title stringlengths 0 221 | text stringlengths 0 375k |
|---|---|
At the very least it slows people down Navigating past the wall will be a problem that people trying to cross the border or bring drugs through the border will have to face. It will create apprehension from attempting to do so. It will make it harder for these crossings to occur. | |
Prototypes have seen success A prototype in San Diego has been built and has seen a success. The number of illegal crossings dropped from 560,000 in 1992 to 68000 in 2010 after the prototype had been constructed. | |
Would create US jobs A building project that large would likely create close to 25000 US jobs. There would also be a large increase in border patrol agents. This would make the wall an effective way to decrease unemployment and create economic opportunity that the Trump administration promised. | |
According to the Department of Homeland Security, people attempting to cross the border is already on the decline, so this wall might already be a mute point. | |
If this conflict really is zero sum then a lease over the whole of Crimea is a big loss to Ukraine; it is after all losing a whole province in return for some financial assistance. Moreover we have little evidence that it really would mean Russia getting what it wants; Russia continues to deny that it even has military... | |
Russia gets what it wants There have been many suggested motives for Russia’s sending military forces into Crimea. Providing a lease on Crimea to Russia would provide a solution to most of Russia’s main objectives; the Russians in Crimea are protected, and the Russian hold on its Black Sea base is secure. More importa... | |
A lease is not all a financial gain for Ukraine. Any tax revenues from Crimea would be lost as they would instead go to Russia. As would any revenues from natural resources either now in the future; Crimea with its strategic location was intended to be the hub for gas pipelines across the Black sea so Ukraine would be ... | |
A peaceful solution Agreeing a lease would provide a much needed peaceful solution to the Crimean crisis which would not only solve the immediate crisis but would also prevent future flare ups. Shortly after Russian forces moved into Crimea Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk of Ukraine said “This is not a threat: this is... | |
Everyone wants a peaceful solution but that does not mean that a lease is the best solution. Having some form of shared sovereignty – Ukraine owning the land and Russia having the right to use it and control it requires a great deal of trust. This is especially true if the Ukrainian Black Sea Fleet were to remain based... | |
Leases reflect inequality between those involved in the lease; Panama was much less powerful than the USA so had little choice – it also needed the money. China was a defeated state; it had just been defeated by Japan and had lost two previous wars to the UK. The treaties were considered to be ‘unequal treaties’ and th... | |
Helps Ukraine financially Ukraine is in a dire financial situation; it has gone to the IMF seeking $15billion to help stabilise the economy with a bailout. [1] The interim finance minister Yuri Kolobov suggests that even this amount will not be enough for the full year with Ukraine needing $34.4billion. [2] Finance wa... | |
Precedent While of the core points of sovereignty is that is indivisible this has not stopped the existence of other similar deals happening in the past. Locally the Black Sea Fleet is a good example There have however been more famous examples in the past; the Panama Canal Zone was leased to the United States from 1... | |
Ukraine would clearly find it difficult to trust Russia however it has several reasons for doing so. The first is that Russia and Ukraine "for decades had warm and friendly relations" to which they can return if they sign an agreement. Second Ukraine has little choice; it does not have the military strength to oppose R... | |
While legitimising a reward for Russia’s actions may hurt it is far better that the dispute be resolved than it be left to fester. Under the status quo there are concerns that war will break out because the situation is unstable and Russia “reserves the right to take people [Russian speakers elsewhere in Ukraine] under... | |
Does not provide guarantees for the protection of other Russian minorities Although it is the region in which Russia has acted its interest in Ukraine is not just about Crimea. Foreign Minister Lavrov has made clear “Russia recognises its responsibility for the lives of countrymen and fellow citizens in Ukraine and re... | |
The crisis affects more than just Crimea There is a lot more at stake than just the Crimean peninsula. While suggestions that it may destroy the whole international system are hyperbole the territory becoming part of Russia would be the most major territorial change in Europe since the unification of Germany and break... | |
Why would Ukraine trust a lease when the previous one was violated? It is hard to see why Ukraine would be willing to sign a lease with Russia when Russia has already proven it will not stick to the terms of its lease. Russia signed agreements in 1997 that recognised Crimea as a part of Ukraine in return for a lease o... | |
