bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Validation of the Microlab Salmonella for Detection of Salmonella O Group A-E in Selected Foods: AOAC Performance Tested MethodSM 052401
Authors: Alonso Raúl , Razquin Pedro , Carrascón Vanesa , Mata Luis
Published: August 2024

Background

Microlab Salmonella is an all-in-one solution for detection of Salmonella O Groups A-E that integrates, in a single disposable device, all elements to perform the analysis: a ready-to-use enrichment broth, a lateral flow immunochromatography test, and a chemical agent for bacterial inactivation. Microlab Salmonella can be easily used on-site and does not require specific laboratory equipment or technical skills. The device is sealed during the analysis, avoiding risks of contamination, and is therefore safe to use in food production environments.

Objective

This report details the method validation study for raw ground beef, raw turkey (thermal processed, marinated), fresh cheese, deli ham, and pasteurized liquid egg.

Methods

Matrix studies and inclusivity/exclusivity, product consistency/stability, and robustness testing were conducted to assess the method’s performance.

Results

Inclusivity/exclusivity testing showed that the Microlab Salmonella method was able to detect Salmonella O Group A-E isolates while excluding the non-Salmonella strains. In the matrix studies, the differences between the candidate and reference methods were not statistically significant. Minor variations in test parameters (enrichment time, time to read results, and enrichment temperature) did not affect the performance of the Microlab assay. There were no statistically significant differences between recently manufactured lots and those that were halfway through their expiration period or between those that were close to expiring.

Conclusions

The reported data confirm that Microlab Salmonella is reliable for detecting Salmonella in raw ground beef, raw turkey (thermal processed, marinated), fresh cheese, pasteurized liquid egg, and deli ham.

Highlights

Microlab Salmonella is validated to detect Salmonella in select food matrixes. Microlab Salmonella integrates the steps of enrichment, detection, and inactivation in a single device.
Development and reporting of artificial intelligence in osteoporosis management
Authors: Gatineau Guillaume , Shevroja Enisa , Vendrami Colin , Gonzalez-Rodriguez Elena , Leslie William D , Lamy Olivier , Hans Didier
Published: August 2024

An abundance of medical data and enhanced computational power have led to a surge in artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Published studies involving AI in bone and osteoporosis research have increased exponentially, raising the need for transparent model development and reporting strategies. This review offers a comprehensive overview and systematic quality assessment of AI articles in osteoporosis while highlighting recent advancements. A systematic search in the PubMed database, from December 17, 2020 to February 1, 2023 was conducted to identify AI articles that relate to osteoporosis. The quality assessment of the studies relied on the systematic evaluation of 12 quality items derived from the minimum information about clinical artificial intelligence modeling checklist. The systematic search yielded 97 articles that fell into 5 areas; bone properties assessment (11 articles), osteoporosis classification (26 articles), fracture detection/classification (25 articles), risk prediction (24 articles), and bone segmentation (11 articles). The average quality score for each study area was 8.9 (range: 7–11) for bone properties assessment, 7.8 (range: 5–11) for osteoporosis classification, 8.4 (range: 7–11) for fracture detection, 7.6 (range: 4–11) for risk prediction, and 9.0 (range: 6–11) for bone segmentation. A sixth area, AI-driven clinical decision support, identified the studies from the 5 preceding areas that aimed to improve clinician efficiency, diagnostic accuracy, and patient outcomes through AI-driven models and opportunistic screening by automating or assisting with specific clinical tasks in complex scenarios. The current work highlights disparities in study quality and a lack of standardized reporting practices. Despite these limitations, a wide range of models and examination strategies have shown promising outcomes to aid in the earlier diagnosis and improve clinical decision-making. Through careful consideration of sources of bias in model performance assessment, the field can build confidence in AI-based approaches, ultimately leading to improved clinical workflows and patient outcomes.
Updated review of perioperative treatment for non-small-cell lung cancer in the new era of immune checkpoint inhibitors: past, present, and future
Authors: Watanabe Shun-ichi , Yotsukura Masaya , Miyoshi Tomohiro , Hattori Aritoshi , Isaka Tetsuya , Maniwa Tomohiro , Isaka Mitsuhiro , Yoshioka Hiroshige , Endo Makoto , Mimae Takahiro , Tsutani Yasuhiro , Nakagawa Kazuo , Aokage Keiju ,   the Lung Cancer Surgical Study Group (LCSSG) of the Japan Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG)
Published: August 2024

