Dans l’exercice de son office, le juge est en permanence aux prises avec la loi et sa conscience. Cette réalité n’est pas propre à notre temps. Elle est une donnée constante de l’histoire judiciaire. Et selon les époques, la conscience du juge n’a pas toujours occupé la même place. Cette oscillation de la place de la conscience dans l’acte de juger témoigne à la fois d’un souci de justice et d’un souci éthique. Malgré les tentatives des doctrines positivistes et légicentristes d’atténuer, voire d’évacuer la question de la conscience du juge de la sphère judiciaire, elle demeure entière, et bien plus encore aujourd’hui avec la complexité de plus en plus grande de certaines affaires judiciaires. Le droit et la conscience sont un couple viscéralement lié mais malheureusement un couple en « difficulté », où le droit ne triomphe pas toujours et où la conscience n’a pas toujours bonne presse au regard de la dimension subjective qui la caractérise et à laquelle elle est très souvent réduite. Si cette question a fait l’objet jusqu’ici d’une abondante littérature tant en droit français qu’en droit canonique, il nous semble qu’elle a été essentiellement abordée soit sous l’angle du droit séculier soit sous l’angle exclusivement du droit canonique. A notre connaissance aucune étude comparative n’a été faite sur ce sujet. D’où l’intérêt de notre étude. Nous proposons donc dans cette investigation une étude comparée de la conscience du juge en droit pénal français et en droit canonique à travers respectivement les concepts d’intime conviction et de certitude morale. En droit pénal français, les juges et les jurés conformément à l’art. 353 CPP, doivent juger en se référant à leur intime conviction tandis que dans la législation canonique le juge ne peut, quel que soit le litige, prononcer sa sentence qu’après avoir acquis conformément au c. 1608, CIC/83 la certitude morale sur la vérité des faits. L’« intime conviction » en droit français et la certitude morale en droit canonique sont deux formes de la manifestation de la conscience du juge. Nous nous interrogeons donc de savoir si la certitude morale est en droit canonique ce que l’intime conviction en droit pénal français. À travers cette étude comparée nous voulons soustraire le jugement selon la conscience des caricatures dont il fait l’objet et mettre en évidence la complexité de l’office du juge. Au cœur du débat sur la conscience du juge c’est l’office tout entier du juge qui est en jeu. Juger est un art qui mobilise toute la personne du juge et met en évidence son autorité à travers une perspicacité et une prudence ritualisées. La conscience du juge – dont la manifestation se décline sous les vocables d’intime conviction et de certitude morale respectivement dans les systèmes juridiques français et canonique et dont le risque d’arbitraire est si communément appréhendé par l’opinion – est un gage de justice et de vérité pour autant qu’elle soit soumise à l’épreuve du rituel judiciaire. Si notre société contemporaine se rebiffe à l’idée de conscience – renvoyée d’emblée à la sphère exclusivement morale et subjective – notre investigation a pour finalité de démontrer que la conscience du juge telle que comprise dans les législations canonique et française revêt un sens technique précis qui ne saurait être enfermé dans une quelconque normativité. / In the exercise of his office, the judge is constantly struggling with the law and his conscience. This reality is not peculiar to our time. It is a constant in judicial history. According to the times in history, the judge's conscience has not always occupied the same place. This oscillation of the place of consciousness in the act of judging shows both a concern for justice and an ethical concern. Despite the attempts of positivist and law-centrist doctrines to mitigate or even dispel the question of the judge's consciousness of the judicial sphere; it remains intact, even more so today with the increasing complexity of certain cases. The ‘righteous’ and the ‘conscientious’ are a viscerally linked couple but unfortunately it is a couple in "difficulty", where the law does not always triumph and where the conscience does not always have good press with regard to the subjective dimension which characterizes it and to which it is very often reduced. If this question has so far been the subject of an abundant literature in both French and Canon law, I believe that it has been essentially approached either from the angle of secular law or exclusively Canon law. To our knowledge, no comparative study has been made on this subject. Hence the interest of our study. We therefore propose in this investigation a comparative study of the judge's conscience in both French criminal law and Canon law through respectively the concepts of ‘intimate conviction’ and ‘moral certainty’. In French criminal law, judges and jurors, in accordance with art. 353 CPP must judge by referring to their intimate conviction whereas in the Canon law the judge cannot; whatever the litigation pronounce in his sentence that after having acquired according to c. 1608, CIC/83 "moral certainty" about the truth of the facts. "Intimate conviction" in French law and "moral certainty" in Canon law are two forms of manifestation of the judge's conscience. We therefore wonder whether "moral certainty" is in canon law what the "conviction" is in French criminal law. Through this comparative study we wish to subtract the judgment according to the consciousness of the caricatures of which it is the object, and to highlight the complexity of the office of the judge. At the heart of the debate about the conscience of the judge is the entire office of the judge that is at stake. Judging is an art that mobilizes the whole person of the judge and highlights his authority through a ritualized perspicacity and prudence. The conscience of the judge - whose manifestation is expressed under the terms of intimate conviction and moral certainty respectively in the French and canonical legal systems and whose risk of arbitrariness is so commonly apprehended by the public - is a pledge of justice and truth as much as it is subject to the test of judicial ritual. If our contemporary society rebels to the idea of consciousness – seen as an outset to the exclusively moral and subjective sphere -, our investigation aims to demonstrate that the conscience of the judge as understood in the canonical and French legislation has a precise technical meaning, which cannot be locked in any normativity.

