Planter des drapeaux : Quelles règles pour répartir le plancher océanique de l’Arctique ?

Le drapeau planté sur le pôle Nord par les Russes à l’été 2007 a ravivé le débat sur l’Arctique, en particulier sur la question de savoir quelles revendications les différents États riverains peuvent faire valoir sur son fond marin soupçonné de regorger de combustibles fossiles. L’objectif de notre contribution est de discuter du cadre juridique applicable à la « répartition » du plateau continental en Arctique et des difficultés particulières liées à la situation géographique. En raison de l’espace restreint, les États riverains doivent y relever non seulement le défi de fixer la limite extérieure de leur plateau continental, mais aussi celui de régler des revendications chevauchantes. Le fait que les États-Unis ne soient pas soumis au même régime juridique que les autres riverains de l’océan Arctique complique encore davantage la situation. Notre étude met un accent particulier sur les enjeux pour le Canada.The flag planted at the North Pole by Russian explorers in summer 2007 heated up the discussions about the Arctic, particularly about the claims Arctic states could make on the seabed and subsoil which appears to contain important oil- and gas-fields. The aim of our contribution is to discuss the legal framework for « dividing up » of the Arctic continental shelf and the specific difficulties raised by the geographic situation. Because of the limited space, riparian states not only have to fix the outer limit of their continental shelf, but have also to deal with overlapping claims. The fact that the United States of America are not subject to the same legal framework is a further complicating factor. Our discussion will emphasize the interests at stake for Canada

De Stockholm à Copenhague : genèse et évolution des responsabilités communes mais différenciées dans le droit international de l’environnement

Dès les années 1960, les inégalités économiques flagrantes ont inspiré les pays du tiers-monde, qui souhaitaient un rattrapage économique, à exiger l’instauration d’un nouvel ordre économique international. Le droit a réagi aux inégalités économiques par le développement du concept de traitement différencié au regard des obligations conventionnelles respectives des États. Depuis les années 1970, une conscience environnementale s’est ajoutée à la conscience économique et sociale de la communauté internationale. C’est dans ce contexte que le concept des « responsabilités communes mais différenciées » a été formulé.Cet article a pour objectif d’analyser la genèse et l’évolution des responsabilités communes mais différenciées en droit international de l’environnement tout en attirant l’attention sur les contrastes les plus frappants par rapport au traitement différencié et plus favorable du système commercial multilatéral et les responsabilités communes mais différenciées du droit international de l’environnement. L’auteur souhaite ainsi poser un premier jalon à une analyse véritablement transversale du traitement différencié.L’émergence du concept des responsabilités communes mais différenciées, déclenchée par la Conférence de Stockholm de 1972, et sa réception dans les traités sur l’environnement feront l’objet de la première partie qui analysera aussi la nature juridique du concept. Ses fondements seront ensuite étudiés en passant en revue les considérations pratiques et éthiques qui ont présidé à son émergence et qui justifient toujours son utilisation. Enfin, ses différentes articulations dans les traités sur l’environnement seront examinées en procédant à leur classification.During the 1960s and 1970s, considerable economic inequalities led third world countries, seeking economic development, to demand that a new international economic order be established. The law responded to these economic inequalities by developing the concept of differential treatment with regard to the respective treaty obligations of the states. Since the 1970s, the international community, which already exhibited economic and social consciousness, also developed greater environmental awareness. It was in this context that the concept of “common but differentiated responsibilities” was formulated.The aim of this article is to analyze the origins and evolution of common but differentiated responsibilities in international environmental law, while drawing attention to the most striking contrasts in respect to the special and differential treatment of the multilateral trading system and the common but differentiated responsibilities of international environmental law. The author hopes to lay the foundations for a truly crosscutting analysis of differential treatment.Part one retraces the first appearance of the concept of common but differentiated responsibilities, which was set in motion at the 1972 Stockholm Conference, as well as its reception in environmental treaties. In this section, the author also analyzes the discussion surrounding the legal nature of the concept. Part two addresses the basis of the concept by reviewing the practical and ethical considerations that oversaw its emergence and still justify its use. Finally, part three classifies and examines its various manifestations in different environmental treaties

The Importance of a Supportive School Climate on the Mental Health of Sexual and Gender Minority Students

In the past decade, adolescent mental health has become a prominent issue in America. Specifically, rates of mental illness among sexual and gender minority adolescents are increasing at rates higher than those of cisgender-heterosexual adolescents. As this issue has progressed, much literature has placed focus on the different stressors that may cause and exacerbate it. Through the lens of minority stress theory, this literature review seeks to understand how the factors that construct a school climate act as stressors on the mental health of LGBTQ+ students. After a brief introduction to this topic, there will be discussion on the social environment of a school describing how factors like bullying, student organizations, and faculty interactions play a part in creating both supportive and unsupportive school climates. Then, services directly provided by schools will be addressed to explain their impact on the mental health of sexual and gender minority students. This review concludes with discussions of findings and suggestions for future research. This is followed by an analysis of current policies that promote a negative school climate for sexual and gender minority students