The perioperative treatments for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) should control both local and microscopic systemic disease, because the survival of patients with NSCLC who underwent surgical resection alone has been dismal except in stage IA patients. One way to improve surgical outcome is the administration of chemotherapy before or after the surgical procedure. During the last two decades, many clinical studies have focused on developing optimal adjuvant or neoadjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy regimens that can be combined with surgical treatment and/or radiotherapy. Based on the results of those clinical studies, multimodality therapy has been considered to be an appropriate treatment approach for locally advanced NSCLC patients. When nodal involvement is discovered postoperatively, adjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy has conferred an overall survival benefit. More recently, neoadjuvant and/or adjuvant use of immunotherapy adding to the cisplatin-based chemotherapy has been revealed to improve survival of the patients with locally advanced NSCLC in many large-scale clinical trials; although, optimal treatment strategies are still evolving.
Treatment of stage I-III squamous cell anal cancer: a comparative effectiveness systematic review
Authors: Troester Alexander , Parikh Romil , Southwell Bronwyn , Ester Elizabeth , Sultan Shahnaz , Greeno Edward , Arsoniadis Elliot , Church Timothy R , Wilt Timothy , Butler Mary , Goffredo Paolo
Published: August 2024

Background

We sought to assess the effectiveness and harms of initial treatment strategies for stage I through III anal squamous cell anal cancer.

Methods

We searched MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials between January 1, 2000, and March 2024, for randomized controlled trials and nonrandomized studies of interventions comparing initial treatment strategies. Individual study risk of bias and overall strength of evidence were evaluated for a prespecified outcome list using standardized methods.

Results

We identified 33 eligible studies and extracted data. Six were deemed low to moderate risk of bias. Compared with radiation therapy alone, chemoradiation therapy (CRT) with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and mitomycin C probably shows a benefit in locoregional failure, disease-specific survival, and colostomy-free survival (moderate strength of evidence) yet may result in greater overall and acute hematological toxicity, with no difference in late harms (low strength of evidence). CRT with 5-FU plus mitomycin C may show a benefit in locoregional failure, disease-specific survival, and colostomy-free survival rates compared with 5-FU alone (low strength of evidence). CRT with 5-FU plus cisplatin vs 5-FU plus mitomycin C probably results in no differences in several effectiveness outcomes or overall acute or late harms and probably increases hematological toxicity with mitomycin C (moderate strength of evidence). Compared with CRT using capecitabine plus mitomycin C, CRT with capecitabine plus mitomycin C and paclitaxel may improve overall survival, disease-specific survival, and colostomy-free survival yet cause more acute harms (low strength of evidence). Evidence was insufficient for remaining comparisons.

Conclusions

CRT with 5-FU plus mitomycin C or 5-FU plus cisplatin is likely more effective yet incurs greater acute hematological toxicity than radiation therapy alone or single-agent CRT. Adding paclitaxel to capecitabine plus mitomycin C may increase treatment efficacy and toxicity. Evidence is insufficient comparing posttreatment surveillance strategies and patient-reported outcomes, highlighting research opportunities.
Co-predications and the quantificational force of summative predicates
Authors: Paillé Mathieu
Published: August 2024

In the literature on homogeneity, summative predicates have been described as quantifying universally over their argument’s parts in positive sentences, while being negated existentials in negative sentences. In this article, I provide a fuller picture of these predicates’ quantificational force in positive sentences through various ‘co-predications’—sentences in which two summative predicates are predicated of the same individual. In some co-predications, summative predicates are universal; in others, they are weaker, while remaining stronger than existential. In light of this new empirical paradigm, I suggest that summative predicates are lexically existential, but are exhaustified so as to exclude other same-class predicates. In addition to making this proposal, I also show that no other theory of homogeneity can capture the co-predicational paradigm.
Divergent hydraulic and gas-exchange strategies in two closely related Salix species
Authors: Waseem Muhammad , Yao Guang-Qian , Hasan Md Mahadi , Li Yan-Ru , Qi Shi-Hua , Cai Lin , Yang Di , Fang Xiang-Wen
Published: August 2024

Understanding the physiological mechanisms that trees employ to cope with drought-induced mortality is crucial for predicting their responses to a changing climate. Salix species exhibit distinct habit distributions, with Salix babylonica growing in wet habitats and Salix matsudana growing in relatively dry habitats. The objective of this study was to compare hydraulic and gas-exchange traits between these two closely related Salix species with contrasting natural habitats. S. matsudana had lower photosynthesis (Amax), lower stomatal conductance (gs) and lower stem and leaf hydraulic conductance, but it exhibited higher water use efficiency (WUEi), higher hydraulic safety and wider leaf-to-stem vulnerability segmentation as well as narrower, shorter and denser conduits and a lower ratio of leaf area to sapwood area than S. babylonica. These findings suggest that variations in hydraulic vulnerability and gas-exchange traits enable closely related Salix species to adapt to different habitats.
Stability Based on Contract
Authors: Cameron Peter
Published: August 2024

