The United Nations has shown recurrent inability to respond to international threats caused by severe human rights violations and thus failed to perform one of its main function—preservation of international peace and security in the world. This evidenced gaps in the United Nations, caused mainly by the veto right in the voting system within the Security Council and limited powers of the General Assembly. The international community gave a twofold answer to this problem: radical humanitarian intervention and the recent concept (...) of the responsibility to protect. The main problem with regard to humanitarian intervention is its legality—its compliance with the prohibition of the use of force. The responsibility to protect does not clash with the prohibition of the use of force, but its legal implications are rather vague—being intensively discussed in the international forum, the responsibility to protect has not yet appeared in any legally binding international document. This article discusses the legal significance of humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect, and aims to determine how they affect, if at all, the regulation of the use of force in the international relations, as well as how they respond to the issue of large scale atrocities in the world. (shrink)

In recent times, teachers are considered to play a key role in dealing with the problem of peer violence and their competence is very important for quality interventions. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between competence and perceived severity of a violent situation in predicting teacher intervention in cases of peer violence. The research was conducted on a nationally representative sample of primary school teachers in the Republic of Croatia, average age 43 years. In addition to (...) the socio-demographic characteristics questionnaire, data was collected via Vignettes and the Self- Assessment Competence Scale for Teachers’ Work on Peer Violence Problems. In addition to the analysis of the basic determinants of competence, it was found that teachers who are more competent will assess violence somewhat more seriously than their less competent colleagues, and those who perceive violence more seriously will also intervene more often. The results show that competence has a significant predictive role in predicting interventions, and in this respect the severity of violence has a moderating effect. Teachers with low competence and low perception of the severity of violence have the lowest probability of intervention, and teachers with high levels of competence who assess violence as serious have the highest probability of intervention. (shrink)

Povod za beogradski skup?Socijalizam i kultura? s kraja 1969. godine bile su zabrane. Od juna?68. u Srbiji je bilo oko cetrdeset intervencija, sto je znatno vise nego u ostalim YU republikama. Izveden je zakljucak o provincijalnosti i nedovoljno razvijenom kulturnom zivotu. Autor ovog rada je prosirio temu na siri plan jer su intencije dijaloga to dopustale. Paralelno s tim cinjenicama, dobro se uklapaju podaci o Golom otoku, koje daje Milovan Djilas. Otok je bio najdrasticnija i najdramaticnija zabrana u celokupnom (...) postojanju Druge YU. I iz negdasnje, i iz sadasnje perspektive, skup bi se mogao protumaciti kao krik i vapaj za slobodom. Razgovoru su presudno doprineli predstavnici beogradskog krila Praxis grupe, uz potonje, mahom neslavno, ucesce u dogadjajima, pre svega versko-gradjanskim ratovima; za razliku od glavne, zagrebacke?centrale? Praxisa, koja nije bila zahvacena nacionalistickim virusom. Izlazu se, najzad, argumenti o Dobrici Cosicu kao srpskom Faustu, te se dovodi u pitanje teza o piscu kao ocu nacije. (shrink)

