bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Chartering of Environmental Protection: Exploring the Boundaries of Environmental Protection as Human Right
Authors: Hectors Kristof
Published: April 2022

An overlap is growing between human rights instruments and environmental protection. In the European Union the connection between those areas of law has become undeniable. The European Court of Human Rights has connected nuisances to environmental protection in Art. 8 ECHR jurisprudence, but has at the same time limited its role in Hatton and subsequent judgments. Procedural aspects of environmental protection are strictly reviewed, but the Court is reluctant to shape the substantial dimensions of environmental protection.

The recently renewed Charter of Fundamental Rights, linked to the Lisbon Treaty, adds a new dimension to the debate. The Charter certainly refreshes the discussion about the meaning of environmental protection in relation to human rights.Also, the future binding character of the Charter could strengthen the evolution towards enforceability, but this remains to be seen. The question is whether the ECJ will interpret the Charter progressively, in order to give Art. 37 (environmental protection) a procedural, as well as a substantive meaning. Also relevant, is whether the ECtHR will interpret the Charter as a signal to recontextualize its Art. 8 jurisprudence. This tension, the questions that arise,and the possible answers to it, are further explored in this article.
A Right to a Healthful Environment – Humans and Habitats: Re–thinking Rights in an Age of Climate Change
Authors: MacDonald Karen E.
Published: April 2022

With the continuing international focus on climate change, this article asserts that the European Union is in a position of global leadership which should be employed in order to address some of the justice–based issues associated with climate impacts. One means of addressing the arguable inequitable effects associated with climate change is through a rights–based approach. Hence, this article re–visits the 1990s debate for a right to a healthful environment by integrating it within a climate change context. Section 1 discusses the notion that many have proposed that a right to a healthful environment is essential to human life but comments on some of the barriers to asserting this in full. The closest manifestations to this right in Europe are identified along with some contemporary climate–related policy reasons for advancing the right. In Section 2, some comments as to potential rights–holders are offered. It is asserted that both humans and non–humans can be environmental rights holders and that having a variety of rights holders offers a strategic means to achieve a variety of environmental objectives — as we can fit the right to the issue at hand. We proceed in Section 3 to examine whether the right to healthful environment exists per se, and offer some European and international examples. In its absence, it is argued that we can rely on existing human rights to attain climate–related justice and demonstrate through reference to case law where this has already been successful in the environment context. Justifications as to why such a right to environment could be used to assist communities affected by climate change are offered in Section 4, while Section 5 examines the relationship of the right to environment with other rights, such as the right to development. The issue of intra– and inter–generational equity, climate change and rights is analysed in Section 6 while we culminate in Section 7 with an evaluation of how best to domestically and internationally protect a right to environment. In the absence of the constitutionalisation of such a right in the EU, we propose referring to a variation of the right in the preambular provisions of EU treaties and Directives. The work ends with concluding remarks, noting again that the EU is best placed to take leadership on this issue, particularly in relation to global climate action
Possible Irish Responses to Climate Change
Authors: Kennedy Rónán
Published: April 2022

This article discusses the complex cross–sectoral issue of climate change highlighting legislative provisions such as the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. It then considers the Irish implementation response to this, detailing the 2001 National Strategy for Climate Change and also the New 2007 Strategy, outlining what they mean for Ireland as a whole, while looking in more depth at what benefits the possible options could have. Finally, it discusses the role lawyers can play in the mitigation of climate change, the “peak oil” concept and the likely direction of future second generation legislative and other regulatory mechanisms to ensure tough targets are met in a manner that is meant to be both beneficial to the country and its citizens.
Court clarifies rules for pesticides: Case T–75/06, Bayer CropScience AG and Others v. Commission
Authors: Turner–Kerr Peter
Published: April 2022

The European Court of First Instance (“CFI” or “Court”) reached its long–awaited judgment in the endosulfan case on 9 September 2008, one of the first of a series of judgments expected in a number of similar cases pending before the CFI. The Court rejected the application to annul the European Commission’s decision not to include endosulfan in Annex I to Directive 91/414 on the placing of plant protection products on the market. Whilst the CFI’s judgment is very specific to the particular facts of the case, a number of points of general interest can be drawn from it. In particular, the judgment makes it clear that, while the exercise by the Commission of its discretion is not without check, the standard of proof required to overturn a Commission decision in an area where the Commission has a wide discretion is very high.
Restructuring the Electricity Sector in the EU and in Russia
Authors: Petersen Malte
Published: April 2022

