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Understanding the origins of primary elections has important implications for evaluating their role in American elections. While there is little argument about the importance of primaries to the American electoral system, there is less agreement about why states adopted the direct primary and what they were intended to accomplish. Previous scholarship has laid out three theories: the strength of the progressive movement, parties' efforts to maintain one-party rule, and the urbanization of American society. Using comprehensive state-level data from 1892 to 1930, we test these theories of states' adoption of direct primaries. We find a strong influence of the strength of the progressive movement and the rate of urbanization on the adoption of the direct primary, but we do not, however, find any influence of state partisan competition. Our findings reinforce original arguments about the importance of the progressive movement and urbanization in the adoption of the direct primary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tidsskrift for Psykisk Helsearbeid is the property of H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard) AS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

It is important to have effective protection mechanisms that ensure that human rights are not violated in armed conflict. The aim of the study is to analyse the role and effectiveness of protective mechanisms used by European bodies and institutions to ensure human rights during military operations. The research employed formal logical, dialectical, logical semantic methods, as well as the method of comparative law. The study results show that the provisions of the Convention and international humanitarian law complement each other, providing comprehensive protection of persons during conflicts, not competing. The academic novelty is a thorough analysis of the relationship between the provisions of the Convention and international humanitarian law with an emphasis on the fundamental right to life in the context of military operations, using a historical analysis of the decisions of the ECHR in armed conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evolutionary, game-theoretic approaches to justice and the social contract have become increasingly popular in contemporary moral and political philosophy. (Vanderschraaf, Strategic justice: convention and problems of balancing divergent interests, Oxford University Press, 2019) theory of strategic justice represents the most recent contribution to this tradition and, in many ways, can be viewed as a culmination of it. This article discusses some of the central features of Vanderschraaf’s theory and relates them to the contributions in this collection. Some of the contributions directly address Vanderschraaf’s work, while others explore related topics in game theory, bargaining theory, formal philosophy, rationality, equality, justice, and the theory of conventions. This collection aims to bridge a gap between disjoint but closely related literature spanning a wide range of disciplines. The contributions allow readers to systematically engage with the topic of strategic justice, advance dialogue, and more easily follow this rich and expanding field of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report on how authors of academic writing in Chinese (AWC) refer to themselves as single authors in the area of language studies. We find that AWC writers rely on the 1st-person plural 我们 women "we," 3rd-person NPs such as 作者/笔者 zuozhe/bizhe "this author," and inanimate NPs such as 本文 benwen "this article/paper" for self-reference. Based on these findings and subsequent surveys of journal style guides and interviews of authors, we propose that (1) these self-referring expressions are a set of conventions; (2) the motivation for these conventions is modesty, a deep-routed value of Chinese society; and (3) these expressions serve as indexicals to the writers' identity of a modest scholar in the particular discursive context: the genre of academic writing. By so doing, our work links language use to social values, to identity studies, as well as to genre analysis, thus contributing to the literature in all these fields of investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overall resilience of the Convention – its durability, its flexibility and its plasticity in the face of myriad challenges that have unfolded over time – is largely attributable to certain design features within the Convention, to a willingness to 'bend' the Convention toward practical outcomes when necessary, and to the foresight of the drafters in closely tying the Convention to other agreements and standards, as well as to the general field of international law, so that the Convention might evolve as the world evolves. There are risks in flexibility and plasticity; in measured doses they promote resilience, while if taken too far they can erode confidence and support in the regime. Ultimately, such resilience rests on the good faith of States and other relevant actors in pursuing common ground in regulating a common space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can conventional rituals be meaningful? When and how can conventionality be part of processes of meaning-making rather than a mere obstacle that the cultural analyst must overcome? The article traces the meanings of minor rituals that populate the world of modern industrial societies and seem to have universal appeal. The article applies a Blochian regressive method to ethnological history in order to re-create the gradual process in which conventions appear, are disseminated, popularized, turned into group icons, and ritualized, and only then—and only sometimes—acquire discursive meanings that are often contested. This sequential model reveals the power of conventionality—the lack of contemplation about social conventions—in the processes of popularizing, ritualizing, and iconizing conventional acts. In the terms of Alexander's meaning-centered performance theory, this conventionality exemplifies a "perfect" or "effortless" fusion of performers and audience. The article thus argues that the meanings of conventional rituals—and perhaps also of conventional performances of more "sacred" rituals—often lie not in symbolic significance or semiotic thickness, but in deep conventionality : meaningfulness encoded in the convention itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the current trends in legal regulation of relations on granting jurisdictional immunity to a