This chapter examines the principal means by which political risk is sought to be mitigated in an energy investment contract through the use of stabilization clauses. It recounts the early experiences of energy investors with host states that played an important role in shaping the approaches to long-term contract stability. It also discusses the failure of early stabilization clauses in petroleum contracts that act as a deterrent to nationalizations in the Middle East and North Africa led to the emergence of more pragmatically designed stability mechanisms in energy contracts. The chapter refers to the contractual assurance of negotiated terms against future legal or regulatory changes that provided legal and fiscal stability. It elaborates the presence of a stabilization clause that encourages the host state to reach a settlement with the investor on terms that are more favourable to the investor.
Stability Based on Treaty
Authors: Cameron Peter D
Published: August 2024

This chapter reviews features of the investment treaty regime that are most relevant to the energy investment law and its goal of providing investors with the kind of long-term stability that is emblematic of energy investments. It mentions the emergence of a large, comprehensive network of International Investment Agreements (IIAs) that changed the legal landscape for energy investment forever. It also talks about a significant expansion of the substantive and procedural guarantees, which an international energy investor can typically expect from a host government's legal framework. The chapter highlights common treaty requirements that oblige states to provide investors with guarantees, such as those encompassed by Fair and Equitable Treatment. It considers the expectations of an international energy investor of long-term protection from possible abuses by governments of host states that has reached a state of comfort.
Russia, Ukraine, and Central Asia
Authors: Cameron Peter
Published: August 2024

This chapter highlights the different strategies worked out by investors and host states in order to provide long-term stability for energy investments. It reviews the major tests of stability mechanisms in recent years against the background of rising commodity prices in the first decade of the 21st century. It also analyzes the actions of the host state, which were often driven by disappointment with the results of the framework of economic law introduced in the 1990s. The chapter describes gas contracting as a commercial character with only a modest role for foreign investment and cites different forms of stability introduced by the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) through a review of its emerging jurisprudence. It examines substantive protections given to investors in the mining sector of Russia, Ukraine, and Central Asia.
Africa: Treaty and Contract Stability
Authors: Cameron Peter
Published: August 2024

This chapter focuses on Africa, which has an important and sensitive connection between energy investment and socio-economic development. It points out the relative lack of infrastructure and access to electricity for as many as 600 million of Africa's citizens that make the prospect of large-scale foreign investment a very compelling one for governments. It also explains the principal attraction of long-term investments in Africa for foreign investors that relates to development goals, such as securing raw materials for export and processing. The chapter describes Africa as a unique character on a case study of long-term legal stability for energy investments. It discusses how the legacy of colonialism in Africa is still a factor in the popular mindset that is capable of influencing the reception and treatment of foreign investment.
The Limits to Investment Stability
Authors: Cameron Peter
Published: August 2024

This chapter demonstrates how a state act is motivated by environmental or human rights concerns, which can have a surprise element to it that is both disruptive and undermining of investments already committed. It talks about the long-term stability of investments in energy and natural resources that is increasingly being tested by actions that stem from the exercise of host state competences. It analyzes investment agreements between governments and foreign investors that have often included a compromise arrangement, a 'carve-out' status for environmental and social matters. The chapter shows how a foreign investor will seek the most extensive guarantees possible for long-term stability, even as the norms and standards applicable to planning and implementation are bound to evolve. It confirms whether resulting arrangements would restrict the host state's sovereignty in areas central to its capacity to govern in the interests of its citizens.
Damages and Enforcement of Awards
Authors: Cameron Peter
Published: August 2024

This chapter examines the principal ways in which damages are assessed by tribunals in energy investment cases before considering how awards are typically enforced. It determines whether enforcement and collection are likely to impose significant strain on relations between the parties and how that may be mitigated by settling their differences, given the central role of the investor-state relationship in making the investment possible and continuing. It also talks about how stability guarantees offer an investor facing a significant loss the prospect of securing a greater amount in damages for the alleged breach than would have been the case in their absence. The chapter describes a commercial agreement by parties on a settlement as the most pragmatic response to an underlying dispute. It highlights the principles that are typically applied to the award of damages in energy investment cases, including the main approaches adopted by tribunals to give a value to an energy investment.
Guarantees for Long-Term Energy Investments: Expectations and Realities
Authors: Cameron Peter
Published: August 2024