Rewards aggression The US Secretary of state condemned Russia’s action in Crimea as "You just don't in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pre-text". [1] Yet it is exactly 19th century thinking that expects that a great power will get away with launching... | |
The big advantage of a lease is that it maintains the territorial status quo while giving Russia what it wants. If the concern is about the legal order and sovereignty of states then a lease provides the answer because the actual sovereignty over the territory is not handed over, merely the control over the territory a... | |
Any deal for a lease would clearly involve negotiation on other concerns that Russia and Ukraine have. Russia would clearly need to renew its guarantees of Ukraine’s territory perhaps with the acceptance that the lease would become null and void if Russia again takes aggressive acts. Ukraine for its part would need to ... | |
The case given is quite different. The parents directly acted to cause harm to their child, inflicting a series of violent beatings over a sustained period. Such a course of action is already illegal and they were rightly convicted and punished. In this instance, a course of action is being avoided with the best intere... | |
Religious freedom does not allow for the right to harm others Nobody is questioning the rights of adults to take actions in accordance with their faith, even when these may cause them some personal harm. Their beliefs may well lead them to conclusions that others might consider reckless but that is their concern. Howe... | |
We fully accept that children are treated differently in the eyes of the law. However, the very fact that proposition allows for that exceptionalism must require them to acknowledge that the role of the parent is given a status different from any other in society. We acknowledge their right to make decisions in the ste... | |
The right to live to regret The primary duty placed on doctors, by society and themselves, is the preservation of life. In pursuing this goal they use not only medicines and scalpels but, first and foremost, their judgement. In many countries practising medics swear an oath to this effect; although these vary greatly ... | |
Proposition have made a lovely argument, except for one small detail, nobody is suggesting prayer or ritual as a replacement for medical attention. The issue here, as defined by proposition, is whether JW parents should be able to reject blood transfusions on behalf of their child. No more than that; no witchcraft ward... | |
The status of the child The protection of children is treated differently from how we address the needs of adults. The very fact that their parents’ consent for procedures is required acknowledges that fact. We further accept that when that consent is questionable - when the parents may not be acting in the best inter... | |
Society does intervene in the private sphere to prevent harm. Domestic abuse is simply the most obvious example but parents are also responsible in most societies for ensuring their children receive an education in accordance with the law. If a parent were to deny their children food when it was available, it would be ... | |
We frequently set limits not on religious beliefs but on their practices. The two determinant used there are the possible harm to others and whether the person being harmed can be deemed ‘capable’ in a legal sense. There can be no doubt that the decision to refuse available medical treatment causes harm, that is beyond... | |
The burden of parental responsibility Societies recognise the importance of parenting and the enormous responsibilities that go with it. In light of these, the parent is allowed broad discretion in determining how those responsibilities are best exercised. It seems likely that a parent in a situation such as this is l... | |
The division between the personal and social spheres The law is a cumbersome tool to use in matters that relate to family life; this can be seen in the reluctance to legislate too much in this area. In those areas that require massive social interaction and agreement, such as education, there is a need for legislation... | |
Freedom of religious observance Most cultures respect the right of adults to practice the religious observances of their choosing and to raise their children within that tradition. The prohibition of blood transfusion is a part of the observances of JWs and is worthy of the respect that might be expected of other reli... | |
Parental responsibility is a duty, not a right. Society trusts parents to act in the interests of their child but does not do so unreservedly. Where those actions lead directly to a provable harm, we consider it either neglect or abuse of the child and the parental privileges are revoked. No matter how earnestly the pa... | |
For intelligence to be effective, the government will need to collect personal information, like bank transactions, emails, phone records, and more, without the citizen in question knowing this. However, democracy works on the assumption that each citizen has a private sphere, separate from the public sphere, of privat... | |
Domestic intelligence operates just like the police do. Domestic intelligence does require the collection of information, but this is not fundamentally different from a standard police investigation. The differences are minor when we have national security at stake. Furthermore, the rights, duties and powers of a dome... | |