foreign state in the countries of the continental legal family. The author analyzes the regulations in this area and shows the role of judicial practice in this process. A comparative characterization of the application of the concept of limited immunity in Western countries is given. The term «immunity of a State as a subject of international law» means that each State is not subject to the jurisdiction of another State and is not subject to any authority (legislative, executive or judicial) of a foreign State. Sovereignty and the fact that all states are equal are the basis of state immunity. Ancient Rome used well-known phrases to define the equality of states: «par in parem pop habet imperium», which means «equal over equal has no power», and «par in parem non habet iurisdictionem», which means «equal over equal has no jurisdiction». According to the idea of limited immunity, a foreign state may have jurisdictional immunity when it executes acts of juris imperii. In the same cases, the state can be sued as a private person, and it cannot rely on immunity from foreign jurisdiction, as well as immunity from seizure of property as a means of securing a claim and recovering property. According to the proponents of this idea, the main criterion for determining the sovereignty of state actions is the participation of the state in transactions that are usually carried out by individuals and corporations, and not the ultimate goal of these actions. In this case, the practice of national courts should take into account both the interests of states (uninterrupted performance of their public duties) and the interests of private plaintiffs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the legal status of women and children during the war is discussed in terms of Islamic jurisprudence and international conventions. In the first step, an attempt was made to define women from a legal point of view, then an attempt was made to examine the definition of a child and the general concept of a child in Islamic jurisprudence, law and teachings, and in the next step, an attempt was made to define the rights of women and their protection. and their immunity during the war has been discussed and also about the killing of women during the war and the verdict of killing them in terms of Islamic jurisprudence and international conventions and in the next discussion about the rights and protection of children during the war their immunity And the decision to kill them has been discussed by the warring parties from the perspective of Islam and international conventions, and recently about non-compliance with the laws of protection of women and children during the war and who is responsible for the implementation of these laws? And why does it not match? And women and children are always victims of armed battles, and what measures can be taken to ensure the security and peace of these two oppressed groups and what solutions are there? To support these two groups in the right way. It has been discussed and the views of Islamic jurists and international conventions have also been considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this scientific paper is paying attention to the application of a very important convention, which during the period of intensification of the mutual physical and legal relations in the foreign element, enables a significant facilitation in the delivery of judicial and non-judicial acts on civil or commercial matters through channels of delivery which are provided with this Convention. Of course, the main accent is the application of this Convention in the Republic of North Macedonia and the supplies or statements provided during its signing and ratification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bulletin of Ablai Khan KazUIRandWL: Series 'International Relations & Regional Studies' is the property of Kazakh Ablai Khan University of International Relations & World Languages and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Vendée War (1793-1795) was an essential part of the French Revolution (1789-1799). A region of western France, south of Nantes, the Vendée, refused to continue obeying the new authorities of the Republic (1792), against a backdrop of forced military mobilization and anti-Catholic religious persecution. This peasant insurrection, led by nobles like Charette, suffered terrible repression, beyond military counter-insurgency. The Convention, the assembly governing the Republic, was very frightened in 1793, in a context of difficult foreign war and multiple domestic disputes. It took revenge by organizing a populicide in the Vendée. Carrier's infamous massacres in Nantes, carried out to order, were the norm, not a pathological exception. The infernal columns of the Republican army carried out the Vendée genocide. We propose to rediscover these historical facts, sometimes still hidden.

Caring for the welfare of children is a continuous and ongoing process, the foundation of which is a legally sound system. Child-friendly proceedings are designed to ensure the meaningful involvement of children in the decision-making process, which, of course, is manifested in the proper realization of the child’s right to be heard. A child’s right to be heard in civil proceedings is a crucial aspect of child-centred justice, recognizing children as active participants in decision-making. The article studies the evolution of the child’s right to be heard in the international legal system, thus examining international conventions such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and regional documents that recognize the children’s right to participate in decision-making processes related to them. The article analyzes the legal framework applicable in different jurisdictions, including challenges and best practices in exercising the right. In addition, the article discusses the importance of the child’s participation in civil proceedings, emphasizing its impact on the child’s development and well-being and, on the other hand, on the quality of court decisions. The article discusses the relationship between the child’s right to be heard and the standard of protection of the best interests. It emphasizes the need for a multidisciplinary approach when dealing with cases related to children. The article reviews the practical challenges and opportunities related to this issue and circumstances limiting the right, such as age and maturity. The legal ways necessary for better realization of the child’s right to be heard are proposed in the form of recommendations in the article.

