A Separation of Convenience? The Concept of Neutrality in the Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights1

Abstract

The article examines the strategies the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) employs to apply the concept of neutrality in relation to Article 9 (freedom of religion or belief) of the European Convention on Human Rights. Having explored the theoretical background of the concept of neutrality and its specific application in the case law, the authors argue that neutrality is often used to display a bias towards a particular world view or societal paradigm, rather than representing unbiased perspectives of legal reasoning. The article studies the specific justifications for such biased approaches in the context of relevant ECHR cases and argues that in this way neutrality has discredited itself as a credible legal tool and as a form of legal argumentation. Furthermore the difficulty of handling the complexities of Article 9 claims by applying the principle of neutrality has led to a stronger trend of avoiding Article 9 by dealing with Article 9 claims through other Convention articles. Finally the authors discuss possible new approaches to legal reasoning which could take on board the dynamics of freedom of religion or belief through independent reasoning beyond the myth of neutrality.     

Can inhibition resolve retrieval competition through the control of spreading activation?

Two experiments are reported in which the mechanisms underlying retrieval-induced forgetting for complex prose materials were investigated, using the independent probe technique pioneered by Anderson and Spellman (1995). These experiments provide additional empirical evidence in support of an inhibitory account of memory. Specifically, evidence emerged not only for the inhibition of nonpracticed items from practiced sets (i.e., first-order effects), but also for the inhibition of items from nonpracticed sets that were semantically related to practiced items in practiced sets (i.e., cross-category effects) and for items from nonpracticed sets that were semantically related to nonpracticed items in practiced sets (ie., second-order effects). These findings are considered in terms of Anderson and Spellman's model of inhibitory processing. We also outline an alternative inhibitory interpretation. Specifically, we consider how inhibition may function as a way of controlling the spread of activation and what implications this may have for the flexibility and adaptiveness of memory.     

Interleaving brain systems for episodic and recognition memory

Conflicting models persist over the nature of long-term memory. Crucial issues are whether episodic memory and recognition memory reflect the same underlying processes, and the extent to which various brain structures work as a single unit to support these processes. New findings that have resulted from improved resolution of functional brain imaging, together with recent studies of amnesia and developments in animal testing, reinforce the view that recognition memory comprises at least two independent processes: one recollective and the other using familiarity detection. Only recollective recognition appears to depend on episodic memory. Attempts to map brain areas supporting these two putative components of recognition memory indicate that they depend on separate, but interlinked, structures.     

‘Peer review’ culture

A relatively high incidence of unsatisfactory review decisions is widely recognised and acknowledged as ‘the peer review problem’. Factors contributing to this problem are identified and examined. Specific examples of unreasonable rejection are considered. It is concluded that weaknesses of the ‘peer review’ system are significant and that they are well known or readily recognisable but that necessary counter-measures are not always enforced. Careful management is necessary to discount hollow opinion or error in review comment. Review and referee functions should be quite separate.     

Depression and bulimia: the link between depression and bulimic cognitions

This study assessed the link between bulimic and depressive cognitions. Twenty-nine bulimics and 16 controls from the general population were first assessed on levels of depression using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Change Version and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Bulimics were significantly more depressed than controls. Bulimics differed significantly from controls on all cognitive measures associated with depression (Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire, Dysfunctional Attitude Scale, and Attributional Style Questionnaire), but differences on these measures were nonsignificant when depression, as measured by the BDI, was controlled. Bulimics differed from controls regardless of level of depression on the three scales of the Restraint Inventory, the Rationalization and All-or-None scales of the Thoughts About Eating Inventory, and most of the eight scales of the Eating Disorders Inventory. Bulimics showed more maladaptive thinking associated with depression, but these differences likely reflect the levels of depression for each group. The differences on the measures of cognitive and behavioral symptoms of bulimia remained when the level of depression was controlled statistically. This suggests that although depression can be frequently diagnosed in a bulimic sample, specific maladaptive cognitions and behaviors reflect a distinct disorder (bulimia) and are not simply the expression of an affective disorder.     

A Comparison of Distractors for Controlling Distress in Young Children During Medical Procedures

Distraction is a strategy that has been shown to be effective and safe in the control of pain and distress. We assessed the utility of two simple distraction procedures for reducing children's pain and distress. Three conditions, control, brief film, and short story, were delivered during repeated medical procedures in a randomized sequence to eight young children with cancer. Scores on the Observational Scale of Behavioral Distress (OSBD-R) as well as observer ratings of overall behavioral distress showed that the short story procedure was more effective than either the control condition or the cartoon film. These results argue for the utility of simple parent–child interactive distraction tasks to ameliorate children's procedural distress.     

The Role of General and Specific Psychomotor Tracking Ability in Validity

A study of 1,099 males and females in pilot training was conducted to investigate the relative importance of general and specific factors of psychomotor tracking ability in the prediction of several pilot training criteria. Measures of psychomotor tracking ability were derived from the Basic Attributes Test (Carretta and Ree 1994). The criteria were the dichotomous passing or failing pilot training and the average of six flying work samples. Comparisons of linear models indicated that general psychomotor tracking ability was the source of most of the validity and that only the specific measure of reaction time was incremental. Reaction time, although part of the psychomotor taxonomy, has frequently been identified as a measure of cognitive ability.     

Value Inquiry: On concepts of good and evil in ethical theories

Editorial

Value Inquiry: On concepts of good and evil in ethical theories