Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / The Central Jurisdiction is a structure within The Methodist Church organization which almost completely segregates the Negro Methodist from his white fellow-Methodist at the jurisdictional, annual conference, and local church levels of organization. During the past few years the church has begun to move toward the abolition of this racial jurisdiction. During this period, however, the leadership of the Central Jurisdiction has refused to implement various procedures available to transfer conferences and churches into geographic jurisdictions according to Amendment IX of the Constitution of The Methodist Church. In this situation the question has been raised as to the role that the Central Jurisdiction is playing and has played in the developnent of an inclusive Methodist Church. Particularly, the question has been asked whether the Central Jurisdiction and its leadership has become a conservative institution concerned with its own interests over and above the elimination of the symbol of segregation in The Methodist Church. The aim of the present stuey has been to study these questions. The procedure has been to study the history of the Negro in Methodism and of the development of the Central Jurisdiction. In order to discover the effects of the Central Jurisdiction as an institution upon communication between white and Negro ministers, and to discover any differences in attitudes concerning the Central Jurisdiction between leaders and non-leaders, a questionnaire was sent to a random sample of the ministerial menbers of the Central Jurisdiction. Of 193 items in the sample 191 were returned. other instruments were also sent to the presidents of the Woman's Society of Christian Service and the Lay Leaders of the seventeen Negro annual conferences in order to determine the extent of conmunicat ion among Methodist laymen. A stuey was then made of the Central Jurisdictional Conference actions directed toward the elimination of the Central Jurisdiction, using criteria for effective minority action as a critical tool. These criteria were: (1) an insistent, virtually unanimous protest to the majority group; (2) a legislative program supported by the Negro; (3) the development of interracial contacts and activities. The conclusions of the study indicate that there is very little communication between clergy and laymen of different races at the conference, district or local level. The national leadership of the Woman's Society of Christian Service has encouraged inter-racial contacts but the results, although encouraging, are only beginning to appear. No statistical difference appeared between the leaders and non-leaders of the Central Jurisdiction in their attitudes concerning the Central Jurisdiction which would indicate the leaderships 1 actions were dictated by self-interest. In fact, on same issues the leaders took positions more favorable to an inclusive church than the rank and file. The actions of the Central Jurisdiction were found to be consistent with the purpose or creating an inclusive church, defining this in terms much broader than the mere abolition of the Central Jurisdiction. It was found that this concern with the more fundamental question of how to develop an inclusive fellowship in which the Negro will be accepted as an equal in all sections of the church was the reason for the reluctance ef the leadership te utilize Alaendment IX. With the pressure of the secular world building up around the church fer the elimination of segregation the Central Jurisdiction found it strategic to emphasize the importance of formulating an over-all plan for the development of an inclusive church before the Central Jurisdiction was abolished. The effect of the Central Jurisdiction, therefore, as an institutional structure was found to retard the develepment of an inclusive church, while as a policy making body it has been a force working for the end of racism in The Methodist Church. / 2999-01-01

A presente tese de doutorado defende a aplicação da técnica de modulação de efeitos das decisões na jurisdição infraconstitucional exercida pelo Superior Tribunal de Justiça e, consequentemente, sua utilização para relativizar efeitos precedentes processuais. A modulação de precedentes ou jurisprudência é uma técnica adotada pelos tribunais para evitar que a (nova) interpretação do direito por eles elaborada tenha efeitos retroativos e, assim, atinja situações consolidadas ou casos judiciais pendentes. Essa flexibilização é comumente utilizada para evitar que uma reviravolta jurisprudencial (i.e., um overruling) cause efeitos danosos àqueles cidadãos que depositaram confiança no precedente revogado, por ele pautando suas vidas e negócios. A modulação serve também para conservar situações jurídicas perpetradas com base em uma lei que veio ser, apenas posteriormente, declarada inconstitucional ou ilegal por um tribunal superior. A tese inicia demonstrando o desenvolvimento histórico da reestruturação de efeitos decisórios no Brasil, a partir de sua implementação na jurisdição constitucional sob controle do Supremo Tribunal Federal (analisa-se, dentro do contexto, o art. 27 da Lei 9.868/99). Passa-se, então, o trabalho a defender a modulação de precedentes também na jurisdição infraconstitucional praticada pelo Superior Tribunal de Justiça, fazendo, em primeiro lugar, um paralelo com o direito estrangeiro. Na