Two opposed views of the history of Gothic fiction claim that a) the genre went into decline and 'died' in the early nineteenth century, and b) it has gone from strength to strength into the twenty-first century. This article defends a third hypothesis: that Gothic neither died nor endured but transformed into other genres to which the term 'Gothic' can apply analogically at best. Leaning on formal criteria (the codes or compositional conventions of eighteenth-century Gothic) it then offers a comparison between two short narratives thirty-three years apart, which, while being essentially 'the same' text, yet can be shown to belong to different genres. The article then projects the notion of language drift onto literary evolution to suggest that a form of genre drift accounts for this seeming oddity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Constitutional Convention in Chile, like other constitution-making mechanisms in democracies, carried out its work within the democratic institutional framework. In a democracy, the success of a constitution-making process depends not only on internal factors, such as its capacity for representation and the procedural rules by which it is governed, but also on external factors such as participation, the government's role and other contingent factors. When the process – including both internal and external factors – fails to produce adherence to the new constitution, institutional resistance to changes is very likely to occur. This article argues that the manner in which the political and social spectrum was represented in the Chilean Convention, combined with the way participation was implemented and the rules governing the Convention, insulated it from society and the rest of the democratic institutions. As a result, party and public adherence to the proposal made by the Convention was low and its contents generated institutional resistance from outside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of University of Sharjah Journal of Law Sciences (JLS) is the property of University of Sharjah - Scientific Publishing Unit and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Various philosophical systems have been applied to questions of nonhuman animal ethics, but the ancient Cynics have been ignored despite their close association with dogs and their commitment to philosophy as a way of life. After explaining the neglect and clearing away some obstacles to treating Cynic ethics seriously, this article looks closely at Cynic shamelessness and its connection with conventions that may fail to withstand critical scrutiny. It then goes on to discuss Diogenes’ relationship with food conventions and explores what ancient Cynicism has to offer when it comes to thinking through virtuous relationships between humans and other animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I investigate the main passages in which Plato and Aristotle address the problem of the dichotomy between phýsis and nómos, nature and law/custom/convention in association with the philosophy practiced by the sophists. We will study primarily the passages in which these two philosophers speak generically of the opposition between phýsis and nómos present in the thought "of the ancients" (οἱ ἀρχαῖοι, as Aristotle says in Sophistical Refutations, 173b), that is to say: without attributing specifically to a particular individual, but to a group or current of thought, mainly to the sophists. According to the established criterion, we include three passages from Plato: Laws, X, 888d-890a, Sophist, 265c and Republic, II, 358a-359b; and one passage from Aristotle: Sophistical Refutations, 173a-b. The passage from Republic, II, 358a-359b refers to the speech of Thrasymachus that precedes it, in book I, 343c-344c, and the passage from Sophistical Refutations, 173a-b, mentions the speech of Callicles in Gorgias, 482c-486d, but in both cases taking them as particular examples of general ideas more widely spread; we refer to these specific passages, as well as others throughout the text, as auxiliaries to the understanding of the general ones. Through the analysis and comparison of these texts I hope to clarify how the importance of the discussion around the natural and conventional or legal in sophistical thought was perceived by Plato and Aristotle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the Victorian reception of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (1847) and the collision of literary criticism with political commentary. Brontë's novel has always had a reputation for being politically troublesome, but no one seems to know why. My essay develops two claims. First, I argue that the novel's political slipperiness stems from its critics' inability to agree on what the work actually is. Jane Eyre provoked contradictory judgements from readers who could not reconcile it with existing frameworks of literary convention. The stakes were high, as attempts to define the novel's genre fused with attempts to produce a coherent sense of literary and social history. Second, I argue that the liberal feminist subject that modern criticism projects backwards onto Jane Eyre did not exist for Victorian readers, and that Brontë's governess heroine instead activates a historically fraught relationship between character, type, and women's economic and legal roles. Rather than addressing Jane Eyre directly, I treat it as the absent centre of a debate over convention, waged in reviews, pamphlets and essays, that merged literary criticism with political commentary and set crucial precedents for mid-Victorian legal debates on the woman question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de la Facultad de Derecho y Ciencias Políticas is the property of Revista Faculdad de Derecho y Ciencias Politicas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses the international legal status of the Caspian Sea and analyzes the provisions of the current instruments of international law entered into by Russia and the other Caspian littoral states (Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan). The authors study the provisions of the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (Tehran, November 4, 2003) and the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea (Aktau, August 12, 2018), express a number of constructive suggestions for the further development of the international cooperation between the Caspian littoral countries, including the establishment of an intergovernmental coordination body, and propose its powers for discussion. Since the implementation of international instruments involves the development of national legislation, the authors of the article conduct a comparative legal study of environmental legal acts of the five Caspian littoral states and identify their similarities and differences as well as advantages and disadvantages of the national approaches to the protection of the Caspian. They note that the international instruments aimed at regulating the use and protection of the natural resources of the Caspian do not mention the goal of joint movement of the Caspian littoral states to the transition to green economy standards and the objectives of