Beyond Justice, Beyond Peace? Colombia, the Interests of Justice, and the Limits of International Criminal Law

This paper explores the role of Article 53 of the Rome Statute and its ‘interest of justice’ standard in Colombia. After first providing some background to the ICC’s involvement in Colombia in the context of the so-called Justice and Peace Law and the more recent Legal Framework for Peace, we critically explore the reasons why the principle of complementarity is the focus of contemporary debates on the ICC in that country. We suggest that this discussion often ends in stalemate, with little space to move forward. In light of this, in this article we propose an alternative way to advance the discussion; namely, Article 53. We then consider whether, in order to protect transitional justice mechanisms adopted by states in order to end conflicts and move towards national reconciliation, the OTP has the power under Article 53(1)(c) to stop a prosecution on the basis that it is not in the interests of justice. Much here depends upon whether justice is interpreted broadly or narrowly. Two questions are central: First, should transitional justice arrangements be permissible under the legal framework established by the Rome Statute? Second, should the OTP concern itself with matters pertaining to domestic politics or should it understand its role as being completely independent from national processes? We advocate a narrow reading of the concept of justice, meaning that the OTP cannot use Article 53(1)(c) to prevent ICC intervention on the basis that it risks disrupting a transitional justice mechanism

Non-forcible measures and the law of self-defence

The right of self-defence is usually presented as an exception to the principle of non-use of force. Conventional wisdom therefore holds that the right of self-defence can only be relied on to justify those measures constituting a threat or use of force. This article rejects that claim. It argues that self-defence is a general right under international law and, as such, can be invoked to justify all measures necessary to repel an armed attack regardless of whether they are forcible or non-forcible in nature. To support this argument, this article examines the genesis of the right of self-defence under customary international law, the text of Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, the structure of the United Nations Charter and State practice on Article 51

The elements of a computational infrastructure for social simulation

Applications of simulation modelling in social science domains are varied and increasingly widespread. The effective deployment of simulation models depends on access to diverse datasets, the use of analysis capabilities, the ability to visualize model outcomes and to capture, share and re-use simulations as evidence in research and policy-making. We describe three applications of e-social science that promote social simulation modelling, data management and visualization. An example is outlined in which the three components are brought together in a transport planning context. We discuss opportunities and benefits for the combination of these and other components into an e-infrastructure for social simulation and review recent progress towards the establishment of such an infrastructure

Swift Neighbors and Persistent Strangers: A Cross‐Cultural Investigation of Trust and Reciprocity in Social Exchange

In four countries, levels of trust and reciprocity in direct-reciprocal exchange are compared with those in network-generalized exchanges among experimentally manipulated groups’ members (neighbors) or random experimental participants (strangers). Results show that cooperation decreases as social distance increases; and, that identical network-generalized exchanges generate different amounts of trusting behavior due solely to manipulated social identity between the actors. This study demonstrates the interaction of culture and social identity on the propensity to trust and reciprocate and also reveals differing relationships between trust and reciprocation in each of the four countries, bringing into question the theoretical relationship between these cooperative behaviors

Cyber Warfare and the Status of Anonymous under International Humanitarian Law

Since its emergence in 2003 Anonymous has become an increasingly prominent actor on the international stage. Anonymous is an online collective comprising like-minded individuals that commit cyber-attacks against state and non-state actors that are allegedly involved in the abuse of fundamental human rights. In recent years Anonymous has demonstrated a preparedness to commit cyber-attacks against parties to an armed conflict and the cyber-attacks launched against Israel during its 2014 armed conflict with Hamas are such an example. Using Anonymous’s cyber-attacks against Israel as a lens, this article evaluates the status of online groups under international humanitarian law when they become embroiled in armed conflict and in particular under what circumstances members of these groups can be made the object of attack under the laws of targeting

Outcome-sensitive multiple imputation: a simulation study.

BACKGROUND: Multiple imputation is frequently used to deal with missing data in healthcare research. Although it is known that the outcome should be included in the imputation model when imputing missing covariate values, it is not known whether it should be imputed. Similarly no clear recommendations exist on: the utility of incorporating a secondary outcome, if available, in the imputation model; the level of protection offered when data are missing not-at-random; the implications of the dataset size and missingness levels. METHODS: We used realistic assumptions to generate thousands of datasets across a broad spectrum of contexts: three mechanisms of missingness (completely at random; at random; not at random); varying extents of missingness (20-80% missing data); and different sample sizes (1,000 or 10,000 cases). For each context we quantified the performance of a complete case analysis and seven multiple imputation methods which deleted cases with missing outcome before imputation, after imputation or not at all; included or did not include the outcome in the imputation models; and included or did not include a secondary outcome in the imputation models. Methods were compared on mean absolute error, bias, coverage and power over 1,000 datasets for each scenario. RESULTS: Overall, there was very little to separate multiple imputation methods which included the outcome in the imputation model. Even when missingness was quite extensive, all multiple imputation approaches performed well. Incorporating a secondary outcome, moderately correlated with the outcome of interest, made very little difference. The dataset size and the extent of missingness affected performance, as expected. Multiple imputation methods protected less well against missingness not at random, but did offer some protection. CONCLUSIONS: As long as the outcome is included in the imputation model, there are very small performance differences between the possible multiple imputation approaches: no outcome imputation, imputation or imputation and deletion. All informative covariates, even with very high levels of missingness, should be included in the multiple imputation model. Multiple imputation offers some protection against a simple missing not at random mechanism

Preoperative neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio and outcome from coronary artery bypass grafting

Background: An elevated preoperative white blood cell count has been associated with a worse outcome after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Leukocyte subtypes, and particularly the neutrophil-lymphocyte (N/L) ratio, may however, convey superior prognostic information. We hypothesized that the N/L ratio would predict the outcome of patients undergoing surgical revascularization. Methods: Baseline clinical details were obtained prospectively in 1938 patients undergoing CABG. The differential leukocyte was measured before surgery, and patients were followed-up 3.6 years later. The primary end point was all-cause mortality. Results: The preoperative N/L ratio was a powerful univariable predictor of mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 1.13 per unit, P 3.36). Conclusion: An elevated N/L ratio is associated with a poorer survival after CABG. This prognostic utility is independent of other recognized risk factors.Peer reviewedAuthor versio

Interrogating the language of integration: the case of internationally recruited nurses

AIMS: This paper suggested the need to interrogate the notion of 'integration' to facilitate the retention of migrant nurses. BACKGROUND: The growth in internationally recruited nurses in the UK's health system has led to a raft of policies that aim to ensure that such nurses are well 'integrated' into their 'new environment'. It is assumed that integration will improve the quality of internationally recruited nurses' experience in the UK, improve their retention rates and thus improve the quality of health delivery within the UK. However, most of the steps through which integration is sought tend to move between some version of assimilation and 'respect for difference'. CONTRIBUTIONS: This paper aimed to add to existing literature on the integration of internationally recruited nurses in the UK by suggesting three steps towards rethinking 'integration policies'. It suggests the need to recognize migration as only one of the differentiating factors within the nursing sector, to ensure that integration does actually become a two-way process and to be cognizant of the multiple shapes that racism can take. The first two steps will prevent a slip between integration and assimilation while the last will help rethink any anti-racist training that may form part of integration policies. CONCLUSIONS: There are many factors influencing the experiences of internationally recruited nurses and not all of them can be addressed within current integration policies. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Rethinking integration can help improve the experience of internationally recruited nurses