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.

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)

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)

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)

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 this article, we explore the concept of African communitarianism and reflect on its potential value for ecojustice education as a localised response to the wider ecological crises that i...

Resumo: O presente artigo sistematiza informações sobre a implementação do Programa Jovem de Futuro, PJF, na rede estadual de ensino no Pará, considerando suas implicações para o Direito Humano à Educação, DHE, de acordo com o proposto no Pacto Internacional sobre os Direitos Econômicos, Sociais e Culturais- PIDESC, que demarca quatro indicadores da ação estatal para a asseguramento do direito à Educação. São eles: Disponibilidade, Acessibilidade, Aceitabilidade, Adaptabilidade e, ainda, Controle Social incorporado na matriz de pesquisa. Em diálogo com tais (...) indicadores, coletamos informações em páginas oficiais da Secretaria Estadual de Educação do Pará e do ator privado responsável pela implementação do Programa, o Instituto Unibanco. Procedemos análise de documentos oficiais localizados nas referidas páginas, além de consultar a produção nacional sobre o PJF, com ênfase à sua consolidação no estado do Pará, no período de 2011-2018. A pesquisa de tipo qualitativa, apoiada em revisão bibliográfica, análise documental e coleta de dados de fontes primárias e secundárias, possibilitou a constatação de forte influência do setor privado na educação pública paraense, que direcionou a adoção de modelos de gestão empresarial para a obtenção de melhores resultados educacionais, com controle e monitoramento em todas as etapas do PJF, com sérias consequências ao DHE. Palavras-chave: Direito Humano à Educação; Jovem de Futuro; Instituto Unibanco; Privatização. The Jovem de Futuro program in Pará and the implications for the Human Right to Education – DHE Abstract: The article systematizes information about the implementation of the The Youth with a Future Program - PJF in the state education in Pará, considering its implications for the Human Right to Education - DHE, in accordance with what is proposed in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - ICESCR, which outlines four indicators of state action to ensure the right to education. They are: Availability, Accessibility, Acceptability, Adaptability and accountability incorporated in the research matrix. Related with these indicators, we collected information on official pages of the Pará State Department of Education and on the private actor responsible for implementing the Program, Instituto Unibanco. We proceeded to the analysis of official documents located on the referred pages, in addition to consulting the national academic production on the PJF, with emphasis on its consolidation in the state of Pará, in the period 2011-2018. Qualitative research, supported by a bibliographic review, document analysis and data collection from primary and secondary sources, made it possible to verify the strong influence of the private sector on public education in Pará, which led to the adoption of business management models to obtain better results. educational institutions, with control and monitoring at all stages of the PJF, with serious consequences for the DHE. Key-words: Human Right to Education; Future Youth; Unibanco Institute; Privatization. Programa Joven del Futuro en Pará y sus implicaciones al Derecho Humano a la Educación – DHE Resumen: La presente investigación sistematiza informaciones sobre la implementación del Programa Joven del Futuro – PJF en la red estatal de enseñanza de Pará, considerando sus implicaciones al Derecho Humano a la Educación – DHE, de acuerdo con lo propuesto en el Pacto Internacional sobre los Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales – PIDESC, que demarca cuatro indicadores de acción estatal para el aseguramiento del derecho a la Educación. Son ellos: Disponibilidad, Accesibilidad, Aceptabilidad, Adaptabilidad y, aún, Control Social incorporado en la matriz de investigación. En diálogo con tales indicadores, reunimos informaciones en páginas web oficiales de la Secretaria Estadual de Educação do Pará y del actor privado responsable por la implementación del Programa, el Instituto Unibanco. Procedemos el análisis de documentos oficiales localizados en las referidas páginas, así como consultamos la producción nacional sobre el PJF, con énfasis a las consolidaciones en Pará, en el período de 2011 hasta 2018. La investigación de tipo cualitativa, apoyada en revisiones bibliográficas, análisis documentales y recopilación de datos de fuentes primarias y secundarias, posibilitó la constatación de fuerte influencia del sector privado en la educación pública paraense, que direccionó la adopción de modelos de gestión empresarial para la obtención mejores resultados educacionales, con control y monitoreo en todas las etapas del PJF, con serias consecuencias al DHE. Palabras-clave: Derecho Humano a la Educación; Joven del Futuro; Instituto Unibanco; Privatización. Data de registro: 02/05/2022Data de aceite: 26/10/2022. (shrink)

Hannah Arendt plačiai žinoma kaip filosofė, kuri mėgino reabilituoti senovės graikų politikos sampratą. Remiantis Žmogaus būklės skaitymu, Arendt paprastai laikoma „graikofile“, jai prikišama „Atėnų nostalgija“. Sunku paneigti Arendt simpatijas graikams – ji iš tiesų atsigręžė į atėniečių politikos supratimą, bandydama jame iškristalizuoti kertinius autentiškos politikos elementus. Vis dėlto ši interpretacija yra pernelyg vienpusiška. Didžiausius nuopelnus politikos suvokimo srityje Arendt priskiria ne graikams, o romėnams. Pastarieji žymiai geriau sprendė politikos stabilumo, tęstinumo ir tvarumo problemą. Visą dėmesį sutelkiant į veiksmą, spontaniškumą ir (...) nepaprastus žygdarbius, kyla grėsmė destabilizuoti ir „išcentruoti“ politinės bend­rijos gyvenimą. Romėnai, įvesdami tokias sąvokas kaip tradicija, autoritetas, steigties (įkūrimo) šventumas, teisė (lex), taip pat pabrėždami politinę atleidimo ir pažado reikšmę, atveria graikams svetimą politinės sedimentacijos plotmę. Ši plotmė suteikia būtinus saugiklius, be kurių tvari politinė egzistencija yra neįmanoma. (shrink)