This dissertation addresses the impact of principles of soft law on the development of international regimes for environmental protection. It focuses on three such principles that have attracted a certain degree of consensus in international environmental law and are therefore influential in international environmental regimes: namely, the principle of common but differentiated obligations; the principle of common heritage of mankind and its corollary, the principle of common concern of humankind; and the precautionary principle. The regimes analysed are the Antarctic regime, the regime for control of trade in endangered species, the regime for protection of the stratospheric ozone layer, and the emerging regime governing conservation and management of straddling fish stocks. It is argued that these principles influence normative development in international environmental regimes through processes of discourse in which participants, both state and non-state actors, seek to determine the rules by which their mutual relations will be governed and their common interests protected. Such discourse also connects the evolution of legal rules with a broader set of concerns relating to the interest of human communities in achieving a certain level of environmental protection. In this respect, the legal rules may be contemplated within a moral framework in which members of international society seek to determine what they ought to do with respect to global environmental protection.

The introduction of this dissertation discusses geopolitical and socio-economic factors which influence transportation in Africa. Chapters II and III, respectively, analyse the concept of regionalism and the legal framework of multinational civil aviation co-operation. / The economic advantages of surface and air transportation are compared in Chapter IV. Chapter V is a general survey of the impact of nationalism on sociopolitical problems in economic and aeronautical co-operation, the former East African Community is reviewed in Chapter VI. The demised East African regional carrier is specifically discussed in Chapter VII. / Chapter VIII highlights the notion of functionalism as an approach to the attainment of socio-economic integration. / Multilateral organizations responsible for coordinating and fostering co-operation are examined in Chapters IX, X and XI. Current regional activities and future prospects are assessed in the penultimate chapter. / The Conclusion contains the essential elements required in creating regional airlines in Africa.

The purpose of this thesis is to propose the fundamental regulatory policy basis for a future domestic legislation governing private space activities in those States where their industry has or aspires to have a preponderant role in the pursuit of space activities and which have not yet crafted their national space regulatory framework. This study is based on the premises that the international legal framework governing space activities provides the fundamental basis for national space legislations and that the legislative experience of the countries which have adopted a domestic space legal scenario presents a useful model for delineating the principal basis of national legislation for those countries without specific national regulatory framework. The proposal is analyzed in light of Law Reform and participatory theory, conceived as a multifold dynamic process, requiring a national effort based on high level of State and private sector participation.

The judicial response to family violence in Montreal during the period 1825 to 1850 was marked by paradox. The criminal justice system, driven by private prosecutors, limited the ability of some victims to seek the law's protection, but it allowed others to exercise considerable discretion and influence over the pursuit of justice. The legal response to the crimes of infanticide, child abuse, domestic violence, and spousal murder was equally contradictory. Infanticide may have been depicted as a horrific crime, but the call for justice was never strong. Society became increasingly sensitive to the notion that parents should be held accountable for causing injury to children, but a belief in the sanctity of the family was still paramount. When child abuse cases did come before courts, children were often accorded the same legal remedies by courts as were adult victims. Similarly, while the issue of family violence was not then a widespread societal concern, and while the notion that a wife was subordinate to her husband remained a prominent part of early-Victorian life, hundreds of abused wives prosecuted their husbands for assault. Those cases reflect not only that abused wives were contesting their partner's use of violence, but also that courts were willing to intervene. Spousal murder cases were further evidence of contradiction: women were subject to heightened legal penalties for killing their partners, but their gender also insulated them from the full severity of the law. / In a period before the sweeping public movements that developed in the last several decades of the nineteenth century, courts were forced to grapple with family violence because private prosecutors brought those issues before them. In their willingness to hear cases involving infanticide, child abuse, domestic violence, and spousal murder, courts made public some of Victorian Montreal's darkest secrets. While the privately-driven system of justice was slowly to erode over the intervening decades, that erosion was to coincide with the rise of public crusades against child-cruelty, domestic violence, and other social issues. The visibility of family violence likely fueled, and in turn was fueled by, those social movements.