Prijevod Biblije A. Chouraquija, prijevod koji nastoji prevladati granice što odvajaju jezike i kulture eda bi ponovno otkrio simbolički i univerzalni smisao riječi, polazište je za hermeneutičko razmišljanje. Četiri primjera: iš-iša, rehem, JHVH i Deset Besjeda pokazuju rad prijevoda koji je istodobno i hermeneutički rad, blizak misli Paula Ricoeura. Iš-iša riječi su koje otvaraju novu dimenziju značenja Stvaranja: muškarac i žena tek zajedno tvore čovjeka. Hebrejska riječ rehem otkriva novi sloj smisla božanskoga milosrđa i utire mogući put teologiji nježnosti. Ime (...) Božje – JHVH neizgovorljivo je Ime neiskazivosti misterija Bića, Bića koje je u filozofiji neprestano poticalo rasprave, a u Bibliji se pojavljuje unutar opisa božanskih intervencija za dobrobit čovjeka. Deset zapovijedi, izražene u futuru, a ne u imperativu, i nisu zapovijedi u strogom smislu te riječi, nego Besjede koje ukazuju čovjeku na put kojim mu je krenuti – put pomirenja Čovjeka s njegovom ljudskošću, put ljubavi koja nadilazi put pravednosti i obogaćuje je. Učinak biblijskih naracija na čitatelja ponajprije je njegova nova otvorenost svijetu. Postajemo sposobni ponovno uspostaviti smisao riječima.André Chouraqui dans sa traduction de la Bible en français cherche à surmonter les barrièresqui séparent les langues et les cultures en redécouvrent le sens symbolique et universel desmots. Telle traduction pourrait être un bon point de départ pour la réflexion hérmeneutique.Les quatre exemples de la traduction des noms: ish-isha, rehem, JHVH et Dix Paroles montrentbien le travail de la traduction qui est en même temps le travail hérmeneutique proche de lapensée de Paul Ricœur. Ish-isha – sont des mots qui découvrent une nouvelledimension de la signification de la création: ce n’est qu’ensemble que l’homme et la femmesoient l’homme. Le mot hébreu rehem dévoile la signification de la miséricorde divineet s’ouvre sur une théologie de la tendresse. Le nom de Dieu – JHVH est le nom imprononçablequi entend désigner l’ineffable mystère de l’Être, cet Être qui toujours de nouveau réanime unediscussion philosophique. Dans la Bible ce Nom est décrit par des interventions divines en fa­veur de l’homme. Les Dix Commandements, exprimés au futur et pas au impératif, ne sont pasles commandements dans le sens strict du mot, mais les paroles qui montrent à l’Homme versquoi il doit tendre – vers la réconciliation avec l’humain, vers l’amour qui dépasse la justice etl’enrichit. Les effets de la narration biblique sur le lecteur suscitent une nouvelle ouverture au monde, qui nous rend capables à rétablir le sens des mots. (shrink)

Članak pokušava detektirati inicijalno pojavljivanje termina »biopolitika«. Termin, danas najčešće vezan uz filozofsku poziciju Giorgia Agambena , svoj prvi iskaz dobiva kod Michela Foucaulta. Njegova dijagnoza u sedamdesetim godina prošlog stoljeća bila je da je moć znanstveno-tehnologijske proizvodnje života stvarila razdoblje biopolitike. Biopolitika je za Foucaulta ulazak života i njegovih mehanizama u područje svjesnog računanja i reguliranja moći, odnosno znanja svih agenata promjene ljudskog života. Stanovništvo postaje predmetom političkih intervencija već od kraja 18. i početka 19. stoljeća. U savezu (...) sa standardnim institucijama disciplinarnog poretka – ekonomija, politika, vojska – konstantni je sklop biopolitike stanovništvo. S obzirom na kategoriju života kao matricu društvenosti, ovdje se utemeljuje ono što će kasnije formirati »biopolitička teorija«.The article tries to detect the initial appearance of the concept of “biopolitics”. This concept, nowadays usually linked with philosophical position of Giorgio Agamben , first came to an attention by Michel Foucault. His diagnosis in the seventies of the past century was that the power of the scientific-technological production of life created a period of biopolitics. For Foucault, biopolitics is the entrance of life and its mechanisms into the area of conscious calculation and regulation of power that is the knowledge of all the agents of change in a person’s life. The population becomes the subject of political interventions already by the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. In alliance with the standard institutions of the disciplinary order – economics, politics, and the military – the constant framework of biopolitics is the population. With regards to the category of life as the matrix of sociability, here we have the foundation of what is later to be formed into "biopolitical theory". (shrink)

The present article is a subjective commentary on the case Kononov v. Latvia dealt by the European Court of Human Rights, in particular drawing attention to the Courts intention not to regard context of the case as important for the substantial issues. Author considers this approach in a bigger picture of clash of historical and legal paradigms of the heritage of the Second World War in different countries (namely, Western Europe, Russia, the Baltic States). Author also discusses what impact Kononov (...) case might have on Soviet crimes prosecution in the future. (shrink)

