In two places at once : the impact of caring responsibilities on academic's conference participation : final project report

The study departs from the perspective that conferences are important but neglected research sites. Equality and diversity studies of the academic profession tend to focus on issues of care in relation to higher education institutions, rather than professional spaces that academics circulate in outside of their ‘home’ institution/s. Studies of care and the academic profession and/or mobility seldom focus on conferences. Therefore this study fills a gap in knowledge about academics, care and conferences. Conferences come to represent a particular type of challenge for care, because they are interruptions to the care routine. Challenges relating to care and conferences can involve the challenges of being accompanied to the conference and managing the dual role of care-giver and conference attendee, and/or ensuring that ongoing care support is provided at home during the conference

Geographical indications and the EU legal and policy discourse : a pursuit of legitimacy?

This thesis examines the EU system of protection of Geographical Indication and raises the questions of how and why the EU justifies its application, despite external opposition on the grounds that it is a barrier to free trade. The thesis does so by focusing on the EU legal and policy discourse, analysing the various strands of an institutional narrative that has been constructed since the early 1990s. The enquiry is divided into the following sub-questions: How have GIs and their legislations emerged? What is the EU legal and policy discourse around GIs and how has it developed? How has the academic literature challenged or contributed to this EU discourse on GIs? Is the EU legal and policy discourse around GIs justified by evidential bases? And if not, why is the EU furthering this system of protection? Based on its findings, the thesis argues that the EU legitimises the protection of GIs within the EU by deploying an institutional multifunctional legal and policy discourse that treats as self-evidently true claims regarding a range of socio-economic benefits of GIs. The thesis demonstrates, however, that the EU presumes rather than evidences these claims in an attempt to establish an authoritative and unquestioned narrative. It, therefore, seeks to avoid the accusations that the protection of GIs is a way of satisfying the purely economic and trade interests of the Union. In the absence of another plausible explanation, the thesis suggests that the EU does this to entrench a form of socio-economic protectionism and further its legitimacy as a body representing the best interests of its various constituencies, from Member States to individual businesses and consumers. The thesis concludes that the EU will need to provide significantly more evidence for its multifunctional claims if the EU GI system is to gain more acceptance internationally

Teaching fundamental British values in primary schools : project summary

This project developed out of academic research carried out by Alison Struthers into the practice of Fundamental British Values (FBV) and Human Rights Education (HRE) in English primary schools. In this research, the author explored the problems with the Government’s FBV agenda, and argued that because human rights values are rooted in universality, couching FBV in this broader framework would be likely to contribute to societal cohesion to a far greater extent than the potentially discriminatory FBV guidance. This project sought to action these findings by showing how teaching about FBV can be linked effectively to broader human rights values

The European action against food loss and waste : co-regulation and collisions on the way to the sustainable development goals

This article takes as its point of departure the multiple urgencies triggered by the increase in food waste and recognizes that the reduction of food loss and waste represents one of the growing priorities for the EU, especially given the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Agenda 2030. Through an analysis of the EU regulatory framework, the role of multi - stakeholderism and the concrete example of two national legislations on food loss and waste , we question whether the current mechanism of governance is structured in a way that fosters intra - EU and EU - Member States cooperation, regulatory dialogue and the implementation of effective and non - contradictory solutions that make the realization of the Agenda 2030 possible. Are the EU and its Member States co - constructing a holistic and systemic approach to food loss and waste that reflects the existence of a common goal and is aware of the multiple ways in which law and regulation may obstacle its achievement or, on the contrary, are they reproducing a fragmented and sectorial approach to the problem that favours quick - fix interventions rather than its systemic redressal

Les décisions des juges sont-elles influencées par la météo ? Application aux décisions en matière de divorce en France

After a review of empirical literature on the link between meteorology (temperature, precipitation, cloud cover, wind...) and productive activity behaviors mainly in the tertiary sector and more specifically in judicial activity, we propose an empirical analysis of the impact of outdoor temperature and rainfall levels on court decisions made in French courts of appeal during divorce proceedings, based on a sample of approximately 4,000 court decisions to which daily and geo-localized meteorological data were matched. Our analysis focuses on child support decisions in divorce proceedings. We show that, all other things being equal, decisions made when the maximum outside temperature is cool would be more favorable to parents who have not appealed, and when the maximum outside temperature is high, decisions would be more favorable to fathers.Après avoir proposé une revue de littérature empirique portant sur le lien entre la météorologie (température, précipitations, couverture nuageuse, vent, etc.) et les comportements d’activité productives, principalement dans le secteur tertiaire et plus spécifiquement dans l’activité judiciaire, nous proposons une analyse empirique de l’impact de la température extérieure et du niveau des précipitations sur les décisions de justice effectuées dans les cours d’appel françaises lors de procédures de divorce et ce, à partir d’un échantillon d’environ 4 000 décisions de justice auxquelles ont été appariées des données météorologique quotidiennes et géolocalisées. Notre analyse porte sur les décisions relatives aux pensions alimentaires pour enfant lors de procédures de divorce. Nous montrons que les décisions prises par les juges lorsque la température maximale extérieure est fraiche seraient plutôt favorables à la partie qui n’est pas à l’origine de l’appel. Et, lorsque la température extérieure maximale est élevée les décisions seraient plutôt favorables aux pères

