A Generalized Theory of Varying Alpha

In this paper, we formulate a generalization of the simple Bekenstein-Sandvik-Barrow-Magueijo (BSBM) theory of varying alpha by allowing the coupling constant, \omega, for the corresponding scalar field \psi\ to depend on \psi. We focus on the situation where \omega\ is exponential in \psi\ and find the late-time behaviours that occur in matter-dominated and dark-energy dominated cosmologies. We also consider the situation when the background expansion scale factor of the universe evolves in proportion to an arbitrary power of the cosmic time. We find the conditions under which the fine structure `constant' increases with time, as in the BSBM theory, and establish a cosmic no-hair behaviour for accelerating universes. We also find the conditions under which the fine structure `constant' can decrease with time and compare the whole family of models with astronomical data from quasar absorption spectra.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures. Minor corrections and clarifications added. Final section on spatial variations removed so that the paper focuses exclusively on time-variatio

Effects of negative energy balance on liver gene and protein expression during the early postpartum period and its impacts on dairy cow fertility

End of project reportNegative energy balance (NEB) is a severe metabolic affecting high yielding dairy cows early post partum with both concurrent and latent negative effects on cow fertility as well as on milk production and cow health. The seasonal nature of Irish dairy production necessitates high cow fertility and a compact spring calving pattern in order to maximise grass utilisation. Poor dairy cow reproductive performance currently costs the Irish cattle industry in excess of €400 million annually. High milk yields have been associated with lower reproductive efficiency, and it has been suggested that this effect is probably mediated through its effects on the energy balance of the cow during lactation. The modern high genetic merit dairy cow prioritises nutrient supply towards milk production in early lactation and this demand takes precedence over the provision of optimal conditions for reproduction. In this study we used the bovine Affymetrix 23,000 gene microarray, which contains the most comprehensive set of bovine genes to be assembled and provides a means of investigating the modifying influences of energy balance on liver gene expression. Cows in severe negative energy balance (SNEB) in early lactation showed altered hepatic gene expression in metabolic processes as well as a down regulation of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system, where insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), growth hormone receptor variant 1A (GHR1A) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-acid labile subunit (IGFBP-ALS) were down regulated compared to the cows in the moderate negative energy balance MNEB group, consistent with a five-fold reduction in systemic concentrations of IGF1 in the SNEB group.Cows in SNEB showed elevated expression of key genes involved in the inflammatory response such as interleukin-8 (IL-8). There was a down regulation of genes involved in cellular growth in SNEB cows and moreover a negative regulator of cellular proliferation (HGFIN) was up regulated in SNEB cows, which is likely to compromise adaptation and recovery from NEB. The puma method of analysis revealed that 417 genes were differentially regulated by EB (P<0.05), of these genes 190 were up-regulated while 227 were down-regulated, with 405 genes having known biological functions. From Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA), lipid catabolism was found to be the process most affected by differences in EB status

Book Review of The Law of International Responsibility (James Crawford, Alain Pellet, and Simon Olleson eds., Oxford University Press, 2010)

If one were to affix a label to the first decade of work by the UN International Law Commission in this century, a good one to choose would be the “decade of codifying international responsibility.” No fewer than five projects relating to that general topic were brought to a conclusion by the Commission in the space of ten years, constituting a formidable effort at codification that may well influence the field of public international law for years to come. Given that the Commission had spent decades considering, as part of a single project, myriad aspects of state responsibility, in some respects these five projects may be seen as the product of a “divide and conquer” approach. Rather than a single instrument, the Commission produced five instruments directed at different slices of the field, with considerable variations among them in breadth, form, and the understanding of whether they reflect settled law. The book under review here, edited by Professor Crawford, Alain Pellet, and Simon Olleson, reflects an important effort to illuminate the law in this area through expert commentary by academics and practitioners

Criminalizing Humanitarian Intervention

The States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will likely vote in 2010 on whether to amend the Rome Statute to allow the ICC to prosecute the crime of aggression. If a robust amendment is widely ratified by states, and if the mechanism for triggering ICC jurisdiction in a particular situation is the ICC itself, then the ICC may emerge as an important voice in the debate over the legality of humanitarian intervention taken without Security Council authorization. Prosecutions, or at least indictments, of leaders of those interventions would considerably strengthen the hand of those who regard such intervention as illegal. Yet an unwillingness on the part of the ICC to indict and prosecute those leaders - an outcome that seems likely for incidents of true humanitarian intervention - may lend considerable credence to the view that such intervention is lawful, as well as define the conditions that characterize such intervention

International Judicial Bodies for Resolving Disputes Between States

This chapter of the forthcoming Oxford Handbook on International Adjudication assesses those international judicial bodies that are established principally to resolve disputes between States, notably the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body. Unlike courts oriented toward regional economic integration or regional human rights, such as the European Court of Justice or the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, these courts and tribunals primarily focus on resolving disputes between States. Contentious cases before these bodies, for the most part, do not involve institutional organs or other non-State actors as litigants. Unlike international criminal courts, these courts focus exclusively on issues of State responsibility, generally finding that international law has or has not been violated; if a violation is found, matter is usually negotiated to a resolution by the concerned States. Although reparation in the form of restitution, compensation or satisfaction is possible, criminal sanctions are not. Unlike ad hoc arbitral tribunals formed to address matters of investment or commerce, such as under the auspices of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) or the International Chamber of Commerce, these judicial bodies are permanent institutions; they are designed to operate for decades, with adjudicators who serve for years on a range of cases, not for just a single claim or group of claims. Unlike processes for mediation or conciliation, these courts or tribunals issue decisions that are legally binding on the parties appearing before them. Such international judicial bodies have a prominent place in the pantheon of international adjudication; indeed, the ICJ is often viewed — symbolically — as at the pinnacle of international adjudication. Yet with the rise of numerous other dispute resolution bodies, including those before which non-State actors may appear and that may hear hundreds of cases per year, questions have arisen as to whether such ‘old school’ fora still play a dominant or even important role for international law, especially given the relative paucity of their caseloads

