The creativity of interpretation: a comparison between criminal Law and musical art

En este escrito se comparan la interpretación musical y la jurídica, en el ámbito del más amplio movimiento cultural del Law and humanities, mirando en particular a la libertad creativa de sus intérpretes. Con específico referimiento a la hermenéutica y a las normas penales, siempre mediante el paralelismo entre Derecho y música, se examinan las cuestiones atinentes a la duda interpretativa y al canon fundamental del favor rei. Se evidencia además, la constante tensión entre el principio de legalidad, expresión de las exigencias de garantía, y la justicia del caso concreto, fundada sobre la creatividad del juez. Se propone un acercamiento hermenéutico diferenciado: es decir, en caso de que la interpretación se dirija hacia desenlaces desfavorables al autor del hecho, el canon fundamental, comparable a la idea de interpretación musical ‘estricta’ de Stravinsky, debería ser más ‘estéril’, inspirado en el principio del favor rei, que debe ser considerado como una norma de cierre basada en la racionalidad y a la certeza del derecho. En caso inverso, cuando la hermenéutica, en base a principios sobreordenados, se dirige hacia desenlaces compatibles con el favor rei, la re-creación del Derecho pudiera abrirse a interpretaciones menos rígidas, más creativas, como aquellas, en la música, de Glenn Gould.In this text musical and legal interpretation are compared, in the context of the wider cultural movement of law and humanities, with particular attention to the liberty and creativity of the interpreters. With specific reference to the hermeneutics of criminal laws, always through the parallelism between law and music, issues concerning the interpretative doubt and the fundamental norm of favor rei, are analysed, underlining the constant tension between the principle of legality; expression of the requirements of the guarantee and the justice of the concrete case, based on the judge’s creativity. A hermeneutical diverse approach is suggested: if the interpretation turns towards adverse outcomes for the perpetrator, the fundamental norm, comparable with Stravinskij’s strict idea of musical interpretation, should be more “sterile”, based on the principle of favor rei, to be considered as a norm of closure based on law’s rationality and certainty. On the other hand, when hermeneutics, on the base of superordinate principles, turns towards compatible outcomes with the favor rei, the law’s recreation could open to less rigid, more creative interpretations, like those ones, in Glenn Gould’s music.Law, music, criminal legality, interpretation, creativity, safeguarding the rights of individuals, favor rei

Pre-contractual Obligations in France and the United States

This thesis compares the pre-contractual obligations in France and the United States. The focus of this study is to analyze how both legal systems deal with these pre-contractual obligations. It focuses on the possibilities given to the parties to protect themselves during the negotiation process. In event of breach of negotiations, the law gives legal remedies to the parties. French and American laws have a different analysis of the problem but they reach similar result: liability under contract law when a contract has been formed or a tentative agreement, or under tort law when no agreement whatsoever has been reached

Telepresença interativa e Telemática: Dançando com a imagem do corpo digital em transmissão em rede

This paper investigates the interactive relationships between physical and digital bodies in a telematic performance and performative installation arrangement, based on both theoretical and practical research. During the development and presentation of a practice-based project, performers’ and spectators’ contribution to the creative process and the fusion of a conscious with an illusionary state were observed and analysed using heuristic research methodology. This research includes an improvement of methods that supports embodiment and communication with and through the live transmitted digital body image, where time, space and gravity are central themes.Este trabalho investiga a relação interativa entre corpos físicos e digitais numa performance telemática e em arranjos de instalação performativa, e baseia-se tanto em pesquisa teórica quanto na prática. Durante o desenvolvimento e a apresentação de um projeto baseado em prática, a contribuição de performers e espectadores para o processo criativo, e a fusão de uma consciência do estado ilusório foram observadas e analisadas por meio de metodologia heurística de pesquisa. Esta pesquisa inclui o desenvolvimento de métodos que dão sustentação à corporeidade e à comunicação com e por meio de uma imagem do corpo transmitida ao vivo, onde tempo, espaço e gravidade são os temas centrais

Moving Towards More Inclusive Definitions of Femicide: Intersectionality and Marginalised Identities

Femicide violence has long been invisible. Drawing on feminist scholarship, this article will discuss existing definitions of femicide that have been key to its recognition as a distinct phenomenon. However, the notion of patriarchy these definitions build upon is not enough to explain the occurrence of such crime causing these definitions to fall into the trap of essentialism. Femicide is the result of multiple intersecting systems of oppression, including race, class, sexuality, disability, and soforth which shape women’s’ experiences in a wide variety of ways. Considering this, the theoretical framework of intersectionality is fundamental to expand definitions of femicide as it recognises that women’s experiences cannot be categorised under the same umbrella, as there exist differences between them. Moreover, because there is a need to move towards more inclusive definitions, such an approach may successfully go beyond the traditional biological sex-based man/woman heteronormative binary. This binary contributes to the marginalisation of identities that are less visible, such as those of transgender women

