Search Results (114)

World War II profoundly reshaped Asia’s political and cultural landscape. With the decline of European colonial empires and the defeat of Japanese militarism, national liberation movements surged across Asia. As nations fought for political sovereignty, they also faced the task of reestablishing their cultural identity. This paper argues that the Cairo Declaration, as a pivotal international legal document during WWII, not only provided the legal foundation for establishing the postwar political order in Asia but also established regional cultural norms centered on anti-fascism, territorial sovereignty, and respect for cultural diversity. However, this order suffered severe shocks under the Cold War framework, with frequent regional conflicts and bloc confrontation eroding national sovereignty and cultural independence. Against this backdrop, this paper proposes a return to the normative core of the Cairo Declaration to construct an Asian cultural security framework comprising three key elements: respecting sovereign equality and cultural self-determination to rebuild the cornerstone of Asian cultural order; synergistically constructing a post-fascist settlement alongside an Asian human rights system; and transitioning from adversarial narratives to shared values, thereby laying a profound foundation for civilizational dialog that supports regional sustainable development. Full article

Scholars have long shown that post-separation abuse continues through legal channels and that legal institutions often reinforce existing social relations. Nevertheless, little is known about how abused mothers’ legal experiences shape their understanding of legality and how this dynamic may function to perpetuate coercive control. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 32 Israeli mothers co-parenting with abusive ex-partners, this study offers a phenomenological account of how post-separation abused mothers experience family law proceedings, based on a feminist imperative to bring their voices to center stage. The analysis reveals a dialectical legal consciousness comprising three interconnected orientations—characterized by internal contradictions and tensions that paradoxically serve to maintain rather than disrupt existing power relations: Institutional Trust and Disillusionment in the law’s protective promise, Institutional Asymmetry as experienced from the abused mothers’ perspective, and Recognizing Entrapment—the realization that legal processes reproduce the very dynamics they sought to escape. Abused mothers thus describe a paradoxical relationship with the law of both needing and distrusting a system that mandates continued contact with their abusers. Caught in a second-order abusive relationship, they feel compelled to comply with processes they perceive as harmful. We term this Entrapped Legal Consciousness—a form of legal subjectivity shaped by institutional norms that reconfigure resistance and reinscribe coercive control. This study offers empirical and theoretical insight into how legality may become a mechanism for cultivating continued control. Full article

Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD) is a highly contagious viral condition caused by Circovirus parrot—commonly known as Beak and Feather Disease Virus (BFDV)—a small, single-stranded DNA virus of the family Circoviridae. The disease primarily affects parrots (order Psittaciformes) and is characterized by progressive feather dystrophy, beak deformities, immunosuppression, and high mortality rates, particularly in juvenile birds. Although PBFD was initially documented in Australian psittacines, the virus has now attained global distribution, facilitated predominantly by the international trade in live parrots, both legal and illegal. This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of current knowledge on the virology, clinical presentation, molecular epidemiology, and phylogeographic spread of BFDV. Particular attention is given to the role of parrot trade in shaping transmission dynamics and genetic diversification. The review further evaluates existing biosecurity policies, diagnostic challenges, and disease management strategies within both captive and wild avian contexts. Given PBFD’s dual status as a veterinary concern and a growing conservation threat, strengthening international surveillance, regulating wildlife trade, and integrating molecular diagnostics into routine screening are critical priorities. Effective containment of BFDV requires a multidisciplinary approach involving veterinarians, aviculturists, conservation biologists, and policymakers to safeguard the health and genetic viability of endangered psittacine species globally. Full article

Background: This article presents an international comparative review of involuntary psychiatric care, Community Treatment Orders (CTOs), and forensic mental health services, with operational implications for Italy. Italy has a community-based model inspired by the “Basaglia Law” (Law No. 180/1978), emphasizing deinstitutionalization and continuity of care. Nevertheless, risk governance gaps persist for high-complexity patients, imposing a disproportionate legal and clinical burden on mental health professionals. This group includes individuals who refuse treatment despite meeting criteria for compulsory admission, patients at elevated risk with substantial management complexity, and offenders with a current or suspected psychiatric disorder. Methods: We conducted a comparative legal and policy review across seven jurisdictions (Italy, England and Wales (UK), France, Germany, Spain, the United States, and Canada) to map frameworks for involuntary treatment, forensic services, CTOs (or equivalents), and community-based risk management. We also extracted procedural safeguards, duration and renewal limits, and interfaces with forensic services. Results: CTOs are available in five of the seven jurisdictions (England and Wales, France, Spain, the United States, and Canada) but are absent in Italy and Germany. We propose a three-pillar framework: (1) enforceable outpatient measures, including CTOs; (2) Forensic Psychiatry Units within Local Health Authorities; and (3) oversight boards with judicial, clinical, and social representatives. These components aim to redistribute responsibility, ensure continuity of care, and provide proportional oversight within a least restrictive, graduated system. Conclusions: When narrowly targeted, time limited, and paired with robust safeguards and service-quality standards, CTOs can support adherence and continuity for patients who repeatedly disengage from care. For Italy, integrating this instrument within the three-pillar framework and under independent oversight could strengthen patient rights and public safety, reduce revolving-door admissions, and improve outcomes. Full article