Summary: Power sector restructuring has been a major issue since the 1980s. The insight that only transmission and distribution are natural monopolies, whereas generation and supply are activities of a competitive nature has triggered mammoth restructuring processes in different countries. Today the efforts to liberalise electricity markets are by no means slowing-down. On the contrary, important steps to set up the necessary legal framework have been taken all over the world. This means that the interesting phase of ensuring competitive markets and effective regulation is going on now. Of all the countries undergoing power sector reforms, developments in European countries and in Russia are particularly interesting at the moment: The European Commission has just presented a proposal for the so called Third Energy Package, thus introducing further steps to accomplish the liberalisation of the European electricity markets. Russia, having launched a mammoth reform process as well, is undergoing the restructuring of the monopoly of RAO UES coupled with rising foreign investments. This contribution reviews the background and the basic steps of the reforms in Europe and in Russia. In doing so it aims to highlight some key elements of electricity sector restructuring, which are being addressed in both Europe and Russia in a more or less similar manner. Furthermore, there are lessons about power sector restructuring in general that can be learned from these experiences.
Liberalisation of the Energy Sector – Is It Reserved for Countries with Overcapacity?
Authors: Halima Adetoro Sylvia
Published: April 2022

It is the year 2009! The question of whether to or not to liberalise the energy industry would actually sound absurd in most fora. The usual query when raised is centred on the most effective form suited for a particular country. Liberalisation in its most basic form can be defined as the removal of monopoly rights and introduction of competition and choice. Experience has shown that efficiency in any system cannot be sustained in the absence of choice, hence the universal inclination towards it. In discussing liberalisation, countries are classified into two main groupings on the basis of their resource quotient or access to same; one group with overcapacity and the other with insufficient capacity. The emphasis of this paper is the electricity industry. This paper explores the possibility of countries with insufficient capacity having an opportunity to liberalise their energy markets and the options available to them. It argues that maximum benefits are derivable from the embrace of this world-wide trend and that liberalisation is a welcome option for economies at different levels of development. Finally, it concludes that liberalisation is not just about availability of capacity but should focus on efficiency capacity production and allocative efficiency.
Copenhagen and Beyond – How to Provide the New Climate Deal with a State-of-the-Art Non-Compliance Mechanism
Authors: Hoffmann Lars
Published: April 2022

The article discusses perspectives for designing non-compliance procedures for the new post-2012 climate-change regime. Different multilateral environmental agreements are evaluated against the backdrop of their sanctioning system whilst the discussion prominently focuses on the Kyoto Protocol’s non-compliance system – the Marrakech Accords.

According to this assessment, this blend of different approaches as it was performed within the Marrakech Accords is in line with compliance theories and practical experiences with previous multilateral environmental agreements. A combination of coercive sanctions and facilitative measures is needed where parties are demanded for meeting tight commitments. The ameliorations which are considered indispensable in view of providing the post-2012 climate change regime with an effective sanctioning system, mainly concern procedural and organizational matters as well as its legal nature.

The article pleads for a simplification of the decision-making process on determination of non-compliance, providing for a directly-triggered sanctioning process. In addition, legally binding sanctions are necessary to apply public pressure on non-complying parties. Eventually, measures that guarantee a fast reinstatement of compliance are highly favourable due to the need of mitigating the greenhouse effect.
Does the Polluter Pay? The Polluter-Pays Principle in the Case Law of the European Court of Justice
Authors: Bleeker Arne
Published: April 2022

The principle that the “polluter should pay” has been one of the guidelines of EC environmental policy for decades. Nonetheless, a number of problems continue to stand in the way of its effective application. Most importantly, the principle itself does not define who the polluter is, what pollution is or to what extent the polluter needs to pay. This article is an assessment of the role the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has played in answering these questions. It is argued that the Court has adopted an extensive interpretation of the principle, especially in the recent Erika judgment. In that sense, the ECJ has certainly contributed to a more effective and enforceable polluter-pays principle in the EC legal order. However, the impact of the ECJ’s interpretation is of course limited by the boundaries set by EC legislation. Policies are needed to move towards a European Union in which the polluter actually does pay. Judgments can only serve to buttress and clarify such legislation.

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the three main cases in which the ECJ has been called upon to interpret the polluter-pays principle (Standley, Van de Walle and Erika). The focal point is the Erika judgment, as this is both the most recent and most far-reaching. In all three judgments, the Court emphasizes that any application of the principle has to be proportional. Polluters cannot be asked to pay for pollution damage beyond their contribution to the creation of that pollution. The Court has not shied away from defining “pollution” in a broad sense in both Van de Walle and Erika. Establishing who the “polluter” is, however, has proven far more difficult. Of particular interest is whether the producer of the product might be held liable in the case of the accidental creation of pollution, such as an environmental disaster. In the Erika case, the Court very significantly introduces a risk liability standard; product producers might be deemed “polluters” solely on the basis of their contribution to the risk of pollution. This is a significant development from Van de Walle, in which the Court considered a direct causal link or negligent behaviour necessary for product producer liability. In addition, Erika underlines that Member States cannot limit the scope of the polluter-pays principle in EC secondary legislation, even if this leads to a contradiction with a Member State’s international obligations such as the International Oil Pollution Compensation regime.