AI under the test of “beyon any reasonable doubt” in interpreting criminal law

The paper illustrates the possibility of using AI not only as an instrument to check the facts in a criminal trial but even to interpret and resolve significantly legal matters. Currently, the “expert systems” developed for this purpose take advantage of the judicial precedents as the basis of knowledge: given that, it is argued that these algorithms in a Constitutional State can not work based on the statistical rule of “more likely than not”, but they should be programmed according to the “political” alternative rule of ‘beyond any reasonable doubt’, which should be extended even to the doubt in interpreting the law. Thus, in the case of opposing judicial precedents, AI systems should suggest the most favorable interpretation for the defendant, and the judge should dissent only by explaining why he does not hold plausible the most favorable judicial precedent.  The paper illustrates the possibility of using AI not only as an instrument to check the facts in a criminal trial but even to interpret and resolve significantly legal matters. Currently, the “expert systems” developed for this purpose take advantage of the judicial precedents as the basis of knowledge: given that, it is argued that these algorithms in a Constitutional State can not work based on the statistical rule of “more likely than not”, but they should be programmed according to the “political” alternative rule of ‘beyond any reasonable doubt’, which should be extended even to the doubt in interpreting the law. Thus, in the case of opposing judicial precedents, AI systems should suggest the most favorable interpretation for the defendant, and the judge should dissent only by explaining why he does not hold plausible the most favorable judicial precedent

A Novel Mathematical Framework for the Analysis of Neural Networks

Over the past decade, Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have become very popular models for processing large amounts of data because of their successful application in a wide variety of fields. These models are layered, often containing parametrized linear and non-linear transformations at each layer in the network. At this point, however, we do not rigorously understand why DNNs are so effective. In this thesis, we explore one way to approach this problem: we develop a generic mathematical framework for representing neural networks, and demonstrate how this framework can be used to represent specific neural network architectures. In chapter 1, we start by exploring mathematical contributions to neural networks. We can rigorously explain some properties of DNNs, but these results fail to fully describe the mechanics of a generic neural network. We also note that most approaches to describing neural networks rely upon breaking down the parameters and inputs into scalars, as opposed to referencing their underlying vector spaces, which adds some awkwardness into their analysis. Our framework strictly operates over these spaces, affording a more natural description of DNNs once the mathematical objects that we use are well-defined and understood. We then develop the generic framework in chapter 3. We are able to describe an algorithm for calculating one step of gradient descent directly over the inner product space in which the parameters are defined. Also, we can represent the error backpropagation step in a concise and compact form. Besides a standard squared loss or cross-entropy loss, we also demonstrate that our framework, including gradient calculation, extends to a more complex loss function involving the first derivative of the network. After developing the generic framework, we apply it to three specific network examples in chapter 4. We start with the Multilayer Perceptron, the simplest type of DNN, and show how to generate a gradient descent step for it. We then represent the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), which contains more complicated input spaces, parameter spaces, and transformations at each layer. The CNN, however, still fits into the generic framework. The last structure that we consider is the Deep Auto-Encoder, which has parameters that are not completely independent at each layer. We are able to extend the generic framework to handle this case as well. In chapter 5, we use some of the results from the previous chapters to develop a framework for Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), the sequence-parsing DNN architecture. The parameters are shared across all layers of the network, and thus we require some additional machinery to describe RNNs. We describe a generic RNN first, and then the specific case of the vanilla RNN. We again compute gradients directly over inner product spaces

THE INFLUENCE OF LENGTH CHANGE SPEED AND DIRECTION ON DYNAMIC FUNCTION POTENTIATION IN FAST MOUSE MUSCLE

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the potentiation of dynamic function was dependent upon both length change speed and direction. Mouse EDL was cycled in vitro (250 C) about optimal length (Lo) with constant peak strain (± 2.5% Lo) at 1.5,3.3 and 6.9 Hz before and after a conditioning stimulus. A single pulse was applied during shortening or lengthening and peak dynamic (concentric or eccentric) forces were assessed at Lo. Stimulation increased peak concentric force at all frequencies (range: 19±1 to 30 ± 2%) but this increase was proportional to shortening speed, as were the related changes to concentric work/power (range: -15 ± 1 to 39 ± 1 %). In contrast, stimulation did not increase eccentric force, work or power at any frequency. Thus, results reveal a unique hysteresis like effect for the potentiation of dynamic output wherein concentric and eccentric forces increase and decrease, respectively, with work cycle frequency

The penal system and the freedom of the press

El ensayo trata de la influencia, ejercida por los medios de comunicación, sobre las políticas legislativas de los fenómenos delictivos, con especial atención a los riesgos que dicha influencia puede causar en relación con la violación de algunos principios fundamentales de los sistemas democráticos modernos, en particular con respecto al Derecho penal. El trabajo se centra en el énfasis puesto por los medios de comunicación en los riesgos y la creación engañosa de miedos colectivos, en particular los que afectan los fenómenos delictivos. Se exige un papel central de la cultura del Derecho penal a la hora de realizar un posible proceso de paideia político-criminal adecuado a las necesidades democráticas y de los medios de comunicación post-modernas, con el fin de dar forma al contenido ontológico de los niveles mínimos de conocimiento de los ciudadanos, tales como la internalización de los valores fundamentales que constituyen el ethos de las sociedades civiles contemporáneas.The essay is about the influence exerted by media on the legislative policies about criminal phenomena, with special reference to the risks that such influence might cause as regards the violation of some fundamental principles of modern democratic systems, that is the principles of criminal law. The work is focused on the emphasis put by media on the risks and the specious creation of collective worries, particularly those connected with criminal phenomena. A central role of criminal law culture is required for within a possible process of political-criminal paideia meeting democratic and mass media postmodern needs, in order to try to shape the ontological content of citizens’ minimum levels of knowledge, such as the internalization of those fundamental values forming the ethos of today’s civil societies