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This thesis explores the nature, cause and dynamics of the conflict in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The region has become a hot spot for increased oil insurgency and well-organized criminal activity in the wake of the 1999 transition to democratic rule. The main contribution of this study lies in its use of the political economy theory of the state and the post-colonial characterization of the Nigerian state to analyse and explore specific role of the Nigerian state in the oil conflict. The research critiques past studies in the field as “grand narratives” based on assumptions of international political economy of resource conflicts not least the rentier state and resource curse theses. Through a case study of the state-owned oil industry the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Vanguard Newspaper representing a section of the media the thesis problematized the oil conflict in the Niger Delta to failure of democratization to address decades of conflict, politicization of ethnicity, descent to terminal spoils via oil bunkering and flaws in the country’s federalism. The study critically interrogates the legal/institutional as well as militaristic response of the state to the conflict as state-centric and factors spurring the conflict. The findings reveal that the conflict is rooted in factors affecting the control, management and distribution of oil resources by a centralized federal structure characterized by a failure of governance. In other words, the conflict dynamics of the Delta is explained by total failure of oil-wealth to foster development. Instead, it impedes political development, generates conflict over resource distribution, fuels ethnic conflict and fragmentation, and institutionalized corruption all spawned by rise in government oil largesse. Since the return of democracy in 1999, lack of genuine democratization in Nigeria, has crippled even nascent attempts at reform resulting to socio-economic stagnation, which relates directly to the rising trend of violence in the region. One of the key contributions of the study also is through an analysis of “illegal oil bunkering” as an empirical case of how legal/institutional failure of the state to response to the crisis and a reflection of descent to terminal spoil in the Nigerian oil industry led to spoils of oil violence. The research critically examines how oil bunkering has damaged the environment through oil spillage and contributes to proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the region. Finally, the thesis also suggests that, the potential solution to the Niger Delta crisis lies in governance and constitutional reform that focuses on correcting the structural imbalances embedded in the nature of Nigerian fiscal federalism, its revenue allocation formula and to effectively fight corruption at all levels of governance. The Nigerian state should also abrogate or review specific oil-related laws that serve as a fault-line of conflict with the oil producing communities. Failure to tackle this problem will allow the self-destructive cycle of violence to continue to undermine reform initiatives and perpetuate the region’s instability.

<p> Unaccompanied orphans are the most vulnerable population, whose sociological, psychological, and legal needs have been far from being met. There are two types of unaccompanied orphans: Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM) and Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC). Even though both URM and UAC are unaccompanied minors, one group enjoys protection as a legal resident, while the other is treated as an undocumented alien. </p><p> Most of URM are brought from overseas to the United States through the State Department program, which grants these children a resettlement in the U.S. due to the lack of long-term care. However, there is a small group that composes only 2.3% of the URM population: the unaccompanied alien children (UAC) who entered the U.S. by themselves and whose asylum applications are approved the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). This paper focuses exclusively on this small number of children: UAC Orphans Asylum Applicants, in short UOAA. </p><p> The exact number of UOAA is not known. However, UOAA compose of children who fall into two groups. First intersection group is the UAC filing for asylum. In FYs 2011-2013, a total of 1,800 UAC filed for Asylum, resulting in about 300 approvals. On average, that is 600 UAC filing for asylum each year once arriving in the U.S. The second intersection group is UAC orphans. In FY 2014, 96% of UAC were released to parents, guardians, or relatives in the U.S. That leaves 4% of UAC in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), without being united with families. In FY 2014, 4% of UAC in the ORR custody accounted for 2,320 orphans. In other words, while the majority of UAC are released to parents or legal guardians or relatives in the U.S., there are several thousand orphans who do not have any parent, legal guardian, or relatives in the United States. </p><p> Whether reunified with family member or not, there is no legal term for an unaccompanied child who is orphaned in the U.S. and filing the asylum application on her own. This amorphous group simply marks the intersection of two groups above. Thus, it is hard to numerically ascertain exactly how many children fall into both groups, one thing is certain. There is a limited number of children who fall into the intersection group, which this paper designate these children as &ldquo;Unaccompanied Orphan Asylum Applicants&rdquo; (UOAA). </p><p> When the UOAA&rsquo;s asylum application is approved, the child can receive care as an URM, who has full access to a state&rsquo;s foster care system. However, the current United States immigration law fails to sufficiently guarantee protection for UOAA during the asylum process, and it fails to address special problems inherent for unaccompanied minors. </p><p> As a solution, this thesis proposes ways that the United States can improve its procedural system and revise substantive law to better guarantee and protect the rights of these children, who are fleeing from persecution and have no parents or guardians in the U.S. Procedurally, the United States should adopt some of the European Union&rsquo;s UAC policy to comply with the international principles consistent with the Best Interests of Child standard. The policy can be divided into three stages: (1) at the entrance on the border; (2) while in the U.S. and in the court system; and (3) at the removal procedure. Substantively, the United States should revise the Immigration and Nationality Act&rsquo;s refugee definition for UAC orphans who are fleeing from the gang violence in Central America, so that UOAA can access fair opportunity in the American immigration system.</p>