Background/Objectives: Patients receiving professional homecare often require support in managing their medication. In Switzerland’s legislative system, medication logistics (ordering, delivery, pickup, storage) are regulated differently by each canton, making it challenging for professional homecare organisations to comply with provisions efficiently. The present study aimed to analyse the current international literature, Switzerland’s regulations about medication logistics for professional homecare, and the current practices. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review of the PubMed, Embase and CINAHL databases to identify existing international research on medication logistics by professional homecare organisations published until February 2024. The results of a structured online survey on medication logistics by professional homecare organisations in Switzerland’s German-speaking regions were compared against the medication regulations currently in place. Results: Ten studies were included in the review. The medication logistics processes of homecare organisations have rarely been researched, especially short-term and long-term storage. Few regulations cover medication logistics in Switzerland’s legislation, and they are often formulated non-specifically and focus on inpatient facilities. Some cantons allow centralised medication storage, others prohibit it. Only one canton explicitly permits short-term medication storage under simplified requirements. We evaluated the answers of 105 homecare organisations responding to our survey; 73.7% (73/99) of them nevertheless stored medications in the short term before bringing them to patients’ homes. Switzerland’s professional homecare organisations generally fulfil their legal requirements well. There is potential to improve the formulation of standard operating procedures for each step of the homecare medication use process, especially for cleaning medication storage sites (12/31, 38.7%) and short-term storage processes (29/56, 51.8%). Conclusions: There are few studies or guidelines on professional homecare organisations’ medication logistics, and they generally fail to address medication storage. Short-term medication storage is common despite most cantonal requirements being strict or prohibiting it, or not regulating it all. There is an urgent need for unambiguous, practice-oriented recommendations specific to homecare, especially for short-term medication storage. Full article

Disability Certification is an instrument that can contribute to the identification of persons with disabilities who are potential beneficiaries of social protection programmes. In Colombia, the disability certification process was changed in 2020 to include a human rights perspective. However, little information exists on how far the process aligns with the recommendations made by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities or to what extent it provides useful information for the operation of the country’s social protection system. This study aims to analyse how the changes implemented in 2020 have contributed to the identification and determination of persons with disabilities in social protection programmes in Colombia. This research uses an analytical-descriptive design, in which legal documents related to the social protection programme and disability certification were analysed. In addition, we conducted semi-structured interviews in Colombia with people with disabilities, professionals conducting the certification, and with key stakeholders, and we analysed the information using thematic analysis. Colombia changed its certification process in 2020, moving from a capacity-to-work assessment to a process of assessing functioning capacity and participation limitations following the International Classification of Functional Disability and Health. However, the new certification process has not provided an instrument to contribute to determining persons with disabilities who should be prioritised or receive social benefits in Colombia. The certification does not establish the support needs of people with disabilities, does not recommend reasonable adjustments to support their participation in society, and has not been used systematically in social protection programmes. Finally, individuals with disabilities commented that the disability certification is a process that does not open up opportunities to receive social benefits and social transfers, and in most cases, it is an expensive and lengthy process. Disability certification in Colombia is not an instrument that determines the needs of people with disabilities, nor the reasonable accommodations that they require in order to participate in society. Full article