The Swedish corporate law scholars have long debated whether there is something similar to the American business judgment rule (BJR) in the Swedish Companies Act (SCA). Recently, the discourse shifted to claim that the BJR exists in Swedish case law and should be introduced in the SCA in the form of a statute. However, the Swedish corporate law scholars have not investigated in much detail whether the BJR should be introduced in the SCA. An eagerness to introduce the BJR might seem bewildering due to the corporate scandals at the beginning of this century and the global financial crisis of 2008–2009. These events left corporate law scholars and those in the business community with the pressing question of whether the board of directors is sufficiently accountable, and the BJR appears to do the very opposite. In view of the foregoing, this thesis examines whether the BJR should be introduced in the SCA. This examination enables a comparative analysis of the liability rules of the board of directors in Sweden and Delaware, which is the dominant source of state corporate law in the United States. This thesis also steps outside traditional legal sources and considers other disciplines such as moral and political philosophy, sociology, and the methodology of law and economics.   This thesis finds that the BJR does not balance the values of the authority of the board of directors and the need to hold it accountable for its decisions and actions in an appropriate manner because it allows the value of authority to completely dominate. An appropriate balance between these values of authority and accountability requires that none of the values be so preeminent that any of them completely dominate. The BJR is made more critical because the Delaware courts apply it generously in favor of the board of directors and adopt an inveterate attitude in cases raising duty of care, thus, weakening the duty of care as a viable and meaningful accountability mechanism. Given these findings, this thesis concludes that the Swedish legislator should only consider introducing the BJR in the SCA if it is articulated in a different way. Alternatively, if it is given a dual function to protect both the authority of the board of directors and the need to hold it accountable for its decisions and actions. The justifications behind the BJR do not change the conclusion because they do not fully defend the existence of the BJR and the dominance of the value of authority. This thesis also considers the benefits of introducing the BJR in the SCA, but they also do not change the overall conclusion.  Instead, the conclusion is strengthened by the fact that a no liability rule can emerge when the BJR is combined with other protective devices in the SCA in the same way as it does in Delaware if the BJR is not modified or given a dual function. The no liability rule appears to deter the threat of legal liability as an effective accountability mechanism, which cannot be defended by either social norms or market forces.

Aufgrund der demografischen Entwicklung in Deutschland ist mit einem wachsenden Anteil von Patienten mit Migrationshintergrund in der stationären Versorgung im Krankenhaus zu rechnen. Gerade in der Pflege ist die Interaktion mit Patienten von besonderer Bedeutung und insbesondere in der Interaktion von Menschen mit unterschiedlichem kulturellen Hintergrund kann es zu Problemen kommen. In solchen Situationen benötigen Pflegekräfte Interkulturelle Kompetenz, die bisher jedoch kaum in arbeitspsychologischen Studien erforscht wurde. Die Forschungsfragen lauten: Wann wird Interkulturelle Kompetenz in der Pflege erforderlich, was zeichnet sie aus und wie kann Interkulturelle Kompetenz in der Pflege messmethodisch erfasst werden? Als Methoden kommen hauptsächlich qualitative Methoden (Fokusgruppen, Leitfadeninterviews) und in geringerem Umfang quantitative Methoden (Fragebogen) zum Einsatz, die in einem Mixed-Method-Forschungsdesign verbunden werden. Es wurden sowohl Pflegekräfte als auch Patienten mit Migrationshintergrund und Experten für interkulturelle Pflege befragt. Bedeutende Erkenntnisse aus der qualitativen Studie sind, neben den typischen interkulturellen Überschneidungssituationen, die Fähigkeit zur interkulturellen Empathie, die Wichtigkeit der Berücksichtigung der religiösen Bedürfnisse der Patienten und die Beachtung von sprachlichen Barrieren. Die Ergebnisse werden in der Diskussion auf ihren jeweiligen Bezugsrahmen (Organisation, Patient, Ressourcen der Pflegekraft) und ihre Pflegespezifität hin analysiert. Hinsichtlich der methodischen Diskussion sind insbesondere die Problematik der Rekrutierung und die angemessene Befragung der Patienten mit Migrationshintergrund zu nennen. Aus einem Teil der qualitativen Ergebnisse wurde der Situative Fragebogen Interkulturelle Kompetenz Pflege (SFIKP) entwickelt. Die vorhandenen Fallgeschichten ergaben einen Schwerpunkt auf türkische und muslimische Patienten. Eine Pilotversion wurde an einer Stichprobe von Pflegekräften erprobt. Nach einer Evaluation der Testkonstruktion kann der SFIKP in seiner jetzigen Form nicht als eigenständiges Messinstrument zur Erfassung der Interkulturellen Kompetenz bei Pflegekräften empfohlen werden. Als Forschungsinstrument oder als Grundlage für Trainings könnte der SFIKP jedoch Verwendung finden. Die Zusammenführung aus qualitativen und quantitativen Ergebnissen hat einige neue Aspekte ergeben. So sollte in der interkulturellen Pflegesituation dem Prozess der Entscheidungs- und Lösungsfindung durch die Pflegekraft besondere Beachtung geschenkt werden. Außerdem wird diskutiert, unter welchen Bedingungen Interkulturelle Kompetenz aus dem Handlungserfolg abgeleitet werden kann, was direkte Auswirkungen auf die Messbarmachung dieses Konstrukts hat.

