Enhancing Sustainable Consumption in China: A Seafood Example

In recent years, market surveys on sustainable seafood consumption have analysed Chinese people’s willingness to purchase ecolabelled seafood produced and imported into China. Endogenous and exogenous determinants are thereby unveiled to explore Chinese consumers’ sustainability consciousness, purchasing decisions, and the means of bridging the divide. This article builds upon and adds to these empirical findings with a market-based and information lens. It draws inspiration from analysing the growing interest of younger and middle-class consumers in acquiring seafood information; integrative sourcing and marketing strategies of intermediary businesses to deliver such information; and awakening of public regulators to the imperative of realizing the right to information of less-informed parties. Instead of segregating these stakeholders along a linear supply chain, the study emphasizes the deepening of a consumer-centric information network underpinned by supply chain transparency and traceability. It thus aims to inform a steady shift from a production-oriented to a consumer-oriented seafood management paradigm through systematic reforms of China’s consumer law. To encourage and empower sustainable consumption, the ‘consumer’ notion needs proper broadening and consumers’ right to know should be recognized as a judicial and self-contained legal entitlement with enforcement safeguards.

Secondary research use of personal medical data: patient attitudes towards data donation

Background The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has highlighted once more the great need for comprehensive access to, and uncomplicated use of, pre-existing patient data for medical research. Enabling secondary research-use of patient-data is a prerequisite for the efficient and sustainable promotion of translation and personalisation in medicine, and for the advancement of public-health. However, balancing the legitimate interests of scientists in broad and unrestricted data-access and the demand for individual autonomy, privacy and social justice is a great challenge for patient-based medical research. Methods We therefore conducted two questionnaire-based surveys among North-German outpatients (n = 650) to determine their attitude towards data-donation for medical research, implemented as an opt-out-process. Results We observed a high level of acceptance (75.0%), the most powerful predictor of a positive attitude towards data-donation was the conviction that every citizen has a duty to contribute to the improvement of medical research (> 80% of participants approving data-donation). Interestingly, patients distinguished sharply between research inside and outside the EU, despite a general awareness that universities and public research institutions cooperate with commercial companies, willingness to allow use of donated data by the latter was very low (7.1% to 29.1%, depending upon location of company). The most popular measures among interviewees to counteract reservations against commercial data-use were regulation by law (61.4%), stipulating in the process that data are not sold or resold (84.6%). A majority requested control of both the use (46.8%) and the protection (41.5%) of the data by independent bodies. Conclusions In conclusion, data-donation for medical research, implemented as a combination of legal entitlement and easy-to-exercise-right to opt-out, was found to be widely supported by German patients and therefore warrants further consideration for a transposition into national law.

Mechanisms of attaining the objectives of criminal procedure on preservation of victims’ rights, freedoms and legitimate interests and prevention of secondary victimization in pre-trial investigation