The Arctic region is rich in oil and gas resources and has great potential for development. It has become a new hot spot for international development. However, the harsh climatic and geological conditions and fragile ecosystems in the Arctic region put forward stringent technical requirements for oil and gas development. Polar permafrost has an impact on the growth of plant roots and the absorption of water. When drilling activities are carried out, the permafrost layer may be broken, resulting in the erosion of polar soil and disorder of the water balance, thus affecting local vegetation and ecosystems. Moreover, the legal system of polar environmental protection is lacking, and it is necessary to form a perfect risk assessment method to improve the relevant laws and regulations. Therefore, it is very important to study the environmental risk identification technology for polar drilling. For polar drilling, it is necessary to establish a risk source classification and identification method for environmental pollution events. However, at present, it mainly faces the following challenges: poor polar environment, lack of monitoring data, and lack of a legal system for polar environmental protection. By systematically discussing risk identification technology, the application and applicable models of different types of risk evaluation methods are categorized and summarized, the advantages and disadvantages of different types of risk evaluation methods and their application effects are analyzed based on the unique environment of the polar regions, and then the development direction of the future environmental risk identification technology for polar drilling is proposed. In order to accelerate the development of polar drilling environmental risk identification technology, research should be focused on the following three aspects: ① Promoting the multi-dimensional integration of polar drilling environmental pollution index data, to make up for the short board of less relevant data in the polar region. ② Combining the machine modeling algorithm with risk evaluation of polar drilling environmental pollution to improve the scientificity and accuracy of the evaluation results. ③ Establishing a scientific and accurate polar drilling environmental pollution risk identification system to reduce pollution risk. Full article

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has introduced unprecedented opportunities and challenges, necessitating a robust ethical and regulatory framework to guide its development. This study reviews key ethical concerns such as algorithmic bias, transparency, accountability, and the tension between automation and human oversight. It discusses the concept of algor-ethics—a framework for embedding ethical considerations throughout the AI lifecycle—as an antidote to algocracy, where power is concentrated in those who control data and algorithms. The study also examines AI’s transformative potential in diverse sectors, including healthcare, Insurtech, environmental sustainability, and space exploration, underscoring the need for ethical alignment. Ultimately, it advocates for a global, transdisciplinary approach to AI governance that integrates legal, ethical, and technical perspectives, ensuring AI serves humanity while upholding democratic values and social justice. In the second part of the paper, the author offers a synoptic view of AI governance across six major jurisdictions—the United States, China, the European Union, Japan, Canada, and Brazil—highlighting their distinct regulatory approaches. While the EU’s AI Act as well as Japan’s and Canada’s frameworks prioritize fundamental rights and risk-based regulation, the US’s strategy leans towards fostering innovation with executive directives and sector-specific oversight. In contrast, China’s framework integrates AI governance with state-driven ideological imperatives, enforcing compliance with socialist core values, whereas Brazil’s framework is still lacking the institutional depth of the more mature ones mentioned above, despite its commitment to fairness and democratic oversight. Eventually, strategic and governance considerations that should help chief data/AI officers and AI managers are provided in order to successfully leverage the transformative potential of AI for value creation purposes, also in view of the emerging international standards in terms of AI. Full article

Since 2019, Togo has been strengthening financial decentralization through municipalization and the election of municipal councilors. Municipal financial autonomy is a key driver of local governance, allowing municipalities to mobilize their own resources, manage tax and non-tax revenues, and implement development projects. However, despite a legal framework governing local taxation, Togolese municipalities continue to face chronic financial constraints that limit their ability to finance public services and infrastructure. This study examines the mechanisms of financial decentralization in Togo and their contribution to municipal budgets. Using a quantitative approach that combines documentary analysis and interviews with 188 experts and practitioners in local finance, the study identifies the following four primary financing mechanisms: local, national, community-based and international. Among these, own revenues, including tax revenues, non-tax revenues, and revenues from the provision of services, together with government transfers through the Local Authorities Support Fund (FACT) are the main sources of local government finance. However, the results show that several legally defined fiscal instruments remain underutilized or outdated in many municipalities, significantly limiting their effectiveness in mobilizing resources. These results highlight the need to optimize fiscal decentralization strategies in order to strengthen the financial autonomy of municipalities and support sustainable territorial development. Full article

