Land use planning in the Lower Mesopotamian Plain - a problem analysis.

The Lower Mesopotamian Plain in Iraq comprises a total area of 5.5 million ha. of which 4.4 million ha. is cultivable. The present area under cultivation in any one season is estimated at 2.6 million ha. The history of land use is described. Agricultural production has declined and land use practice has changed from annual (mainly winter) cultivation to a system of fallow land rotation. This extensive system of land use is the result of water-logging, and salinity resulting from unreliable irrigation combined with inadequate drainage. Future policy for land use is outlined. It is stressed that social and organizational aspects play an important role in the process of land use planning. ADDITIONAL ABSTRACT: [175.567]Throughout the centuries a general decline in agricultural prosperity and an overall shift in land use practice from annual, mainly winter, cultivation to a system of fallow land rotation is noted. This extensive system of land use is mainly the result of waterlogging and salinization due to unreliable irrigation coupled with inadequate drainage. Future policy is discussed in terms of soil and water resources, farming system, cropping intensity, cropping pattern, size of the farm area, social and organizational aspects. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission

Effect of sediment load boundary conditions in predicting sediment Delta of Tarbela Reservoir in Pakistan

Setting precise sediment load boundary conditions plays a central role in robust modeling of sedimentation in reservoirs. In the presented study, we modeled sediment transport in Tarbela Reservoir using sediment rating curves (SRC) and wavelet artificial neural networks (WA-ANNs) for setting sediment load boundary conditions in the HEC-RAS 1D numerical model. The reconstruction performance of SRC for finding the missing sediment sampling data was at R-2 = 0.655 and NSE = 0.635. The same performance using WA-ANNs was at R-2 = 0.771 and NSE = 0.771. As the WA-ANNs have better ability to model non-linear sediment transport behavior in the Upper Indus River, the reconstructed missing suspended sediment load data were more accurate. Therefore, using more accurately-reconstructed sediment load boundary conditions in HEC-RAS, the model was better morphodynamically calibrated with R-2 = 0.980 and NSE = 0.979. Using SRC-based sediment load boundary conditions, the HEC-RAS model was calibrated with R-2 = 0.959 and NSE = 0.943. Both models validated the delta movement in the Tarbela Reservoir with R-2 = 0.968, NSE = 0.959 and R-2 = 0.950, NSE = 0.893 using WA-ANN and SRC estimates, respectively. Unlike SRC, WA-ANN-based boundary conditions provided stable simulations in HEC-RAS. In addition, WA-ANN-predicted sediment load also suggested a decrease in supply of sediment significantly to the Tarbela Reservoir in the future due to intra-annual shifting of flows from summer to pre- and post-winter. Therefore, our future predictions also suggested the stability of the sediment delta. As the WA-ANN-based sediment load boundary conditions precisely represented the physics of sediment transport, the modeling concept could very likely be used to study bed level changes in reservoirs/rivers elsewhere in the world

Bedeutung und Bestimmung von Kontrolle im internationalen Investitionsschutzrecht –––– Die Kontrolltheorie als Korrektiv zur Verhinderung von Missbräuchen

