The Charter of Fundamental Rights - Altering the Relationship Between EU Law and National Law?

År 2009 blev Europeiska Unionens stadga om de grundläggande rättigheterna juridiskt bindande nästan ett decennium efter det att processen att utarbeta en stadga hade påbörjats. Stadgans status som ett juridiskt bindande dokument väcker naturligtvis nya frågor om det framtida skyddet av mänskliga rättigheterna i Europa samt stadgans förhållande till Europakonventionen såväl som medlemsstaternas konstitutionella rättigheter. Stadgans allmänna bestämmelser, placerade i det sjunde kapitlet, reglerar dess tillämpningsområde och syftar till att hantera konflikter mellan stadgan och andra källor till skydd för de mänskliga rättigheterna. Det har däremot varit oklart hur dessa bestämmelser ska tolkas och vad de därigenom skulle kunna innebära. Under våren 2013 avgjorde EU-domstolen slutligen två fall, Åkerberg och Melloni, angående tolkningen av två av dessa allmänna bestämmelser. Syftet med denna uppsats är därför att undersöka sambandet mellan skyddet av de mänskliga rättigheterna på överstatlig nivå och på nationell nivå mot bakgrund av ny rättspraxis och att svara på frågan om vad stadgan kan få för konsekvenser för förhållandet mellan EU-rätt och nationell rätt. Som visas i denna uppsats finns det olika sätt att förstå förhållandet mellan EU-rätt och nationell rätt. En uppfattning är att den europeiska rättsordningen är överlägsen de nationella rättsordningarna och att EU-rättsliga bestämmelser därmed alltid måste ges företräde framför nationella bestämmelser om dessa kolliderar. I motsats så syftar begreppet konstitutionell pluralism till att förstå förhållandet i en icke-hierarkisk mening. Enligt de teorier som kallas diskursiv konstitutionell pluralism har EU-rätten utvecklas genom en dialog mellan EU-domstolen och de nationella domstolarna och en pågående dialog mellan domstolarna är också en källa till legitimitet för EU-domstolen. I Åkerberg och Melloni, klargjorde EU-domstolen slutligen hur två av de allmänna bestämmelserna i stadgan ska tolkas. Det framgår av domstolens avgöranden i dessa två mål att EU-domstolen även fortsättningsvis kommer att påverka skyddet av de mänskliga rättigheterna på nationell nivå i stor utsträckning. Samtidigt är min analys att det är möjligt att förstå EU-domstolens avgöranden som en återspegling av diskursiv konstitutionell pluralism och att domstolens tolkningar av de allmänna bestämmelserna har potential att förena den europeiska rättsordningen med de nationella rättsordningarna. Åkerberg och Melloni stärker därför uppfattningen att förhållandet mellan EU-rätt och nationell rätt bättre kan förstås i en icke-hierarkisk mening.In 2009, the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union became legally binding almost a decade after the process to draft a Charter had begun. Naturally, the Charter’s status as a legally binding document raises new questions about the future protection of human rights in Europe and the Charter’s relation to the European Convention on Human Rights as well as the Member States’ constitutional rights. The horizontal provisions of the Charter, placed in the seventh chapter, govern its field of application and aim at managing conflicts between the Charter and other sources of protection of human rights. It has, however, not been clear how these provisions should be interpreted and what they thereby might entail. During the spring of 2013, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) finally settled two cases, Åkerberg and Melloni, concerning the interpretation of two of these horizontal provisions. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to examine the relationship between the protection of human rights at supranational level and at national level in light of recent case law and to answer the question of what the implications of the Charter might be for the relationship between EU law and national law. As is presented in this thesis, there are different ways of understanding the relationship between EU law and national law. One understanding is that the European legal order is superior to the national legal orders and that provisions of EU law therefore must prevail over provisions of national law in case of a conflict. In contrast, the concept constitutional pluralism seeks to understand the relationship in a non-hierarchical sense. According to the theories that are called discursive constitutional pluralism, EU law has developed through a dialogue between the ECJ and the national courts and an on-going dialogue between the courts is also a source of legitimacy for the ECJ. In Åkerberg and Melloni, the ECJ finally clarified how two of the horizontal provisions of the Charter should be interpreted. It is evident from the Court’s ruling in these two cases that the ECJ will still influence the protection of human rights at national level to a great extent. At the same time, my analysis is that it is possible to understand the ECJ’s rulings as a reflection of discursive constitutional pluralism and that the Court’s interpretations of the horizontal provisions have the potential to reconcile the European legal order with the national legal orders. Consequently, Åkerberg and Melloni further strengthens the notion that the relationship between EU law and national law is better understood in a non-hierarchical sense

