Police powers and human rights in the context of terrorism

Purpose – The object of the paper is to analyse the justifications for the modification of police powers in response to terrorist threats, placing this issue in a European context. Design/methodology/approach – The paper consists of a critical examination of provisions relating to terrorism emanating from the European Union and the Council of Europe (European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)), and the relevant English law on police powers of stop and search, arrest, and detention. Findings – Nothing in European law requires the amendments to police powers contained in English law; European law requires respect for human rights, even in dealing with terrorism; a shoot-to-kill policy is prohibited by the ECHR; and balance is an unsatisfactory method of resolving conflicts in this area. Research limitations/implications – The research was limited in its scope to certain areas of police powers, and to certain fundamental European documents. Future research should consider the issue in relation to wider areas. Originality/value – It challenges the idea of balance between liberty and security, proposing a test based on necessity instead

Too many presidents "spoil the broth"?- What role for the European Commission in global climate change politics?

The European Union is the only supranational organisation to have both implemented ‘domestic’ climate change policy and provided leadership for the international community on adaptation and mitigation measures. Although the competence for action in climate change is shared between the national governments and the supranational level of the European Union, on behalf of the EU the European Commission has played a prominent role in international climate change negotiations. The Lisbon Treaty (in force December 2009) brought a number of changes to the institutional framework of the European Union, most significantly to the European Council and the external role of the EU. These changes appear to have added to the complexity which surrounds issues of the external representation of the EU and not simplified them – are there too many ‘Presidents’ of these institutions vying for a role? This paper questions the extent to which these changes will impact on the Commission headed by Jose Manuel Barroso, Barroso II Commission (2009-2014), particularly on Barroso’s ability to provide leadership on ‘domestic’ climate change policy and hence direction to the approach which the EU takes in global climate change politics

Security of energy supply in the New Europe : a role for the European Atomic Energy Community in the European Union’s Neighbourhood Policy

Abstract External energy relations are essential components of both the European Union (EU)’s search for an overall energy strategy (EPE) and the development of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). In this article questions are posed about the role for the use of nuclear technology as the means of meeting some of the objectives of both areas of policy. As both the EPE and the ENP are dependent on the negotiation of international agreements with third parties for their effectiveness the focus of analysis presented will be on the EU’s legal and constitutional framework for action and in particular the EURATOM Treaty which established the European Atomic Energy Community in 1957

Who wants to be able to do reference properly and be unemployed? STEM student writing and employer needs

The issue of graduate writing is one that has attracted much focus and debate in higher education, particularly around maintaining ‘academic standards’ at a time of expansion in this sector. The need to develop academic skills, including writing, for higher education study has increasingly been linked to the skills that graduates need to gain employment (Davies et al., 2006). This raises the question of whether the type and purpose of writing within university programmes is different to, and possibly in tension with, writing required for employment after university. This is a point raised by recent research (Day, 2011) which shows that students studying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) subjects are more confident with oral rather than writing skills. The material discussed in this article is part of a two-year mixed method study looking at literacies, including writing, which undergraduate students develop at university, and the relationship of these literacies to employability. This article focuses on six first-year STEM students studying Forensic Science and Computing Science within the larger study. The qualitative data, gathered through repeat interviews, is discussed in relation to a small sample of employers and alumni working in science-based industries describing writing for transition into work and for on-going employment. The project therefore provides a useful Appleby et al. Who wants to be able to do references properly and be unemployed? student insight into writing, comparing this with employer expectations and the experience of alumni who have made the transition into work. What emerges from our study is the need to see writing at university as part of a wider communicative repertoire supported by a social and cultural approach to situated writing. This approach is more than simply skills based and is one that encourages and develops social as well as academic learning. We argue that such an approach, added to by technical skills support, enables greater engagement and success with learning in addition to enhancing employability

Issues emerging from the first 10 pilot sites implementing the Nurse-Family Partnership home-visiting programme in England

"Issues emerging from the first 10 pilot sites implementing the FNP home-visiting programme in England" builds on those previously published, and identifies national and local system contributions to effective delivery of FNP, the emerging expertise of FNP practitioners and the influence of FNP practice on universal service provision

The Politics of Nuclear Energy in the European Union. Framing the Discourse: Actors, Positions and Dynamics

The submission presents a body of work analyzing the impact of changes to the political environment in which the European Union (EU)’s nuclear energy policy operated during a period of dramatic change for the EU from the late 1990s to the late 2010s. In the late 1990s/early 2000s the process of enlargement taking the EU from 15 to 28 Member States by 2013 began, and brought with it significant energy policy challenges for all the states involved. As the 2000s advanced, hegemonization of climate change in the energy discourse further challenged the EU’s policy makers searching for EU policy for sustainable, secure and competitive energy. Both events brought changes to the context in which the EU’s nuclear energy policy operates and were formative moments in the policy process. The publications were underpinned by three broad based and inter-linked themes, the: - ‘stickiness” of the Euratom Treaty that provides the legal framework for EU nuclear energy policy, - impact of the fifth enlargement of the EU on both EU internal nuclear energy policy and EU external nuclear energy policy, - impact of the hegemonization of climate change in the energy discourse. Notions underpinning the research – that history matters, institutions matter and ideas matter - were unpicked within the analysis. The use of nuclear energy in the EU’s energy mix is highly controversial and deeply divides the governments and citizens of the Member States of the EU. As it was an integrative model first devised in the 1950s there is no apparent justification for the EU’s model of nuclear integration to continue in the twenty-first century. I have argued in my work however, that despite many controversies surrounding the use of nuclear technology, it is in the interests of all EU states, nuclear generators and non-nuclear generators to support the model of nuclear integration that has evolved

Performance-based curriculum and sight-singing: the effects on attitudes and singing achievements of fifth- and sixth-grade music students

The purpose of the study was to gather information concerning literacy training and the use of a performance-based curriculum with fifth- and sixth-grade music students. The problems of the study were to determine the effects of different combinations of sight-singing training and CME instruction on the singing achievement and attitudes of upper elementary school students. Twelve fifth- and twelve sixth-grade classes from an intermediate school participated in the study. The classes were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions involving various combinations of sight-singing training and CME. All classes were taught by the same instructor for one 45-minute period per week. At the conclusion of the study, an attitude survey was administered to all students. Additionally, the researcher/instructor audio-taped all classes and 96 randomly selected individuals performing a criterion song. All recordings were independently evaluated by three judges using the Saunders Scale. To determine the effects of sight-singing and performance-based curricula on singing achievement and attitude, the data were analyzed using a two way ANOVA. For singing achievement of class performances, statistically significant differences were found in favor of CME groups. In reference to individual performance and attitude, the researcher failed to find statistically significant interaction or main effects

EC-Funded Mine Action in Africa: Volume 2 - Country Reports

The Evaluation of EC support for mine action in Africa is the first of six regional mine action evaluations that the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) will conduct or commission for the European Commission (EC). These regional evaluations follow from a Global Assessment of EC support for mine action completed in 2005. Given the broad scope of a regional evaluation, no attempt was made to assess the performance of individualprojects; rather, the focus was on EC mine action strategy and programming issues at the country and regional levels. In addition to a document review, the evaluation team sent questionnaires to the EC Delegations in those sub-Saharan African countries to which the EC has provided funding for mine action since 2002, and it conducted country missions to Angola, North and South Sudan, and Somalia (Somaliland and Puntland). Findings from these missions are reported in a separate volume