sustainable development are formulated in them in a formal way. The authors substantiate the reasonability of developing model laws for the Caspian littoral states, which will consolidate their efforts to protect the nature of the Caspian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The features of mediated communication, along with those of internet language, enable cyber space to be a home for violent language, the adoption of which generally stems from the sender user's intense emotions or malicious intentions. In accounting for the diffusion of violent language in online interaction from the perspective of cyberpragmatics and speech act theory, I deduce four major variables of violent language as target, intention, message and effect. Accordingly, the article suggests a pragmatic taxonomy of violent language in online interaction, which consists of six categories ranging from conventional violent language targeted at an individual to unconventional language which is not explicitly targeted. Analysis of the categories testifies that the use of violent language in online interaction is not confined to enemies or adversaries, but extends to people who are close to each other. In such a case, rather than ruin or undermine their relationship, violent language could maintain or even strengthen it. In addition to clarifying how to deal with internet language, the article offers some suggestions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reveals the formal-legal basis for the institutionalisation of international commercial arbitration. It is found that states are still far from a unified understanding of the basic scope of human rights, but they have a clear common vision of the mechanism for protecting the interests of international commerce. Against the background of the economic and innovative successes of the EU and other countries in the world that have made human rights a priority, it would appear that the source of modern transnational trade problems lies precisely in another group of states in which commercial interests dominate human rights. This second type of state nourishes its development at the expense of the innovations of the first type of state, its constructive and passionate representatives. Innovative solutions are formulated by the freest people, whose freedom is legally and organisationally guaranteed, which becomes a source of release for their creative, productive existential energy. Therefore, the contradictions between these two types of entrepreneurs of nations give rise to commercial disputes regarding the path of development, as well as legal conflicts within each of these types of nations regarding the vector of development or decline. Strategically, it is an ontology of modern problems of international commercial disputes. It is emphasised that the institutionalisation of international commercial arbitration is conceived as the creation of legal models for interpretation, determination of cause-effect relations, assessment of all essential circumstances of commercial relations, about which the parties of this type of social interaction have not reached an agreement and are forced to turn to mediators, to whom they entrust jurisdiction over the dispute between them. It was noted that the legal reality of the institutionalisation of international commercial arbitration reflects the path of human development, which at the present stage is marked by crisis. Logical, rational, clear law is in a permanent process of critical evaluation of the synergy of creative, risky, adventurous, pragmatic entrepreneurship. Ideal legal models absorb the constructive activity of entrepreneurship, foreseeing its long-term prospects as positive. At the same time, it is the task of lawyers to reject those types of economic relationships that threaten common humanity. In conclusion, the UN Commission on International Trade Law is the only global body designed to ensure the optimal course of correlation processes between private international law and transnational commercial activity. At the same time, however, this Commission suffers from all the consequences of the UN's dysfunction. This is particularly evident in the UN's inability to prevent wars, famines, environmental disasters, military crimes and other global crises. It is advisable for the states to create a separate organisation in which they can coordinate their legal standards of joint entrepreneurship in the extractive industries, production, trade, finance, as well as the global environmental, national economic and other consequences of commercial projects. This organisation would become a convenient platform for honest parity in the unification of the legal practice of transnational entrepreneurship and the settlement of its disputes, based on the legal customs and traditions of different nations. This would provide a significant impetus for the healthy creation and application of international private law, capable of determining the vector both of global progress and of appropriate transformations in domestic national economic policies.

The article provides a brief overview of international legal standards and Russian legislation in the field of climate change adaptation. Currently, states are adopting the so-called “climate adaptation plans” and “strategies”, each of which has its own specifics depending on the country, economics, population and the challenges they are caused by. The author aims to reveal the key provisions of the Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement in the context of climate change adaptation, the role of UNEP in the UN system on this issue, as well as the standard forms of “national plans”, which are proposed as framework by international organizations. It is concluded that the majority of international treaties do not attempt to impose a single standard of climate adaptation commitments for all countries without exception, but adopt a flexible approach for specific groups of countries. A review of existing practices on this issue is made, depending on the climatic zone and existing domestic institutions. A separate part is devoted to the Russian legal system in the field of climate adaptation, from legal support to the stages of implementation of the national plan.

This critical review engages with Michael Devitt’s exposition on language theory and communication as presented in his book Overlooking Conventions. The review is comprised of two main sections. In the first, Devitt’s theory is elucidated, encompassing both its negative delineations in relation to linguistic pragmatism/contextualism and its affirmative attributes concerning the pre-eminence of speaker meaning and convention. The second section delves deeper into Devitt’s conception of polysemy, scrutinizing three contentious facets of his approach: (i) the reductive characterization of polysemy and its consequential omission of emerging/new linguistic usages; (ii) the parameter of regularity and its function in distinguishing novel usages from established or conventional ones; and (iii) the principled identification of polysemy and homonymy, coupled with the dismissal of psycholinguistic evidence supporting their differentiation.