This chapter identifies six features of energy investments that were considered typical or recurring: cross-border or international, scale, long duration, substantial and enduring state presence, strong exposure to international commodity movements, and complex. It suggests that energy investments are especially influenced by contextual factors in a wide variety of jurisdictions. It also discusses the prospect of investment that raises expectations of social and economic transformation in countries or regions that are often badly in need of growth or development. The chapter looks at the outlook of social and economic benefit that triggers an awareness of the legacy of international investment in earlier periods, where it may have entailed economic and political domination. It describes the forms that legal stability take, given the inevitability of circumstances changing over such long periods.
Human Rights
Authors: Husovec Martin
Published: August 2024

The chapter puts the regulation of digital services into the broader context of human rights in the digital environment. It explains the key notions of horizontal and vertical human rights lenses, and how they apply to the digital environment. The regulation of intermediaries is conceptualised from the perspective of freedom of expression online drawing on existing theories of state regulation of platforms. The readers learn about the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union on the key issues of how the human rights law protects online speakers, intermediaries, and their audiences. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the institutional blind spots of the existing case law.
Introduction to Liability Framework
Authors: Husovec Martin
Published: August 2024

The chapter provides a historical account of the evolution of intermediary liability rules. It guides the readers from the early US legislation to national and, finally, EU legislation on the issue of intermediaries. The legislative history of the E-Commerce Directive is explained in detail, giving prominence to the internal market logic of the instrument. The chapter explains the reasons that drove the legislatures to the adoption of the first generation of rules concerning the liability of intermediaries that became known as liability exemptions or safe harbours. It also explains why the system of such exemptions was considered insufficient to tackle the existing challenges and how the second generation of rules, such as the Digital Services Act, is trying to complement the pre-existing rules.
Prohibition of General Monitoring Obligations
Authors: Husovec Martin
Published: August 2024

The chapter describes the prohibition of general monitoring obligations as one of the cornerstones of the digital services regulation. After providing a historical account, it explains how the Court of Justice of the European Union reshaped the prohibition from a narrow version of specific monitoring to a current expansive version that allows stay-down injunctions. The chapter also explains why the inherent inconsistency of the prohibition can be explained from the perspective of the internal market logic of the provision. Finally, it explains theories that arguably underpin the rationale behind the prohibition and how they are likely to shape the interpretation of the DSA in years to come.
Liability Exemptions: General Requirements
Authors: Husovec Martin
Published: August 2024

The chapter describes general requirements for all three liability exemptions: mere conduit, caching, and hosting. It extensively maps the concept of neutrality and provides a coherent theory of how the concept should be applied to specific cases. The theory draws on the existing case law and is supplemented by new provisions of the DSA. The reader also learns about what consequences are attached to the notion of neutrality under the DSA’s due diligence framework, and what issues remain open from the legislative text. The chapter also explains other general limitations of the liability exemption framework, such as the economic nature of the services. The conclusion looks at the most difficult questions that are likely to emerge in the years to come.
Introduction to Accountability Framework
Authors: Husovec Martin
Published: August 2024

The chapter provides a rich description of the ecosystem of services that end up being regulated by the Digital Services Act. The explanation provides the reader with concrete examples of digital services that are regulated as very large online platforms and very large search engines, online platforms, search engines, hosting, caching, and mere conduit services. The chapter further explains the problems of interpreting the thresholds included in the Digital Services Act, such as how to count the number of users, which companies are responsible for, and how to deal with composite services. The final part of the chapter stresses the importance of judicial review when reviewing the determination of the regulatory status of various intermediaries and emphasises why regulation by accountability obligations differs from regulation through liability for third-party content.
Content Moderation: Outline
Authors: Husovec Martin
Published: August 2024

The chapter gives a general introduction to the literature and discussions about content moderation. It explains the basic trade-offs and criticism of content moderation activities as performed by platforms. After introducing the foundations of the Digital Services Act as a legal framework, the chapter reacts to the criticism associated with due process regulation that focuses on individual disputes. Namely, the chapter answers questions, such as why due process rights are necessary and socially useful, and why the regulation is a net benefit, despite imposing compliance costs on the industry. The chapter also reacts to the criticism that the Digital Services Act only cements the status quo of privatised enforcement, instead of shifting the disputes to the courts.
Fair Moderation Process
Authors: Husovec Martin
Published: August 2024

The chapter describes the procedural regulation of content moderation introduced by the Digital Services Act. It explains the concept of fair procedure step by step, from the notice submission to individualised decisions along with statements of reasons, followed by potential internal and external appeals before the out-of-court dispute settlement bodies. Each step is scrutinised against the backdrop of the overall mechanics of the process, and how it is likely to impact the practice of the platforms. The chapter makes a number of recommendations regarding how to implement the mechanism in daily practice and uncovers deeper conceptual problems that the courts will need to grapple with.
Fair Content Rules
Authors: Husovec Martin
Published: August 2024