Satisfying interpersonal relationships are an important and beneficial part of life. However, despite that fact that most people desire close interpersonal relationships, some people are less successful at forming and maintaining these relationships than others. One plausible explanation for such individual differences is that people differ in their levels of interpersonal competence – their ability to consistently enact behaviors that are effective, socially appropriate, and satisfying to others. The present research sought to examine different approaches to understanding and assessing interpersonal competence. A comparison of these approaches led to the creation of an Integrated Interpersonal Competence Model (IICM) that sought to maximize the strengths of each individual approach. This new model was tested in two studies (total N = 348) with the goal of understanding why people receive higher (or lower) interpersonal competence (IC) scores and how competence is related to successful interpersonal functioning. Both Studies 1 and 2 examined how the individual components of the IICM contributed to one’s overall IC score. Both studies found that the ability to accurately process social information was related to one’s likelihood of receiving a high IC score. In addition, how an individual evaluated response options seemed to play the largest role in determining whether or not the person would enact the response. Finally, IC appeared to be composed of a blend of interpersonal warmth and dominance. Study 1 also examined the relationship between IC and daily life outcomes. Results showed that higher competence individuals tended to experience a greater frequency of positive events, higher levels of prosocial feelings and satisfaction, and enacted fewer hostile and submissive behaviors on a daily basis. Study 2 investigated how IC was perceived by others. Individuals who were higher in IC were perceived to have fewer antisocial feelings, and be less selfish by peers and parents, and had higher quality relationships with their parents. Interestingly, processing abilities were unrelated to daily and informant-reported outcomes, but personality-like tendencies toward enacting friendly and hostile behaviors were consequential. Overall, the integrated model produced insights into interpersonal competence and can provide a useful guide for future investigations of interpersonal competence.

Previous research shows that integration of the senses is interchangeably dependent by  temporal neural mechanisms. One unsolved problem is how sensory timing differences in the brain is processed. In this systematic review (K = 18), audio-visual behavioral task paradigms are investigated with a focus on temporal binding window estimates. The results showed among other things that temporal integration is an adaptive neural process and that temporal acuity increases with age. Measurements between studies were sometimes incompatible which limited conclusions. Future studies should focus on standardizing operational parameters and compare within and between group designs.

The South African mining industry is viewed as the locomotive of the economic development in South Africa and has been a leading contributor to the economy for more than a century. However, the price paid for economic growth has left South Africa with a "mining legacy" and mining companies now face an upsurge of politically and regulatory induced challenges. Directors of mining companies have to act with a certain level of duty of care, skill and diligence in order for them to navigate through these various challenges. The heightened awareness of environmental degradation caused by mining has seen a rise in stricter mining liability legislation in South Africa, with a specific focus on company and director liability. The result is that directors are now faced with the possibility of personal liability when performing their executive function. According to the business judgment rule, directors will be shielded from liability if they acted with the necessary duty of care. The objective of this dissertation is to examine to what extent the business judgment rule will offer protection to a director of a mining company where the director caused environmental damage. The analysis of this study will be conducted in the context of the environmental damage caused by a mining company due to the decision making and 'governance' of the mining company's director or directors. / Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Public Law / LLM / Unrestricted

