bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Road to the Kyoto Conference: An Assessment of the Japanese Two-Dimensional Negotiation
Authors: Hattori  
Published: November 2003

AbstractThis article analyzes Japan's dual role in the Kyoto Protocol negotiations. It argues that the successful conclusion to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol can be partly attributed to Japan's dual role as negotiator and mediator. As the host of the Kyoto Conference, Japan undertook the mediator's role prior to and during the conference negotiation process. At the same time, as a participant to the conference, Japan took a negotiator's role to meet its own interests in the negotiations. Despite its initial position as a self-interested negotiator like any other country, Japan ended up in a different position than expected because of its broader role as mediator. By reviewing Japanese efforts to bring the protocol negotiations to a successful conclusion, the article examines the dynamics of the two dimensions of mediation and negotiation in international treaty-making.
The Anatomy of Association: NGOs and the Evolution of Swiss Climate and Biodiversity Policies
Authors: Crémieux  , Boyer  
Published: November 2003

AbstractImplementing sustainable development requires a look at the domestic apparatus of policy making and, in particular, how state and societal actors, such as NGOs, interact in the formulation and implementation of policy. This article adopts a network approach and examines how network structures may condition the degree of cooperative or competitive negotiation processes. Based on theoretical notions in small group and coalition theories, the article suggests that a problem solving orientation will likely unfold in policy communities and that hawkish, competitive behavior will likely manifest itself in issue networks. This relationship produces a dilemma in that issue network structures are more inclined to generate the needed information, exchange, and creativity for addressing the complex agenda items of sustainable development, but actor diversification and transparency in such networks are likely to be barriers to efficient and successful decision-making. After tracing the development and evolution of Swiss climate and biodiversity policies as empirical case illustrations, analysis indicates that the networks identified generally functioned inefficiently, thus supporting the conceptual propositions. Overcoming decision-making obstacles will require effective leadership and process management, clear mandates and network participants which endorse overall objectives, and the development of consensual group history.
The Negotiations on the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal: A National Delegation Perspective
Authors: Kempel  
Published: November 2003

AbstractThe activities of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in international negotiations can constitute an incentive and a catalyst for the international community to address important issues, but can also represent a mere struggle for political influence and control. The negotiations which led to the adoption of the Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal encompassed both elements. They gave a prominent role to NGO participation in all phases of the negotiating process, especially to NGOs driven by environmental concerns and ``green issues.'' The Basel Convention and the negotiating process leading to its adoption became milestones in international environmental negotiations. However, the outcome of those negotiations as well as the role of all participants were significantly weakened in the course of this process.
The Role of NGOs in the Ottawa Process to Ban Landmines
Authors: Short  
Published: November 2003

AbstractThe Ottawa Process, which brought about the Convention banning anti-personnel landmines, is examined. The article looks specifically at the role of NGOs in the negotiations. A brief description of the origins of the Ottawa Process is provided. Six issues regarding the nature and status of NGOs involved and the roles they played in the negotiations are then considered. Finally, conclusions are drawn regarding the circumstances under which NGOs might participate in international negotiations. The implications such occasions might have for questions such as democratizing foreign policy are also examined.
The Role of the ICRC in the Development of International Humanitarian Law
Authors: Maresca  , Lavoyer  
Published: November 2003

AbstractAs a result of its unique status, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been closely involved in the negotiations of humanitarian law treaties. Two of the most recent negotiations – the ban on anti-personnel landmines and the establishment of an International Criminal Court – are presented as case studies. They provide a good indication of the varied and dynamic functions played by the ICRC in the development of international law. This role is complementary to the ICRC's field activities in the world's ``hot spots'', which provide valuable insights into the real problems that war victims face in their daily lives.
Regulations and Organ Transplantation in Turkey
Authors: Aydin  
Published: November 2003

AbstractThe concrete expression of ethical values in legal arrangements may require a long period. In our experience, this period can sometimes be quite brief when it comes to bioethical issues, as it can be seen in the legal arrangement in Turkey concerning organ transplantations. Turkey can be considered a fortunate country with respect to legal arrangements for organ transplantation in that laws on organ transplantation in Turkey date back to twebty years ago. At the time this law went into effect, the ethical discussion on this issue were yet to begin. The rationale behind the law was to prevent physicians from legal prosecution due to organ transplantation. Yet, the attempt to place organ transplantation into a certain legal framework alleviates our ethical concerns.
Ethical Review Procedures for Clinical Trials in Greece
Authors: Garanis-Papadatos  , Vorgia  
Published: November 2003