The ‘Common Arctic’ : legal analysis of Arctic & non-Arctic political discourses

This paper takes a closer look at the references to commonality, which are a salient, albeit ambiguous feature of the current discussion on Arctic governance. It does so from a legal perspective and with the purpose to unveil a twofold divide in the discussion. Legal and political purposes intersect and they vary depending on whether they are made from an Arctic or a non-Arctic perspective. Despite similar rhetoric, intentions may differ greatly and it is not unusual that different players refer to the law in irreconcilable or controversial ways. In a first step, the variety of references to commonality is charted and the underlying rhetorical strategies are carved out. In a second step, the references’ legal accuracy and their conceptual contribution to the development of a legal framework for Arctic cooperation are analysed. This should enable a better understanding of the diverging intentions and strategies at play in the discussion and the difficulties to reach a common understanding of how to govern the Arctic region

L'article XX du GATT : le principe de proportionnalité et la concordance concrète entre le commerce et l'environnement

La problématique « commerce et environnement » a de multiples facettes et l'interprétation de l'article XX b) et g) du General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), qui sert dans cet accord d'interface entre les deux aspects, en est une. La jurisprudence relative à cet article semble désormais lui accorder une valeur équivalente aux dispositions de fond du GATT. Cette évolution très souhaitable démontre que la jurisprudence est enfin prête à donner un poids convenable aux considérations environnementales. Seulement, le problème de concilier les objectifs contradictoires de libéralisation des marchés et de protection de l'environnement persiste. C'est le droit communautaire européen qui livrera un mécanisme d'harmonisation approprié : le principe de concordance concrète. Pour réaliser cette dernière, il est utile de recourir au principe de proportionnalité, bien établi en droit communautaire. Avec ces principes, l'Organe de règlement des différends de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) dispose d'importants outils de réflexion qui lui permettent de bâtir sur une base plus cohérente et plus logique sa jurisprudence pourtant bien amorcée.The "trade and environment" issue has multiple facets and the interpretation of Section XX b) and g) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which serves in this agreement as an interface between these two aspects, is one of them. Jurisprudence relating to this section now seems to grant it a value equivalent to basic GATT provisions. This highly desirable evolution demonstrates how jurisprudence is now ready to give suitable weight to environmental considerations. Nonetheless, the challenge of reconciliating the contradictory objectives of market liberalization and environmental protection still persists. European Community law is the one that will provide an appropriate means for harmonization, namely via the principle of practical concordance. To achieve this end, it is useful to resort to the well-established proportionality principle in Community law. With these principles, the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is equipped with tools for deliberation that enable it to settle its jurisprudence on more coherent and logical grounds, which is already off to a good start

BCS-BEC Crossover in Atomic Fermi Gases with a Narrow Resonance

We determine the effects on the BCS-BEC crossover of the energy dependence of the effective two-body interaction, which at low energies is determined by the effective range. To describe interactions with an effective range of either sign, we consider a single-channel model with a two-body interaction having an attractive square well and a repulsive square barrier. We investigate the two-body scattering properties of the model, and then solve the Eagles-Leggett equations for the zero temperature crossover, determining the momentum dependent gap and the chemical potential self-consistently. From this we investigate the dependence of the crossover on the effective range of the interaction.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figure

Lenticulina (Lenticulina) nodosa (Reuss 1863) and its subspecies - worldwide index foraminifera in the Lower Cretaceous

The worldwide occurrences of Lenticulina (Lenticulina) nodosa (Reuss 1863) and its subspecies within the northern Temperate Realm (Boreal), the Tethyan and the Southern Temperate Realm (Antiboreal) are described. A further argument for the validity of Alfred Wegener’s Continental drift theory for the connection of South Africa and the Southern part of South America during earlier Lower Cretaceous is submitted. Nomination of a neotype for Lenticulina (Lenticulina) nodosa and a new subspecies Lenticulina (Lenticulina) nodosa hilseana are made. A survey is made of the occurrences in Germany of the species Lenticulina (Astacolus) humilis (Reuss 1863), its subspecies and of Lenticulina (Astacolus) neopachynota BAKTENSTEm & Kaever 1973, closely related to Lenticulina (Lenticulina) nodosa. Nomination of a neotype for Lenticulina (Astacolus) humilis. The importance of all the above mentioned species and subspecies in the Lower Cretaceous Stratigraphie sequences of Germany and the world are discussed. In the English Upper Albian Lenticulina (Lenticulina) angulosa (Chapman 1896) has been determined as an independent species

Collective oscillations of a trapped Fermi gas near a Feshbach resonance

The frequencies of the collective oscillations of a harmonically trapped Fermi gas interacting with large scattering lengths are calculated at zero temperature using hydrodynamic theory. Different regimes are considered, including the molecular Bose-Einstein condensate and the unitarity limit for collisions. We show that the frequency of the radial compressional mode in an elongated trap exhibits a pronounced non monotonous dependence on the scattering length, reflecting the role of the interactions in the equation of state.Comment: 3 pages, including 1 figur