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In France, the intense public debate on pesticides is still hardly accessible to agricultural workers, even though they are expected to change their practices and are highly exposed. This configuration of pesticide use "transition" raises health, environmental and social justice issues, as do specific social movements, such as Environmental Justice in the United States or "ecologism of the poor" in the South (Martinez-Alier, 2014). We hypothesize that the weak voice of farmworkers in the public space is a sign of hindered capabilities (Sen 2000, de Munck 2008). Whether they are employees or farmers participating in winegrowing work, our research aims to identify the social processes, sometimes different, that strengthen or weaken their capabilities to express their concerns about pesticides. We test this hypothesis using an original methodological choice, an action-research committed to empowering vineyard workers in Gironde. It turns out that "strong" frames (risk management and occupational health policies) make it impossible for workers to express their concerns about pesticides. Other structural factors on the scale of the territory and the wine sector mean that the silencing of workers is dominant without being total. The "operational" difficulties in setting up a group of winegrowers, and even more so for the employees, are therefore particularly revealing of these antagonistic processes of (in)capacity at play in the transition to pesticides.

Keywords: capabilités, travailleurs agricoles, recherche-action, inégalités de participation, pesticides, émancipation, lieu professionnel, viticulture, Gironde, capabilities, agricultural workers, action research, pesticides, empowerment, workplace, viticulture, Gironde

Since 2014, the USA stands accused of engaging in espionage against Germany, a NATO partner and supposedly close ally. Many, though by no means all of these allegations became known because of the Snowden revelations. In Germany, this has led to a public backlash and has caused many to criticize the German government's feeble reaction. Against this backdrop, this article considers whether the alleged US conduct may have even gone beyond abusing Germany's trust by actually violating public international law. After summarizing the main accusations, the state of the debate on the legality of espionage in international law will be analysed. This will allow the conclusion that there is so far no convincing answer to the question of whether espionage violates public international law or not. This is due to the imprecise, contradictory and changing definitions of the term “espionage”, but also, more importantly, to the fact that there is no necessity for international law to deal with “espionage”. Rather, customary international law already provides clear guidance as to the lawfulness or unlawfulness of most, if not all, activities commonly associated with espionage. A detailed legal analysis of the alleged US spying activities will confirm this proposition and reveal that US conduct, if proven, did indeed violate public international law in each case. The USA not being able to rely on any legal justification for its actions, Germany would consequently be well within its rights to adopt countermeasures.

The author in this article examines the status of unions and collective agreements under the new Québec Labour Code. He first presents a brief historical review of the laws and decisions concerning this matter not only in Québec but also in the common law provinces. He goes on stating the conditions prevailing in Québec as well as in the other provinces up to the enactment of the Code. He finally analyses the new provisions of the Labour Code governing the status of unions and collective agreements covered by it.

In addition to presenting a general appreciation of the lives and artistic contributions of Luigi Nasato and Giovanni Gerometta, this article, which is based on live interviews, photographic and written doc­uments, and the artists’ sketches and maquettes, discusses four original mosaic murals designed and executed by the two Italian Canadians in the 1960s, 1980s, and 1990s for public buildings in Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec City. The works treat themes of Indigenous life, multiculturalism, communication, and marine transportation. All de­pict Indigenous figures and demonstrate how the traditional art form of mosaic became a vehicle for Canadian content, even if no profound knowledge of Native Canadians or their culture is demonstrated or could have been, given the political and social landscape of Canada then and even now.

Keywords: Della Porta, Lo Astrologo, Albumazar, Commedia

In the mid-twentieth century, Ontario abandoned a simple, full indemnity costs rule in favour of a discretionary, partial indemnity costs regime with hundreds of sub-rules. This article argues that this was a mistake. Partial indemnity has no doctrinal, principled, or practical benefits that cannot be incorporated into a full costs regime. Additionally, partial indemnity carries significant costs to access to justice. Instead, this article proposes a costs regime that incorporates the best features of both the old rule and the new regime. In brief, it proposes a full indemnity rule; capped at the losing party’s costs; with exceptions for divided success, impecuniosity, and public interest cases; and discretionary fines for engaging in misconduct or dilatory tactics. Collectively, these rules would advance access to justice more than the existing costs regime.