AbstractAlthough traditional views on medical practice and a societal distrust of institutions have hampered the development of ethics committees, various legislative and ministerial actions have been taken in Greece in order to establish a firm basis for the ethical review of clinical trials. This paper examines the current status of ethics committees in Greece and the procedures for reviewing research protocols, which are fully in line with international guidelines.
Euthanasia in Greece, Hippocrates' birthplace
Authors: Mavroforou  , Michalodimitrakis  
Published: November 2003

AbstractEuthanasia is a controversial issue that has attracted heated debate over the last two decades. Cultural, traditional and religious considerations contribute in the forming of individual and social attitudes. Active, voluntary euthanasia is not legally accepted except in Netherlands and Australia. However even in these countries several ethical and legal issues have emerged from the application of euthanasia. In fact medical physicians stand in the frontline of the debate as they are those who should decide to act or not to act when euthanasia is requested by a patient. In Greece the vast majority of people are against euthanasia as a result of tradition and religion The influence of the Hippocratic philosophy and the humanistic teaching of the Christian Orthodox Church have made that doctors and people look at the issue of euthanasia with aversion. In addition, the law considers any such action as homicide and therefore as punishable.However, in Greece as in any democratic country, individual variations exist and the issue attracts increasing debate. This article aims to discuss the legal ramifications of euthanasia within the context of the Greek legal order and to present the religious and ethical considerations that influence the social attitude concerning to euthanasia in Greece.
The Right to Health in National and International Jurisprudence
Authors: Hendriks  
Published: November 2003

AbstractThe right to the highest attainable level of health or, briefly, the right to health is a fundamental human right, solidly embedded in international human rights law. As with other human rights, this right creates corresponding obligations for States which they are due to respect, protect and fulfil.The right to health embodies both positive and negative contents rights, ranging from the right to adequate protection of health to the right to equal access to health care. In addition, the right to health obliges States to create conditions favourable to the achievement and maintenance of the highest attainable level of health.This article describes and analyses national and international case law with respect to these three components of the right to health in an effort to delineate the general contours of this right. It is argued that courts and other (quasi-)judicial bodies more or less explicitly acknowledge that States are required to ensure a minimum level of health protection, (equal access to) essential health care and satisfaction of basic human needs. From the existing body of case law touching on the right to health it remains, however, difficult to conclude how courts define the minimum core content of the right to health, let alone to gain further insights into the normative meaning of this right.
Patient Complaint Systems in Health Care A Comparative Study between the Netherlands and Sweden
Authors: Nordlund  , Edgren  
Published: November 2003

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to describe and compare the systems for handling patient complaints in the Netherlands and Sweden. The study is based on document analysis and interviews with executive managers and employees in the patient complaint systems in the Netherlands and Sweden. In comparison to Sweden, the Netherlands has a decentralised complaint system with functions closer to the patients. In spite of this, the demand on the Swedish complaint system is higher. The two countries differ in patients' rights legislation in that the Netherlands has a separate legislation for patients' rights, which is not the case in Sweden. In both countries it appears that not only legislation is needed to strengthen the patients position. Actions that improve the independent position of some provisions within the complaint systems as well as actions that will facilitate the possibilities to make use of all functions in the patient complaint systems also seem to be important.
Accepting the Unacceptable? A New Nordic Approach to Reservations to Multilateral Treaties
Authors:   Klabbers
Published: November 2003

AbstractAn unsatisfactory characteristic of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties regime relating to reservations is that objections to reservations do not normally prevent the reserving state from getting what it wants, no matter how outrageous the reservation may be. The Nordic states in particular, disgruntled with this state of affairs, have in recent years formulated objections to reservations in such as manner as to aim to prevent reserving states from benefitting from their reservations. The present paper records this Nordic practice, traces some antecedents, and analyzes its legal consequences, arguing that the Nordic practice may not prevent states from benefitting from their reservations but is best seen as an attempt to influence the work of the ILC's Special Rapporteur on reservations.
Professor Uluots, the Estonian Government in Exile and the Continuity of the Republic of Estonia in International Law
Authors:   Mälksoo
Published: November 2003