In short, the Erika judgment builds on Standley and Van de Walle but adds significant impetus to the polluter-pays principle at the EC level. However, the risk liability standard it establishes will be difficult to apply and it remains to be seen how the legislator will react to the Court’s extensive interpretation.
Channelling of Nuclear Third Party Liability towards the Operator: Is it Sustainable in a Developing Nuclear World or is there a Need for Liability of Nuclear Architects and Engineers?
Authors: Ameye Evelyne
Published: April 2022

World-wide, almost all legal regimes transfer third party liability for nuclear accidents exclusively towards the operator of a nuclear plant. This is called “channelling” and implies that the operator of a nuclear installation is exclusively liable for damages, either legally or economically. Irrespective of their possible contribution, none of the other players – suppliers of nuclear material or fuel, transporters of nuclear material or fuel to and from the nuclear power plant, subcontractors, test operators, consultants, nuclear plant designers and constructors – bears any responsibility towards third parties in the event of a nuclear accident.

Channelling is an oddity of nuclear liability law. It deviates from the nuts and bolts of ordinary tort law provided for by both civil law and common law systems.

The present paper will not consider all above-listed players that are exempted from liability following the channelling principle, but will focus on designers and constructors.1 Indeed, the question will be examined whether, in this day and age, liability should still be exclusively channelled to the operator when a nuclear accident is partly or entirely due to design or construction faults or deficiencies.

The paper will, firstly, analyse the origin and raison d’eÃtre of the principle of channelling liability towards the nuclear power plant operator, both as regards the so-called “legal” and “economic” channelling regimes.

It will then proceed to review the sustainability of “lchannelling” in a “mature” nuclear sector, which currently faces massive technological challenges at the dawn of a nuclear renaissance. In doing so, this author will examine to which extent the most popular form of channelling – legal channelling – is sustainable in the light of recent developments in the nuclear sector or whether it would be advisable, on the contrary, to introduce liability of designers and constructors (architects-engineers) of nuclear power plants. Special attention will be paid to both the fact that nuclear energy is not an embryonic industry anymore, and that new reactor technologies are likely to alter the involvement of designers and constructors.

To accurately assess the question from a pragmatic, industry-oriented perspective, the paper considers the outcome of a consultation held on the issue with, on the one hand, nuclear power plant operators and, on the other hand, nuclear designers and constructors. Due to the limited responses to the survey, it has not been possible to draw any statistically relevant conclusions. However, the opinions of the consulted stakeholders – who all requested anonymity – have been inserted, where appropriate, throughout the body of the present paper. One should keep in mind that these inputs are not of a representative, but merely indicative nature.
Causation in the Polluter Pays Principle
Authors: Mossoux Youri
Published: April 2022

The aim of this paper is to show the limits of the discretionary power that EU primary law provides for public authorities in determining the polluter in order to allocate the costs of pollution under the polluter pays principle. According to the ECJ, the polluter is a person who by his activity contributes to the risk that pollution occurs. Hence, public authorities may not classify someone as a polluter if he did not cause the pollution. Causation in the polluter pays principle can be compared to causation in civil liability. When the legislator predetermines the polluter in the legislation, he uses ex ante causal probabilities, but when public administrations or national courts identify the polluter in a concrete case they should use the condition sine qua non theory. This is confirmed by secondary legislation and case law, especially in the fields of waste management, environmental liability.
Smart Energy Grids within the Framework of the Third Energy Package
Authors: Pront-van Bommel Simone
Published: April 2022

The installation, design and functional potential of energy distribution networks are expected to change dramatically over the next decade. This process is essential to meet the specific demands set by the European legislator. Power distribution and transmission systems are being transformed into smart grids. But what is a smart grid? There is no single conclusive definition of what constitutes a "smart grid". One of its major features involves the architecture of an intricately automated infrastructure to facilitate the envisaged renewable power distribution. The development of smart grids is subject to binding legal requirements as laid down in the Third Energy Directive. The aim of this article is to explore and describe some of the key features of smart grids, and to use this as an instrument of analysis to identify the demands of the European Energy Legislation with respect to smart grids more clearly. Still, a lot remains to be clarified. For instance, another major issue that deserves closer consideration concerns the interrelation with telecommunications and defining its legal aspects under new EU NRF legislation. This article's focus is restricted to an analysis of the legal and regulatory framework for the energy sector only.
The Implementation of European Environmental Directives: Are Problems Caused by the Quality of the Directives?
Authors: Beijen Barbara A.
Published: April 2022