The chapter describes how the Digital Services Act’s due process rules affect the underlying rules that the platforms can set for their users. It first explains how Article 14 is likely to affect the underlying rules, following three potential theories of its meaning. The chapter develops a theory about how formal procedural rules are likely to affect the trade-off between precision and administrability of the underlying rules and why companies are likely to prefer simpler rules. Next, the chapter explains the impact of other rules, such as Article 23 targeting repeat offenders, and Codes of Conduct, on how the companies will regulate third-party content.
Fair Design Practices
Authors: Husovec Martin
Published: August 2024

The chapter describes the prescriptive rules of the Digital Services Act that regulate how online platforms ought to design their services for consumers, children, and the public. The chapter guides the reader through the new regulations for recommender systems transparency and consumer choice. It explains the rules applicable to advertising operated by platforms and their users and how they differ. Finally, the chapter looks at new general rules about the protection of minors from unsafe design, consumers from dark patterns, and different types of abuse on online marketplaces. It is argued that the dark patterns provisions are less frequently applicable than it would seem from the legislative process.
General Risk Management
Authors: Husovec Martin
Published: August 2024

The chapter describes the new system of general risk management introduced by the Digital Services Act in Articles 34–35. The rules are juxtaposed against the system of risk management in the General Data Protection Regulation, and the text of the DSA is analysed for clues about the methodology. The chapter argues that the DSA adopts a limited risk management approach that entitles the Commission to only enforce the rules in a content-specific way for illegal content. For legal content, in contrast, only content-neutral interventions should be permissible, due to limitations imposed by the principle of legality. Furthermore, the chapter argues in favour of sharing the risks among different stakeholders. In the final part, the DSA risk management is compared with the banking regulation to argue in favour of the compartmentalisation of risks.
The DSA as a Digital Rights Charter
Authors: Husovec Martin
Published: August 2024

The chapter provides a tour through the landscape of European Union law to explore the interconnections between the Digital Services Act and other sectorial rules. After a detailed analysis of specific instruments in the area of data protection, copyright law, audiovisual media, terrorist content regulation, and platform-to-business rules, it is argued that the Digital Services Act is likely to act as a digital rights charter that often provides a minimum level of missing safeguards. The mechanism through which it achieves this is a universal set of mostly procedural, but sometimes also risk-based safeguards, that act as a complement to sectorial rules. It is argued that the Digital Services Act enriches and improves these other areas of law.
The DSA as a Co-regulatory System
Authors: Husovec Martin
Published: August 2024

The chapter puts the newly introduced provisions of the Digital Services Act (DSA) into the broader regulatory landscape, arguing that one of the key components of the new law resides in co-regulation through Codes of Conduct. This approach has its roots in how the internet has been regulated historically. The chapter then conceptualises Codes of Conduct in terms of their future role in the enforcement of the DSA. After reviewing the different types of Codes of Conduct that the DSA envisages, it is argued that they are likely to have a crucial role in making the enforcement cheaper for the European Commission. Thus, a theory of effective enforcement is offered that rests on a tit-for-tat strategy where prescriptive rules and Codes of Conduct allow the Commission to punish companies to secure long-term cooperation on more open-ended rules, such as risk management.
Principles
Authors: Husovec Martin
Published: August 2024

The final chapter of the book summarises its findings through two sets of principles that are based on the analysis of the Digital Services Act (DSA). The principles are offered to legislatures as the statutory design principles and to authorities as the interpretation principles. It is argued that the DSA is a tool that is meant to foster a trustworthy online environment by suppressing illegal information and rewarding trustworthy information. To achieve the former, public and private enforcement are crucial. To achieve the latter, the social structures, such as NGOs and charities, must take the lead in using the tools of the DSA and building upon its concepts to enhance the public’s trust in the decentralised ecosystem of information distribution.
Antitrust Procedural Fairness
Authors: Sokol D Daniel , Guzman Andrew T
Published: August 2024

Much of antitrust law scholarship has focused on substantive legal issues — theories of harm and changing law and policy. Surprisingly, there has been very little work — and to our knowledge no book-length work that is comparative — on a fundamental element that is a critical building block to effective policy, procedural fairness. Procedural fairness encompasses issues of transparency and due process. Procedural fairness has been an important issue in global antitrust for some time. The types of due process concerns raised globally often relate to the lack of effective representation, the use of industrial policy by third parties, and procedural tools that do not allow for the most effective advocacy to lead to efficient outcomes. This book focuses on these issues and teases out common problems and distinct issues in particular jurisdictions, allowing for a rethink of creating a more effective system for procedural fairness, and explores these issues in each jurisdiction, along with highlights of particular cases in which due process issues have emerged.
Introduction
Authors: Guzman Andrew T , Sokol D Daniel
Published: August 2024