The United Nations, aiming to eradicate enforced disappearance, introduced the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPAPED), mandating signatory States to take preventive actions. Enforced disappearance is also deemed a crime against humanity under other international treaties. However, Pakistan has not ratified the ICPAPED, and its national laws lack specific provisions criminalizing enforced disappearance. Additionally, Pakistan is involved in various international treaties that uphold jus cogens, a fundamental principle of international law considered non-derogable. Given this context, the article highlights the misalignment of Pakistan's national laws with the principles of jus cogens and underscores the urgent need for Pakistan to enact specific legislation that criminalizes enforced disappearances in line with international standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows that Locke anticipates key features of Hume's more celebrated analysis of convention. It does so by developing Lenz's account of Lockean (linguistic) convention and its normativity, as presented in Socializing Minds. Locke's account of linguistic convention shares structural features also visible in Locke's treatment of the convention of money and property. The paper shows that Locke's ‘Humean' account of convention responds to a lacuna in Pufendorf’s treatment of linguistic convention that Lenz argues is significant to Locke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academics usually look for constitutional conventions in Westminster-style democracies, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, or Australia. Nevertheless, growing evidence from practice shows that constitutional conventions are similarly essential attributes of even substantially different political regimes. This article is the first paper to systematically deal with constitutional conventions in the Czech Republic. To be more specific, I identify eight existing constitutional conventions there: (1) respect for the parliamentary majority, (2) institution of a formateur, (3) simultaneous existence of two prime ministers, (4) new cabinet's statement of policy, (5) delegation of negotiation and ratification of international treaties, (6) appointment of a (vice-)governor of the Czech National Bank without a countersignature, (7) missing signature of the president under laws, and (8) single vice-chairperson of the Supreme Court. On one hand, the scrutiny shows that constitutional conventions play an already established and important role even in a Central European democracy. On the other hand, the lack of political respect for unwritten rules and the relative immaturity of Czech democracy confirm that constitutional conventions are as fragile (or as strong) as political actors allow. Thanks to these facts, the study of constitutional conventions in the post-communist country is a precious laboratory with universal findings even for long-existing democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the theory of Baron and Herslund, English has a tendency to have names for collective concepts such as "chairs" and "bowls", whereas French more or less consistently lacks names for collective concepts and, instead, has different names for different chairs and bowls. This observation is crucial and is not restricted to English and French nouns – when English uses one verb in an utterance, but Chinese more than one verb, we are dealing with the same distinction. All existing models of lexical semantics may contain tools to describe this distinction, but they lack tools to explain it. This is largely due to the fact that they are grounded in Saussure's dichotomic view of symbols, i.e., as consisting of an expression unit and a content unit in which there is an arbitrary and conventional relationship between the two sides. However, if one adopts a trichotomic view, where there is one expression unit but two content units, called images and ideas, it becomes possible to explain the differences between English and French. Moreover, it becomes clear that "convention" and "arbitrariness" should be kept strictly apart, since they concern different sides of the linguistic sign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Aequitas: Journal of Human Development, Disability & Social Change / Revue de Développement Humain, Handicap et Changement Social is the property of Reseau international sur le Processus de production du handicap, RIPPH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Aequitas: Journal of Human Development, Disability & Social Change / Revue de Développement Humain, Handicap et Changement Social is the property of Reseau international sur le Processus de production du handicap, RIPPH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Ponds, the most numerous freshwater habitats globally, are becoming increasingly recognized as being important for rare, endemic and endangered species, owing to the high levels of biodiversity they support and their role in ecosystem services. However, they remain largely overlooked and widely excluded from policies that might protect them. Even though their size and permanence are highly important for their legal protection, these two characteristics are not precisely and universally defined in theory and in international legal documents.International legislative frameworks do not seem to provide global, comprehensive, or detailed protection of ponds as significant and widespread habitats. On the contrary, they safeguard only fragmentary small water bodies – either by protecting certain types or only those that are parts of larger protected areas. Also, pondscapes are not specifically recognized as forms in need of legal protection.In this paper, the complexity of the legal protection of ponds is presented, followed by recommendations. These should be transformed into legal norms, and given their number and complexity be presented within a single, unique convention that would specifically address the protection of ponds globally. This type of protection would be the most effective legal tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Le métayage est un mode d'exploitation agricole dans lequel le propriétaire foncier et le métayer se partagent la production dans des proportions fixées par contrat. L'objectif de cet article est d'analyser le contenu des contrats de métayage, la nature des conflits qui surgissent et les modes d'arbitrage adoptés par les parties contractantes dans le cas des cultures maraîchères sous serres dans une région saharienne. L'analyse exploite les données empiriques collectées grâce aux enquêtes exploratoires (20 individus) et systématiques par questionnaire auprès d'un échantillon de 100 exploitations agricoles, dans la commune d'El-Ghrous, wilaya de Biskra (Algérie), caractérisée par une forte croissance de la production maraîchère et phoenicicole, durant les deux dernières