Zwar erfreut sich das investitionsrechtliche Schutzsystem seit den 1990ern steigender Beliebtheit, was sich insbesondere in der zunehmenden Zahl der Investorklagen vor internationalen Schiedsgerichten zeigt, jedoch wird das geschaffene Schutzsystem immer häufiger kritisiert; teilweise wird sogar dessen Legitimität überhaupt in Frage gestellt. Einer der Gründe für die Kritik sind die Missbrauchsmöglichkeiten durch Investoren. Dies macht es erforderlich, den Zugang von Investoren zum investitionsschutzrechtlichen Schutzsystem im Hinblick auf Rechtmäßigkeit und Angemessenheit zu kontrollieren. Eine solche Regulierung des Handelns von Investoren kann durch die Anwendung der Kontrolltheorie herbeigeführt werden. Im ersten Kapitel der Dissertation wird auf die Bedeutung von Kontrolle zur Bestimmung der Staatszugehörigkeit von juristischen Personen eingegangen. In diesem Zusammenhang werden die Sitz-, Gründungs- und Kontrolltheorie näher dargestellt und festgestellt, dass allein die beiden formalen Theorien allgemein anerkannt sind. Den Hauptteil der Untersuchung bildet daher die Auslegung der ICSID-Konvention, um festzustellen, ob neben den formalen Theorien eine Heranziehung der Kontrolltheorie möglich ist. Dies wird jedoch grundsätzlich abzulehnen sein. Daher wird im zweiten Kapitel auf die Möglichkeit der Anwendung der Kontrolltheorie als Korrektiv zur Verhinderung von Missbräuchen eingegangen. Eine Auslegung der ICSID-Konvention nach ihrem Sinn und Zweck zeigt, dass diese eine Ergebniskorrektur bei Missbräuchen zulässt. Daher werden Strukturierungskonstellationen von Investoren – Klagen von Investoren gegen ihren Heimatstaat und das treaty shopping –, die missbräuchlich sein könnten, betrachtet und Kriterien für die Annahme eines Missbrauchs aufgestellt. Zudem wird festgestellt, dass mangels anderer Maßnahmen zur Verhinderung von Missbräuchen bei Strukturierungskonstellationen von Investoren die Heranziehung der Kontrolltheorie als Korrektiv erforderlich ist. Das dritte Kapitel befasst sich mit der näheren Bestimmung dessen, was unter Kontrolle zu verstehen ist. Es wird herausgearbeitet, dass Kontrolle objektiv, indirekt nach dem endgültigen Kontrollinhaber sowie material zu bestimmen ist. Es wird zudem erörtert, bei Vorliegen welcher Kriterien Schiedsgerichte im Rahmen einer indirekten Enteignung einen Kontrollverlust angenommen haben. Hierdurch lassen sich Form und Umfang von Kontrolle näher bestimmen. Eine weitere Konkretisierung der Kriterien für die Bestimmung von Kontrolle wird durch einen entsprechenden Vergleich mit anderen Rechtsgebieten erreicht. Abschließend werden im vierten Kapitel die Ergebnisse zur Bedeutung der Kontrolltheorie als Korrektiv zur Verhinderung von Missbräuchen sowie zur einheitlichen Bestimmung von Kontrolle zusammengeführt und Thesen zur Bedeutung von Kontrolle im internationalen Investitionsschutzrecht aufgestellt

On the Public Interests of Society in International Investment Law

在传统国际投资条约与国际投资争端实践中，关于社会公共利益的内容主要是针对资本输入国征收外国私人投资者财产的情形。但是随着国际投资条约与国际投资争端实践的发展，对于社会公共利益的保护逐渐突破征收条款的禁锢，并且对国际投资法律体系有着深远的影响。本文之研究以国际投资条约的社会价值追求为主线，主要从两个方面对社会公共利益进行探讨：一方面从国际投资条约的角度，另一方面从国际投资争端实践的角度，以便较为全面地对国际投资法中涉及的社会公共利益问题进行研究。传统的国际投资条约或者处理国际投资争端的模式已经不适应现代国际投资的发展与演化。所以，无论是国际投资条约还是国际投资争端解决程序都需要完善。 传统的国...The content regarding the public interests of society mainly reflected in the expropriation of foreign investors’ property of capital importing countries in the traditional practices of international investment treaties and international investment disputes. However, with the development of practices in international investment treaties and international investment disputes, the public interests o...学位：法学博士院系专业：法学院法律系_国际法学(含国际公法、国际私法、国际经济法)学号：1362008015004

Aerial art, the new landscape of Robert Smithson

Aircraft were to play a decisive role in the short career of Robert Smithson. In 1969, when he published his article Aerial Art, Walther Prokosch, an architect specializing in aviation, put him in contact with TAMS engineering. This gave rise to his involvement in a land altering operation as vertiginous and brutal as the construction of Dallas Fort-Worth International Airport. At that point Smithson became aware of the human capacity to transform Mother Earth and the importance of contemplation from the air. He incorporated these interests into his artistic creation, thus paving the way for earthwork, crucial to the evolution of Land Art. The study of the documents included among Robert Smithson’s Papers at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art allows us to reconstruct a history that shared interests and concerns with Moholy-Nagy’s New Vision or Le Corbusier’s Loi du Méandre. First published online 15 January 202

Rethinking Zimbabwean Agricultural Land Expropriation Laws in Light of the Funnekotter Case