The use of private military force by states has been a long-standing phenomena in the history of warfare. Armies of mercenaries, privateering and recruitment of foreign nationals into armed forces have been common during the Middle Ages and later on. However, with the invention of effective firearms and artillery, standing regular armies, conscription and other developments that resulted in the essential rise of costs of war, the role of private military entrepreneurs diminished. By the end of XIXth century the state (...) became almost the only subject that was able to wage a full-scale war. Nevertheless, already in the middle of the XXth century mercenarism has been reborn in Africa’s colonial and post-colonial wars. The end of the XXth century and the beginning of the XXI century witnesses an enormous rise of private security and military companies (PSMC) that are hired to perform different functions related to use of force not only by states, but also by other clients such as international organisations, transnational corporations, etc. A PSMC may be defined as a profit-seeking private enterprise, which is established according to the national law of the state and which is providing, on the basis of a contract, services directly or indirectly connected with the use of military force or its institutions whether in time of armed conflict or peace, notwithstanding how such company describes itself. International humanitarian law has no specific regulation of PSMC. Nevertheless, it would be erroneous to state that the activity of PSMC is not regulated, because international humanitarian law in any case, in one or another way, is applicable to the personnel of PSMC if it is engaged in armed conflict of either international or non-international character. (shrink)

Cyber warfare is becoming a new reality with new battles fought everyday on virtual battlefields. For a century and a half, International Humanitarian Law has been a sentry for victims of wars guaranteeing their legal protection from the calamities of war, trying hard to respond to Clausewitz’s “chameleon of war”. Cyber conflict marks new chameleon’s colour together with the unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomic battle systems and other technologies deployed on battlefields. However, it would be greatly erroneous to claim that the (...) International Humanitarian Law may not apply to the new phenomena just because it is caused by the advanced technology. Even if the Geneva Conventions of 1949 are already sixty years old, the International Humanitarian Law in itself has at minimum customary response mechanism, granting, in a spirit of Marten’s clause, protection and authority of the principles of international law derived from established custom, from the principles of humanity and from dictates of public conscience (Protocol I). Notwithstanding, some more complicated fundamental issues also have to be addressed: how the use of cybernetic weapons and means may affect the classic notion of armed conflict? How it can be interpreted in the light of new technologies, i.e. can we still rely on a classic understanding of weapon’s kinetic effect as the main element, or shall we embrace effectsbased “Schmitt’s criteria”. If it so happens, will it make an act without apparent damage to a person/property equal to military hostilities, required by the armed conflict notion and justify the real-life response to it. The effective or overall control tests were used for the attribution of non-state actor’s activity to the state party of an armed conflict but these tests might not meet its purpose in the virtual battlefield of loose networks and open-source communities. If the concept of armed conflict is treated more flexibly, other changes (including issues of attribution) may follow, as well. Perhaps this is the way how the combatant institute will evolve. With classic combatant’s criteria impossible to apply on virtual battlefields, one of the options would be to elaborate concepts of “constant combat function” and “direct participation in hostilities” more precisely, as well as to reconsider state’s affiliation requirements. (shrink)

Environmental protection in times of armed conflicts, irrespective internal or international, is rarely considered as a prioritized concern. Due to the concept of state sovereignty, this is especially problematic when examining interaction of warfare and environmental protection in non-international hostilities. Not only it is challenging to find any exhaustive and explicit legal provisions regulating the matter, but this issue has also been forgotten by international legal scholars. Therefore, in this article the author reviews written and customary norms laid down in (...) documents of various branches of international law, such as international humanitarian law, human rights law, environmental law and international criminal law, which directly or by way of interpretation may favour environmental protection in times of internal armed conflict. This is to be done in order to gather information about the sufficiency of legal framework on preservation of the environment in times of noninternational armed conflicts. After doing this research, a few possible means to improve current legal framework are suggested. The author suggests to impose civil liability, enact new comprehensive document, initiate changes in international criminal law and other. (shrink)

Enforced disappearance is not a new type of human rights violation. This phenomenon is taking place all over the world. Nevertheless, with the exception of the single provision in the Rome Statute, there is no universal legally binding document which would be applicable in all the cases of enforced disappearances. This article introduces the phenomenon of enforced disappearances, analyses its multiple nature, and overviews the latest developments in drafting legally binding documents within the UN framework.