For several historical and political reasons, the decision-making processes and institutional structures of environmental governance has been greatly impacted by the North-South dimension, which creates enormous challenges for Southern states when they try to present their concerns to global forums. These challenges have many dimensions, such as political, economic, social, and legal. This thesis recognises the “poverty of influence” that has become endemic as a result of the lack of resources, expertise, research facilities, technology and other practical deficiencies that exist in the negotiating procedures and which have hampered the South’s participation in global environmental governance. Such participatory inequalities between North and South have seriously hampered the application of equity, fairness and justice – principles that are considered to be vital ingredients in any balanced governing system. This thesis proposes the utilisation of the diverse capacity of transnational NGO networks to enable the Southern voice to be effectively heard in global decision-making processes, and it questions the traditional legal structures that currently allow for NGO involvement by determining the need for wider opportunities to be considered, thereby enabling them to express their concerns. The thesis includes a Case Study that examines from a North-South perspective the different capacities of NGOs to influence global forests negotiations. Consequently, it is hoped that the thesis will contribute towards a greater understanding of the benefits that might accrue from the utilisation of transnational networks to voice hitherto unheard global forest issues. This thesis, which is timely, in that 2011 was the International Year of Forests, argues that transnational NGO networks could help mitigate the inequalities suffered by the South caused by the historic North-South divide. However, it also stresses the importance attached to transnational NGO networks incorporating measurable values of legitimacy and accountability when they represent the South at global governance forums.

International assistance and cooperation for access to essential medicines can be established as an obligation of developed countries based on international human rights law and an array of authoritative guidance. The research aim of this thesis was to understand how developed countries can be influenced to meet this obligation under the current international order with a view to the improvement of international governance over this issue. To address this aim, this thesis conducted an analysis based on three sub-questions: (1) what is the current international order governing access to essential medicines, (2) what are the processes and mechanisms that the international order has used to influence developed countries and how have the countries responded, and (3) is there an alternative model to the current governance structure that could lead to improved implementation of international assistance and cooperation by developed countries. The analysis of the international order involved a study of the World Health Organization and its interactions with the World Trade Organization and the development-related institutions involved in access to medicines (i.e. the World Bank, UNAIDS, and the Global Fund). The lack of leadership by the WHO in governing access to essential medicines has led to significant tensions between the institutions in the form of conflicts, overlaps, and other issues. The thesis proceeds with a country case study to understand how states interact with the international order and how they can be influenced towards norm implementation. It was determined that the international order possesses an influential array of ‘socialization’ methods that have been successful in inducing states toward norm compliance (when backed by the support of international NGO networks and domestic pressure). However, the level of disarray that remains in the international order continues to have a negative effect on international assistance and cooperation. The thesis concludes with an analysis of emerging changes to the current system of governance over access to essential medicines and considers whether these changes might bring an improvement to developed country support of access to essential medicines.