The study is devoted to the issue of legal mechanism of attaining the objectives of criminal procedure on preservation of victims’ rights, freedoms and legitimate interests and prevention of secondary victimization in pre-trial proceedings (initiation of criminal proceedings and pre-trial investigation). This mechanism is composed of the procedure of legal entitlement of a harmed person with procedural status of victim, which provides the opportunity to participate sub actively in criminal process and to take advantages from corresponding legal guarantees in the process; the procedure for providing victims with a written acknowledgement of their formal complaint by criminal justice system officials that ensures that victim’s claim on the assumption that he or she has suffered some sort of harm as a direct result of criminal offense had been committed, is considered as true and simultaneously is examined by providing pre-trial investigation; ensuring that victims have been provided with the opportunity to receive preservation and protection of their violated procedural rights, in particular by providing access to challenge in court in pre-trial investigation processdecisions, actions or actions of investigator, inquirer, prosecutor or investigating judge. The author states that the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine prescribe that entitling of a harmed person with victim status is made through autodynamic procedure and that the Code purposely does not lie the burden of proof for attest suffered harm on the victim, which he or she proclaimed in a complaint. The common legal Presumption of Integrity and good faith of the person is embodied in mentioned legal provision and, as the author pointed out, have led to the obligation of competent officers to use an Anticipatory Trust Doctrine in resolving the issue of deprivation of the procedural status of the victim. The burden of proof for absence of harm is lied on investigator or prosecutor according to the author’s interpretation of Part 5 Art. 55 of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine. The Code purposely does not provide the procedure for deprivation of the procedural status of victim in the stage of Trial too. Court order of investigating judge on the cancellation of the prosecutor's decision on deprivation of the procedural status of victim, ipso facto, entitling the complainant with victim status, as it restores the normative provision of first paragraph of Part 2 Art. 55 of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine. The author analyzed nationwide statistic of court orders of investigating judge in two-last-years period and concluded that, on the one hand, the harmed persons often believe that their procedural rights are violated or ignored in pre-trial proceedings (at the initiation of criminal proceedings and in pre-trial investigation), which is leading to increased risks of secondary victimization; on the other hand, the rates of satisfaction of victims' complaints by the investigating judge are high, which proves the effectiveness of the institution of challenging in correcting mistakes that were committed earlier. Keywords: secondary victimization, objectives of criminal procedure, victim, harmed person, anticipatory trust doctrine, presumption of victims’ integrity, preservation of rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of victims, legal entitlement with status of the victim, acquisition of the status of the victim, deprivation of the procedural status of victim, refusal to recognize the victim, challenging in pre-trial investigation.

MGNREGA: Ensures Guaranteed Wage Employment in Rural Area

The Mahatma Gandhi Nation Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is perhaps the world largest right to work model being implemented in India. The most distinctive feature of MGNREGA from the earlier rural public works programme is that it has provided a legal entitlement to work on demand. But unfortunately MGNREGA is not meeting demand for wage employment in rural areas it may be because poor transparency and accountability and lack of capacity on the part of Panchayats. Lack of awareness among villagers about the provisions of the Act and not using proper strategy for awareness building is another factor which is responsible for lacuna due to which proper implementation of MGNREGS is remain challenge in rural areas.There are still lots of problems in the implementation of MGNREGA. Still, it has not reached the poor and needy due to lack of interest of the implementing agencies especially local self governance in rural area. MGNERGS needs more creative innovative and time bound efforts from the local governance institutions to meet the demand for wage employment in rural area. Gram Sabha and Social audit can play crucial role to implement these scheme.The present paper is based of secondary source of literature, discusses about whether MGNREGA really meeting demands of wage employment at village level and suggests mechanism for effective implementation of MGNREGA.

From revolutionary Paris to Nootka Sound to Saint-Domingue: The international politics and prejudice behind Wollstonecraft’s theory of the rights of humanity, 1789–91

Against the background of the international political crises generated by the early phase of the French Revolution at Nootka Sound in 1790 and in Saint-Domingue in 1791, Mary Wollstonecraft developed a capacious political theory of the “rights of humanity.” She pushed beyond narrow post-revolutionary European constructions of “the rights of man” which ignored or excluded “the poor,” “Indians,” “African slaves,” and “women.” While closely following the international politics of the French Revolution, Wollstonecraft developed the core arguments of A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790) and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). Her key philosophical innovation was to publicly universalize the conceptual scope of rights, such that rights were no longer—implicitly or explicitly—solely the legal entitlement of propertied white European men, but rather the moral and political entitlement of the whole of humanity across nations. Yet she rhetorically contradicted and philosophically limited the cross-cultural universalism of her theory of equal rights by punctuating her arguments with Western Protestant and Orientalist stereotypes of Eastern despotism. Consequently, international politics and international prejudice shaped Wollstonecraft’s theory of equal rights and her application of it to peoples and cultures beyond those of Western Protestant Europe.