The AIVD example shows exactly that judicial and political control is not enough: the judicial control is control after the fact, so it didn’t prevent the AIVD from listening in to journalists conversations in the first place. Moreover, a regulatory committee judged that the Minister of Internal Affairs, who is suppose... | |
Intelligence is necessary for the safety of the public. Domestic intelligence is very important to the national security and to the safety of the public. Domestic intelligence is imperative in preventing terrorist attacks on the country when terrorists are as likely to be natives as foreigners, for example the 7/7 bom... | |
Even if it is protecting lives the scale of the intelligence gathering is undemocratic. By allowing interception, widespread tracking of public records, unfair legal treatment, we erase the trust between citizens and the government in return for very occasionally preventing a terrorist attack. As shown by 7/7 terrorist... | |
The military or foreign intelligence or just as able to conduct counterintelligence, because the potential targets for foreign intelligence services are well known. But even if a domestic intelligence service is best placed for counter-intelligence, this is just an argument for limiting their functions to counter-intel... | |
There is sufficient political and judicial control over intelligence service Even if not every citizen can control exactly what the intelligence service does, there is sufficient political and judicial control. An example of this is a recent case involving the Dutch AIVD, which started wiretapping journalists after th... | |
Domestic intelligence services are the only organization that is capable of performing counterintelligence Domestic intelligence services are the only organization that is capable of performing counterintelligence. They have the capacity and the authority to detect foreign spies in the national jurisdiction, and exper... | |
It is better to have some fear and suspicion in society than letting a terrorist attack which costs lives through. Without a domestic intelligence agency we probably would not even know about the 1600 potential terrorists. Now that many of these plots are known by the intelligence agency they can be prevented. | |
Some citizens don’t just have political differences with the current government, but are fundamentally opposed to the democratic state and are willing to use violence against state and society. Such is the case with Germany’s far-left party where the Federal Administrative Court ruled that the Federal Office for the Pr... | |
Domestic intelligence agencies cannot be controlled There are no effective ways of controlling the activities of a domestic intelligence agency. With an information request, an investigated citizen has no way of being sure what the intelligence service in question actually does with the information, once it has gather... | |
Intelligence agencies inflate threats. Having domestic intelligence agencies creates suspicion and fear, and ultimately resentment. Domestic intelligence agencies are created in response to war and external threats, for example MI5 was created in the build up to world war one, and Australia’s intelligence service was ... | |
The government does not have the right to spy on its citizens The government should not want to spy on its own citizens – that is the mark of a totalitarian regime. If some citizens disagree with the current government or current form of government, it is their fundamental democratic right to do so, and the government... | |
It is quite possible to put checks on the power of a domestic intelligence agency in order to prevent abuse of authority. An important way, in which individual citizens can actually control the intelligence service, is through lodging an information request at the domestic intelligence service. In a democracy, the serv... | |
Atrocities have continued on both sides of the conflict throughout this war. Military threats of intervention have not caused any reduction in hostilities – they just ramped up tension. There is a very real prospect that an ICC intervention could just fan the flames of the existing warfare; UN weapons inspectors being ... | |
The threat of investigation could deter future war crimes, including the use of chemical weapons The ICC has a high level of soft power in this case. It has the resources to investigate and prosecute, backed up by widespread support from large swathes of the international community. The ICC is part of a growing intern... | |
Even if the ICC brings proceedings, that does not guarantee that individuals, even if captured by forces that oppose them, will be transferred over to the ICC – the new Libyan government is still holding Saif Gaddafi. [1] The ICC can also only act when the state is unwilling or unable to provide a trial – this this is... | |
The ICC is there to prosecute war crimes – there has been evidence of a war crime The purpose of the ICC is to be the venue for the implementation of international criminal law, a principle that the international community has supported since the creation of the ICTY and ICTR and prior to that. [1] The crimes that the... | |
In any conflict, the apportionment of blame for individual crimes committed against civilians to a standard of proof that would be acceptable in a court is extremely difficult, even such a high profile crime as attacks using chemical weapons have been disputed. [1] That is why the ICC typically gets involved after conf... | |
Just because a reference to the ICC is possible does not mean it would be effective. It would still require individuals to be captured, and enough evidence to be ascertained in order for a conviction. Also, Russia has a track record of opposing the reference of the Syria case to the ICC, or any other involvement in th... | |
The ICC would prevent show trials The use of the ICC could work better than domestic show trials in the aftermath of a civil war. Instead of domestic courts, prone to all their biases, an international, unbiased, criminal system could replace the prospect of a Ceausescu-style non-trial followed by summary execution, o... | |
An ICC referral may be the only UNSC option. The UN Security Council has so far been undecided over any future action in Syria. China has so far been unconvinced over any action. Russia has supported Assad, selling the Assad regime arms. Russia and China, being permanent members of the UNSC means that they can block a... | |
The Syrian Civil war is far larger than any of the conflicts where the truth and reconciliation model has been implemented. The divisions in society will not be healable through a system of truth and reconciliation – like other atrocities, such as those in Sierra Leone and the Balkans there will need to be a system of ... | |
The problem with fears of fuelling the conflict further is that the conflict is already almost as large as it can be within the borders of Syria, and has already spilled over in to neighbouring Lebanon, with bombings in Tripoli and Beirut) – it is a full scale conflict which will be difficult to resolve peacefully as i... | |
Waste of time – won’t capture Assad or rebel war criminals. Even if the situation were to be referred (which would require abstention or support from both Russia and China on the UN Security Council, which itself is unlikely), it would be necessary to capture Assad and other suspects before trying them. This has prove... | |
Bar to truth and reconciliation After the conclusion of the war in Syria, there will have to be a period of nation building – either Assad will have destroyed his enemies and have an alienated nation to deal with, or the Syrian National Congress will have to take effective control over the country. Syria will need a ... | |
ICC referal would fuel the conflict further The Syrian Civil War has already claimed over 100,000 lives, but it could get worse. The Assad regime is infamous for its stockpiling of chemical weapons – it is one of few states to not sign the Chemical Weapons convention, and is known to have stocks of mustard gas, VX and... | |
While it is not possible to guarantee the capture of any suspect that has not stopped the ICC attempting to build a case. If any defendants are captured alive, it will not be a waste of time: bearing in mind that the ICC does capture many of the individuals it seeks to put on trial, it is not beyond the bounds of possi... | |
Guantanamo Bay didn't create anti-Americanism in the Islamic world. Al-Qaeda existed and carried out 9/11 before Guantanamo bay was established, so it is unlikely that closing the detention centre would make any of those who hate the US now reconsider. Furthermore, closing the facility could be seen as a propaganda vic... | |
Guantanamo harms the War on Terror: The existence of Guantanamo Bay is cited by terrorists as a tool of "the great Satan" and is seen by Muslims in general as a demonstration of US disregard for their dignity. It is, in turn, an effective tool used by terrorists and Jihadists to bring recruits on-board. The highly unp... | |
It is possible to reform treatment at Guantanamo Bay without closing the facility. The conditions in the facility have in fact greatly improved since its establishment and in many ways differ from the public's negative perception of it. [1] But even if in fact these negative reports of the conditions at Guantanamo are ... | |
Detainees have the right to trial in US courts: Prisoners have been detained at Guantanamo for long periods without clear charges being filed and without trial. This is a violation of the international legal principle of habeas corpus. One of the primary problems is that, without clear charges and a presentation of ev... | |
Reforms can always be made to the legal process at Guantanamo, and so this is not a reason to close the facility or to try the detainees in US courts. Moreover, much of the credible and reliable evidence that justifies the continued detention cannot be admitted in US courts for legal reasons, such as the fact that thos... | |
Conditions at Guantanamo are unjust and unacceptable: UN Reports indicate that the treatment of detainees since their arrests, and the conditions of their confinement, have had profound effects on the mental health of many of them. The treatment and conditions include the capture and transfer of detainees to an undisc... | |
The fact that the majority of detainees may be guilty of terror-related crimes or attacks doesn't justify the continued detention of those who were clearly detained under mistaken information, and who will only be cleared through trial in a civilian court. Otherwise justice will never be truly served at Guantanamo Bay. | |
