Quality of Reasoning in International Criminal Tribunals

It is not unreasonable to say that international criminal law is, for the most part, a judge made law. For better or worse, given the diffused nature of its sources of law as well as the institutions built to enforce it, the rising case law gave the international criminal courts a chance and a burden to develop international criminal law into an expansive, and familiar, branch of international law. In this Chapter, I attempt to analyse and elaborate the main vehicle through which this transformation has taken place – the judgements of the courts – in terms of the quality of their reasoning. I will piece together some general rules of thumb that have been created in the branch of international criminal law to assess the quality of reasoning of the different International Criminal Courts. My focus will be the work of the International Criminal Court, although the work of the ICC rests to a large degree on the work of the previous ad hoc tribunals. As such, I will analyse the criticisms that have been levelled at the international criminal tribunals in terms of their interpretation and reasoning, highlight some of the continuing concerns and assess the ICC’s current practice

The patriotism of gentlemen with red hair: European Jews and the liberal state, 1789–1939

European Jewish history from 1789–1939 supports the view that construction of national identities even in secular liberal states was determined not only by modern considerations alone but also by ancient patterns of thought, behaviour and prejudice. Emancipation stimulated unprecedented patriotism, especially in wartime, as Jews strove to prove loyalty to their countries of citizenship. During World War I, even Zionists split along national lines, as did families and friends. Jewish patriotism was interchangeable with nationalism inasmuch as Jews identified themselves with national cultures. Although emancipation implied acceptance and an end to anti-Jewish prejudice in the modern liberal state, the kaleidoscopic variety of Jewish patriotism throughout Europe inadvertently undermined the idea of national identity and often provoked anti-Semitism. Even as loyal citizens of separate states, the Jews, however scattered, disunited and diverse, were made to feel, often unwillingly, that they were one people in exile

Muscle Dystroglycan Organizes the Postsynapse and Regulates Presynaptic Neurotransmitter Release at the Drosophila Neuromuscular Junction

International audienceBACKGROUND: The Dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC) comprises dystrophin, dystroglycan, sarcoglycan, dystrobrevin and syntrophin subunits. In muscle fibers, it is thought to provide an essential mechanical link between the intracellular cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix and to protect the sarcolemma during muscle contraction. Mutations affecting the DGC cause muscular dystrophies. Most members of the DGC are also concentrated at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), where their deficiency is often associated with NMJ structural defects. Hence, synaptic dysfunction may also intervene in the pathology of dystrophic muscles. Dystroglycan is a central component of the DGC because it establishes a link between the extracellular matrix and Dystrophin. In this study, we focused on the synaptic role of Dystroglycan (Dg) in Drosophila. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We show that Dg was concentrated postsynaptically at the glutamatergic NMJ, where, like in vertebrates, it controls the concentration of synaptic Laminin and Dystrophin homologues. We also found that synaptic Dg controlled the amount of postsynaptic 4.1 protein Coracle and alpha-Spectrin, as well as the relative subunit composition of glutamate receptors. In addition, both Dystrophin and Coracle were required for normal Dg concentration at the synapse. In electrophysiological recordings, loss of postsynaptic Dg did not affect postsynaptic response, but, surprisingly, led to a decrease in glutamate release from the presynaptic site. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Altogether, our study illustrates a conservation of DGC composition and interactions between Drosophila and vertebrates at the synapse, highlights new proteins associated with this complex and suggests an unsuspected trans-synaptic function of Dg

Neurexins and Neuroligins: Recent Insights from Invertebrates

During brain development, each neuron must find and synapse with the correct pre- and postsynaptic partners. The complexity of these connections and the relatively large distances some neurons must send their axons to find the correct partners makes studying brain development one of the most challenging, and yet fascinating disciplines in biology. Furthermore, once the initial connections have been made, the neurons constantly remodel their dendritic and axonal arbours in response to changing demands. Neurexin and neuroligin are two cell adhesion molecules identified as important regulators of this process. The importance of these genes in the development and modulation of synaptic connectivity is emphasised by the observation that mutations in these genes in humans have been associated with cognitive disorders such as Autism spectrum disorders, Tourette syndrome and Schizophrenia. The present review will discuss recent advances in our understanding of the role of these genes in synaptic development and modulation, and in particular, we will focus on recent work in invertebrate models, and how these results relate to studies in mammals

‘Broadcast to mark Holocaust Memorial Day’: Mass-mediated Holocaust commemoration on British television and radio

This paper was published in the journal European Journal of Communication and the definitive published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323118763919.This article examines the various programmes that British television and radio broadcast to mark Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), between 2002 and 2016. Adopting a content analytic methodology, I quantified the broadcast schedules of 15 successive HMDs, as recorded in archived copies of the Radio Times. My analysis reveals significant variations in mass-mediated Holocaust commemoration. Principally, I found: a decrease in programming, despite a significant increase in the number of television channels; a tendency towards ‘anniversarism’ in the form and frequency of broadcast programmes; a stress on Auschwitz, as metonym of the Holocaust, and on survivors, children and music; and that commercial channels were significantly more likely to broadcast documentaries (and repeats) than the BBC’s more varied and original outputs. These variations appear to be the result of three interlinked factors: first, a sense that the audience had grown weary of World War II commemoration, following saturation broadcasting of anniversaries in 2004-2005; changes in the management and programming priorities of key broadcasters, particularly the BBC; and that HMD has not yet become an established day for broadcasters in the nation’s commemorative calendar