décennies. L'échantillonnage s'est fait selon une approche spatiale, basé sur un zonage raisonné, de manière à avoir des personnes répartis sur toute la commune. L'enquête a été effectuée durant les périodes 2013 et 2016/2017. Cette analyse fait ressortir trois principaux résultats: (i) le contrat de métayage, dans ce contexte, est de deux formes: un simple contrat de travail sans dimension foncière où le métayer n'apporte que sa force de travail et de son expertise (savoir-faire), sans pouvoir de décisions dans la ferme; ou bien une forme de « partenariat limité » dans laquelle il participe à la prise de décision sans contribution aux coûts de production; (ii) Les termes du contrat du métayage sont connus et acceptés par tous les acteurs ce qui réduit la marge de négociation et de modification de ces termes; et (iii) Et la mobilisation de la coutume et des règles locales ont rendu le contrat du métayage plus efficace et moins conflictuel. Cependant, la rareté de la main d'œuvre agricole, affectant plus spécialement le maraîchage sous serre, pourrait faire évoluer les termes de contrats de métayage au profit des exploitants tout en leur conférant plus de pouvoir de décision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The state regulation of nature conservation was closely connected with the formation of the first states and was the logical conclusion of the traditionalreligious level of human ecological consciousness. However, with the development of technology and globalization, the speed of resource development has also increased. New challenges have emerged that need to be addressed by improving the state apparatus and improving the effectiveness of environmental measures. Prospects for progress are based in the field of scientific substantiation of state environmental acts, the involvement of public organizations and the interaction of individual states with each other. Therefore, government regulation should be considered in the complex of the multi-level "religionscience-society-state-international law" environmental protection system. The purpose of this study is to develop a theoretical model of urban development of the territory of on the principles of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of the development and the improvement of methods for the determination of metabolites (biomarkers) of toxic substances in biological fluids (blood, urine, etc.) is associated with the need to establish facts of humans and animals exposure to toxic chemicals. The need for such analysis arises within the framework of monitoring of the compliance with the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), when conducting investigations into the alleged use of chemical agents, as well as within the framework of the official proficiency tests carried out by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Nowadays there exists the problem of the determination of low­molecular­weight mustard gas biomarkers in biological samples with the use of gas chromatography methods with mass­selective detection. The lowmolecular­weight biomarkers of sulfur mustard (SM) are thiodiglycol, oxides and sulfoxides. The identification and quantitative assessment of SM markers in blood and urine is carried out according to the methods, based on the displacement of thiodiglycol and its derivatives from protein conjugates with titanium trichloride, solidphase extraction, concentration in ethyl acetate solution, derivatization with pentafluorobenzoyl chloride, heptafluorobutyrylimidazole, heptafluorobutyric acid anhydride or chloride, subsequent stripping of the derivative into the appropriate solvent and GH­MS analysis (chemical ionization technique with methane as a reagent gas with the registration of negative ions). After the sample preparation, the limits of detection of the minimum values of ultra­low concentrations of the analyzed biomarkers of SM in urine and blood plasma were determined. After the chromatographic analysis, the corresponding graphs of indicators have been constructed, based on the concentrations of biomarkers in urine and blood plasma. Later on they have been used for the elaboration of the methods for the determination of SM biomarkers in human urine and blood.

L’idée prit corps de convoquer une réunion des Supérieurs des Sociétés Missionnaires le 23 octobre 1905. A cette même année, la commission exécutive ou commission d’examen fut constituée. Elle fut créée afin d’examiner quelles reformes devraient être introduites dans l’administration de l’Etat Indépendant du Congo. Son a été d’éliminer et de prévenir les abus signalés par la commission d’enquête. Les résolutions et propositions formulées dans la réunion des supérieurs, ne concernent nullement ou d’une manière seulement indirecte les relations avec l’Etat Indépendant du Congo. Ce sont des vœux qui se rattachent soit à l’évangélisation soit à l’œuvre civilisatrice en général. Telles sont les résolutions qui traitent des écoles, des taxes et prestation des autochtones, de la question arabe et de la moralité publique.

The last chemical munition from Russian arsenals of chemical weapons has been destroyed September 22, 2017, at the Kizner facility in Udmurtia. Chemical weapons (CW) destruction started at the times of the demise of the USSR and the change of political formation in the country, followed by the collapse of its economy. Russian Federation Government Decree № 305, «On the Approval of the Special Federal Targeted Program for the Destruction of Chemical Weapons Stockpiles in the Russian Federation» (21 March 1996), became an important milestone in Russia`s fulfilling its international commitments, including its chemical weapons disarmament obligations. Due to certain Soviet scientific and technological advances and thanks to the extraordinary efforts and talent of the experts from the Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence Troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, from the Federal Agency for the Safe Storage and Destruction of Chemical Weapons and from several other scientific research organizations, the CW destruction program has been completed three years ahead of schedule. Two-stage process of chemical neutralization, technically adapted to different types and ways of CW stockpiling, have been used for CW destruction. Seven special facilities have been built in Gorny (Saratov region), Kambarka and Kizner (Udmurt Republic), Maradykovsky (Kirov region), Shchuch'ye (Kurgan region), Leonidovka (Penza region) and Pochep (Bryansk region) for this purpose. 40,000 metric tons of CW have been destroyed at these facilities. The implementation of the Federal Targeted Program three years ahead of schedule saved considerable financial resources for the country and saved the population of the regions where CW stockpiling and destruction facilities have been located, from serious danger in case of any incident or accident.

