Strategic Litigation in International Criminal Justice: Facilitating a View from Within

This article inquires into strategic litigation in international criminal justice. Drawing on the findings of an empirical study, it sheds light on the practice and self-perception of Strategic Litigation NGOs (so-called SLiNGOs) who employ international criminal law not only as an advocacy tool but use litigation to target perpetrators of international crimes as part of a larger juridical–political strategy transcending the individual case. Following a brief reflection on the role and significance of NGOs in international criminal justice in general and an examination of the basic idea of strategic litigation, the article delves into an analysis of the concept of strategic litigation as employed by SLiNGOs as well as the various functions of strategic litigation specifically in the international criminal justice context. Relying on interviews with SLiNGO representatives, the authors examine whether SLiNGOs — in their self-perception — serve merely as ‘assistant prosecutors’ or rather as kickstarters, pacemakers and watchdogs of the enforcement of international criminal law. They further explore the counter-hegemonic potential of strategic litigation and SLiNGO’s attitudes towards international criminal justice as such. Analysing potential pitfalls and critiques directed at strategic litigation and the responses of SLiNGOs to such criticisms, the authors conclude that strategic litigation can indeed fill a gap in the current state-based system of international criminal justice and suggest an agenda for further research.Peer Reviewe

Contrast enhanced ultrasound molecular imaging of the inflammatory response in myocarditis

Myocarditis is defined as an inflammatory infiltration of the myocardium with myocyte degeneration and necrosis. Although myocarditis is not a comparatively frequent disease and quite often even is asymptomatic, some patients will develop symptoms of heart failure and myocarditis is the main cause for sudden cardiac death in young adults. Because the diagnostic tools are not satisfying and often including invasive biopsies, ultrasound imaging with selectively molecular-targeted contrast agents would be of tremendous advantage. The aim for this study was to use contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEU) molecular imaging to detect the inflammatory process in myocarditis in the acute stage and investigate the predictive value for cardiac remodelling and eventually cardiac failure. In summary, our study results indicate that CEU molecular imaging can be used to detect the inflammatory process in myocarditis and discriminate the disease severity independent of cardiac function

Der Einfluss der Istanbul-Konvention auf das deutsche Strafrecht – Völkerrechtliche Vorgaben für den Umgang mit Gewalt gegen Frauen und häuslicher Gewalt

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers (De Gruyter) frei zugänglich.Peer Reviewe

Didaktik und pädagogische Beziehungen in Zeiten der Pandemie: Ein Praxisbericht

Beziehungen in der Schule sind nicht per se gute Beziehungen, nur weil sie analog sind. Beziehungen, die auf rein digitalen Kanälen eingegangen wurden, sind nicht per se schlechte Beziehungen. Analog oder digital: Entscheidend ist, mit welcher Achtsamkeit, Feinfühligkeit und Wahrung der Würde anderer miteinander umgegangen wird. Analog und digital sind aber auch die Strukturen und die didaktischen Sichtweisen wichtig, in denen Lernen und Begegnungen stattfinden. Diese können beziehungsförderlich oder beziehungsschädlich sein. Wenn Lernende von Lehrenden als Objekte und nicht als Subjekte gesehen und behandelt werden, dann entstehen schädliche Beziehungen und ein ineffektives Lernklima. Die Nutzung digitaler Medien in den Zeiten der Pandemie birgt die Chance auf demokratischere Strukturen in Lernzusammenhängen jeglicher Art. Gerade die Herausforderungen für das Lernen in der Pandemie setzen die Gestaltung gelungener pädagogischen Beziehungen voraus. Die konstruktivistische Didaktik von Kersten Reich gibt hier wichtige Impulse (Reich, 2005)

Observation of the transition from lasing driven by a bosonic to a fermionic reservoir in a GaAs quantum well microcavity