After years of detention and separation from the battle field and terrorist networks, many Guantanamo detainees have no more value to US intelligence gathering efforts and national security, and so this is not a reason to continue their detention. Moreover, there are tens of thousands of anti-American terrorists around... | |
Guantanamo deters terrorists: Guantanamo Bay and the threat of detention helps deter terrorists. This coupled with the lack of a trial adds to the fear of the place and thus denounces terrorism. What is a deterrent and why is it necessary? A deterrent is something which persuades someone not to act in a certain way. S... | |
Sufficient justice and due process exists at Guantanamo: The US Constitution does not extend to alien unlawful enemy combatants. They are entitled to protections under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which ensures they are afforded 'all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civil... | |
Closing Guantanamo would harm US national security: The current operations of Guantanamo Bay are aiding the War on Terror, and closing the facility would harm the US' security situation. Putting an important section of a terrorist group such as Al-Qaeda in prison obviously stops the coordination and the indoctrination... | |
The "deterrent effect" of Guantanamo on terrorists cannot be confirmed. This is mainly due to the fact that terrorists' feelings or fears in regards to the Guantanamo Bay prison cannot be statistically gathered. Similarly, the terrorists posing a threat to the safety of Western Nations are typically so ideologically fa... | |
The reasons for different categories is for escape risk – escape being the antithesis of a utilitarian purpose of prison, that of incapacitation. Those who are unlikely to seek to escape – prisoners serving short sentences or near the end of their sentence so have little reason to risk having their sentence extended – ... | |
Differences in treatment are already accepted Differences between different categories of prisoner are already accepted in the criminal justice system – prisoners are generally kept in different conditions due to factors such as escape risk and other factors. For example the UK has open prisons which offer the freedom... | |
Prison itself is already a deterrent. Harsher prison conditions do not prevent recidivism, and could actually make convicts more likely to reoffend when released. Chen and Shapiro estimate that if all inmates were housed in above minimum security facilities there would be “an increase in the crimes committed by former ... | |
Punishment is good Retributive theories of justice accept that the reason why a criminal justice exists is to punish offenders – society declaring its rejection of crime by inflicting deliberately unpleasant punishments. Prisons do not reflect this – a prisoner is a prisoner, and prison officers generally do not care ... | |
This is all based on the vengeance-fuelled concept of “retributive justice”. This is not a model of thinking that has much merit. Imprisonment in the criminal justice works by deterring individuals from crime (prison always will be a deterrent), and incapacitating criminals, making them unable to commit crimes due to t... | |
Harsher conditions are a deterrent Worse prison conditions for particular offences would act as a deterrent. If people, in prisons generally and in society as a whole, see that those who are convicted of particularly bad crimes will be deterred from committing those worse crimes. If prison is simply a holding place t... | |
Punishment is irrational, but it is a legitimate desire for a justice system to meter out retribution to those convicted of serious crimes. Punishment does not have to have a beneficial impact on public safety to make it the right thing to do. The desire for victims for retribution is legitimate; they should not have t... | |
The fact that the prison system is not designed to be punitive doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be. Retributive justice demands that criminals are punished. Prison should do that, and it should fit the crime, by having more than one category of punishment based on the offence. It is understandable that prison services themsel... | |
A tiered system already exists To some extent, prisoners will be categorized according to the offences they have committed. For example, those convicted of offences like armed robbery and many murders will start of at a higher level on the security system, which will mean restrictions in terms of activities, prison wo... | |
Harsh punishment is counterproductive Punishment for its own sake achieves nothing practical. When putting people in prison we need to look to the future, not to the past. However, harsher prison conditions can act in a way that makes individuals more likely to reoffend [1] . This is because those who have suffered ha... | |
Punishment is not purpose of prison Prison itself already has punishment value: the loss of liberty and exclusion from society. However, punishment is not the purpose of prison. This is accepted in the US, where state prison systems do not claim punishment is a goal: see California [1] , New York [2] and Nevada (“Prot... | |
That system is based on security risk, not the actual offence per se. There is no extra punitive value attached to the offence in terms of prison conditions for the pure reason of the offence. The reason why those inmates are kept separate is for their own safety (capital punishment should not be meted out by other pr... | |
