This study deals with how to organize legal pluralism occasioned by the emerging four-tiered justice paradigm. I seek to shift attention away from universalism by interrogating specific organizing... Show moreThis study deals with how to organize legal pluralism occasioned by the emerging four-tiered justice paradigm. I seek to shift attention away from universalism by interrogating specific organizing principles for legal pluralism. Secondly, I introduce the idea of system of justice which seeks to organize the relationships between different levels of courts and tribunals that exist as different parts of an ecosystem of criminal justice. I establish that there is a system of justice beyond the ICC. This system of justice approach presents a normative framework for analysis of principles to navigate the chaos that would attend the interaction between domestic, hybrid, regional and international courts with similar and overlapping jurisdictions. I aim to show that there is now a maturation of the justice system which should involve encouraging and clarifying the role of regional mechanisms in international criminal justice. The thesis shows that regionalism is not a challenge to international criminal justice. While some aspects are challenging, it is a progress to have this four-tiered model that encourages different levels of courts dispensing justice in the spirit of cooperation and mutual deference. I show that regionalism is not a challenge to international law, rather, it is an asset. I argue that regionalism should therefore not be seen as opposition to the universal conception of international criminal justice, but as a concept that promotes the latter in a different language and in a more contextualised way. Show less
This thesis investigated the extent to which types of civil service appointments shape the attitudes and behaviour of civil servants in neo-patrimonial settings, with a focus on the Ghanaian... Show moreThis thesis investigated the extent to which types of civil service appointments shape the attitudes and behaviour of civil servants in neo-patrimonial settings, with a focus on the Ghanaian experience. Despite the theoretical view in public administration literature about the consequences of the type of a civil servants’ appointment on his/her attitude and behaviour, the empirical data is marginal in emerging democracies such as Ghana. Regarding the attitudes and behaviour of concern, the study focused on the level of bureaucrats’ autonomy, loyalty and responsiveness. To investigate this phenomenon, the study adopted a mixed-method approach to understand why civil servants, despite their apolitical cloak, demonstrate varied attitudes and behaviour in contravention with their professionalism and, in particular, determine how their type of appointment influenced such attitudes and behaviour. The findings confirmed the study’s hypothesis that the type of a bureaucrats’ appointment into the bureaucracy indeed influenced his/her attitudes and behaviour. However, further analysis of this finding impugned mainstream discourses regarding the expected impact of types of appointment. For example, the study found that regardless of how merit-based the process of appointing a bureaucrat is, his/her autonomy is limited in Ghana. Secondly, whilst the general theoretical predictions concerning patronage and hybrid appointments’ impact on loyalty and responsiveness were confirmed respectively, the findings also suggest that such loyalties and responsiveness are not absolute, due to regulatory mechanisms and competing interests. Furthermore, this study’s findings support the class of scholars who call into question the orthodox view in bureaucratic politics that patronage is damaging because this study finds otherwise. It therefore adds to discussions on the need to move beyond the monistic conception of patronage as negative to encompass its beneficial outcomes. The study also proposes legal-constitutional and policy reforms that go beyond the merit-principle to embrace patronage and hybrid considerations where necessary. Show less
IntroductionGuidelines advocate the use of combined detection techniques to achieve optimal results for sentinel node (SN) biopsy. The fluorescent and radioactive (dual-) tracer ICG-Tc-99m... Show moreIntroductionGuidelines advocate the use of combined detection techniques to achieve optimal results for sentinel node (SN) biopsy. The fluorescent and radioactive (dual-) tracer ICG-Tc-99m-nanocolloid has been shown to facilitate SN biopsy in several indications. It was reported that an opto-nuclear probe permitted the detection of near-infrared fluorescence and gamma-rays. The aim of the current study was to evaluate this device in a large patient group and to test it in both open and laparoscopic surgery implications.MethodsThirty-three patients scheduled for SN biopsy with the dual-tracer were retrospectively analyzed. Pre-operative lymphoscintigraphy was performed in all patients; in 18 patients (55%), a SPECT/CT scan was also performed. Radioactive and fluorescent signatures in the SNs were assessed in vivo and ex vivo using the opto-nuclear probe.ResultsOne or more SNs were identified in all patients (identification rate 100%). Planar lymphoscintigraphic images revealed 95 hot spots that were considered as SNs. This number increased to 103 SNs when SPECT/CT was used. During surgery, 106 SNs were excised. In vivo, the fluorescence mode of the opto-nuclear probe was able to locate 79 SNs (74.5%). When the gamma-ray detection option of the same probe was used, this number increased to 99 SNs (93.3%). Ex vivo analysis revealed fluorescence in 93.3% of the excised nodes and radioactivity in 95.2%.ConclusionsThis study underlines the feasibility of using the dual-tracer/opto-nuclear probe combination for SN resections. The use of the opto-nuclear technology has been extended to laparoscopic surgery. This study also underlines the fluorescence tracing can complement traditional radio-tracing approaches. Show less
KleinJan, G.H.; Werkhoven, E. van; Berg, N.S. van den; Karakullukcu, M.B.; Zijlmans, H.J.M.A.A.; Hage, J.A. van der; ... ; Leeuwen, F.W.B. van 2018