The article is dedicated to the elaboration of highly sensitive method for the detection of bis(2-N,Ndialkylaminoethyl)disulfides – hydrolysis (degradation) products of highly toxic organophosphorus nerve agents like VX and their analogues. These compounds are subject to the complete prohibition and destruction in accordance with the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction. Thus their detection is of great importance for the monitoring of the compliance with the Convention. The search for the optimum conditions for the chromatographic separation and mass-selective detection for these compounds is based on the OPCW recommendations for the annual international Proficiency Tests. We use gas chromatography as a separation technique. The objects of the research are the homologous organic compounds – bis(2-N,N-diisopropylaminoethyl)disulfide (hydrolysis product of VX-gas) and bis(2-N,N-diethylaminoethyl)disulfide (hydrolysis product of VR-gas). The optimum way of sample preparation is the organic extraction of disulfides from aqueous solution using methylene chloride. During the practical experiments we found out that the most sensitive devices for the detection of bis(2-N,N-dialkylaminoethyl)disulfides were the gas chromatograph Agilent 7890A together with the mass selective detector Agilent 7000B GC/MS Triple Quad and the licenced software Mass Hunter Workstation Software, Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis, version B.04.00. Using the proposed approach, the detection limits of bis(2-N,N-diisopropylaminoethyl) disulfide and bis(2-N,N-diethylaminoethyl)disulfide in water bodies were found to be 0,533±0,003 ng/ml, and 0,68±0,002 ng/ml, respectively.

The development of scientific research methods and dual-use production technologies, the widening of the range of new toxic chemicals, as well as technical possibilities for the development of a new generation of poisonous substances, formally not forbidden by the acting Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, pose a new level of threats to nonproliferation of chemical weapons. Under these circumstances, it is necessary to possess not only legal possibility, but also appropriate laboratory equipment and services for the effective non-proliferation control. Considerable attention in this sphere has been paid earlier to environmental samples for toxic chemicals analysis, including samples of air, soil, vegetation and water. But at the present time the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) gives special emphasis to analysis of biomedical samples (blood, urine) in the context of non-proliferation and investigations of alleged use of chemical weapons and toxic chemicals. The proper sensitivity during the detection and identification of biomarkers of exposure to chemical agents and toxic chemicals can be achieved by gas chromatography- mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS) methods. Efforts in this sphere are now focused on three main tasks – sample preparation, the optimization of the conditions of chromatographic separation of samples, storage and interpretation of mass-spectra characteristics. The article provides examples of how the above mentioned techniques are used in the detection of signs and evidence of exposure to organic phosphorus compounds and sulfur mustard.

First attempts to ban chemical weapons (CW) as a method of warfare have been made since the second half of the XIX century. At the beginning of the XX century, several legal documents – declarations, protocols and conventions, forbidding the use of poisons, poisonous weapons, poisonous and asphyxiating gases and means of their delivery, have been adopted at the international level. But all these documents, including the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 and the 1925 Geneva Protocol, turned out to be useless and ineffective as a means of deterrence. They could prevent neither large-scale use of CW in World War I, nor their further development. Instead of the assistance to the prohibition of CW, in fact they assisted their legalization and further arms race. The article is dedicated to the history of first efforts to ban CW by international treaties. It describes in details the circumstances of the elaboration of these declarations, protocols and conventions in connection with other general security problems, their further adoption or breakdown. Special attention is paid to the attitude towards CW at the beginning of the XX century and their use as a means of pressure and propaganda.

This article examines the safeguarding and implementation of the ICH convention using a case study approach in the United Republic of Tanzania context. The study investigated safeguarding measures employed after independence in 1961 and since 2011 when the country became a signatory to UNESCO (2003) convention. The study revealed that the country has still not achieved much in terms of identifying and safeguarding intangible cultural heritage (ICH). The country has neither developed a national inventory nor inscribed any element on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. This situation is due to the failure to understand the philosophical background of the ICH Convention. The negative beliefs of some people that many cultural elements such as rituals and witchcraft are outdated or evil has influenced challenges in safeguarding ICH in Tanzania. Furthermore, fear of bringing identity problems and tribalism issues while there is a feeling that Tanzanians are unified by the Kiswahili language which leads to Swahili culture has also brought negative perspectives towards safeguarding and implementing ICH in the country. Finally, this paper contributes to the discourse on the best practices in safeguarding and implementing ICH.