<p>There is a lacuna in our understanding of what it is to have legal human right. While moral philosophers frequently address what it is to have a human right, qua human, and legal philosophers discuss what it is that constitutes a legal right, it is not yet clear what it is to have a legal human right distinct from these pursuits. It is generally agreed that not all human rights in the international practice are legal rights for everyone. Legal effectiveness is largely dependent on treaty ratification and domestic commitments. However, this inequality in the effectiveness of legally claimable rights poses a crucial problem for the international practice of human rights, which takes universality and the demands for equitable treatment as central aims of that practice. This dissertation aims to examine this problem and to discuss the state of the emerging legal practice of human rights. It offers a measure, through a standard of adjudicability, for recognizing when legal human rights claims have become effective. The goal is to provide clarity on how this legal practice of human rights might properly emerge in keeping with its own founding principles.

This thesis considers the nature and extent of the United Nations’ obligations to protect the lives and physical integrity of civilians. Over 100,000 UN peacekeeping personnel are currently deployed on missions with authority from the Security Council to protect civilians at risk . Chapter VII of the UN Charter provides a UN mission with the jus ad bellum authority to use force, but is silent on the rules that would govern the resulting actions, which must either be found in the jus in bello provisions of international humanitarian law (IHL) or the regulations on the use of force contained in international human rights law. Most existing UN guidance stresses the applicability of IHL . This thesis argues that the positive and negative obligations of international human rights law will usually be more appropriate. Chapter VII contains no references to international human rights law and nor was this initially considered a concern of the Security Council. This has changed considerably in recent decades. It is increasingly accepted that humanitarian crises can justify the Security Council’s use of its Chapter VII powers, although this has been accompanied by growing concern about the lack of accountability with which they are sometimes used. The UN Charter specifies that its provisions take precedence over all other international treaties. There is no mechanism to judicially review the Security Council’s actions and the legal immunities that cover UN missions, makes it difficult to scrutinise their records. UN missions mandated to protect civilians have repeatedly failed to do so. Yet there does not appear to be a single case where the UN has taken disciplinary action against senior staff for failing to protect civilians in line with a mission mandate. Mechanisms need to be created to improve the accountability of UN missions to those that they are responsible for protecting.

Mohammad Al-Shaybani is one of the greatest scholars of Islamic international law (assiyar). His book, As-Siyar Al-Kabier, is an eighth century textbook on international law. In this thesis I present and discuss the precise nature of Al-Shaybani’s contribution compared to the other great contributions on international law made by Augustine, Gratian, Aquinas, Vitoria and Grotius. I affirm the view that Al-Shaybani made a major contribution to the theory of international law that has been unacknowledged, and unjustly so, by scholarship. Al-Shaybani’s book was a comprehensive treatise on the law regulating international relations from the Islamic perspective. It was the first attempt to produce such a book on international law as a discipline distinct from other legal fields. In terms of legal complexity, it can only be compared to Grotius’s greatest book on the subject The Law of War and Peace. In the area of humanitarian law, the only other writer with whom he can be compared is Vitoria, although even Vitoria does not go into the same depth of complexity. Al-Shaybani dealt with war carefully and limited cases of justified wars to three categories only. He offered many rules restricting cruel practices in the treatment of enemy personnel and prisoners of war. The nature of peace and how it could best be achieved was fully considered. Rules on treaties, diplomacy, travel, trade and more were discussed in a way that would best give rise to the peaceful coexistence between nations. Detailed legal rules with the purpose of guaranteeing the continuity of peace are suggested in his work. In contrast, Augustine, Gratian and Aquinas only engaged in limited discussions on some of the subjects of the law of war. Vitoria’s contribution on these matters was more extensive but even he lagged way behind Al-Shaybani. The work of Al-Shaybani was certainly as detailed, complex, comprehensive and useful as that of Grotius on international law. Besides the presentation and discussion of the merits of his work, a central purpose of this thesis is to argue that any future work on the history of international law that does not consider Al-Shaybani’s contribution would be unsound.

LL.M. (Commercial Law) / Please refer to full text to view abstract