European Directives must be implemented in national legislation. Given the large amount of infringement procedures before the European Court of Justice, many mistakes are being made in this implementation process. Problems concerning the quality of Directives, such as a lack of coherence between Directives, unclear terms and definitions, questions concerning the scope of Directives et cetera, are not felt at the European level, but place the Member States in a difficult position when implementing the Directives. This article shows how these factors contribute to the occurrence of implementation problems in the field of environmental law. These problems cannot be solved by the Member States, but should be taken into account in the legislative process at the European level.
Analysis of Innocent Passage in the Territorial Sea under The Law of the Sea Regime 1982
Authors: Kumar Manu , Kumar Manu
Published: April 2022

Maritime law (also known as admiralty law or law of the sea) is a fundamental part of international law founded on the same rules and norms that govern international law, generally. In fact, the earliest law of the sea, the freedom-of-the-seas doctrine (that the sea should be free and open to all parties except for a narrow belt surrounding a nation's coastline), dates back to the origins of international law itself in the writings of Hugo Grotius in 1609. Over the years, customary law developed with some unique twists and turns, culminating in what can be said to be a "constitution-like" settlement in the form of the UN Convention on Law of the Sea passed in 1982 by 159 nations and implemented in 1994. While the LOSC (law of the Sea convention) codifies great many things, there are other general principles, customary rules, and normal exceptions which merit discussion, along with contemporary issues like piracy and terrorism at sea The evolution of the law of the sea has been shaped largely by two notions, namely, Freedom of navigation on the one hand, and restricted access on the other hand. The interaction between these two opposing notions has led to the acceptance of two compromise concepts, namely, the territorial sea and the right of innocent passage. These concepts have now been codified in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. This paper examines the right of innocent passage in the territorial sea under the Law of the Sea Convention and the various aspects of the innocent passage; it also brings to light certain aspects that need to be addressed under the said concept.
Carbon Leakage and Competitiveness under the EU ETS
Authors: Prentice Joshua
Published: April 2022

The introduction of a carbon price through an emissions trading scheme such as the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) can create the risk of carbon leakage. The European Commission presented a list of sectors which were deemed to be exposed to a significant risk of carbon leakage in December 2009. The listed sectors receive a share of emissions allowances free of charge between 2010 and 2014 as a policy response to the risk of carbon leakage within industrial sectors covered by the EU ETS. This paper analyses the effectiveness of the Commission's carbon leakage list in achieving two important policy goals - ensuring the global competitiveness of certain industry sectors covered by the EU ETS whilst maintaining the efficacy of the EU ETS in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Minimize Risk of Carbon Sequestration through Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment
Authors: Peters Mary Sabina
Published: April 2022

This article deals with the applicability of the precautionary principle on Carbon Capture and Storage, the envisaged risks that can occur by the injection of Carbon Dioxide underground. The issue of applying Environmental Impact Assessment to determine the safety of storage sites, and the advantages of using the Strategic Environmental Assessment to determine how environmental impacts resulting from the operation and maintenance of a CO2 transport and storage system can be minimised and controlled, if adequately dealt with.
Review and Adjustment Under the UN-ECE Transboundary Air Pollution Treaty Regimes and the Implementing EU Legislation
Authors: Fasoli Elena
Published: April 2022

This article explores to which extent the mechanisms to review and adjust the emission reduction commitments, contained in some selected UN-ECE transboundary air pollution treaty regimes, as well as in the implementing EU legislation, facilitate the efforts of Parties in meeting their non-modifiable targets, in particular, when new circumstances arise that would require the legal regime ``to adapt''. In terms of review procedures, the article shows that the activity of the expert review teams, of the Implementation Committee and of the EU Commission (i.e., the monitoring bodies) contribute to make sure that the emission data in the inventories are correct and comparable (not underestimated or overestimated) in relation to the final targets. In terms of adjustments, among the instruments analysed, the revised Gothenburg Protocol proves to be very responsive to new circumstances and the new NEC Directive goes even further. Finally, the illustrative example of the Protocol on Heavy Metals shows that the uncertainties inherent in setting emission reduction commitments can also have an impact on the reporting obligations. In this context, the implementing EU legislation (mainly the Ambient Air Quality Directive) proves to be responsive to new circumstances at a lesser level compared to new NEC Directive. Overall, these procedures mitigate the “rigidity” of the treaty regime and help Parties to achieve their final targets.
Scientific Knowledge in Environmental Litigation before Polish Administrative Courts: a Problem of Compliance with EU Law?
Authors: Bar Magdalena
Published: April 2022

In Poland, environmental cases are heard by administrative appeal authorities and then by administrative courts. According to Polish law, the administrative courts cannot call experts; neither do they have access to other forms of assistance in technical aspects of cases. As the judges themselves do not have sufficient scientific knowledge, they do not examine technical aspects and rely on the assessment made by administrative authorities. The self-governmental appeal authorities, although entitled to call technical experts, rarely do so, despite not having sufficient scientific knowledge either. This practice may cause noncompliance with the Aarhus Convention and the respective implementing EU Directives due to very limited access to or very limited use of scientific expertise by courts and appeal authorities.
SoS Back-and-Forth? Minimum v. Exhaustive Harmonization of the Right to be Protected Customers in Gas Supply Crises: Eni and Others
Authors: de Almeida Lucila
Published: April 2022

The Russian-Ukraine gas supply crisis in January 2009 brought an unprecedented disruption for the gas supply in Europe. As a response, the SoS Regulation put in place an ambitious plan to mitigate not only the risks of another gas supply crisis, but also to protect a defined group of customers in case of unavoidable gas shortage - households, small and medium enterprises, institutions providing essential social services among others. While it was thought the SoS Regulation had pursued exhaustive harmonization standards in the definition of protected costumers, the ECJ's judgment in Eni and Others reopened the question. This article, instead, argues that the Court got it wrong. Neither the judgment nor the opinion of the Advocate General took into sufficient account the legal content Fof the provision that defined protected customers. If the Court had done so, the judgment would have likely taken additional linguistic, systemic, and teleological arguments into account. The analyses and comments on Eni and Others here offered focus on the first referred question about whether Member States could impose additional obligation on gas undertakings by reviewing the definition of protected customer.
Judicial Review of the Requirement to Integrate the Natura 2000 Sites Protection System in a Sustainable Forest Economy (illustrated with the example of the Bialowieza Forest Management Plan)
Authors: Iwanska Barbara , Baran Mariusz
Published: April 2022

This article aims to identify and discuss diverse legal problems occurring in the process of the indirect application of art.6 of Directive 92/43 ensuring the integration of the requirements of the Natura 2000 sites’ conservation and species protection system into the operations of active forest management. A closer analysis of the phenomenon of legal integration enables the reader to view the problems of forest protection from two perspectives: the perspective of forest multifunctionality and the need for an integrated approach to various functions of forests, and the perspective of ensuring full effectiveness of the objectives of the Birds Directive and Habitats Directive. This article focuses on the latter objective. The context of the judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-441/17 the Bialowieza Forest as well as legal action taken by the Commissioner for Human Rights in Poland allow a discussion of the main problem of the lack of jurisdiction of administrative courts to review an act of the Minister for Environmental Affairs authorising a forest management plan in the light of the effective legal protection and the effectiveness of EU law in the decentralized application of Art. 6 of the Habitats Directive.
De-Risking the Hydrogen-CCS Value Chain Through Law
Authors: O’Brien Alice , Banet Catherine
Published: April 2022

The integration of hydrogen (H2) and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies within common value chains can contribute to the effective decarbonization of the energy system and hard-toabate sectors where electrification may not be possible or cost-effective. The H2-CCS chain is taken as an example of strategic value chains in the process towards a low carbon and increasingly integrated energy system. The successful realization of H2-CCS integrated chains requires the mobilization of vast quantities of domestic and international private capital. This article looks at how legislation and contracts, separately and in combination, can be used to manage and mitigate risks and incentivise private sector investment along the H2-CCS value chain in Europe. First, it discusses the role of national governments and the EU in developing legislative measures such as climate change targets, market design, liability regimes and how those could remove some of the risks preventing private sector investments. Second, it considers how the design and standardization of contracts can mitigate risks faced by the private sector by allocating, transferring and sharing risks between private and public parties. The article concludes that the law has an important role in de-risking investments and that further policy steps are necessary to refine the legislative and contractual regimes needed for the successful deployment of such strategic value chains.