sequência, o estudo traz fundamentos para comprovar a tese, explicando que a jurisprudência equivale, em certos casos, à norma legal (função criativa da decisão judicial) e, portanto, merece ter sua eficácia prospectada no tempo, tal como ocorre com a lei ordinária (aplicação pro futuro, cf. art. 5º, inc. XXXVI, CF e art. 6º, LICC), a fim de preservar a segurança jurídica e outros tantos relevantes princípios constitucionais (no ensejo dessa análise, critica-se pontualmente julgado da 1ª Seção do STJ). O trabalho, entretanto, destaca a excepcionalidade do (re)ajustamento da eficácia decisória, pois o precedente, geralmente, deve abarcar situações pendentes e passadas, observados determinados fundamentos técnico-jurídicos explicitados no trabalho. De lege ferenda, aborda-se o Projeto do Novo Código de Processo Civil, cujo art. 882, inc. V, objetiva instituir a prospecção de efeitos decisórios em todo o contexto jurisdicional brasileiro, especialmente no overruling. O capítulo final da tese analisa casos de modulação de decisões processuais, sugerindo sua adoção como técnica (processual) adicional para efetivação dos escopos do processo e de outros tantos princípios processuais. / This doctoral thesis advocates the application of the technique of modulation of the effects of decisions on infra-constitutional jurisdiction (prospective overruling) exercised by the Superior Court of Justice and hence its use in order to relativize precedent procedural effects. Modulation of precedents or case law is a technique used by courts to prevent retroactive effects of the (new) interpretation of law as prepared by them, thus striking consolidated situations or pending court cases. Such flexibility is commonly used to preclude a reversal of jurisprudence (i.e., an overruling) from causing harmful effects to those citizens who put their trust in the revoked precedent, using it to guide their lives and businesses. The modulation also serves to retain legal situations perpetrated based on a law that was only later declared unconstitutional or illegal by a higher court. The thesis starts showing the historical development of the restructuring effects of decision-making in Brazil, from its implementation on constitutional jurisdiction under the control of the Supreme Court (as analyzed within the context of the art. 27 of Law 9.868/99). Afterwards, it comes to defend the modulation of precedents also in infraconstitutional jurisdiction, as practiced by the Superior Court of Justice, drawing initially a parallel with foreign law. It continues by providing groundings to prove the thesis, explaining that, in some cases, judge-made law is equal to the legal norm (creative function of the judicial decision) and therefore deserves its effectiveness prospected in time, as occurs with the ordinary law (application pro futuro, cf. art. 5th, inc. XXXVI, CF and art. 6, LICC) in order to preserve legal certainty and so many other relevant constitutional principles (on occasion of this analysis, criticism is exemplarily made on o judgment by the 1st Section of the STJ). The paper, however, highlights the uniqueness of the (re)adjustment of effectiveness, because the precedent should generally encompass situations pending and past, technical legal grounds observed. De lege ferenda, the thesis addresses the design of the New Code of Civil Procedure, whose art. 882, inc. V, aims to establish the prospection of decisionmaking effects throughout the whole Brazilian judicial context, especially in overruling. The final chapter of the thesis is devoted to analyze cases of modulation of procedural decisions and to suggest its adoption as additional (procedural) technique in order to implement the scopes of the process as well as many other procedural principles.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:22:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gabriela Shizue Soares de Araujo.pdf: 1515384 bytes, checksum: 2969fb4184ffe07847ea2cb5a2c4dee2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-10-14 / This dissertation seeks to demonstrate the fragility of human rights, when our highest court forgets the principles and guidelines vectors in constitutional interpretation and hermeneutics application of the Constitution, under pressure of public opinion. We seek the best interpretation of the Supreme Court s exceptional original jurisdiction by prerogative function, making a parallel with the peculiar judgment of the Criminal Action Nº 470/MG. We demonstrate that ordinary citizens that do not hold function´s privileges should have preserved their right to natural justice, due process, and especially the double jurisdiction. At the end, we conclude that the double degree of jurisdiction is a fundamental right that can not be denied even to holders of prerogative function and we highlight the unconstitutionality regarding the latent negative of that right in the trial of Criminal Case Nº 470/MG. Wide literature was searched, manifestations of respected masters and doctors, reviews of various segments of society, slowly gathered the personal conviction of the author / Esta dissertação busca demonstrar a fragilidade a que se expõem os direitos fundamentais do homem, ao se permitir que pressões da opinião pública, movidas por interesses políticos e pessoais, levem nossa mais elevada Corte a olvidar os princípios vetores e as diretrizes hermenêuticas constitucionais na