Beyond Survival - Cognition after Pediatric Brain Tumor

Background: Pediatric Brain Tumor (PBT) survivors suffer from cognitive sequelae, especially within the areas of cognitive tempo, attention, executive function and memory. The cognitive difficulties are often accentuated over the years, but knowledge about the long term trajectory is still scarce. Aim: The aim of this thesis was to examine cognitive sequelae after Pediatric Brain Tumor (PBT); risk factors, common difficulties, development and neuroimaging correlates. Methods: In study I, data from medical logs were used to examine characteristics of the patients who got access to neuropsychological services, compared to those who did not. In study II, data from 70 neuropsychological assessments were used to describe common cognitive impairments and to find risk factors. In study III, patients were invited to a follow-up study 10-13 years after diagnosis. Neuropsychological and neuroimaging data were collected and the two were compared. In study IV, longitudinal cognitive data from 173 patients were analyzed in order to describe development over time and to find risk factors for a negative development. Results: Study I: There were few differences between referred and non-referred patients. Study II: Patients had generally suppressed IQ and difficulties with executive function, memory, cognitive processing speed and attention. Risk factors were Whole-Brain Radiation Therapy (WBRT), large tumors, young age at diagnosis and male sex. Study III: Radiated as well as non-radiated patients had white matter abnormalities. Correlation between neuroimaging and cognition was low when group based statistics were used, but increased when a personalized method was used. Study IV: Most cognitive abilities showed a decline in age related scores over time unconsidered treatment given. Risk factors for impaired cognitive function at diagnosis were: male sex, WBRT, supratentorial lateral tumor, young age at diagnosis, larger tumor size and treatment with chemotherapy. Conclusions: A systematic neuropsychological follow-up is important. Risk factors for cognitive impairment and IQ decline are WBRT, large tumors, young age at diagnosis, male sex, supratentorial lateral tumor, and treatment with chemotherapy. A decline in IQ after PBT is common, unconsidered treatment given. Personalized methods of research would contribute significantly to our understanding of cognitive sequelae after PBT and its relation to neuroimaging

Att stå vid sidan av - Personers upplevelser av att vara närstående vid palliativ vård – en litteraturstudie

Bakgrund: av de som dog i Sverige 2010 var åttio procent i behov av palliativ vård. De flesta hade närstående vid sin sida. Tidigare forskning har visat att närstående upplever höga krav utifrån att bli vårdare och tvingas således in i en vårdande roll, med bristande stöd från vårdpersonal. Syfte: att beskriva personers upplevelser av att vara närstående vid palliativ vård. Metod: en litteraturstudie med kvalitativ ansats utfördes, vilket resulterade i åtta vetenskapliga artiklar som granskades och analyserades tematiskt. Resultat: resultatet visade tre teman. Dessa var att vara i händerna på vården, att vara vårdare och att möta och hantera döden. Slutsats: genom att ha ett familjefokuserat förhållningssätt i omvårdnaden kan sjuksköterskan lättare inkludera närstående och således göra upplevelsen mer värdefull för både anhörig och närstående