CCS, climate change, hydrogen, de-risking, legislation, contract, risk mitigation, risk allocation, risk transfer, public-private partnerships.
Current State and Evolution of the Concept of International Tax Law in the Context of Environmental Challenges: An Example of a Carbon Tax
Authors: Tlepina Sholpan , Seidesh Bakizhan , Kudaibergenov Askar , Zhunusbekova Aigerim , Bulatov Galym , Murzagaliyev Yerdos
Published: April 2022

The existence of international tax law as a branch of law and a scientific discipline often causes controversy, since there is no international tax. There is a regulatory area that defines the laws that apply to taxation, activities carried out in two or more countries, tax relations with a foreign element. Current international environmental initiatives seem to be a powerful argument in favour of the development and expansion of international tax law. The work considers the issue of introducing a carbon tax as an actual component and evolutionary stage of such a concept. At the same time, the study leads to the opinion that modern international legal relations in the field of taxation today have formed an integral branch of law that requires supranational regulation using codified sources of law. Considering the issue of tax competition in conjunction with the issue of the introduction of a carbon tax, the study speaks of the need to develop a regulatory framework aimed at regulating public relations in the area under study. These issues are considered from the point of view of applicability and in the context of the regulatory framework of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

international economic agreements, international tax law, law of treaties, sources of law, international normative actsAskar Kudaibergenov
‘Preventing Pandemics by Building Bridges in EU Policy and Law’
Authors: Cavallin Elisa
Published: April 2022

A successful strategy aimed at preventing the emergence and spread of Emerging Infectious Diseases – and therefore a strategy to avoid future pandemic scenarios – should take into account the human dependency on – and profound connection with nature and include not just health considerations but also animal welfare and health, agriculture and food production, environmental protection and climate action in all their facets, including spending and finances, and trade. In this light, policy and legislative acts not only need to be sufficiently ambitious to tackle the drivers behind the emergence of infectious diseases, but they also need to work in symbiosis, in synergy, to avoid that progress made in a certain field is eroded by a lack of ambition and foresight in another field. This research article aims to shed some light on the issue by considering key areas and key recent developments in EU law and policy. It shows how approaches and stances taken by the EU and by Member States frequently lack grit and ambition and are only limitedly synergetic and coherent with each other, often representing veritable missed opportunities both in terms of ambition and in building bridges across different fields.

Covid-19, zoonoses, One Health, EU health policy, animal welfare law, animal health law, CAP, EU Climate Law, climate change, environmental protection
C-718/18 Commission v. Germany: Critical Reflections on the Independence of National Regulatory Authorities in EU Energy Law
Authors: Huhta Kaisa
Published: April 2022

EU energy law requires that national regulatory authorities (NRAs), which carry out key tasks in the energy sector, be independent. Such independence is considered essential to ensure that NRAs’ performance of their tasks is protected from shortterm political pressure, enabling the achievement of the EU’s long-term objectives in the energy sector. However, it also means that there is less oversight over what the NRAs do and how they perform their tasks, which underlines the need for a robust legal framework to ensure their legitimacy and accountability. This article critically assesses the NRAs’ independence requirement in the light of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU’s) recent ruling in C-718/18 Commission v. Germany and utilizes the NRAs’ power to fix or approve energy network tariffs or tariff methodologies as an illustrative example of the powers they enjoy in EU Member States.

EU energy law, national regulatory authority, independence, network tariffs, electricity, Electricity Directive, Electricity Regulation, legal reasoning
Low birth weight and associated factors among newborn delivered in health facilities in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Authors: Jahan Nusrat , Talukder Nasim , Taniim Tasmiah , Mohibbullah Mr. , Ali Zulfiker , Mondal Probal Kumar , Anwar Afsana , Rizwan Abu Ansar Md. , Yesmin Sabina
Published: April 2022

Introduction: Birth weight is the most important predictor of newborn health and survival. It is also a significant determinant of post neonatal, infant and childhood mortality as well as morbidity. LBW Child (birth weight<2500gm) who survive, have a higher incidence of diseases, retardation in cognitive development and under nourishment. The causes of LBW are multifactorial including complication during pregnancy, genetic, environmental, social-cultural, demographic, and nutritional variables. In Bangladesh, low birth weight (LBW) rate is quite high even in urban areas. However, there is a lack of data on maternal characteristics that influence birth weight among the high-income urban population in Bangladesh. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify the status of low birth weight and associated factors among newborn delivered in different health facilities in Bangladesh. Method: A cross-sectional and descriptive type of study was carried out through a Systematic sampling method in 354 mothers of neonates who had delivered their babies and the mothers aged above 18 years in a few selected health facilities in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The samples were selected in a specific pre-determined interval. The data were collected from the respondents using a pre-tested and semi-structured questionnaire by face-to-face interview, after taking verbal consent from the participants. Data entry and analysis were done by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical software version 20. The anonymity and confidentiality of the respondents were maintained strictly and study participants were informed that they can be able to leave the study at any stage of data collection. Results: The finding revealed that a total of 20.9% children were LBW whereas 79.1% had normal birth weight. Among all the LBW children, 76% children had mild low birth weight, 20% had very low birth weight and 4% children had extremely low birth weight. A significant association of birth weight was found with maternal age, occupation and weight gain during pregnancy. Conclusion: This study concluded that still one-fifth of children born with LBW among all live birth in urban areas although the majority of LBW children were mild low birth weight. Effective awareness programme needs to be taken among urban mothers to improve the overall nutritional status of neonates. Also, similar type of study should be conducted with a larger sample size to generalize the findings.
Analysis of the Vulnerability Model for Decision-Making in the Field of Care for the Elderly
Authors: DaSilva Fabio Nacimento
Published: April 2022