Weather and appeal court decisions in divorce cases in France

While there is a fairly extensive literature on the relationship between weather and productivity, little research has focused on the impact of weather on judicial activity. The findings from the few investigations conducted arrive at different conclusions depending on the country. We contribute to this area of research by conducting the first analysis using French data. We propose an empirical analysis of the impact of outdoor temperature and rainfall levels on court decisions made in French courts of appeal during divorce proceedings, based on a sample of approximately 4,000 court decisions correlated with daily and geo-localized meteorological data. The analysis focuses on decisions regarding the amount of child support to be paid. We show that, all other things being equal, when it is very hot at night preceding the judgment, the panels of judges tend to set lower amounts of child support

‘British values are also values all around the world’ : teaching fundamental British values through a human rights lens

Since 2014, the promotion of Fundamental British Values (FBV) has been a requirement across formal schooling in England. The agenda has, however, faced criticism from various stakeholders. Much of this denunciation has been directed at the opaque nature of FBV, but the agenda is problematic for more concerning reasons. It is arguable that, in light of the current threat from ethno-nationalism, frameworks such as FBV that focus on a particular definition and formulation of national values run the risk of being interpreted in a manner that is exclusionary and liable to ‘other’ different ethnic groups in the classroom. The FBV framework furthermore overlooks the fact that the UK is already subject to numerous international human rights obligations, including many that mandate the provision of holistic and effective Human Rights Education at all levels of formal education. This article therefore draws upon the findings of a pilot study conducted with Year 5 learners in four primary schools in the West Midlands showing that teaching about human rights through the FBV agenda is possible, by linking discussion of values at the national level to broader human rights principles. Such an approach satisfies the government’s desire for children to learn about FBV, whilst highlighting that these values also exist in a global context. This, in turn, is likely to be a more effective way of encouraging learners to be global citizens who will contribute to the building of a broader culture that is respectful of human rights

Analyses quantitatives de décisions de justice en matière de Prestation Compensatoire (PC) dans une perspective de justice prédictive

Working Paper du BETA, n° 2020-5A partir d’un corpus de décisions de justice de divorce de première instance codifiées dans une base de données, représentatif au niveau national français, nous menons une analyse économétrique qui a pour finalité de prédire les montants de prestation compensatoire fixés par les juges aux affaires familiales des Tribunaux de Grande Instance. Cet exercice nous donne l’occasion, premièrement, de souligner les difficultés méthodologiques, inhérentes à ce type de source juridique, liées à l’exercice prédictif, notamment: la nécessité de construire l’information non directement accessible dans les décisions à partir d’autres informations nombreuses et complexes; l’absence de certaines informations dans les décisions qui pourtant, au regard du droit, devraient a priori constituer de bons prédicteurs; l’existence dans les décisions d’informations entachées de données manquantes qui font courir le risque de biais; la nécessité de décomposer l’analyse au regard de la procédure (i.e. avec ou non accord des parties). Deuxièmement, dans la mesure où les propositions des parties (montants de l’offre et de la demande de prestation compensatoire) expliquent l’essentiel du montant de PC fixé par le juge en cas de désaccord des parties et absorbent une large part du rôle effectif des déterminants listés dans le Code civil, nous développons une approche originale consistant à retenir les résidus des deux équations d’offre et de demande, et non pas les montants de ces dernières, dans l’équation du montant de PC fixé par le juge, ce qui permet de restituer le vrai rôle de ces déterminants. Ainsi, nous montrons que certains facteurs ont un rôle déterminant, notamment l’écart intra-couple de niveau de vie, la durée de mariage, le régime matrimonial ou encore la forme de la prestation compensatoire (rente ou capital). Troisièmement, à partir des coefficients estimés des deux régressions les plus élaborées (sur le cas des affaires sans accord des parties), nous mesurons l’ampleur des erreurs de prédiction en comparant les montants de prestation compensatoire prédits aux valeurs observées. Notre conclusion est que l’ampleur de ces erreurs (en euros comme en proportion) est telle qu’il serait très risqué de recourir à ces estimations pour effectuer de la justice prédictive à destination des couples en instance de divorce. En effet, dans un cas sur quatre, l’erreur de prédiction excède la moitié du montant observé de la PC