Employment rates for veterans with spinal cord injuries remain low despite legislation aimed at helping individuals with significant barriers to employment succeed in finding competitive work. As access to services and resultant outcomes become more scrutinized, the need for Rehabilitation Counselors to efficiently allocate resources grows more vital to the cause. Existing research supports a mediated path model of rehabilitation counselor clinical judgment asserting observations of disability severity, intelligence, and psychosocial adjustment lead to inferences of functional status and attribution thereof, which collectively influence predictions of successful rehabilitation. The current study investigated the variance attributable to this clinical judgement model in relation to access to services and successful employment outcomes in an implementation study of the Individualized Placement and Support Model of supported employment with a sample of veterans living with spinal cord injuries. The reduced model fit the data well, Chi-square (6, N=213) = 3.391, P=.758, CFI =1, RMSEA=.00, Hoelter .05 =788. Disability Severity was found to have an indirect effect on employment, .095 P<.05. Significant direct effects for disability severity on functional status, education on competitive employment, functional status on competitive employment, and minutes on competitive employment. The results indicate time as a resource was allocated equitably among participants in the first thirty days in regard to the exogenous variables in this study. The reduced model accounted for 8.6% of the observed variance in the data.

Judgment by acknowledgment on the basis of fiction Abstract This diploma thesis deals with the judgment by acknowledgment. It is an institute of civil procedural law. The judgment by acknowledgment can be issued on the basis of the express content of the defendant or applicatioan of the legal fiction of the acknowledgment. This paper deals with both types of judgment of acknowledgment but the main part is devoted to the fiction of acknowledgment. The thesis is divided into six chapters. Chapter One describes the history of the judgment by acknowledgment on Czech territory. Chapter Two deals with the issuance of a qualified call for expression and the requirements that are put on the expression of the defendant. Chapter Three analyzes legal conditions for issuing a judgment of acknowledgment based on both the express content of the defendant and the fiction of acknowledgement. In this chapter are also described the remedies that can be applied against it. Chapter Four is dedicated to the judgment of the Constitutional Court, which ruled on the constitutionality of the qualified call and the judgment of acknowledgment based on fiction. The majority of judges were in favor of preserving the contested provisions. In the justification and also in the statements of dissenting judges were confronted the...

Society and technology are advancing, in which morality is being artificially implemented into machines, often known as artificial moral agency. Along with this implementation, knowledge about the underpinnings of morality, such as the neurocognitive and ethical basis are an important matter. Human moral judgment has been speculated to be a function for survival, as it favors altruism and prosocial behavior. The neural correlates of moral judgment stem from several structures of the human brain that control cognitive and affective functions such as decision making, cognitive control, theory of mind (ToM) and empathy. In relation to these, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) has been widely linked to moral behavior such as ToM and moral judgment. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been linked to regulation of conflict and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) to remain cognitive control, which both have strong correlations to moral behavior. Damage to areas such as the vmPFC and ACC have demonstrated abnormal response to guilt, ToM, empathy, risky behavior as well as sociopathic tendencies, which emphasizes the importance of these structures for human morality. By investigating research in the fields of cognitive neuroscience, moral psychology and machine ethics, this thesis aims at seeking out the importance of cognitive neuroscience for the development of artificial moral agency and to furthermore discuss the necessity of emotions in artificial moral agents, which naturally lack the affective part of moral judgment. Lastly, this thesis will cover some of the main dilemmas with this integration and some future implications.

This research examines how experience and missing information affect judgments of tax return preparers. Tax return preparers may often be faced with the problem of incomplete information, and their responses to this problem may be conditioned by whether or not they recognize information is missing. Based on the Holland et al.'s cognitive theory of induction as applied to tax judgment by Marchant et al., it was hypothesized that experienced tax preparers would correctly classify more items as to their relevance to a specific tax issue than novice tax preparers. Additionally, it was hypothesized that the strength of recommendations of tax preparers who had no relevant information missing would be greater than the strength of recommendations of tax preparers who had relevant information missing and were prompted that information was missing. Lastly, it was hypothesized that prompting that relevant information was missing would have a greater effect on the strength of recommendations of tax return preparers with lesser specific experience than it would on the strength of recommendations of tax return preparers with greater specific experience. The results suggest that experienced tax preparers do recognize the relevance of information to a greater degree than novice tax preparers. There was no significant difference, however, in the strengths of recommendation of tax preparers who had no missing information and those who were prompted that information was missing. There was a significant difference in the strengths of recommendations of tax preparers with lesser specific experience who had been prompted that relevant information was missing and those who had not been prompted that relevant information was missing. Among tax preparers with greater specific experience, however, there was no significant difference between the two groups. These results suggest that tax preparers with greater specific experience recognized that relevant information was missing without being prompted, while tax return preparers with lesser specific experience did not.