interpretação e aplicação da Constituição Federal ao caso concreto. Procuramos a melhor interpretação da excepcional competência originária por prerrogativa de função do Supremo Tribunal Federal para julgar infrações penais, fazendo um paralelo com a condução do tema no julgamento peculiar da Ação Penal n° 470/MG. Demonstramos que os cidadãos comuns não titulares de prerrogativas de função devem ter preservado seu direito ao juiz natural, ao devido processo legal, e principalmente ao duplo grau de jurisdição. Ao final, concluímos que o duplo grau de jurisdição é um direito fundamental que não pode ser negado nem mesmo aos titulares de prerrogativa de função e ressaltamos as inconstitucionalidades latentes quanto à negativa desse direito no julgamento da Ação Penal nº 470/MG. Vasta literatura foi pesquisada, manifestações de respeitáveis mestres e doutores, opiniões de segmentos variados da sociedade, amealhados à convicção pessoal da autora

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:23:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Allan Moraes.pdf: 636402 bytes, checksum: ab34061c46de88a13d40ef08e3553eb3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-08 / The present work addresses the tax jurisdiction concept by investigating the principles and limits governing the tax collection activity, in its multiple forms. The constitutional rules that apply to the lawmaking process to create taxes, as well as to ensure the fulfillment of the tax jurisdiction by the political entities, are also discussed. In this sense, the tax jurisdiction is seen as an instrument for the design of the Federative State, a safeguard set forth by the Federal Constitution alongside other rules that guide the tax collection activity, allowing, requiring and prohibiting such conduct / O presente trabalho trata da competência tributária por meio da investigação dos limites e princípios que regulam a atividade tributária, em suas várias manifestações. Aborda as normas constitucionais que tratam da atividade de legislar com vistas à criação de tributos, bem assim as que têm por finalidade garantir o pleno exercício da competência por cada uma das pessoas políticas de direito interno. Nesse sentido, visualiza a competência como instrumento de formatação do Estado Federativo, garantia prevista na Constituição Federal ao lado das demais normas que tratam da atividade tributária permitindo, obrigando e proibindo condutas dessa natureza

A presente tese de doutorado defende a aplicação da técnica de modulação de efeitos das decisões na jurisdição infraconstitucional exercida pelo Superior Tribunal de Justiça e, consequentemente, sua utilização para relativizar efeitos precedentes processuais. A modulação de precedentes ou jurisprudência é uma técnica adotada pelos tribunais para evitar que a (nova) interpretação do direito por eles elaborada tenha efeitos retroativos e, assim, atinja situações consolidadas ou casos judiciais pendentes. Essa flexibilização é comumente utilizada para evitar que uma reviravolta jurisprudencial (i.e., um overruling) cause efeitos danosos àqueles cidadãos que depositaram confiança no precedente revogado, por ele pautando suas vidas e negócios. A modulação serve também para conservar situações jurídicas perpetradas com base em uma lei que veio ser, apenas posteriormente, declarada inconstitucional ou ilegal por um tribunal superior. A tese inicia demonstrando o desenvolvimento histórico da reestruturação de efeitos decisórios no Brasil, a partir de sua implementação na jurisdição constitucional sob controle do Supremo Tribunal Federal (analisa-se, dentro do contexto, o art. 27 da Lei 9.868/99). Passa-se, então, o trabalho a defender a modulação de precedentes também na jurisdição infraconstitucional praticada pelo Superior Tribunal de Justiça, fazendo, em primeiro lugar, um paralelo com o direito estrangeiro. Na sequência, o estudo traz fundamentos para comprovar a tese, explicando que a jurisprudência equivale, em certos casos, à norma legal (função criativa da decisão judicial) e, portanto, merece ter sua eficácia prospectada no tempo, tal como ocorre com a lei ordinária (aplicação pro futuro, cf. art. 5º, inc. XXXVI, CF e art. 6º, LICC), a fim de preservar a segurança jurídica e outros tantos relevantes princípios constitucionais (no ensejo dessa análise, critica-se pontualmente julgado da 1ª Seção do STJ). O trabalho, entretanto, destaca a excepcionalidade do (re)ajustamento da eficácia decisória, pois o precedente, geralmente, deve abarcar situações pendentes e passadas, observados determinados fundamentos técnico-jurídicos explicitados no trabalho. De lege ferenda, aborda-se o Projeto do Novo Código de Processo Civil, cujo art. 882, inc. V, objetiva instituir a prospecção de efeitos decisórios em todo o contexto jurisdicional brasileiro, especialmente no overruling. O capítulo final da tese analisa casos de modulação de decisões processuais, sugerindo sua adoção como técnica (processual) adicional para efetivação dos escopos do processo e de outros tantos princípios processuais. / This doctoral thesis advocates the application of the technique of modulation of the effects of decisions on infra-constitutional jurisdiction (prospective overruling) exercised by the Superior Court of Justice and hence its use in order to relativize precedent procedural effects. Modulation of precedents or case law is a technique used by courts to prevent retroactive effects of the (new) interpretation of law as prepared by them, thus striking consolidated situations or pending court cases. Such flexibility is commonly used to preclude a reversal of jurisprudence (i.e., an overruling) from causing harmful effects to those citizens who put their trust in the revoked precedent, using it to guide their lives and businesses. The modulation also serves to retain legal situations perpetrated based on a law that was only later declared unconstitutional or illegal by a higher court. The thesis starts showing the historical development of the restructuring effects of decision-making in Brazil, from its implementation on constitutional jurisdiction under the control of the Supreme Court (as analyzed within the context of the art. 27 of Law 9.868/99). Afterwards, it comes to defend the modulation of precedents also in infraconstitutional jurisdiction, as practiced by the Superior Court of Justice, drawing initially a parallel with foreign law. It continues by providing groundings to prove the thesis, explaining that, in some cases, judge-made law is equal to the legal norm (creative function of the judicial decision) and therefore deserves its effectiveness prospected in time, as occurs with the ordinary law (application pro futuro, cf. art. 5th, inc. XXXVI, CF and art. 6, LICC) in order to preserve legal certainty and so many other relevant constitutional principles (on occasion of this analysis, criticism is exemplarily made on o judgment by the 1st Section of the STJ). The paper, however, highlights the uniqueness of the (re)adjustment of effectiveness, because the precedent should generally encompass situations pending and past, technical legal grounds observed. De lege ferenda, the thesis addresses the design of the New Code of Civil Procedure, whose art. 882, inc. V, aims to establish the prospection of decisionmaking effects throughout the whole Brazilian judicial context, especially in overruling. The final chapter of the thesis is devoted to analyze cases of modulation of procedural decisions and to suggest its adoption as additional (procedural) technique in order to implement the scopes of the process as well as many other procedural principles.

Pour étudier le phénomène paradoxal d’un renforcement de l’autonomie de la volonté parallèlement à une multiplication des impérativités en droit international privé contemporain, le concept de norme permissive apparaît particulièrement pertinent. Il permet de saisir l’ensemble des énoncés normatifs où l’auteur de la norme octroie à un destinataire une faculté de faire ou de ne pas faire, qu’il s’agisse du juge lorsqu’il lui est permis de surseoir à statuer en cas de connexité ou des parties lorsqu’il leur est permis de choisir la loi applicable à un contrat international.L’étude du droit positif montre que les manifestations des normes permissives sont nombreuses, tant dans les conflits de lois que de juridictions et qu’elles obéissent à des logiques distinctes selon qu’elles octroient une faculté au juge ou aux parties. Dans cette seconde hypothèse, en effet, il n’est plus question d’une liberté octroyée par la règle de droit mais d’une liberté concédée dans le choix de la règle de droit. Cette spécificité, conjuguée à la multiplication des normes permissives en droit international privé, a donc justifié que leur efficacité soit éprouvée.Dans cette perspective, le présupposé selon lequel les normes permissives constitueraient une traduction normative adéquate de l’objectif de prévisibilité des solutions, qui sert de justification à leur admission, doit être remis en cause. L’appréciation critique de ce postulat permet de proposer que les normes permissives n’occupent, à l’avenir, qu’un rôle résiduel en droit international privé, soit comme instrument de consensus soit comme palliatif à l’indétermination d’un critère de rattachement suffisamment prévisible. / In order to study the paradoxical phenomenon of the rise of party autonomy in parallel with the multiplication of mandatory norms in contemporary private international law, the concept of permissive rule is particularly apposite. It accounts for all instances where the law-making body grants a beneficiary the possibility to do or not to do something; be it the judge when he is authorized to stay the proceedings in case of related actions, or the parties when they are authorized to choose the law applicable to an international contract.A study of the positive law shows that permissive rules are numerous in both Choice of laws and Jurisdiction and that they operate under distinct logics depending on whether they grant a possibility to a judge or to the parties. In the latter case, the issue at stake is no longer whether a right is granted by the legal rule, but rather whether a right is conceded in the choice of the legal rule. This specificity, together with the proliferation of permissive rules in private international law, warrants that their relevancy be tested.In this context, the assumption that permissive norms would adequately serve the purpose of foreseeability of solutions, which forms the basis for their adoption, must be questioned. This critical assessment leads to the proposal that permissive norms should, in the future, play only a residual role in private international law, either as a way to reach consensus or as a stopgap in the absence of a sufficiently foreseeable connecting factor.

