Trying Cases in the Media: A Comparative Overview

The essay deals with the problem of media impact on ongoing trials. In particular, it proposes a taxonomy of three comparative models of governance (traditional common law approach; US approach; Continental European approach) and makes a case for the recognition of presumption of innocence as a fundamental rigth vis-à-vis the court of public opinion

Is Law like Social Sciences? On “New Private Law Theory” and the Call for Disciplinary Pluralism

This article reflects upon the challenges arising from a “pluralistic” approach to private law theory. Having distinguished the different meanings of the notion of “pluralism”, it focuses on epistemic pluralism and stresses the importance of an interdisciplinary stance. At the same time, it criticizes the emphasis put mainly on the dialogue with social sciences, clearly mirrored by the traditional organization of the ERC panels. Finally, it advocates a deeper and more critical engagement with the economic approaches to law

Extraterritoriality

This chapter argues that the competing American ballot-box and European fundamental rights paradigms of regulatory law have marked the specific domain of digital regulation. These regulatory paradigms and their associated state interests are projected extraterritorially through the market power of Silicon Valley, on the one hand, and the privacy rights of European Union (EU) regulators, on the other hand. This chapter also analyzes recent developments in the EU, where there is now a state effort to make digital markets and, relatedly, an emerging preference for some data localization to promote both fundamental rights and economic and security interests. In China, we observe the emergence of a layered form of digital regulation: at the deepest level is state control of digital infrastructure, industry actors, and civil society users; layered on top is an attempt to improve the position of consumers through both digital platform regulation and competition law applied to the largest oligopolies. As a result, the earlier Chinese strategy of data localization is now complemented by a bureaucratically controlled form of extraterritorial engagement

La legge della fiducia e la fiducia nelle leggi. Considerazioni a margine del volume di Tommaso Greco

This paper reflects upon the book “La legge della fiducia” by pointing out three main issues: a) the urgency of bringing back to the fore the ‘horizontal’ dimension of the law, looking at it as a precious form of social engineering; b) the need to overcome the unrealistic model of human personality embedded in the idealtype of homo oeconomicus; c) the usefulness of legal education reforms aimed at emphasizing the interdisciplinary dimension and the cooperative attitude of the law

Governance of/through Big Data (vol. 2)

These two volumes collect twenty five articles and papers published within the “Governance of/through Data” research project financed by the Italian Ministry of Universities. The research project, which was promoted by Roma Tre University, as project lead, and saw the participation of professors and reseachers from Bocconi University in Milan; LUMSA University in Rome; Salento University in Lecce and Turin Polytechnic, cover multiple issues which are here presented in five sections: Algorithms and artificial intelligence; Antitrust, artificial intelligence and data; Big Data; Data governance; Data protection and privacy

Comparative Law Approaches to Media Access to Court Proceedings

A particularly interesting panel, this one examines media access, pretrial publicity, and the presumption of innocence, comparing the laws and practices in the United States to those in several European countries and Canada. The panelists speak to the national laws of continental Europe and case law of the European Court of Human Rights, law and practices in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. Apparent differences emerge in both trial procedures and media actions and expectations in these various countries. Questions/themes/discussion topics Comparing U.S. law to the law of other countries concerning media access to trials, pretrial information that might prejudice a juror, and the presumption of innocence What restrictions on the press do other countries employ to ensure that defendants get a fair trial? What restrictions do other countries employ to ensure that the reputation of innocent defendants are not irreparably damaged in the course of legal proceedings? Should freedom of the press be reexamined under a modern media lens? What are the differences between English law concerning journalist liability and U.S. law as defined by New York Times v. Sullivan? The effect of Naomi Campbell\u27s court case on UK law Difference between jury selection in the U.S. and Canad

