Expanding the Rule of Law: Judicial Reform in Latin America

This article seeks to convey three main message concerning judicial reform in Latin America. First, over the past twenty years, reform formulas (or reform recommendations) have been implemented, to a large extent, in countries throughout the region. There are variations—one can argue about detail, one can even argue about whether the people who were implementing them really understood the purpose underneath the formula, but a lot has changed. Second, the change—which has been structural and procedural to a large extent—has not necessarily brought the improvements in performance or output that were promised. At this point, those who have been promoting these reforms must ask whether the result toward which these countries are headed is really where they want to be. There may be some tendencies we are promoting that are not wellconsidered. The third message is that it is time for a change in direction

Embodied Spectatorship? Interpreting dance reviews around 1900

The article intertwines historiographical analyses with research methods focusing on embodied responses to performances. It argues that dance reviews can be interpreted from a sensorial viewpoint, analyzing ways in which language articulates so-called kinaesthetic, or affective responses. The argument is based on theories of agency and embodiment (Noland). Swedish reviews from performances by Isadora Duncan (Stockholm, 1906), Artemis Colonna (Stockholm, 1903), and Loïe Fuller (Gothenburg, 1907) are investigated, and it is concluded that these kinaesthetic sensations are visible mainly in the language of female writers and spectators. Moreover, in arguing that an embodied spectatorship is important in order to understand the view of the period as a turning point in dance aesthetics, an emphasis is put on the importance of including the practice of dancing by both professionals and amateurs in this historical narrative. Besides embracing the emergence of the professional dance avant-garde, the interpretation focuses on the importance of a corporeal education of the audience. In particular, female audience members seem to, via a dance performance, identify with forms of sensory experience in tandem with visually evaluated objects of art. It is argued that the change in the female viewers’ perceptions had a potential political effect in that it gave voice to both corporeal sensations and women’s experiences in ways new to the public arena. Thus, it is in these experiences the important turning point in dance history emerges, rather than merely in the performances themselves

Access to Justice: Reflections on the Concept, the Theory and its Application to Latin America's Judicial Reforms

Access to justice has become a central theme in Latin American judicial reforms. Access to justice has become a central theme in Latin American judicial reforms. Its apparent simplicity belies considerable ambiguity as to its precise meaning, the benefits it confers, and thus the methods whereby it is best advanced. While often interpreted as just a question of getting more people to court, for at least the last three decades observers have noted the inadequacy of this definition. Once it is discarded, the implications for programmes to enhance access are far less clear. This short essay reviews some of these issues and suggests an alternative, if not exactly easier, way of defining and operationalizing the concept. While based on the Latin American experience, the arguments are intended for more general application

The Return of Activity in Main-Belt Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro

Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro is the first-known and currently best-characterised member of the main-belt comets, a recently-identified class of objects that exhibit cometary activity but which are dynamically indistinguishable from main-belt asteroids. We report here on the results of a multi-year monitoring campaign from 2003 to 2008, and present observations of the return of activity in 2007. We find a pattern of activity consistent with the seasonal activity modulation hypothesis proposed by Hsieh et al. (2004, AJ, 127, 2997). Additionally, recomputation of phase function parameters using data in which 133P was inactive yields new IAU parameters of H_R=15.49+/-0.05 mag and G_R=0.04+/-0.05, and linear parameters of m_R(1,1,0)=15.80+/-0.05 mag and Beta=0.041+/-0.005 mag/deg. Comparison between predicted magnitudes using these new parameters and the comet's actual brightnesses during its 2002 and 2007 active periods reveals the presence of unresolved coma during both episodes, on the order of ~0.20 of the nucleus cross-section in 2002 and ~0.25 in 2007. Multifilter observations during 133P's 2007 active outburst yield mean nucleus colours of B-V=0.65+/-0.03 mag, V-R=0.36+/-0.01 mag, and R-I=0.32+/-0.01 mag, with no indication of significant rotational variation, and similar colours for the trail. Finally, while 133P's trail appears shorter and weaker in 2007 than in 2002, other measures of activity strength such as dust velocity and coma contamination of nucleus photometry are found to remain approximately constant. We attribute changes in trail strength to the timing of observations and projection effects, thus finding no evidence of any substantial decrease in activity strength between 2002 and 2007.Comment: 31 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA