The Voice Of The Child in International Child Abduction Proceedings Under the 1980 Hague Convention

With the thirtieth anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereafter the UNCRC) being celebrated in 2019, this timely project was undertaken to consider the practical application of the right of the child to participate set out in Article 12 in the context of proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. This enabled the project leader’s research on this issue to be brought to the attention of those working in the field in one of the jurisdictions where considerable differences of professional opinion exist about the scope of this right in Hague Convention proceedings

Conflicts between choice of law rules and recognition of judgments rules in private international law with particular reference to cases involving determination of status.

This thesis presents a novel approach to part of the problem of the Incidental Question in the Conflict of Laws. Only cases where the answer to what has been called the main question depends on recognition of a foreign judgment (the so called incidental or preliminary question) are included. The problem is analysed as involving a conflict between two different types of conflicts rules i.e. choice of law rules and recognition rules. The thesis examines whether this conflict can be satisfactorily solved by a global preference for either of these rules. Whilst many writers have considered the theoretical base for the conflict of laws, none has yet specifically compared the rationales for choice of law rules and recognition rules in order to determine whether as a matter of principle one type of rule should be preferred to the other rule. This requires a fresh perspective. After rejecting the global solution, the thesis proceeds to examine how a result selecting approach might be applied to the present conflict of rules. After a brief survey of different result selecting approaches, it is concluded that the most appropriate approach in the present conflict of rules context is the construction of specific result orientated rules for each particular category of case. The desired result should be dictated by the policy of the forum, since in fact the conflict is between two conflict rules of the forum. A number of specific topics (including validity of remarriage and matrimonial property rights) concerning recognition of status judgments are considered in depth. The methodology adopted is as follows;- a) . The particular circumstances in which the 'conflict of rules' problem is likely to arise in relation to the particular issue is explained. b). The various possible 'choice of rule' rules which might be adopted for the particular issue are considered. c) . The policy of English law in relation to the particular issue is ascertained and the 'choice of rule' rule which most closely gives effect to that policy recommended. The thesis contributes to jurisprudence of Private International Law in three main ways:- 1. The understanding of conflicts between different types of conflict rules is of fundamental importance to the whole structure of Private International Law. This thesis shows that this problem is of more significance than previously thought. 2. Whilst writers have adopted a functional approach to the incidental question, none have attempted to construct a series of rules based on forum policy. 3. There has been no previous attempt to identify forum (here English) policy in relation to the particular issues chosen

No alignment of cattle along geomagnetic field lines found

This paper presents a study of the body orientation of domestic cattle on free pastures in several European states, based on Google satellite photographs. In sum, 232 herds with 3412 individuals were evaluated. Two independent groups participated in our study and came to the same conclusion that, in contradiction to the recent findings of other researchers, no alignment of the animals and of their herds along geomagnetic field lines could be found. Several possible reasons for this discrepancy should be taken into account: poor quality of Google satellite photographs, difficulties in determining the body axis, selection of herds or animals within herds, lack of blinding in the evaluation, possible subconscious bias, and, most importantly, high sensitivity of the calculated main directions of the Rayleigh vectors to some kind of bias or to some overlooked or ignored confounder. This factor could easily have led to an unsubstantiated positive conclusion about the existence of magnetoreception.Comment: Added electronic supplement with source dat

1980 m. Hagos konvencijos dėl tarptautinio vaikų grobimo civilinių aspektų 12 straipsnio taikymas Lietuvos teismų praktikoje

[full article and abstract in Lithuanian; abstract in English] The article analyses Article 12 of the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction which allows courts to refuse return of abducted child where the proceedings have been commenced after the expiration of the period of one year after abduction and it is demonstrated that the child has settled well in the new environment. The author of the article seeks to establish whether the jurisprudence of Lithuanian courts interpreting and applying this Article is well-founded. Summary This article scrutinises content and application of the Article 12 of the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, in particular its paragraph 2, which allows court to refuse return of abducted child where the proceedings have been commenced after the expiration of the period of one year after abduction and it is demonstrated that the child is now settled in its new environment. The author of the article seeks to establish whether the jurisprudence of Lithuanian courts applying this Article is proper and in line with the Convention. Analysing the cases of national courts of Lithuania, the author of this article established that in several cases Lithuanian courts when interpreting one year term have consistently ruled, that this is a procedural and formal requirement and can be ignored for the best interests of the child. As a result, a child, which is abducted just few months ago is not returned as if is established he has integrated in the country and it is in his/her best interests to continue residing here. The author criticises such an approach and suggests that such practice should be changed.[straipsnis ir santrauka lietuvių kalba; santrauka anglų kalba] Šiame straipsnyje tiriamas 1980 m. Hagos konvencijos dėl tarptautinio vaikų grobimo civilinių aspektų 12 straipsnyje numatytas atsisakymo grąžinti pagrobtą vaiką pagrindas, įgalinantis teismą atsisakyti grąžinti pagrobtą vaiką, jei prašymas dėl grąžinimo pateikiamas praėjus 12 mėnesių po grobimo ir vaikas per tą laiką prisitaiko prie naujos aplinkos. Straipsnyje vertinama, ar Lietuvos teismų praktika aiškinant bei taikant šį Konvencijos straipsnį tinkama