Access to healthcare services for the Roma and undocumented migrants in the EU in light of the Covid-19 pandemic

Background. The rising number of the EU Roma citizens from the CEE countries, non-EU Roma citizens from the Western-Balkans, and of undocumented migrants in the European Union makes it interesting to see that most of them face barriers when accessing health services [with a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)] or have no health coverage at all [no legal entitlement]. European migrant health policies are seemingly well structured and responsive to the needs of migrants, however, results of recent studies raise the question whether the legislations are responsive enough to the needs of the Roma and undocumented migrants when accessing health services. Given the circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic these groups are now at an increased risk and they might not be able to understand how the virus transmits and how they can protect themselves from it. Methods. Literature review focusing on the access to health services and migrant health policies in the EU and the UK was carried out. The target groups of this research were Roma citizens and third-country national undocumented migrants residing in the European Union. Results. In theory the legal entitlement for accessing healthcare for migrants in general is satisfactory, while in practice these groups face difficulties, such as prejudice, discrimination and other barriers (language, logistical) when approaching health services. Migrants lack trust in the health system and the healthcare professionals, and are not aware of their fundamental rights to healthcare either. Conclusions. Legal entitlements for EU migrant citizens do not differ within EU countries but they significantly vary for undocumented migrants Europe-wide and there seems to be a mismatch between the legal entitlements for undocumented migrants in theory and their implementation in practice. Given the circumstances of the pandemic these groups are at an increased risk and therefore their health inclusion through health literacy programs should take place, as well as health workers should be trained on diversity in order to establish diversity adapted EU health systems. Seeking adaptive practices to establish cultural diversity within the healthcare settings, and introducing the universal health coverage scheme Europe-wide in order for undocumented migrants and EU citizens without employment to benefit from proper healthcare services is encouraged and necessary.

Service transitions, interventions and care pathways following remittal to prison from medium secure psychiatric services in England and Wales: national cohort study

Background Little is known internationally about return to prison from in-patient psychiatric services, including: circumstances leading to return, aftercare services and subsequent patient outcomes. Aims To examine and describe: (a) circumstances leading to return to prison from medium secure services; (b) available aftercare and early outcomes of returned persons; and (c) implications for policy development. Method Prospective cohort design with all patients (n = 96) returned to prisons from 33 National Health Service (NHS) medium secure services over a 6-month period in England and Wales. Follow-up was conducted for 1 year post-remittal, across 60 prisons. Results Less than 20% of patients with legal entitlement to section 117 aftercare under the Mental Health Act 1983 were receiving care managed/delivered via the care programme approach. Subsequent pathways included: inter-prison transfer (30%), use of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork process (49%), referral to secure services (21%) and community release (30%). Less than half of community releases were referred to a community mental health team. Conclusions Findings suggest that persons returned to prison are a vulnerable group of patients, many of whom require intervention (e.g. enhanced monitoring, admission to a healthcare wing, readmission to secure mental health services) on return to prison in the absence of targeted aftercare services. More robust guidance for discharge and aftercare planning procedures for persons remitted to prison should be developed to ensure that the benefits of in-patient admission are maintained and that individuals’ legal rights to ongoing aftercare are upheld.

Confused out of care: unanticipated consequences of a ‘Hostile Environment’

The UK’s 2014 Immigration Act aimed to create a ‘Hostile Environment’ for migrants to the UK. One aspect of this was the restriction of access to secondary care for overseas visitors to the UK, although it remains the case that everybody living in the UK has the legal right to access primary care. In this paper, we argue that the effects of this policy extend beyond secondary care, including preventing eligible people from registering with a General Practice (GP), although as an unintended consequence. This problem arises from misinterpretation of policy wording, misleading GP websites and gatekeeping behaviour from front-line staff, even though there are no grounds in the current guidelines or law to support this. Free access to primary healthcare among refugees and asylum seekers living in deprived populations is particularly important in protecting patient health, given the burden of ill-health in this population and the multiple barriers to accessing early intervention they face. The medical profession has a duty to communicate their rights to this patient group—their legal entitlement to access free healthcare, and the vital importance of doing so.