This article analyzes the validity of vulnerability as a model for decision making regarding the personal and socio-family situation of the elderly person in need of care. The adequacy of the model responds to the centrality of the risk element in decision-making, the nature of care and respect for the principles that inspire the rights of vulnerable older persons. The concept of vulnerability connects with a new conception in which vulnerability is based, not only on the loss of autonomy, but also on the susceptibility to bankruptcy of the rights of dignity and integrity in daily life; in line with an existentially diverse and vulnerable human conception. The incorporation of this approach to the Law of the capacity of the elderly and regulation of social services will require its consideration in the reports and diagnoses of Social Work.
Dealing With Wear: Care and Palliative Mechanisms for Compassion Fatigue
Authors: Dominguez Antonio
Published: April 2022

The Compassion Fatigue concept is common in the scientific literature of International Social Work, although surprisingly nonexistent in Spanish literature. Fatigue can be defined by compassion as a state of exhaustion and biological, psychological and relational dysfunction, the result of immediate or prolonged exposure to compassionate stress and as the final result of the progressive and cumulative process resulting from pro-longed, continuous and intense contact with clients or clients patients, the use of oneself and exposure to stress. The maintenance of the wear can lead to severe pictures typical of secondary traumatization or the onset of Burned Professional Syndrome (Burnout). In any case, if a social work professional experiences this phenomenon, their ability to empathize, connect and help their clients is severely diminished. Paradoxically, compassion fatigue is, on the one hand, necessary and inevitable if good practice is developed; on the other, dangerous and disabling if it is not compensated by other mechanisms. Compassion fatigue can not be prevented but it can and must be palliated consciously. Increasing the ability to recognize and minimize the impact of attrition is a responsibility of the professional and the organization in which he works. Finally, the work raises what to do about this phenomenon and how to take care of yourself, professionally and institutionally.
The Problem of Fair Management in Politics: Religious Argument and Personal Interest Argument
Authors: Mitroglou Gokhan
Published: April 2022

This study analyzes politics tradition in Sunn political thought in terms of exploring the problem of just ruling. In the relevant literature, the dominant approach considers Siyāsatnāmas as ethical advice in general and regards them as ineffective against an un-just ruler who has no ethical concern. This study criticizes this dominant view by claiming that in addition to the religious / ethical argument to promote a just rule, the Siyāsatnāma tradition develops a second argument designed specifically for an unjust ruler who ignores ethi-cal advice. This second argument is ignored by the dominant position about the Siyāsatnāma tradition. I have called it self-interest argument in this study. An unjust ruler's self interest is to maintain, empower, and hand down his power to his descendants. The self-interest argument tries to convince a ruler who dismisses ethical advice to adopt just ruling by revealing that even for an unjust ruler the best strategy is just ruling to reach for his worldly aims.
Zoopoetikens tankar om språk och art
Authors: Björck Amelie
Published: April 2022

Thoughts on Language and Species in Zoopoetics – a Background Sketch
Amelie Björck
Zoopoetic studies investigate “texts that are, in one way or another, predicated upon an engagement with animals and animality (human and nonhuman),” to quote Kári Driscoll and Eva Hoffman. A central question in this field concerns the relation between language and species. This article suggests that two basic views can be discerned: one that conceptualizes language as a human-specific capacity, and another that frames language as a broader phenomenon that humans and most other species have in common. These two starting points – the first accentuating differences, the second emphasizing similarities – give rise to two different approaches to zoopoetry. In the first case, zoopoetry is associated with the deconstruction of human semantics and, thus, of human power. In the second case, zoopoetry is seen as an experiment in which the attentive human poet comes together with animals in a natural act of mutual poiesis.
The aim of the article is to uncover the genealogy of these two views – here named the “language sceptic” perspective and the “language affirmative” perspective, respectively – and to problematize them as scholarly reading positions. Using examples from Les Murray’s animal poetry, the article argues that the two perspectives might more fruitfully be explored as two dimensions that exist and create interesting friction within zoopoetic texts – hence an oscillation between the perspectives is preferable.
Konsten som kraftkälla eller livsförnekelse
Authors: Johansson Niclas
Published: April 2022

