citizenship, Diversity and Effectiveness
Authors: Collins Hugh
Published: July 2016

Proposals from the European Commission to work towards greater harmonisation of contract law, and indeed private law more generally, have been described in terms that apparently distance these plans from the introduction of a code civil europa. Nevertheless, the programme for developing ‘non-sector-specific measures’ into a ‘common frame of reference’ constitutes in its fundamentals and aspirations the ambition to create a European law of contract. And the method for the construction of this code replicates the process devising the great European codes of the nineteenth century: a painstaking scholarly endeavour to find consistency and coherence in the divergent national private law systems, except that no legislative process is foreseen.
European Human Rights and Constitution-building in a Post-conflict Society: the Case of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Authors: Feldman David
Published: July 2016

The constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (henceforth ‘BiH’) was born out of conflict. The country, like much of the Balkan region, had been subject to waves of invasion, nationalist tension and foreign domination for many centuries. The Ottoman Empire, with a complex system of public and private law influenced by Islamic law, had been followed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, overlaying the legal system with the tradition of the Code Civil. Before the Ottoman period the Slav population had divided between adherents to the Church of Rome and followers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Under the Ottomans a group of Slavs had converted to Islam, further fracturing the religious coherence of the region. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the pan-Slavist movement had sought to establish a Serb national homeland for its people. When Princip assassinated the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo in 1914, the aim was to establish a Serb state free of imperial domination.
Private Power and Public Authority in European Union Law
Authors: Chalmers Damian
Published: July 2016

European union law is currently undergoing a transformation as profound as that forged by the ‘1992’ project which prompted the article by Joseph Weiler of that name. If that project was an intensification and broadening of EC law making, this new transformation is altogether of a more subtle nature. On the one hand, there is a commitment to a drastic reduction in the number of EU laws on the statute book. About one third of Union legislation is to be repealed, recast, modified or simplified. Alongside this, one finds an expansion of pan–European norms. In 2003, the main European standardisation body, CEN, adopted 888 standards. This one year’s work equated to more than were adopted in the whole period prior to the end of 1992. One view might be that this is some ‘retreat by the state’. These types of norms are developed by private actors, and maybe a simple privatisation of the legislative process is taking place. This explanation is unconvincing, however. Studies in other fields have found private law making to be accompanied by more pervasive and further reaching forms of administrative intervention.
A high-gain inkjet-printed UWB LPDA antenna on paper substrate
Authors: Hamza Syed M. , Tahir Farooq A. , Cheema Hammad M.
Published: July 2016

An ultra-wideband (UWB) log-periodic dipole array (LPDA) antenna inkjet-printed on a 0.5 mm thick photo paper substrate is presented. The overall size of the LPDA antenna is 130 × 60 mm2. The LPDA antenna exhibits stable input-impedance characteristics and a consistent end-fire radiation pattern over the whole operating band of 2.2–11 GHz. Fulfilling the need of high-gain flexible antennas for UWB, a highly directive measured gain of 9.5 dBi on a paper substrate makes it an excellent candidate for flexible wireless devices.
PML nuclear body disruption impairs DNA double-strand break sensing and repair in APL
Authors: di Masi A , Cilli D , Berardinelli F , Talarico A , Pallavicini I , Pennisi R , Leone S , Antoccia A , Noguera N I , Lo-Coco F , Ascenzi P , Minucci S , Nervi C
Published: July 2016

Proteins involved in DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair localize within the promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies (PML-NBs), whose disruption is at the root of the acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) pathogenesis. All-trans-retinoic acid (RA) treatment induces PML-RARαdegradation, restores PML-NB functions, and causes terminal cell differentiation of APL blasts. However, the precise role of the APL-associated PML-RARαoncoprotein and PML-NB integrity in the DSB response in APL leukemogenesis and tumor suppression is still lacking. Primary leukemia blasts isolated from APL patients showed high phosphorylation levels of H2AX (γ-H2AX), an initial DSBs sensor. By addressing the consequences of ionizing radiation (IR)-induced DSB response in primary APL blasts and RA-responsive and -resistant myeloid cell lines carrying endogenous or ectopically expressed PML-RARα, before and after treatment with RA, we found that the disruption of PML-NBs is associated with delayed DSB response, as revealed by the impaired kinetic of disappearance ofγ-H2AX and 53BP1 foci and activation of ATM and of its substrates H2AX, NBN, and CHK2. The disruption of PML-NB integrity by PML-RARαalso affects the IR-induced DSB response in a preleukemic mouse model of APLin vivo. We propose the oncoprotein-dependent PML-NB disruption and DDR impairment as relevant early events in APL tumorigenesis.
Apollo Lunar Astronauts Show Higher Cardiovascular Disease Mortality: Possible Deep Space Radiation Effects on the Vascular Endothelium
Authors: Delp Michael D. , Charvat Jacqueline M. , Limoli Charles L. , Globus Ruth K. , Ghosh Payal
Published: July 2016