European Patents are granted through the European Patent Office. Although such right is unitary, the European patents will break down into a bundle of national patents; each governed by the domestic law of the States which the holder of the right has designated. Since infringement stands in the crossroads between patent enforcement and patent validity, infringement litigation generally touches on the issue of validity as it is impossible to infringe a right that does not exist or no longer exists. The nullity component in infringement litigation gives rise to additional difficulties with respect to the selection of the forum and the applicable law. As a result, the validity challenge is discussed in detail with respect to the application of the relevant rules on international jurisdiction and with respect to the identification of the relevant applicable laws. Cross border litigation in relation to registered intellectual property rights in Europe has been extremely controversial over the years. The jurisdiction of the courts to deal with foreign intellectual property rights is after all not entirely obvious or straightforward in the light of the exclusive jurisdiction provision in the Brussels system. The judgment which the Court of Justice delivered on 13th July 2006 in case Roche and GAT result substantial conflicts. Divergent views had been expressed concerning cross border jurisdiction over intellectual property cases on Article 6(1) of the Brussels I Regulation; and Article 16(4) of the Brussels Convention 1968, what is now Article 22(4) of the Brussels I Regulation. This thesis focuses on the jurisdiction and applicable law on European patent disputes.

La « compétence ratione temporis » est une expression d’origine jurisprudentielle dont la signification varie selon le contexte dans lequel elle se trouve employée. Telle qu’elle apparaît dans les décisions des juridictions internationales, celle-ci désigne d’abord la durée de l’habilitation à exercer le pouvoir juridictionnel que l’on associe à la durée de validité de l’engagement juridictionnel de l’Etat. La compétence temporelle désigne également le domaine temporel d’exercice du pouvoir de juger, les Etats précisant bien souvent les catégories de litiges ratione temporis pour lesquels ils peuvent être attraits en justice. Sur la base de ce constat, la doctrine ne voit dans la compétence temporelle qu’une notion à contenu variable sans véritable utilité pour l’analyse du droit positif, et préfère parler soit de compétence personnelle dès lors qu’est en cause l’existence du consentement de l’Etat à se soumettre à la juridiction, soit de compétence matérielle pour envisager les catégories de différends dont le tribunal pourra connaître. L’étude de la jurisprudence internationale conduit toutefois à remettre en cause le bien-fondé d’une telle analyse. Si l’on peut voir dans la compétence temporelle un élément d’identification de la sphère de compétence du tribunal, et donc un aspect de sa compétence matérielle, la résolution pratique du problème de la durée de l’habilitation à juger ne peut être comprise en ayant recours au concept de compétence personnelle. Par la manière dont les juridictions appliquent l’engagement juridictionnel ratione temporis, celui-ci n’apparaît pas simplement comme l’acte par lequel les Etats consentent à se soumettre à la juridiction, mais d’abord comme le titre qui fonde l’action des justiciables. En cela, l’explication des solutions retenues par les juridictions internationales ne peut faire l’économie d’un concept propre à la durée de l’habilitation : celui de compétence ratione temporis. / "Jurisdiction ratione temporis" is an expression that derives from case law, the meaning of which varies depending on the context it is used in. As it appears in International court decisions, it is used to mean the time during which the court has the authority to exercise jurisdictional power which also relates to the time during which the State’s consent to jurisdiction is valid. Jurisdiction ratione temporis also means the time period during which the court has the power to judge as the States often specify categories of disputes for which they can be brought to justice as ratione temporis. On this basis, legal doctrine only sees temporal jurisdiction as a variable notion that is not particularly useful in analysing positive law, and prefers to refer to either jurisdiction ratione personae when there is an issue of whether the State has agreed to submit to the jurisdiction of the court, or to jurisdiction ratione materiae for categories of disputes for which a court could have jurisdiction. Studies on International case law however call into question the justification of such an analysis. If we can consider that in temporal jurisdiction there is an element of identifying the jurisdictional sphere of the court and therefore an aspect of its jurisdiction ratione materiae, the problem of the time during which a court has jurisdiction cannot be practically solved by referring to the concept of jurisdiction ratione personae. Given the way in which courts apply the title of jurisdiction ratione temporis, this does not appear to be just an act by which the States agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the court but first of all as the very basis of the action. In this, the explanations of the solutions of the International courts cannot ignore a concept that is specific to the duration of authorisation, that of jurisdiction ratione temporis.