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book focuses on issues of procedural fairness and teases out common problems and distinct issues in particular jurisdictions. Each chapter by country was organized to answer the same set of questions: (1) Does your system permit legal representation for the parties under investigation, including allowing the participation of both local and foreign counsel? (2) Does your system notify the parties of the legal and factual bases of an investigation and share the evidence on which the agency relies? (3) Does your system provide for meaningful engagement between the parties and the agency's investigative staff and decision-makers? (4) From an institutional design perspective, does your system ensure internal checks and balances on decision-making within the agency by courts? The jurisdictions covered are the United States, European Commission, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Brazil, Australia, and Canada.
Procedural Fairness in Chinese Antitrust
Authors: Ma Jingun (Mary) , Sokol D Daniel
Published: August 2024

This chapter discusses China's antitrust laws. The Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) took effect in August 2008. In many ways, the AML appears similar to competition laws in other jurisdictions, with, for example, prohibitions against monopolistic agreements (both horizontal and vertical) and the abuse of dominance. However, from an institutional standpoint, the AML is more complex than competition law systems in other jurisdictions. Unlike a single authority (the norm), three competition authorities jointly share responsibility for enforcing the AML: the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the State Administration of Industry and Commerce. The Chinese antitrust agencies have considerable discretion with regard to procedural fairness issues under Chinese law. They also have discretion with regard to substantive standards of the application of the AML and related laws. This combination provides for opportunities for the Chinese competition authorities to limit due process and transparency in ways that sometimes impact the substantive application of law.
Procedural Fairness in India
Authors: Bose Avirup , Rathi Sagardeep
Published: August 2024

The Competition Commission of India (CCI), established under the Competition Act, 2002 has the exclusive original jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of the Act, which came into force on May 20, 2009, with the Act's merger control provisions being subsequently brought into effect on June 1, 2011. However, in the last eight years of existence, the CCI has deviated from the principles of natural justice while exercising its quasi-judicial function, and have deviated from following the due process of law. Many of the appeals from decisions of the CCI before the Competition Appellate Tribunal are on the very basis of non-compliance with principles of natural justice as well as on the merits of the case. This chapter analyzes these decisions. It is divided into three major sub-parts: (i) due process issues at the investigation stage; (ii) due process issues at the decision-making stage; and (iii) due process issues at the remedy stage.
Procedural Fairness and Transparency in Australian Merger Regulation and the Use of Enforceable Undertakings
Authors: Ng Wendy
Published: August 2024

This chapter examines procedural fairness and transparency in Australian merger regulation. It outlines the different ways that merging parties can seek competition merger approval and the mechanisms in place to provide procedural fairness and transparency to merging parties and others. It explains how enforceable undertakings are used by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Australian Competition Tribunal to conditionally approve mergers. It then examines the main due process and transparency issues that arise in the context of merger-related enforceable undertakings. These relate to the ability to review or challenge the ACCC's decision to accept, reject, vary, or withdraw an enforceable undertaking; the nature of the negotiation and decision-making process relating to enforceable undertakings; the use of the ACCC's information gathering powers during merger review; and the procedural fairness protections for third parties.
Accountability, Private Rights of Action, and Canadian Competition Institutions
Authors: Iacobucci Edward M
Published: August 2024

This chapter examines the enforcement regime in Canadian competition law, focusing on private rights of action. It addresses four questions: Are parties entitled to legal representation in Canadian competition investigations by domestic and/or foreign counsel? Do Canadian competition authorities notify parties of the legal and factual bases of an investigation and any findings by the agency? Do parties have the opportunity for meaningful engagement with Canadian competition authorities? And do courts in Canada provide checks and balances on competition agency decision making? The chapter calls for expansion in the limited private rights that presently exist, both in addressing a wider scope of possibly anticompetitive conduct, specifically around abuse of dominance, and in allowing actions for damages in those contexts. The case for expansion rests in part on the problem in Canada of relatively few decided cases and consequential uncertainty about the law.
Form Follows Function
Authors: Heather Sean
Published: August 2024

This chapter discusses the concepts of form and function in antitrust law. Over the last fifty years, the world has seen the proliferation of antitrust laws and corresponding enforcement authorities steadily advance their way around the world. Much of this advancement was spurred by the United States encouraging all to adopt a free market approach to managing an economy. Given that antitrust law and authorities take on different functions in different jurisdictions, the business community has looked to process to provide form as an influencer over its function. Although there is little doubt that good form does impact function, time will tell whether or not fundamental values that support transparency and underpin due process serve as a common denominator to countering misguided antitrust outcomes and divergent approaches to the role of antitrust.
Due Process in Competition Law Proceedings
Authors: O’Brien Paul
Published: August 2024