This study examines whether or not the Zimbabwean agricultural land expropriation laws are consistent with its international legal commitments and obligations enumerated in Article 6 of the Zimbabwe-Netherlands BIT which were expounded in the Funnekotter case. It begins by exploring the concept of expropriation, and the main features of the Zimbabwe's agricultural land expropriation laws, and proceeds to discuss the conditions of expropriation enumerated in Article 6 using the Funnekotter case as a compass, before examining whether or not the Zimbabwe's agricultural land expropriation laws are compatible with article 6 conditions of expropriation. The main conclusion reached is that despite the good intentions and public interests pursued by these agricultural land expropriation laws, they are draconian, and inconsistent with the due process, non-discrimination, and compensation conditions of expropriation. Thus, Zimbabwe may have to re-think its agricultural land expropriation laws in light of the Funnekotter case.tm2017Centre for Human RightsLLMUnrestricte

Shedding Light on Article 1110 of the North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA)Concerning Expropriations: An Environmental Case Study

By focusing on the provision of Chapter 11 that has elicited the most fervent debate, namely Article 1110 concerning expropriations, this paper attempts to pick through the verbiage regarding, and shed light on, the meaning of Article 1110. To illustrate the discussion, the acquisition of MacMillan Bloedel Limited ( MB ), the then largest forest company in Canada, by Weyerhaeuser Company ( Weyerhaeuser ) on November 1, 1999 to create a major global forest company (the MB Acquisition ) is examined

Shedding Light on Article 1110 of the North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA)Concerning Expropriations: An Environmental Case Study

By focusing on the provision of Chapter 11 that has elicited the most fervent debate, namely Article 1110 concerning expropriations, this paper attempts to pick through the verbiage regarding, and shed light on, the meaning of Article 1110. To illustrate the discussion, the acquisition of MacMillan Bloedel Limited ( MB ), the then largest forest company in Canada, by Weyerhaeuser Company ( Weyerhaeuser ) on November 1, 1999 to create a major global forest company (the MB Acquisition ) is examined

Más allá del efecto y de la intención: la proporcionalidad en los arbitrajes de inversiones

Indirect expropriation is the prevailing form of expropriation today, and its determination constitutes one of the main problems in international investment law. Doctrine and case-law has identified two possible solutions centered, respectively, in the effects or in the intention of the measures adopted by the host state. Of late, a third alternative has appeared that finds possible support in certain last-generation investment treaties. Deriving from the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights on the protection of property, it applies the principle of proportionality to determine the expropriatory nature of those measures judicially challenged by foreign investors in international arbitrations. This possible solution, however, also presents some issues of implementation. The purpose of this work is to study the application of proportionality in these disputes. Through the analysis of the relevant case-law, and the use of the dogmatic and comparative methods, the present article examines the emergence of this principle in international investment law, highlighting the differences in its application in the fora in which it has been used, to conclude that in order to become a useful instrument for solving claims of indirect expropriation it must have a clear normative basis, allowing for its employment, in tandem with the margin of appreciation, to determine the lawfulness of the respective measures, not their expropriatory nature.La forma de expropiación que prevalece hoy es la indirecta, cuya determinación constituye uno de los principales problemas a resolver en el derecho internacional de la inversión. La doctrina y jurisprudencia han identificado dos posibles soluciones centradas, respectivamente, en el efecto o en la intención de las medidas estatales. En el último tiempo, ha aparecido una tercera alternativa que cuenta con un aparente apoyo en ciertos tratados de inversión de nueva generación. Esta proviene de la jurisprudencia de la Corte Europea de Derechos Humanos relativa a la protección de la propiedad, y consiste en la aplicación del principio de proporcionalidad para determinar la naturaleza expropiatoria de las medidas judicialmente impugnadas por inversionistas extranjeros en arbitrajes internacionales. Esta posible solución, sin embargo, también presenta algunas dificultades de implementación. El propósito de este trabajo es estudiar la aplicación de la proporcionalidad en dichos arbitrajes. A través del análisis de la jurisprudencia relevante, y la utilización de los métodos dogmático y comparativo, se examina la aparición de este principio en el derecho internacional de la inversión, destacando las diferencias en su aplicación en los foros en los que se la ha utilizado, para concluir que este solo podrá constituir un instrumento útil para solucionar demandas de expropiación indirecta en la medida que cuente con una clara base normativa, que le permita ser empleado, en conjunto con el margen de apreciación, para determinar la legalidad de las medidas respectivas, no su naturaleza expropiatoria