Genetics is one sector in which there has been tremendous evolution and progress over the last few decades. While it is believed that genetics could offer tremendous opportunities for global health improvement, there is also a fear that existing global health inequalities will be amplified by the evolution of genetics. / It thus appears necessary to analyse the way current assumptions define what is just and acceptable with regard to global access and distribution of resources in this field. Indeed, given the importance of genetics to human health globally, this thesis will evaluate two principal legal regimes---intellectual property and international human rights---to determine to which extent they further the goal of distributing the benefits of these technologies equitably and globally. This evaluation is vital to ensure that legal regimes assist in ensuring that this promising field develops in a way that improves global health without leaving the most vulnerable outside of the process. This dissertation will undertake this complex task by employing and building upon cosmopolitan liberal theories developed over the few last decades as an extension of the work of Rawls and Daniels. / A theoretical framework to justify engaging in a global and more equitable redistribution of benefits produced by genetics is required. Ultimately, our analysis will produce strong normative benchmarks based on justice considerations for engaging in a global and more equitable redistribution of the benefits likely to emerge from genetic science. Universal consideration of all human beings, importance of health needs, normal functioning and equality of opportunities are some of the notions that will be analysed to construct this framework. We will then attempt to determine how and if this theory of distribution translates into positive law and to identify and analyse the main obstacles to legal compliance with global distributive justice. We will assess two main international normative systems: intellectual property law and human rights law to determine if their underlying philosophy, structure, and functioning take account of the principles highlighted in our theoretical framework and how underlying politics and economics matter. / This will set out a basis for further discussion on how we could work around some of the major obstacles identified throughout our analysis. It will also help us move from the vague and often symbolic ideal of benefit sharing actually prevailing toward the establishment of a real, enforceable concept of global benefit sharing in health that would position genetics at the rank of essential tool for achieving global health.

The need to revise the provisions of Swedish Public air law became urgent when, on September 27, 1946, Sweden ratified the Convention on International Civil Aviation, signed at Chicago on December 7, 1944. In November, 1946, the King ordained that such a revision should now be made, and that the work should, as far as possible, be carried out in co-operation with the other Scandinavian States. An expert was charged with making a preparatory analysis, and a secretary was appointed to assist him in this task. The secretary's duties were entrusted to the present writer. [...]

The course on which this study embarks is largely uncharted by positive law. Although man's technical achievements in outer space already stand as monumental guideposts to scientists, the framers devoted to founding the legal regime are only beginning to formulate the structure through which law and order can be effected in this new region. It is, I believe, wise and commendable that the policy making bodies of the world have not been driven by a modern cry for progress in space law and have not set about solving with a sense of urgency imaginary problems based on prophecies of disputes and conflicts in the unexplored, unorganized, and unpopulated region of outer space. The law has kept pace with the needs of society. Legal vacuums have not occurred because of the evolution of the common law and the law of nations was based on the customs and usages of the participants in the particular community concerned. Substantially the same condition and evolution can be expected in the development of space law. [...]