This chapter first discusses how due process has attracted increased attention in international competition law dialogue. This can be attributed to three factors: the globalization of antitrust, the spotlight that has put on procedural differences, and an evolution of the nature of the discussion of due process and the perceived value to agencies in promoting sound outcomes. The chapter then asks whether there is consensus on appropriate process for competition proceedings. Competition agencies operate within different legal systems and traditions, with different organizational structures and different procedural rules. Are these differences significant, perhaps insurmountable, hurdles to consensus on common procedural practices? It argues that that the answers depend on the following: (1) high-level commitments to the importance of due process; (2) agreement on basic pillars or principles of due process; and (3) agreement on a set of specific practices that all agencies should implement to ensure due process.
Human Rights in Comprehensive Context
Authors: McDougal Myres S , Lasswell Harold D , Chen Lung-chu
Published: August 2024

This chapter describes a comprehensive set of goal values for postulation, clarification, and implementation of human rights in the largest community of humankind, first by discussing the rising common demands for such rights, namely: demands relating to respect, power, enlightenment, well-being, wealth, skill, affection, and rectitude. It then considers the responses of both transnational and national processes of authoritative decision to these demands, arguing that human dignity values are not being fulfilled and that large-scale deprivations of individuals and groups continue to prevail everywhere. It also examines conditions affecting deprivations and nonfulfillments of human dignity values, along with the intellectual confusion about human rights. In particular, it evaluates a number of jurisprudential approaches that contribute to human rights theory, including the natural law approach, the historical approach, the positivist approach, and the social science approach. The chapter concludes by proposing a policy-oriented framework of inquiry about human rights.
The Social Setting of Human Rights: The Process of Deprivation and Nonfulfillment of Values
Authors: McDougal Myres S , Lasswell Harold D , Chen Lung-chu
Published: August 2024

This chapter proposes a map of comprehensive world social process which affects not only degrees in the achievement of human rights, but also the kinds of claims that are made to authoritative decision for redress of deprivations and nonfulfillments. This world social process expands the generalized image of “man” striving to maximize “values” by applying “institutions” to “resources,” and includes a number of distinguishable, but interrelated, features. The chapter discusses these features in greater detail, namely: participants, perspectives, situations, base values, strategies and outcomes. The chapter highlights the continuous flow of deprivations and nonfulfillments in the shaping and sharing of values which characterizes both the internal social processes of different particular communities and the more comprehensive social process of the larger global community. It also considers human rights dimensions and policies at stake in all social interaction and in all authoritative decision by which such interaction is regulated.
The Global Constitutive Process of Authoritative Decision
Authors: McDougal Myres S , Lasswell Harold D , Chen Lung-chu
Published: August 2024

This chapter examines the emergence and continuing development of a global constitutive process of authoritative decision and its significance for the protection of human rights. It first considers the major features of contemporary constitutive process, namely: participation, nation-states, international governmental organizations, political parties, pressure groups, private associations, and the individual. It then explores the perspectives of the effective elites of the world, which infuse the global processes of authoritative and controlling decision, before discussing the diplomatic, parliamentary, diplomatic–parliamentary, adjudicative, and executive arenas in which all the effective participants in world power process interact. It also analyzes the base values for influencing decision, as well as the strategies employed in global constitutive process and the outcomes of such process. Finally, it describes the global bill of rights that is emerging from the different human rights prescriptions.
Claims Relating to Racial Discrimination
Authors: McDougal Myres S , Lasswell Harold D , Chen Lung-chu
Published: August 2024

This chapter considers claims relating to racial discrimination. It begins with a factual background on the issue of race and racial discrimination, and more specifically the value deprivations, both historical and continuing, imposed through “racial” discrimination and its equivalences. It then examines basic community policies that honor shared respect, which in turn requires nondiscrimination for reasons irrelevant to potentialities and is a fundamental component in any rational conception of human dignity. It also discusses the emergence of the more general norm of nondiscrimination, with particular emphasis on various prescriptions against racial discrimination articulated by international instruments such as the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as well as special national legislation aimed at preventing and eradicating racial discrimination (for example, the United States's Civil Rights Act of 1964).
Claims Relating to Freedom from Religious Discrimination
Authors: McDougal Myres S , Lasswell Harold D , Chen Lung-chu
Published: August 2024