As multiple spacefaring nations contemplate extended manned missions to Mars and the Moon, health risks could be elevated as travel goes beyond the Earth’s protective magnetosphere into the more intense deep space radiation environment. The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether mortality rates due to cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, accidents and all other causes of death differ in (1) astronauts who never flew orbital missions in space, (2) astronauts who flew only in low Earth orbit (LEO) and (3) Apollo lunar astronauts, the only humans to have traveled beyond Earth’s magnetosphere. Results show there were no differences in CVD mortality rate between non-flight (9%) and LEO (11%) astronauts. However, the CVD mortality rate among Apollo lunar astronauts (43%) was 4–5 times higher than in non-flight and LEO astronauts. To test a possible mechanistic basis for these findings, a secondary purpose was to determine the long-term effects of simulated weightlessness and space-relevant total-body irradiation on vascular responsiveness in mice. The results demonstrate that space-relevant irradiation induces a sustained vascular endothelial cell dysfunction. Such impairment is known to lead to occlusive artery disease and may be an important risk factor for CVD among astronauts exposed to deep space radiation.
Spatial Competition: Roughening of an Experimental Interface
Authors: Allstadt Andrew J. , Newman Jonathan A. , Walter Jonathan A. , Korniss G. , Caraco Thomas
Published: July 2016

Limited dispersal distance generates spatial aggregation. Intraspecific interactions are then concentrated within clusters and between-species interactions occur near cluster boundaries. Spread of a locally dispersing invader can become motion of an interface between the invading and resident species and spatial competition will produce variation in the extent of invasive advance along the interface. Kinetic roughening theory offers a framework for quantifying the development of these fluctuations, which may structure the interface as a self-affine fractal and so induce a series of temporal and spatial scaling relationships. For most clonal plants, advance should become spatially correlated along the interface and width of the interface (where invader and resident compete directly) should increase as a power function of time. Once roughening equilibrates, interface width and the relative location of the most advanced invader should each scale with interface length. We tested these predictions by letting white clover (Trifolium repens) invade ryegrass (Lolium perenne). The spatial correlation of clover growth developed as anticipated by kinetic roughening theory and both interface width and the most advanced invader’s lead scaled with front length. However, the scaling exponents differed from those predicted by recent simulation studies, likely due to clover’s growth morphology.
Experimental realization of equiangular three-state quantum key distribution
Authors: Schiavon Matteo , Vallone Giuseppe , Villoresi Paolo
Published: July 2016

Quantum key distribution using three states in equiangular configuration combines a security threshold comparable with the one of the Bennett-Brassard 1984 protocol and a quantum bit error rate (QBER) estimation that does not need to reveal part of the key. We implement an entanglement-based version of the Renes 2004 protocol, using only passive optic elements in a linear scheme for the positive-operator valued measure (POVM), generating an asymptotic secure key rate of more than 10 kbit/s, with a mean QBER of 1.6%. We then demonstrate its security in the case of finite key and evaluate the key rate for both collective and general attacks.
Iowa Mutant Apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-IIowa) Fibrils Target Lysosomes
Authors: Kameyama Hirokazu , Nakajima Hiroyuki , Nishitsuji Kazuchika , Mikawa Shiho , Uchimura Kenji , Kobayashi Norihiro , Okuhira Keiichiro , Saito Hiroyuki , Sakashita Naomi
Published: July 2016