Behaviour of reindeer as an indicator of an adaptation to feeding

Abstract: We assessed behaviour of reindeer affected by nutritional deprivation and how they adapted to various feeding strategies. The activity pattern of 61 penned eight month old female reindeer calves was observed during 20 of a total of 42 experimental days in winter 1997. The dominant activities were lying, ruminating, intake of feed and water, and standing. Few recordings of agonistic behaviour or snow intake occured. Restricted feed intake, half the ad lib. ration of a lichen-based diet, affected the eating behaviour of the reindeer, and more animals were standing and fewer lying compared to reindeer fed ad lib. Lack of energy in the diet correlated with animals lying curled up (lying with the muzzle close to the hind legs). This behaviour could be a useful complement to other measurements and registrations when studying adaptations to various feeding regimens.Abstract in Swedish/Sammanfattning:Syftet med studien var att undersöka om, och i så fall hur renars beteende påverkades av otillräckligt näringsintag och vid anpassning till olika utfodringsstrategier. Aktivitetsmönstret hos 61 inhägnade åtta månader gamla honrenkalvar studerades under 20 av totalt 42 försöksdagar. De vanligaste beteendekategorierna genom hela försöket var ligga, idissla, intag av foder och vatten samt stå passivt. Endast ett fåtal observationer av aggressivt beteende och snöätande registrerades. En begränsad giva dvs. halva mängden av fodergivan vid fri tillgång av en lavbaserad diet påverkade djuren ätbeteende. Dessutom observerades fler djur stå passivt medan färre låg jämfört med kontrollgruppen. Under första fasen av utfodring efter restriktionsperioden låg fler djur låg ihoprullade (med mulen tätt intill bakbenet) jämfört med kontrollgruppen, vilket tolkades som ett tecken på energibrist. Beteendestudierna visade sig vara ett värdefullt komplement till övriga mätningar och provtagningar vid studier av renars anpassning till olika utfodringsregimer

Low-pressure liquid CO2 terminal - a model study of the loading of a liquid CO2 tanker

Low-pressure liquid CO2 terminal - a model study of the loading of a liquid CO2 tankeracceptedVersio

Managing Intra-Party Democracy: Comparing the French Socialist and British Labour Party Conferences

The French Socialists and British Labour consider intra-party democracy as a central tenet of their philosophies. It is a core value that orientates their political attitudes and defines their identity. Traditionally, they have privileged a particular type of decision-making, based on the sovereignty of the party conference. However, at the beginning of the 1990s, these meetings projected a damaging image of division and chaos. Confronted with the intense scrutiny of their internal debates by the media, the two parties had to find a better balance between their culture and practices, and the need to promote an image of unity and efficiency. They introduced a number of reforms that, they claim, have expanded the possibilities for individual members to participate while at the same time giving the two leaderships a firmer grip on decision-making. Based on qualitative research conducted over many years, this paper explores the parties' new attitudes to internal democracy and analyses the process of power redistribution within the organizations

What do people think about genetic engineering? A systematic review of questionnaire surveys before and after the introduction of CRISPR

The advent of CRISPR-Cas9 in 2012 started revolutionizing the field of genetics by broadening the access to a method for precise modification of the human genome. It also brought renewed attention to the ethical issues of genetic modification and the societal acceptance of technology for this purpose. So far, many surveys assessing public attitudes toward genetic modification have been conducted worldwide. Here, we present the results of a systematic review of primary publications of surveys addressing public attitudes toward genetic modification as well as the awareness and knowledge about the technology required for genetic modification. A total of 53 primary publications (1987–2020) focusing on applications in humans and non-human animals were identified, covering countries in four continents. Of the 53 studies, 30 studies from until and including 2012 (pre-CRISPR) address gene therapy in humans and genetic modification of animals for food production and biomedical research. The remaining 23 studies from after 2013 (CRISPR) address gene editing in humans and animals. Across countries, respondents see gene therapy for disease treatment or prevention in humans as desirable and highly acceptable, whereas enhancement is generally met with opposition. When the study distinguishes between somatic and germline applications, somatic gene editing is generally accepted, whereas germline applications are met with ambivalence. The purpose of the application is also important for assessing attitudes toward genetically modified animals: modification in food production is much less accepted than for biomedical application in pre-CRISPR studies. A relationship between knowledge/awareness and attitude toward genetic modification is often present. A critical appraisal of methodology quality in the primary publications with regards to sampling and questionnaire design, development, and administration shows that there is considerable scope for improvement in the reporting of methodological detail. Lack of information is more common in earlier studies, which probably reflects the changing practice in the field