Voluntary lung function screening to reveal new COPD cases in southern Italy

Background: Underdiagnosis of COPD is a relevant issue, and most frequently involves patients at early stages of the disease. Physicians do not routinely recommend smokers to undergo spirometry, unless they are symptomatic. Aims: To investigate the effectiveness of voluntary lung function screening in bringing to light patients with previously unknown COPD and to evaluate the relationships among symptoms, smoking status, and airway obstruction. Methods: A voluntary screening study for COPD was conducted during two editions of the annual Fiera del Levante (2014 and 2015), an international trade fair in Bari. Subjects were eligible for the study if they fulfilled the following inclusion criteria: age â¥35 years, smoker/ex-smoker â¥5 pack-years (PYs), or at least one chronic respiratory symptom (cough, sputum production, shortness of breath, and wheezing). A free post-β2-agonist spirometry test was performed by trained physicians for each participant using portable spirometers. Post-β2-agonist forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1):forced vital capacity ratio <0.7 was chosen to establish the diagnosis of COPD. Sensitivity, specificity, and negative and positive predictive values (NPVs and PPVs) of symptoms for the presence of obstruction were calculated. Results: A total of 1,920 individuals were eligible for the study; 188 subjects (9.8%) met COPD criteria. There was a 10.4% prevalence of COPD in subjects with one or more symptoms who had never smoked or smoked â¤5 PYs. Among COPD patients, prevalence of symptoms increased in the presence of FEV1<80%. COPD smokers were more symptomatic than smokers without COPD. Sensitivity and specificity in all subjects with one or more symptoms were 87% and 32%, respectively, whereas in smoker subgroups, sensitivity and specificity were 71% and 41% (â¥5 PYs) and 74% and 35% (â¥10 PYs), respectively. In all subjects, the presence of at least one symptom was associated with a low PPV for COPD of 11%, but a very high NPV (96%). These data did not change if the analysis was limited to smokers. Conclusion: Voluntary public lung function screening programs in Italy are effective, and may detect a large number of undiagnosed subjects with COPD in early stages. In our population, COPD symptoms had low specificity and PPV, even considering smokers only

Bilateral Symmetry of Visual Function Loss in Cone-Rod Dystrophies.

PURPOSE: To investigate bilateral symmetry of visual impairment in cone-rod dystrophy (CRD) patients and understand the feasibility of clinical trial designs treating one eye and using the untreated eye as an internal control. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of visual function loss measures in 436 CRD patients followed at the Ophthalmology Department of the Catholic University in Rome. Clinical measures considered were best-corrected visual acuity, focal macular cone electroretinogram (fERG), and Ganzfeld cone-mediated and rod-mediated electroretinograms. Interocular agreement in each of these clinical indexes was assessed by t- and Wilcoxon tests for paired samples, structural (Deming) regression analysis, and intraclass correlation. Baseline and follow-up measures were analyzed. A separate analysis was performed on the subset of 61 CRD patients carrying likely disease-causing mutations in the ABCA4 gene. RESULTS: Statistical tests show a very high degree of bilateral symmetry in the extent and progression of visual impairment in the fellow eyes of CRD patients. CONCLUSIONS: These data contribute to a better understanding of CRDs and support the feasibility of clinical trial designs involving unilateral eye treatment with the use of fellow eye as internal control

Genetic diversity in two Italian almond collections

Background: Sweet-seeded domesticated almonds were brought to the Mediterranean Basin from central Asia about 4000 years ago. In Italy, most of the almonds produced are cultivated in the southern part of the country. Local populations of the tree in Sardinia are largely seed-derived and mostly self-incompatible, so have developed extensive genetic diversity. The need to protect biodiversity has prompted a revived interest in local genetic materials in almond. Two Italian collections have been established, one in Sardinia and the other in Apulia. These collections were the focus of the present evaluation of genetic diversity. Results: Eleven SSRs (microsatellites) were used for fingerprinting. The Sardinian germplasm was highly polymorphic, revealing a mean of 14.5 alleles per locus and a mean heterozygosity of 0.71. Using a model-based clustering approach, two genetic clusters were distinguished: one included all the commercial varieties and most of the Sardinian accessions, and the other most of the Apulian accessions. A similar structure was produced using a distance-based cluster analysis. The Sardinian accessions could still be distinguished from the commercial germplasm with few exceptions. Conclusion: The extensive genetic variability present in the Sardinian and Apulian almond germplasm indicates that these materials represent an important source of genes for the improvement of the crop