Since the 1960s, there has been a very rapid development of space activities. Over the last 50 years, meteorology, telecommunication and Earth Observation satellites have become a necessity for our activities on Earth. At the same time, scientific exploration of the universe has produced extraordinary discoveries related to our solar system and also improved our knowledge of our home planet Earth. From the very first space exploration programmes and Apollo missions, the potential existence of space natural resources has generated an important scientific curiosity. The Sea, the Antarctic and the Arctic natural resources have generated a great commercial interest and continue to do so. The regimes regarding their natural resources differ as it will be analysed. Today, space natural resources are seriously considered for in-situ utilization in the context of both manned and unmanned future exploration missions. Beyond utilization, the question of their commercial exploitation is raised: several companies have released plans to study and exploit space natural resources: Planetary Resources Company, Golden Spike Company, Deep Space Industries and B612 Foundation to name a few. International space law was elaborated during the Cold War in order to define a framework for activities before they occur; commercial space activities are governed by a strong legal regime including notably Earth Observation, Telecommunication, Meteorology…. However, space natural resources have not been subject of a dedicated regime yet. The lack of a minimum rule agreed by all is a risk for the actors involved in this activity and the international relations. This dissertation explores the main legal issues related to the exploitation of space natural resources. Its objective is to analyze the fundamental principles of international space law that may apply and what would be the most appropriate framework. An analysis of the formation of international legal theory is conducted together with its impact on the topic of the thesis. Analogies are drawn from other international areas such as the deep seabed and Antarctica for purposes of proposing an international legal framework to govern the exploitation of space natural resources. The dissertation constitutes an original contribution to the development of law in the way it analyzes the issues related to the exploitation of space natural resources, the political dimension of the topic, and the use of a comparative analysis to define the necessary conditions for a solid legal regime. / Le développement des activités spatiales a été fulgurant depuis les années 60. En un demi-siècle, les satellites de météorologie, de télécommunication et d'observation de la Terre sont devenus indispensables à l'activité humaine sur Terre. En parallèle, l'exploration scientifique de l'Univers a permis des découvertes extraordinaires sur notre système solaire tout en permettant d'améliorer nos connaissances concernant la Terre. Dès les premiers programmes d'exploration spatiale avec les missions Apollo, l'existence de ressources naturelles potentielles dans l'espace a généré une grande curiosité scientifique. Aujourd'hui, l'utilisation des ressources est sérieusement considérée pour un usage local dans le cadre de futures missions d'exploration robotiques et habitées. Au-delà de l'utilisation des ressources, la question de leur exploitation commerciale se pose: plusieurs sociétés ont fait part de leur intention d'étudier et d'exploiter les ressources naturelles dans l'espace: Planetary Resources Company, Golden Spike Company, Deep Space Industries et B612 Foundation pour en mentionner que quelques unes. Alors que le droit de l'espace a été élaboré en pleine Guerre Froide de manière à régler les questions juridiques avant qu'elles surviennent, l'exploitation commerciale de l'espace fait l'objet d'un régime solide, celle de ses ressources naturelles ne fait cependant pas l'objet d'un cadre juridique dédié. L'absence de règles minimales agréées par tous constitue un risque pour les acteurs concernés par cette activité et les relations internationales. Cette thèse explore les principales problématiques juridiques liées à l'exploitation des ressources naturelles dans l'espace. Son objectif est d'analyser les principes fondamentaux en droit de l'espace qui seraient susceptibles de s'appliquer ainsi que le cadre juridique le plus approprié. Elle fait ensuite une analyse de la théorie juridique et de son impact sur le sujet. L'analogie du droit international de l'espace existant avec les autres domaines internationaux que sont l'Antarctique et la mer permet enfin d'établir s'ils peuvent servir de base pour l'exploitation des ressources dans l'espace. Cette thèse constitue une contribution originale au développement juridique dans la manière d'aborder la problématique liée à l'exploitation des ressources dans un espace international, la dimension politique du sujet, puis l'approche par analogie indispensable pour définir les conditions nécessaires à un régime juridique solide. Son objectif est de convaincre que le politique doit s'emparer de cette problématique.

[...] [P]art I of this study deals with a purely juristic discussion about public control of air transport. Points dealt with in part I are reviewed in part II in the light of national legislations. This approach will allow us not only to draw conclusions regarding air transport policy and control of airline operation and management, but also to analyse to what extent the existing situation is the best. [...]

The main scope or this Work and that I Will deal with, is to present a thorough study or past and present decisions concerning the allocation or jurisdiction over events aboard aircrart in international flight. In recommending policies for the future, I Should determine the applicability of the factors affecting the general process ot decision to the specific problem relating to the aircraft issue. In an active world of constant interaction, since the advent or the aircraft, there has been an increasing need for collaboration or individuals and nation states. Therefore, effective control of participants in certain particular events of value shaping and sharing is needed, so that the states will be villing to maintain public order by yielding part or their sovereignty towards the lines of an international procedure. [...]