Third Report on Crimes Against Humanity

In July 2014, the U.N. International Law Commission placed the topic “Crimes against humanity” on its current program of work and appointed a Special Rapporteur. According to the topic proposal, the objective of the Commission is to draft articles for what could become a Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity. In 2015, based on the Special Rapporteur’s First Report, the Commission provisionally adopted the first four draft articles with commentary. In 2016, based on the Special Rapporteur’s Second Report, the Commission provisionally adopted an addition six draft articles with commentary. In this Third Report, which will be debated by the Commission during the summer of 2017, the Special Rapporteur proposes a draft preamble and seven additional draft articles, which are focused on various obligations of States with respect to the prosecution of crimes against humanity within national law. Specifically, the seven proposed draft articles address: extradition (draft article 11); non-refoulement (draft article 12); mutual legal assistance (draft article 13); treatment of victims, witnesses and others (draft article 14); relationship to competent international criminal tribunals (draft article 15); federal State obligations (draft article 16); and inter-State dispute resolution in the event of non-compliance (draft article 17). Annex I to the report contains the ten draft articles provisionally adopted by the Commission to date. Annex II contains the draft preamble and seven draft articles proposed in this report

Anniversary Commemoration and Work of the International Law Commission’s Seventieth Session

This essay analyzes the outcome of the seventieth session of the U.N. International Law Commission held in the summer of 2018 in New York and Geneva. Notably, the Commission completed on second reading two topics: subsequent agreements and subsequent practice in relation to the interpretation of treaties; and identification of customary international law. The Commission completed on first reading two further topics: protection of the atmosphere; and provisional application of treaties. Progress was also made in developing draft conclusions on peremptory norms of general international law (jus cogens), draft principles on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflict, and draft articles on succession of states in respect of state responsibility. The Commission commenced a debate but otherwise did not make progress with respect to its topic on the immunity of state officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction. The Commission, however, added a new topic to its agenda on general principles of law, and added two new topics to its long-term work program, namely on universal criminal jurisdiction and sea-level rise in relation to international law. The Commission did not work on a topic that completed its first reading in 2017 and that, after receiving reactions from governments and others, will likely undergo its second reading in 2019: crimes against humanity

First Report of the Special Rapporteur on Crimes against Humanity

In the field of international law, three core crimes generally make up the jurisdiction of international criminal tribunals: war crimes; genocide; and crimes against humanity. Only two of these crimes (war crimes and genocide) are the subject of a global treaty that requires States to prevent and punish such conduct and to cooperate among themselves toward those ends. By contrast, there is no such treaty dedicated to preventing and punishing crimes against humanity.Yet crimes against humanity may be more prevalent than either genocide or war crimes. Such crimes may occur in situations not involving armed conflict and do not require the special intent that is necessary for establishing genocide. Moreover, treaties focused on prevention, punishment, and inter-State cooperation exist for many far less egregious offences, such as corruption, bribery, or organized crime. While some treaties address offenses that under certain conditions might also constitute crimes against humanity, such as State-sponsored torture or enforced disappearance of persons, those treaties do not address crimes against humanity as such.At its sixty-sixth session in 2014, the U.N. International Law Commission decided to place the topic “crimes against humanity” on its program of work and to appoint a Special Rapporteur. The purpose of this First Report of the Special Rapporteur is to address the potential benefits of developing draft articles that might serve as the basis of an international convention on crimes against humanity. Further, this report provides general background with respect to the emergence of the concept of crimes against humanity as an aspect of international law, its application by international courts and tribunals, and its incorporation in the national laws of some States. Ultimately, this report proposes two initial draft articles for such a convention: one on prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity and the other on the definition of such crimes

Book Review of Marc Weller, Contested Statehood: Kosovo’s Struggle for Independence, Oxford University Press, 2009 (321 pp.)

How an area measuring no more than about 11,000 square kilometers could become arguably “ground zero” for the formation of post-Cold War international law is a bit of a mystery, but the province (and now country) of Kosovo, in the late twentieth/early twenty-first centuries, somehow managed to pull off that feat. In Contested Statehood: Kosovo’s Struggle for Independence Marc Weller provides the best history to date of the Kosovo crisis from the end of the Cold War up to the point that Kosovo’s independence was declared in February 2008. In its July 2009 advisory opinion on that legality of that Declaration, the International Court of Justice avoided a lengthy account of Kosovo’s contemporary history, hewing closely to just those facts and law necessary to answer the narrow question before it. As such, anyone interested in the backdrop for the Court’s advisory opinion would do well to keep Contested Statehood close at hand