The single amino acid mutation G26R in human apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-IIowa) is the first mutation that was associated with familial AApoA1 amyloidosis. The N-terminal fragments (amino acid residues 1–83) of apoA-I containing this mutation deposit as amyloid fibrils in patients’ tissues and organs, but the mechanisms of cellular degradation and cytotoxicity have not yet been clarified. In this study, we demonstrated degradation of apoA-IIowa fibrils via the autophagy-lysosomal pathway in human embryonic kidney 293 cells. ApoA-IIowa fibrils induced an increase in lysosomal pH and the cytosolic release of the toxic lysosomal protease cathepsin B. The mitochondrial dysfunction caused by apoA-IIowa fibrils depended on cathepsin B and was ameliorated by increasing the degradation of apoA-IIowa fibrils. Thus, although apoA-IIowa fibril transport to lysosomes and fibril degradation in lysosomes may have occurred, the presence of an excess number of apoA-IIowa fibrils, more than the lysosomes could degrade, may be detrimental to cells. Our results thus provide evidence that the target of apoA-IIowa fibrils is lysosomes and we thereby gained a novel insight into the mechanism of AApoA1 amyloidosis.
Engineering complex tissue-like microgel arrays for evaluating stem cell differentiation
Authors: Guermani Enrico , Shaki Hossein , Mohanty Soumyaranjan , Mehrali Mehdi , Arpanaei Ayyoob , Gaharwar Akhilesh K. , Dolatshahi-Pirouz Alireza
Published: July 2016

Development of tissue engineering scaffolds with native-like biology and microarchitectures is a prerequisite for stem cell mediated generation of off-the-shelf-tissues. So far, the field of tissue engineering has not full-filled its grand potential of engineering such combinatorial scaffolds for engineering functional tissues. This is primarily due to the many challenges associated with finding the right microarchitectures and ECM compositions for optimal tissue regeneration. Here, we have developed a new microgel array to address this grand challenge through robotic printing of complex stem cell-laden microgel arrays. The developed microgel array platform consisted of various microgel environments that where composed of native-like cellular microarchitectures resembling vascularized and bone marrow tissue architectures. The feasibility of our array system was demonstrated through localized cell spreading and osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) into complex tissue-like structures. In summary, we have developed a tissue-like microgel array for evaluating stem cell differentiation within complex and heterogeneous cell microenvironments. We anticipate that the developed platform will be used for high-throughput identification of combinatorial and native-like scaffolds for tissue engineering of functional organs.
Large area and deep sub-wavelength interference lithography employing odd surface plasmon modes
Authors: Liu Liqin , Luo Yunfei , Zhao Zeyu , Zhang Wei , Gao Guohan , Zeng Bo , Wang Changtao , Luo Xiangang
Published: July 2016

In this paper, large area and deep sub-wavelength interference patterns are realized experimentally by using odd surface plasmon modes in the metal/insulator/metal structure. Theoretical investigation shows that the odd modes possesses much higher transversal wave vector and great inhibition of tangential electric field components, facilitating surface plasmon interference fringes with high resolution and contrast in the measure of electric field intensity. Interference resist patterns with 45 nm (∼λ/8) half-pitch, 50 nm depth and area size up to 20 mm × 20 mm were obtained by using 20 nm Al/50 nm photo resist/50 nm Al films with greatly reduced surface roughness and 180 nm pitch exciting grating fabricated with conventional laser interference lithography. Much deeper resolution down to 19.5 nm is also feasible by decreasing the thickness of PR. Considering that no requirement of expensive EBL or FIB tools are employed, it provides a cost-effective way for large area and nano-scale fabrication.
Allele-specific locus binding and genome editing by CRISPR at the p16INK4a locus
Authors: Fujita Toshitsugu , Yuno Miyuki , Fujii Hodaka
Published: July 2016

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) system has been adopted for a wide range of biological applications including genome editing. In some cases, dissection of genome functions requires allele-specific genome editing, but the use of CRISPR for this purpose has not been studied in detail. In this study, using the p16INK4a gene in HCT116 as a model locus, we investigated whether chromatin states, such as CpG methylation, or a single-nucleotide gap form in a target site can be exploited for allele-specific locus binding and genome editing by CRISPR in vivo. First, we showed that allele-specific locus binding and genome editing could be achieved by targeting allele-specific CpG-methylated regions, which was successful for one, but not all guide RNAs. In this regard, molecular basis underlying the success remains elusive at this stage. Next, we demonstrated that an allele-specific single-nucleotide gap form could be employed for allele-specific locus binding and genome editing by CRISPR, although it was important to avoid CRISPR tolerance of a single nucleotide mismatch brought about by mismatched base skipping. Our results provide information that might be useful for applications of CRISPR in studies of allele-specific functions in the genomes.