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Daily Archives: February 11, 2015

UN Human Rights Office launches a major online database of treaty body case law

“The UN Human Rights Office has launched a major public online database, http://juris.ohchr.org, that contains all case law issued by the UN human rights expert committees, the Treaty Bodies. “The database is designed to be a key reference tool for scholars, lawyers, civil society organisations, governments and civil servants, our UN partners and the general public,” said Ibrahim Salama, Director of the UN Human Rights Treaties Division. “Just as importantly, we hope it may help individuals who are preparing to submit complaints to the committees by giving them access to the views and decisions taken by the expert members on specific human rights issues.” The database was developed using data from the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) of Utrecht University School of Law. Since the mid-1990s, the SIM had developed a comprehensive record on the jurisprudence stemming from the decisions by four Treaty Bodies on complaints brought by individuals.  Over 20 years, academics compiled and indexed Treaty Bodies’ case law, making the SIM database the most authoritative online resource on this. Due to budget restrictions, the SIM stopped updating the database  from 1 January 2014 and took it offline on 1 January 2015. However, the SIM offered its data free of charge to the UN Human Rights Office. “This allowed us to build our own database, with an expanded remit and search capability, and we aim to continue developing it. It is an important part of our efforts to make the work of the Treaty Bodies more visible and accessible, and we hope it will benefit a range of users all over the world,” said Mr. Salama. There are 10 Treaty Bodies that review and monitor how States that have ratified a particular treaty are implementing the rights contained in it. Eight* can also consider complaints by individuals who believe their rights have been violated and who have exhausted all the legal steps in their own country.  The site contains case law indexed by various categories, including State, date, subject and keywords, which can all be used as search criteria. Users can submit their comments on the functioning of the database as part of ongoing efforts to improve it. The Committees that can receive and consider individual complaints are:

  • Human Rights Committee (CCPR)
  • Committee against Torture (CAT)
  • Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
  • Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
  • Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
  • Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)
  • Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)
  • Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)”

Monetary Policy, Bank Bailouts and the Sovereign-Bank Risk Nexus in the Euro Area

Fratzscher, Marcel and Rieth, Malte, Monetary Policy, Bank Bailouts and the Sovereign-Bank Risk Nexus in the Euro Area (February 2015). DIW Berlin Discussion Paper No. 1448. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2563000 “The paper analyses the empirical relationship between bank risk and sovereign credit risk in the euro area. Using structural VAR with daily financial… Continue Reading

New dosages of old drugs are used to raise their prices

New York Times (02/11/15) Meier, Barry: “Over the last 2 years, states nationwide have moved to crack down on so-called physician dispensing of prescription drugs, a practice largely limited to doctors who treat injured workers. Recent studies suggest that doctors and companies have responded by exploiting loopholes in those rules and adopting new strategies to… Continue Reading

Presidential Task Force Releases Implementation Plan for National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking

“Recognizing that wildlife trafficking is an urgent conservation and national security threat, the Departments of State, Justice, and the Interior today unveiled the Implementation Plan for the U.S. National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking. The agencies are Co-Chairs of the President’s Task Force on Combating Wildlife Trafficking, which comprises 17 federal agencies and offices. The… Continue Reading

Helping Families Involved in the Child Welfare System Achieve Housing Stability

Urban Institute Report – Mary K. Cunningham, Mike Pergamit, Abigail Baum, Jessica Luna. February 11, 2015. “The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)‘s Family Unification Program (FUP) provides low-income families involved in the child welfare system with housing vouchers. FUP is an important vehicle for understanding three issues: (1) the overlap between the child welfare system,… Continue Reading

First Clothes Dryers to Earn EPA’s Energy Star Label Now Available Nationwide

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that Energy Star certified clothes dryers are now available nationwide through major retailers. At least 45 models of dryers earning the Energy Star label, including Whirlpool, Maytag, Kenmore, LG, and Safemate, are at least 20 percent more efficient and now available at prices comparable to standard dryers. “Dryers… Continue Reading

Why CBO Pro Why CBO Projects That Actual Output Will Be Below Potential Output on Average jects That Actual Output Will Be Below Potential Output on Average

“Overall economic activity often is measured as the market value of the economy’s total output of goods and services—the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). For many reasons, GDP rises in some periods and falls in others, but those fluctuations occur around a rising path that is determined by growth in three particular factors in the… Continue Reading

Japan plans to restart some nuclear plants in 2015 after Fukushima shutdown

EIA: “Previously one of the world’s largest producers of nuclear-generated electricity, Japan has relied heavily on fossil fuels following the meltdown at Fukushima Dai-ichi and subsequent shutdown of the country’s nuclear fleet. In 2013, when almost all of Japan’s nuclear fleet was shut down, more than 86% of Japan’s generation mix was composed of fossil… Continue Reading

Motion Picture and Video Industry Receipts Exceed $80 Billion

“The U.S. Census Bureau released data today from the 2012 Economic Census showing that receipts for the nation’s motion picture and video industry (NAICS 5121) – covering the entire process from production to projection − increased $1.2 billion (1.5 percent), from $79.8 billion in 2007 to $81.0 billion in 2012. These receipt totals include ticket… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – DOD Building Partner Capacity, Defense Business Transformation, GAO’s High-Risk Series, Mental Health

Building Partner Capacity: DOD Should Improve Its Reporting to Congress on Challenges to Expanding Ministry of Defense Advisors Program, GAO-15-279: Published: Feb 11, 2015. Publicly Released: Feb 11, 2015. Defense Business Transformation: DOD Has Taken Some Steps to Address Weaknesses, but Additional Actions Are Needed, GAO-15-213:Published: Feb 11, 2015. Publicly Released: Feb 11, 201 GAO’s… Continue Reading