This study analyzes the award-winning documentary film Searching for Rodakis, directed by Kerem Soyyilmaz, produced in 2023. The aim of this study is the historic comprehension and analysis of this filmic narrative in the field of social–semiotic literacy and its utilization in historical studies for approaching issues of conflict in modern history, otherness, collective experience and trauma, and collective memory. The research material is the documentary Searching for Rodakis (produced by Denmark, Turkey 2023; screenplay/director, Kerem Soyyilmaz; duration, 57’), which received the following awards: Adana Golden Boll FF 2023 Turkey | Best Documentary, Thessaloniki International Doc. Festival 2023 Greece, Greek Film Festival Los Angeles 2023 USA, and Istanbul Documentary Days 2023 Turkey. As regards the historic context, the year of production, 2023, coincides with the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, where Turkey’s current borders were set and the “population exchange” legally sealed, i.e., the violent expulsion of 400,000 Muslims, citizens of Greece, many of whom spoke only Greek, and 200,000 Orthodox citizens of Turkey, who in the majority spoke Turkish. At the same time, the Treaty of Lausanne ratified and finalized the expulsion of approximately one million Orthodox who were forced to leave the Ottoman Empire, as well as 120,000 Muslims who had fled Greece since the beginning of the Balkan Wars (1912–1913). About two million people were deported and lost their citizenship and property, in the context of “national homogeneity” (which connotes an ethnic cleansing), with the official states ignoring the criticisms of lawyers and academics who spoke of violations of constitutional rights. Mohammedan Greeks, estimated at around 190,000 as early as 1914, based on ecclesiastical statistics in the Pontus region, did not receive attention from the provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne, even though linguistically and culturally (origin, customs, culture and traditions) they did not differ in any way from the Orthodox Greeks. In Turkey, there was general indifference to the thousands of desperate people who arrived, with the exception of a few academics and the Lausanne Exchange Foundation. The filmic scenario is as follows: as a Greek tombstone of unknown origin is discovered underneath the floorboards in an old village house in Turkey, an almost forgotten story from the country’s creation unravels—the forced population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923. The engraved Greek letters tell of a woman, Chrysoula Rodaki, who died in 1887. Thus the search for her descendants begins. It leads director Kerem Soyyilmaz to local archives, where his own family’s role in history is laid bare; to abandoned ghost towns, and through the memories of older villagers—all while Soyyilmaz meets massive support for his quest from Greeks on the other side of the border. The stone becomes a portal to the past—and for a while, the trauma becomes redeemed when the previous owners of the village house return. Searching for Rodakis is a movie that reconnects people, culture, and the stories that were discarded in order to build a strong, nationalist state—told through the director’s personal experiences. The research questions, as they arise from the cinematographic material itself, are as follows: How is the historical memory of traumatic events of the previous century, such as the exchange of populations according the Treaty of Lausanne, recorded in the cinematographic narrative? What are the historical sources? To what extent did the origin, ethnicity, and geographical location of the narrators as participants influence the preservation of historical memory and the historical research? What are the criteria of the approach of the creator, and what are the criteria of the participants? Methodologically, we apply historic and socio-semiotic analyses in the field of public and digital history. The results: The types of historical sources found in filmic public discourse include the oral narration of testimonies, of experiences and of memories, as well as the director’s historical research in state archives, the material cultural objects, and the director’s digital research. Thus, historic thematic categories occur, such as the specific persons and actions in Turkey/Greece, actions on-site and in online research, and the types of historical sources, such as oral testimonies, research in archives, and objects of material culture. Sub-themes such as childhood, localities and kinship also emerge. These cinematic recordings of biographical oral narratives as historical and sociological material help us understand the political ideologies of the specific period, between the years 1919 and 1923. The multimodal film material is analyzed to provide testimonies of oral and digital history; it is utilized to approach the historical reality of “otherness”, seeking dialogue in cross-border history in order to identify differences, but above all the historic and cultural similarities against sterile stereotypes. The historic era and the historic geography of the Greek and Turkish national histories concern us for research and teaching purposes a hundred years after the Treaty of Lausanne which set the official borders of the countries. Full article

Climate change has been considered a critical challenge that transcends traditional notions of security, demanding a shift in perspective toward environmental sustainability. Historically, security has been viewed as an inviolable boundary, shaped significantly by the aftermath of World War II, when the international community prioritized peace, territorial integrity, and political independence. However, humanity now faces unprecedented threats that cannot be addressed through rigid or outdated definitions of security. Climate change impacts the entire planet, affecting both living and non-living organisms, and has arisen primarily from anthropogenic activities over the past two centuries. Consequently, solutions must originate from within human societies, emphasizing sustainability alongside action. Despite extensive discourse, meaningful progress remains limited. This paper, drawing on scientific data about climate change’s far-reaching consequences, aims to highlight that climate change, despite theoretical and practical challenges, has the potential to supplant traditional State-centered security as the Grundnorm of international law, serving as the critical threshold that demands a comprehensive reform and reimagining of the international legal framework. It concludes that climate change’s new normativity represents opportunities to reform law and order to ensure life and sustainability. Full article