We show that by monitoring the free carrier reservoir in a GaAs-based quantum well microcavity under non-resonant pulsed optical pumping, lasing supported by a fermionic reservoir (photon lasing) can be distinguished from lasing supported by a reservoir of bosons (polariton lasing). Carrier densities are probed by measuring the photocurrent between lateral contacts deposited directly on the quantum wells of a microcavity that are partially exposed by wet chemical etching. We identify two clear thresholds in the input-output characteristic of the photoluminescence signal which can be attributed to polariton and photon lasing, respectively. The power dependence of the probed photocurrent shows a distinct kink at the threshold power for photon lasing due to increased radiative recombination of free carriers as stimulated emission into the cavity mode sets in. At the polariton lasing threshold on the other hand, the nonlinear increase of the luminescence is caused by stimulated scattering of exciton-polaritons to the ground state which do not contribute directly to the photocurrent.PostprintPeer reviewe

Interpersonal interactions for haptic guidance during maximum forward reaching

Caregiver-patient interactions rely on interpersonal coordination (IPC) involving the haptic and visual modalities. We investigated in healthy individuals spontaneous IPC during joint maximum forward reaching. A 'contact-provider' (CP; n=2) kept light interpersonal touch (IPT) laterally with the wrist of the extended arm of a forward reaching, blind-folded 'contact-receiver' (CR; n=22). Due to the stance configuration, CP was intrinsically more stable. CR received haptic feedback during forward reaching in two ways: (1) presence of a light object (OBT) at the fingertips, (2) provision of IPT. CP delivered IPT with or without vision or tracked manually with vision but without IPT. CR's variabilities of Centre-of-Pressure velocity (CoP) and wrist velocity, interpersonal cross-correlations and time lags served as outcome variables. OBT presence increased CR's reaching amplitude and reduced postural variability in the reach end-state. CR's variability was lowest when CP applied IPT without vision. OBT decreased the strength of IPC. Correlation time lags indicated that CP retained a predominantly reactive mode with CR taking the lead. When CP had no vision, presumably preventing an effect of visual dominance, OBT presence made a qualitative difference: with OBT absent, CP was leading CR. This observation might indicate a switch in CR's coordinative strategy by attending mainly to CP's haptic 'anchor'. Our paradigm implies that in clinical settings the sensorimotor states of both interacting partners need to be considered. We speculate that haptic guidance by a caregiver is more effective when IPT resembles the only link between both partners

Interpersonal interactions for haptic guidance during balance exercises

Background: Caregiver–patient interaction relies on interpersonal coordination during support provided by a therapist to a patient with impaired control of body balance. Research question: The purpose of this study was to investigate in a therapeutic context active and passive participant involvement during interpersonal support in balancing tasks of increasing sensorimotor difficulty. Methods: Ten older adults stood in semi-tandem stance and received support from a physical therapist (PT) in two support conditions: 1) physical support provided by the PT to the participant’s back via an instrumented handle affixed to a harness worn by the participant (“passive” interpersonal touch; IPT) or 2) support by PT and participant jointly holding a handle instrumented with a force-torque transducer while facing each other (“active” IPT). The postural stability of both support conditions was measured using the root-mean-square (RMS) of the Centre-of-Pressure velocity (RMS dCOP) in the antero-posterior (AP) and medio-lateral (ML) directions. Interpersonal postural coordination (IPC) was characterized in terms of cross-correlations between both individuals’ sway fluctuations as well as the measured interaction forces. Results: Active involvement of the participant decreased the participant’s postural variability to a greater extent, especially under challenging stance conditions, than receiving support passively. In the passive support condition, however, stronger in-phase IPC between both partners was observed in the antero-posterior direction, possibly caused by a more critical (visual or tactile) observation of participants’ body sway dynamics by the therapist. In-phase cross-correlation time lags indicated that the therapist tended to respond to participants’ body sway fluctuations in a reactive follower mode, which could indicate visual dominance affecting the therapist during the provision of haptic support. Significance: Our paradigm implies that in balance rehabilitation more partnership-based methods promote greater postural steadiness. The implications of this finding with regard to motor learning and rehabilitation need to be investigated