This chapter focuses on claims relating to freedom from religious discrimination. It begins with a factual background on discrimination based upon religious beliefs and expressions, which forms the basis for some of the most serious deprivations of civil and political rights. In particular, it considers religious discrimination in the areas of rectitude, power, enlightenment, well-being, affection, and respect. It then examines basic community policies on religious discrimination, highlighting the importance of individual freedom of inquiry and commitment to community consensus about shaping and sharing of values. It also discusses trends in the transformation of the concepts of religious toleration and freedom of religion into national prescription and practice before concluding with an analysis of the inclusive context of religious and other basic freedoms of belief.
Claims for Freedom from Discrimination because of Nonconforming Political Opinion
Authors: McDougal Myres S , Lasswell Harold D , Chen Lung-chu
Published: August 2024

This chapter focuses on claims for freedom from discrimination because of nonconforming political belief. It starts with a factual background on deprivations imposed upon individuals owing to their political or other opinions. In particular, it considers political deprivations in relation to enlightenment, power, well-being, wealth, skill, affection, respect, and rectitude. It then examines basic community policies regarding the differential treatment of individual human beings entirely on the basis of political and other opinions, a practice that is clearly incompatible with the values of human dignity. It also discusses a range of prescriptions against discrimination on the basis of political or other opinions before concluding with an overview of future developments on freedom from political discrimination and persecution.
The Protection of Aliens from Discrimination: State Responsibility Conjoined with Human Rights
Authors: McDougal Myres S , Lasswell Harold D , Chen Lung-chu
Published: August 2024

This chapter discusses the responsibility of states to protect aliens from discrimination in the context of human rights prescriptions. It starts with a factual background on deprivations imposed upon individuals on the ground that they do not possess the “nationality” of the imposing state. Among the most important value deprivations imposed upon aliens are denial of full participation in the making of community decisions, “denial of justice,” and deprivations with respect to wealth, skill, and enlightenment. The chapter proceeds by considering basic community policies aimed at protecting aliens from discrimination and the development of a unique customary international law for the special protection of aliens. In particular, it examines two different standards about the responsibility of states to protect aliens from discrimination: the doctrine of “national treatment,” or “equality of treatment,” and the “minimum international standard.” Finally, it highlights future prospects for prescriptions that relate to alien “protection” or “discrimination”.
Doctrine, Practice, and Advocacy in the Inter-American Human Rights System
Authors: Cavallaro James L , Vargas Claret , Sandoval Clara , Duhaime Bernard , Bettinger-Lopez Caroline , Brewer Stephanie Erin , Guzmán Diana , Naddeo Cecilia
Published: August 2024

This book about the inter-American human rights system combines a comprehensive case-based review of the system’s jurisprudence and procedures with practice-oriented discussions to enable English-speaking students and practitioners to apply the system for addressing human rights violations in the Americas. In addition to using case excerpts from the Inter-American Commission and Court to illustrate the system’s jurisprudence in each area of human rights, the book employs case studies to survey the real-world impact of the system’s decisions in the countries under its jurisdiction. It provides analysis on a wide range of practical issues that advocates face when interacting with the Commission or Court and explores current debates on possible reforms of the system. It also provides materials that consider the political dynamics that empower and constrain the system, including ones covering the process of selection of members of the Inter-American Commission and judges on the Court, as well as budgetary and personnel decisions that directly affect the system’s human rights bodies. It also focuses on providing the foundations for interdisciplinary, strategic, and practical approaches to the Inter-American Human Rights System. The book brings together the current doctrine and practice of the Inter-American Commission and Inter-American Court, as well as analysis of the historical, political, and social context in which these bodies operate. Its point of departure is a critical look at the real-world successes and failures of the system and human rights advocates in the Americas, including the tensions and trade-offs commonly confronted by activists as they seek to advance human rights.
Introduction—Doctrine, Practice, and Advocacy in the Inter-American Human Rights System
Authors: Cavallaro James L , Vargas Claret , Sandoval Clara , Duhaime Bernard , Bettinger-Lopez Caroline , Brewer Stephanie Erin , Guzmán Diana , Naddeo Cecilia
Published: August 2024

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book’s main themes. This book is about the inter-American human rights system, one of three major regional human rights systems in the world. It combines a comprehensive case-based review of the system’s jurisprudence and procedures with practice-oriented discussions to enable students and practitioners to use the system to address human rights violations in the Americas. The casebook, in addition to using case excerpts from the Inter-American Commission and Court to illustrate the system’s jurisprudence in each area of human rights, employs case studies to survey the real-world impact of the system’s decisions in the countries under its jurisdiction. The book analyzes a wide range of practical issues that advocates face when interacting with the Commission or Court and explores current debates on possible reforms of the system.