Deterrence only works if the court actually prosecutes people; however, its crippling inefficiency renders its deterrent effect nonexistent. To date, the ICC has yet to actually punish anyone. The lack of hard power and enforcement mechanisms makes it impossible for the ICC to be effective. Tribunals like the ICTY wer... | |
If supported, the ICC will set a precedent and deter leaders from committing crimes against humanity. The ICC demonstrates that there is an existing legal court that will hold individuals accountable should they decide to commit grave crimes. The mere existence of the court and the possibility of prosecution (even if ... | |
Pursuance by the ICC doesn't actually result in punishment of the leader; empirically, it has actually strengthened criminals' power after criticizing them. Nations, such as African nations like Chad, have painted the actions of the ICC as signs of Western imperialism and domination. Sudan's Bashir, accused of genocid... | |
Efforts to strengthen the ICC will promote global cooperation, norms against crimes, and international stability. There is a growing global consensus that crimes against humanity need to be punished, as demonstrated by the tribunals to address the crimes of Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The question is no longer whether we s... | |
The ICC is the best way to prosecute serious crimes because of its permanence; individual tribunals are not enough. The ICC is uniquely beneficial because of its intention to be a permanent force that will always hold people accountable, instead of slowly reacting to crimes after-the-fact. It is intended to be univers... | |
Individual tribunals are actually better at addressing the specific situation. The idea of "universal jurisdiction" becomes dangerous when it is regarded as a blanket solution. For example, after the Spanish Civil War, post-Franco Spain decided to avoid trials for the sake of national reconciliation that enabled it to... | |
Promoting the ICC will only further split the global community by allowing the court to become a political tool. The US Department of State published a report explaining that one of the reasons it opposes ratification of the Rome Statute is because it would complicate military cooperation with allies, who would be obl... | |
The ICC actually fails to account for the individual nature of crimes and is not the best solution for a "globalizing world" because it promotes retribution at the expense of peace. Sometimes, amnesty and reconciliation are better than pursuing retribution and punishment. Even if the ICC does punish people, it may be ... | |
The ICC will prosecute leaders who commit the most severe crimes and give them their due. The only way to ensure that leaders get what they deserve is to establish a free-standing, independent court that holds people accountable. The ICC acts as a permanent international court (as opposed to tribunals set up by a spec... | |
The ICC is the most suited towards the rising nature of crimes in a globalizing world. In today's world, crimes are no longer confined to single nations and affect the world due to the effects of globalization. An international court is necessary as a global solution to problems that often involve multiple actors; a p... | |
The ICC has jurisdiction to defy unwilling governments and is still a step towards global enforcement of rights, even if it does not completely solve the problem. The ICC can have jurisdiction over criminals whose states refuse to prosecute them (provided certain conditions are met), meaning that they can issue warran... | |
To date, the ICC has empirically only issued warrants against leaders that nations have almost universally agreed upon committed heinous crimes. The existence of the ICC would only deter actions that are so atrocious, they would be comparable to the ones committed by those the ICC is currently pursuing. Countries that ... | |
The ICC does not have enough checks on prosecutorial powers, inviting prosecutorial abuse. The issues the ICC deals with are inherently subjective, as there is clear disagreement about what counts as a war crime or what the exact definition of genocide is. This leaves dangerous room for the prosecutor to simply decide... | |
The ICC infringes upon national sovereignty by inherently implying that there is a higher court nations must answer to. The ICC forces nations to accept that there is a binding power that overrides national law, undermining the government. John Bolton, former US ambassador to the United Nations, explains: "The ICC's f... | |
The ICC is not democratic in nature and is likely to be used as a political tool by powerful nations. Parts of the Rome Statue, such as the clauses relating to the Security Council, make it seem like a tool that will be used by the politically powerful. The Security Council has the power to refer cases to the prosecut... | |
The ICC has no real enforcement mechanism and cannot be a force for good if it has no way of ensuring prosecution. The court has no obvious enforcement mechanism, as it ultimately relies on states to take action in finding and turning over criminals. Although it can issue search warrants and declare that governments a... |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.