Art as Vitalizing Source or Denial of Life: On Inger Edelfeldt’s Künstlerinromane
This article examines the role of art in the work of Swedish author Inger Edelfeldt. Based on an analysis of the short story “Skapelsen” (“The Creation,” 1995), the article argues that Edelfeldt’s literary works present two opposing views of art: art as an imitation of life and art as a source of life, which in turn are aligned with Nietzsche’s distinction between the Apollonian and the Dionysian. Furthermore, the article investigates how this distinction relates to Edelfeldt’s stories of the artist as heroine. The article argues that these stories fall into two major categories: the comic and utopian Künsterlinroman – exemplified by Hustru (Wife, 1978) and Det hemliga namnet (The Secret Name, 1999) – and the tragic and critical Künstlerinroman – exemplified by Konsten att dö (The Art of Dying, 2014). The analysis shows that these novels, while antithetical in tendency and structure, are organized by the same dialectic between the Apollonian and Dionysian and between art as an imitation of life and art as a source of life. While one side offers a naïvely utopian and individualistic picture of the woman artist in contemporary society, the other gives a realistic and critical perspective on the same subject. And the interconnection between the two views of art reveals a deeper complexity in the author’s portrayal of the contemporary woman artist than can be achieved through isolated analyses of her individual works.
”Och vi trippar in i bergets svarta strupe”
Authors: Lindbo Johanna
Published: April 2022

”And we’re tip-toing into the black throat of the mountain”: Mountain, stone and porous temporality in Mare Kandre’s I ett annat land and Stig Dagerman’s De dömdas ö.
The title of this article is borrowed from Mare Kandre’s debut novel I ett annat land (1984). The novel tells the story of a young girl who is traveling with her family in a distant country where sensory experience embosses the narrative and aesthetic. The mountain is one of several more-than-human bodies that the protagonist encounters, and it vividly affects her. Nearly forty years earlier, Stig Dagerman wrote his feverish and surrealist novel De dömdas ö (1946), where a few shipwrecked humans spend their last remaining days on a remote island. As in Kandre’s novel, there is a profound focus on sensory experiences between the human and the more-than-human, and the stony appearance of a mountain becomes an important part of the landscape.
The purpose of this article is to study how the stony formations in both novels are created and whether it is possible to understand them as active elements that contribute to the narratives. Through sedimentation, rocks have the capacity to incorporate both time and place in their materiality, and it is therefore possible to regard them as spatio-temporal bodies. Comparing and combining I ett annat land with De dömdas ö in a material ecocritical analysis enables a deeper understanding of how more-than-human matter may constitute a complex part of the storyworld. I will illuminate how these non-organic bodies, through their specific materiality in the sensuous and metaphorical aesthetics of the two novels, brings forth new stories about agency, belonging, and coloniality.
Litteraturvetenskapen i framtiden
Authors: Pettersson Torsten
Published: April 2022

Literary Scholarship in the Future: From Canon-Centred Subaltern to Literary-Minded Social Participant
Appreciation of literature and literary scholarship has arguably been on the wane in the twenty-first century. In this article, I argue that literary scholarship, in response to this declining interest, needs to be reformed. Literary scholars should continue to study literature from all historical periods, but they need to deal with the conflict between the democratic values of contemporary readers and pre-1968 sexism and racism in literature. This blight on the reading experience cannot be removed by the one-sided measures of historicism or presentism.
Rather than marginalizing popular literature, children’s literature, and non-Western literature, scholars should integrate this body of work into the core of literary studies and accord them roughly half of their interest alongside canonized Western literature for adults. Literary scholars should also be prepared to present their teaching curricula as a development of skills that can be used in the processing and evaluation of any kind of text in any kind of employment in a company or a government agency.
Furthermore, rather than produce literary readings mainly in terms of content, scholars should highlight the synergy of content and literary qualities such as form, fictionality and generalizability. This will allow them to valorize the enhanced understanding of real-life phenomena offered by literary works in the form of socially useful “applied literary scholarship.” The fields of operation for literary studies should include schools; the training of professionals, such as doctors and economists; and bibliotherapy designed to alleviate anxiety and malaise before it develops into a mental condition requiring treatment in a healthcare system that is already stretched beyond its capacity.
Natur & Kulturs litteraturhistoria
Authors: Ljung Per Erik
Published: April 2022

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