AbstractInternational legal practice in the 20th century is rich in challenging cases of state continuity and extinction. One of those cases is the preservation of the continuity of the Baltic states throughout 51 years of foreign occupation and annexation. After decades of non-recognition of Soviet annexation by leading Western powers, the present-day Baltic republics have not been seen as successor states of the Soviet Union, but as identical with the independent Baltic states of 1918–1940. How could the continuity of the Baltic states be preserved, especially as the Soviet Union had effectively and seemingly “forever”established its control over the Baltic republics? This article focuses on the Estonian situation, laying out the events of 1944 which led to the proclamation of the new constitutional government, and after the country was for the second time occupied by the Soviet army, to the creation of an Estonian government in exile. One of the main questions asked in this article is whether and how the Estonian government in exile contributed to the preservation of the continuity of the Republic of Estonia. Both legal and political aspects played a role in the preservation of the continuity of the Republic of Estonia, and for various reasons, the role of the Estonian government in exile was not exactly that of “the” preserver of state continuity.
The Legality of Unilateral Humanitarian Intervention – A Defence
Authors:   Brenfors,   Petersen
Published: November 2003

AbstractOn March 24, 1999 NATO entered Kosovo. This was a response to months in which the world had witnessed the commission of large-scale atrocities against civilians. During this period, the Security Council was not able to find common ground and became a victim of its own voting procedure. NATO's attempt to end the massive human rights violations in Kosovo by means of military force has revived the classical discussion of the legality of unilateral humanitarian intervention.The case is currently pending before the International Court of Justice. The Court has touched upon the issue of humanitarian intervention in one previous case, where it found in general that questions of human rights “are questions of domestic policy”, and that “the use of force could not be the appropriate method to monitor or ensure … respect for [human rights]”. It is in the opinion of the authors far from certain that the Court will uphold its position in the current case.
International Relations in the New “Constitution of Finland”
Authors:   Kulovesi
Published: November 2003

AbstractThe need for a comprehensive reform of Finland's four laws of constitution has been discussed since the late 1960s. As a consequence of several substantial changes to the old constitutional laws and the political consensus to move the system of governance in a more parliamentary direction, a new Constitution was drafted during the 1990s and adopted by the Parliament in 1999. Finland's new Constitution integrates constitutional provisions into a single Constitution, and reduces the constitutional powers of the president of the republic. The new Constitution increases parliamentary control in foreign policy. It requires the president to co-operate with the government when directing Finland's foreign policy. It also requires acceptance by the Parliament of a wider range of international obligations. The system for the national organisation of matters concerning the European Union adopted in connection with Finland's accession to the Union in 1995 has also been confirmed by the Constitution, with the government and the Parliament being the main actors in that field.
Changing Modalities: Implementing Human Rights Obligations in Ireland after the Good Friday Agreement
Authors:   Byrne
Published: November 2003

AbstractThe Good Friday Agreement is transforming the model for implementing human rights in Ireland, aligning the protection of civil rights and liberties in the State more closely with the broader human rights movement in Europe and throughout the rest of the world. This article examines the orchestrated model for protecting human rights which emerges from four of the main human rights commitments undertaken by the Irish government in the Good Friday Agreement. These are: the definition of self-determination and abandonment of the Irish constitutional claim to the six counties of Northern Ireland, the guarantee of the `parity of rights' between the North and South of Ireland, the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms into Irish law, and the creation of a national Human Rights Commission. This orchestrated framework for human rights protection in Ireland offers a unique model for implementing international human rights obligations in an advanced democracy.
Humanitarian Intervention without the Security Council: From San Francisco to Kosovo – and Beyond
Authors:   Rytter
Published: November 2003