On the face of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, the refugee problem in Africa is explicitly a multi-dimensional humanitarian, political, and security challenge. Linking the problem of refugees in Africa to the challenge of coexistence among then newly independent African States, Article III of the OAU Convention prohibits subversion by refugees. This study examines the evolution of this prohibition in the context of the history of post-colonial transition and authoritarianism which birthed it, and whose consequences are far from extinguished; suggesting that this context provides greater clarity to the scope and function of the prohibition as an obligation founded in a duty of friendly relations owed by African states to one another. Despite this, the language of the prohibition in the OAU Convention nevertheless lends it to sovereign self-help in a global context of rising authoritarian rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of this research topic in today's conditions is of great interest and lies in the fact that genocide is one of the most serious crimes against humanity, and although responsibility for it is officially established, this does not prevent new manifestations of genocide. In this scientific article, the author made another attempt to consider the theoretical basis of the emergence of the term "genocide" in international law. It is noted that despite the rather long existence of genocide in the world, it was only after the Second World War that genocide was qualified as the most serious crime against humanity. It was analyzed that despite the fact that the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was signed, its adopted norms could not prevent a new manifestation of this crime. The article gives known historical examples of terrible genocides. It was determined that responsibility for genocide is stipulated by the UN Convention of 1948 "On the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide and its Punishment", which formulates the composition of the crime and its forms. It was also found that the Convention does not directly refer to the responsibility of states, but only indirectly. The concept of international criminal responsibility of the state for genocide is revealed and conclusions are drawn that this concept is controversial. The judicial practice of the states regarding prosecution for the crime of genocide in accordance with the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide has been analyzed. Conclusions were made about the application by national courts of the Genocide Convention itself, or the national legislation, which contained the definition of the crime of genocide in accordance with the Convention. The article also reveals current events, namely that the crimes committed by the Russians during the full-scale aggression fall under the articles of the 1948 Genocide Convention, and Ukraine is working to bring Russian criminals to justice for the genocide of the Ukrainian people. It was concluded that the crimes of the Russians in Ukraine are genocide by all indications and that Russia should bear responsibility for the genocide of the Ukrainian people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Languages are powerful solutions to coordination problems: They provide stable, shared expectations about how the words we say correspond to the beliefs and intentions in our heads. Yet, language use in a variable and nonstationary social environment requires linguistic representations to be flexible: Old words acquire new ad hoc or partner-specific meanings on the fly. In this article, we introduce continual hierarchical adaptation through inference (CHAI), a hierarchical Bayesian theory of coordination and convention formation that aims to reconcile the long-standing tension between these two basic observations. We argue that the central computational problem of communication is not simply transmission, as in classical formulations, but continual learning and adaptation over multiple timescales. Partner-specific common ground quickly emerges from social inferences within dyadic interactions, while community-wide social conventions are stable priors that have been abstracted away from interactions with multiple partners. We present new empirical data alongside simulations showing how our model provides a computational foundation for several phenomena that have posed a challenge for previous accounts: (a) the convergence to more efficient referring expressions across repeated interaction with the same partner, (b) the gradual transfer of partner-specific common ground to strangers, and (c) the influence of communicative context on which conventions eventually form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In work the general principles of transfer of thermal energy in limited space are theoretically considered. To simplify the task, the tasks are defined in the Cartesian coordinate system. The dependence of the transfer on the coefficients of thermal conductivity, heat capacity and eigencoefficients of differential partial differential equations of an inhomogeneous and homogeneous nature are analyzed. Modeling sets initial and boundary conditions. In solving the problem, the method of multiple separation of variables is used. In conclusion, the final form of the function of the phenomenon of heat transfer in a limited space is derived from 4 variables.

The 'prohibitionist' idea that slurs have the same linguistic properties as their neutral counterparts hasn't received much support in the literature. Here I offer a modified version of prohibitionism, according to which the taboo on using slurs is part of their conventional meaning. I conclude with explanations of the behaviour of slurs in embedded constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Great Dictionary of Taoism, published by Huaxia Publishing House in 1994 and compiled by the Chinese Taoist Association and Suzhou Taoist Association, is the first comprehensive reference book on Taoism in the world. The dictionary has provided invaluable assistance for scholars of Taoism. However, in the last three decades, with the flourishing research on the language of Taoist literature, the inadequacies in the Great Dictionary of Taoism have gradually become apparent. Therefore, a systematic revision of this dictionary is necessary. Based on a selection of 700 typical entries with obvious problems from the Great Dictionary of Taoism, this paper conducts a detailed study of their errors from five key areas: entries, meanings, definitions, documentary evidence, and convention. By providing examples and proposing correctional suggestions, the paper aims to provide a necessary reference for the revision of the Great Dictionary of Taoism. The Great Dictionary of Taoism serves as a vital link between the sacred world and the secular society in Taoism, and this study will help Taoist priests, believers, and researchers accurately understand complex Taoist ideologies and practice patterns. It is significant for the inheritance and promotion of Taoist culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]