Given the need to strengthen responses to the growing challenges posed by climate change, the purpose of this paper is to explore innovative approaches and interdisciplinary perspectives for tackling these issues, focusing on the role of the institutional framework, emerging technologies, and the necessity to also encourage the involvement of small-scale actors (such as citizens). The main approaches of this paper involve, first, the technological developments spurred by the necessity to effectively address climate change problems, emphasizing macro-level dimensions in terms of the political economy of green transition and the technological components of climate solutions. Parallel to that, it provides results and presents key elements of the legal context that promoted the sustainable transition, such as the establishment of a science-based policymaking process, the development of scientific data and tools, and efforts to encourage the participation of all relevant actors in sustainable economic development. Against this background, this paper puts forward the idea that a combined approach is required to address climate change issues, integrating top-down, e.g., macro-policy approaches with bottom-up strategies (with the latter allowing for a more dynamic participation of citizens and individuals), in order to complement current institutional, legal, policy, and technological measures. The result of the analysis is that this paper provides evidence for the introduction of guidelines strengthening macro-economic approaches in addition to the concept of a “science citizen” as a major component of new problem-focused solutions. The principal results and findings offer interpretations and insights while encouraging further discussion on transitioning to a sustainable science society. In this context, the analysis results elucidate that there is evidence for an increased policy emphasis on technology development (economy-based approaches) rather than on technology diffusion and assessment, and/or the integration of key small-scale actors, such as citizens. Thus, this paper provides evidence for the need to incorporate “science citizens” as a key parameter into the technology and innovation chain (e.g., data provision) and the public policy domain. Overall, this paper outlines a holistic analysis of the international economic, technological, institutional, legal, and policy environment regarding innovation, sustainability, and the climate crisis. Full article

Museum collections serve as valuable repositories of biodiversity, offering a substantial amount of data and specimens for scientific research. This study describes the intrinsic value of the mammal collection at the National Museum of Natural History and Science of the University of Lisbon (Portugal) (MUHNAC), and its nationwide representativeness, with the final aim of revealing its potential to support research and conservation initiatives. The collection includes 6158 specimens, from 131 species, across 10 orders, the great majority collected within Portugal, although a small dataset mostly from other parts of Europe and Africa is also available. The most represented orders are Rodentia, Eulipotyphla, and Carnivora, in contrast to Chiroptera, Cetacea, and Artiodactyla. Approximately 40% of the species within these groups are of conservation concern according to both national and international conventions, with nearly 20% at risk of extinction based on IUCN criteria. Additionally, the representativity of species in MUHNAC reflects the museum’s coverage of species records across the country, with smaller, non-threatened species being more prominently represented and larger, at-risk species being comparatively underrepresented. The influence of conservation, economic, legal, and ethical factors on the species spatial coverage is discussed, providing insights into the variability observed in museum collections. Full article

Healthcare institutions and health registries often store patients’ health data. In order to ensure privacy, sensitive medical information is stored separately from the identifying information of the patient. Generally, institutions anonymize medical information while sharing it for external use. However, internal users may also use it for identifying inaccuracies or missing information. Even though internal users may be legally permitted to access sensitive medical information, such access may lead to the identification of the patient, which can be vulnerable to patient privacy. Ensuring the accountability and responsibility of the internal users may lead to tractability in case of adversarial access with malicious intentions. Therefore, a secure system must be developed for the storage and retrieval of health data. To this end, in this paper, we propose a ledger-based system that cryptographically ensures that all access to health data must be logged into a ledger. Nevertheless, the ledger entries must be protected against adversarial access, too. At the same time, the ledger must be traversable by the patients as well as internal users. To address these needs, we propose techniques for the construction of a ledger to permit both internal users and patients to securely traverse and view only the entries to which they are linked. Full article

South Africa’s democracy turned 30 years old in 2024. At the same time, its constitutional order and jurisprudence marked three decades since the Interim Constitution and its successor, the 1996 Constitution, came into operation. Coincidentally, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) turned 75 years old in the previous year, 2023. The confluence of these facts is quite poignant in the context of a constitutional text that is often lauded for its commitment to the protection of human rights and the eradication of the injustices of the past, which were firmly entrenched by the segregationist policies of the apartheid regime. At the centre of this hype about South African constitutional jurisprudence is the centrality of international law to the interpretation of the Bill of Rights as well as the development of the common law, customary law, and statutory law. With the UDHR being such a central pillar in the human rights sector, this study set out to determine the extent to which the Constitutional Court of South Africa relied on the UDHR and other international instruments in carrying out the mandate set out above. The study analysed cases delivered by the Court in two separate years, spaced ten years apart. The study did not necessarily attempt to determine a correlation, but simply to use descriptive statistics to determine how often, in those two years, the Court relied on international law in general, and on the UDHR in particular, in its interpretive and legal development mandate. Full article