AbstractAgainst the background of NATO's war over Kosovo in 1999, this article deals with legal and legal-political aspects of humanitarian intervention without authorisation from the UN Security Council – an issue elucidating the foundations of international law and the role of state practice in its dynamic development. It is argued that unauthorised humanitarian intervention has no legal basis in current international law: It is incompatible with Article 2(4) of the Charter, the defence of a state of necessity is not applicable and no doctrine of unauthorised humanitarian intervention has been established under customary international law. From a legal-political perspective, the crucial question is whether to develop a doctrine of humanitarian intervention without the Security Council if necessary, or stick to the existing legal order, maintaining the Security Council as the sole authoritative organ for decision-making on humanitarian intervention, while working to make it more effective. The author favours the latter alternative. However, in the short term, an ad hoc ``emergency exit'' may be needed. The special circumstances precluding wrongfulness, such as state necessity, it is argued, are not a conceptually suitable framework for justifying humanitarian intervention. But unauthorised humanitarian intervention could be undertaken ad hoc, as a deviation from international law justified solely on moral grounds. This leaves open an option for intervention in extreme cases of human suffering, but at the same time avoids jeopardising the existing, hard-earned, international legal order and the central role of the Security Council. NATO's war over Kosovo, it is argued, was such a case of ad hoc intervention on moral grounds. The article assesses the legal-political consequences of this approach in the aftermath of NATO's bombing campaign.
Formalism v. Empiricism: Some Reflections on the Dublin Convention on the Occasion of Recent European Case Law
Authors:   Noll
Published: November 2003

AbstractThe drafters of the 1990 Dublin Convention knowingly and wilfully disregarded divergences among Member States' protection systems. Like a boomerang, the fallacy of this approach has now reappeared in cases where asylum seekers have challenged transfers under the Convention, obliging judges to tackle a problem which its drafters avoided. The core issue of this article is whether and when such divergences force a Member State to abstain from removing an asylum seeker to another Member State, provided that such removal entails a downgrading of protection. What approaches can be taken by authorities and courts seized with the legality of removal under the Dublin Convention? On one end of the spectrum, the formal approach relies on the fact that all Member States are bound by the 1951 Refugee Convention, the 1967 Protocol and the ECHR, and its proponents affirm the legality of removal regardless of factual differences amongst Member States in offering protection. On the other end of the spectrum, we find an empirical approach. Its proponents ask whether a specific asylum seeker would actually be treated in accordance with international law by the responsible Member State. In Adan and Aitseguer, the U.K. Court of Appeal and the U.K. House of Lords have explicitly rejected the formal approach and opted for the empirical approach. So did the ECtHR in T.I. v. the U.K. In the Minority Bosnians Decision, the Swedish Government has paid lip-service to the formal approach, but de facto applied the empirical approach, which effectively determined its outcome. Our analysis shows that there are good reasons for these preferences: the formal approach is untenable mainly for reasons of its logical and practical inconsistency. As long as Member States interpret their international obligations towards protection seekers differently, the empirical approach must be regarded as inherent in the prohibitions of refoulement contained in international law and thus a mandatory part of Dublin procedures.
Responsibility in the EC for Mixed Agreements –Should Non-Member Parties Care?
Authors:   Björklund
Published: November 2003

AbstractThe author discusses and questions the settled approach relating to responsibility under international law for mixed agreements, i.e. agreements to which both the EC and all or some of its member states are parties. He concludes that the rosy picture prevailing in much of the literature may not be justified, and stresses the difficulties involved for third parties.
Institutional Ambivalence by Design: Soft Organizations in International Law
Authors:   Klabbers
Published: November 2003

AbstractThe author analyzes the growing phenomenon of ``soft'' organization, and argues that neither the legal justification nor the policy justification for institutional ambivalence are terribly convincing. Instead, he links the intentional creation of ``soft'' organizations to more general discussions on regulation and deregulation, to conclude that ironically, too much ``softness' has already resulted in calls for a ``hardening'' of those ``soft'' creatures.
Yugoslav Territory, United Nations Trusteeship or Sovereign State? Reflections on the Current and Future Legal Status of Kosovo
Authors:   Stahn,   Zimmermann
Published: November 2003

AbstractSecurity Council Resolution 1244 of 10 June 1999 established a United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo. The United Nations has thereby assumed exclusive legislative and executive powers over the territory, notwithstanding the fact that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia still retained title over the territory in question. The present article analyses the current international legal status of Kosovo and the source of United Nations authority to administer the territory, taking into account relevant precedents where international organizations have done so in the past. In addition, the article addresses a number of more specific questions concerning the exercise of direct administering authority by the United Nations and, in particular, the question whether, and if so, to what extent human rights standards are applicable to both the actions of UNMIK and actions undertaken by the international security presence in Kosovo, KFOR. Before outlining a possible scenario for the future, permanent international and constitutional status of Kosovo, two other pertinent questions are also dealt with, i.e. whether UNMIK may represent Kosovo vis-à-vis third states by concluding treaties on behalf of the territory, and whether UNMIK may exercise diplomatic protection with regard to permanent residents of Kosovo.