[pt] A presente dissertação buscou, por meio da análise de casos concretos e do estudo da evolução histórica das Constituições brasileiras, apresentar como as controvérsias sobre o instituto do foro por prerrogativa de função determinam e são determinadas pelas decisões do Supremo Tribunal Federal. Embora costumeiramente o debate público associe o foro distintivo à impunidade e ao incentivo à corrupção, o que pode ser muito bem resumido pelo frequente uso não técnico da expressão foro privilegiado, é possível enxergar esse instituto como importante ferramenta de essencial proteção dos mandatos eletivos. Elaborado para ser um obstáculo às perseguições contra autoridades políticas, também atua para evitar que a influência dessas mesmas autoridades seja revertida em indevida proteção pelo Poder Judiciário. A ausência de soluções fáceis para os dilemas processuais penais relativos ao tratamento jurisdicional em matéria criminal dispensado às autoridades políticas é um fato e, não por acaso, identificou-se a existência de soluções originais e particulares para a questão em diferentes países latino-americanos e potências globais. O recorte da dissertação se revela pela análise de ações penais julgadas ou em transcurso no Supremo Tribunal Federal e permite observar como a oscilação da interpretação da Corte sobre as regras desse instrumento legal reduz o grau de certeza e previsibilidade nas delicadas acusações criminais contra as autoridades políticas do país. Essa incerteza que, incentivada pelas decisões da própria Suprema Corte, acaba por configurar significativa insegurança ao regime democrático, poderia ser sanada com a edição de norma constitucional mais clara e com a cessação das reiteradas tentativas da Suprema Corte de reformar normas constitucionais e infraconstitucionais por meio de ampliações expansivas de sua interpretação. A mais importante e recente decisão da Suprema Corte para a matéria, oferecida nos autos da Questão de Ordem na Ação Penal 937, propiciou uma série de novidades nos seus regramentos. Na visão do autor, embora tais nuances tenham atingido a meta principal de reduzir os trabalhos do Supremo em sua competência criminal originária, não ofereceram esclarecimentos suficientes para que se considerem seguras as interpretações sobre o tema. / [en] This paper aims at presenting, by the analyzes of actual cases and the study of the historical evolution of Brazilian constitutions, the ways the controversial disputes around the legal instrument known as privileged jurisdiction due to public function prerogatives impact the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) participation in the country s democratic political process. The public has usually related this constitutional safeguard to impunity and incentive to corruption, which has been summarized over the years by the popular usage of the non-technical, shortened term privileged jurisdiction (foro privilegiado). However, it is possible to acknowledge it as an important tool for the essential protection of elected mandates. Designed to be an obstacle to the persecution of political authorities, the instrument is also intended to avoid authorities misuse of their rights against Justice. The absence of easy solutions for criminal processual dilemmas related to the jurisdictional treatment of criminal matters concerning political authorities is a fact. It is no coincidence there are various examples of original and special solutions dealing with the matter throughout Latin America as well as in other global powers. The time frame of the study presents criminal procedures recently tried or in process at the Federal Supreme Court. These court actions allow us to notice the oscillation in the Court’s interpretation of the rules of the legal instrument which in turn allows less certainty and predictability concerning the delicate criminal accusations against political authorities in the country. This uncertainty, which is encouraged by the Court s decisions, ends up establishing a significant level of insecurity for the democratic regime in Brazil. That could be easily avoided by the setting of a more objective constitutional rule for the subject and by the ceasing of STF’s repetitive attempts to reform constitutional ruling or other legislation by means of expanded interpretations on the matter. The most recent decision on the subject by STF is found in the Question of Order in Criminal Procedure 937, which brought changes for the ruling of the matter. In the author s opinion, the changes reached their goal of lowering the number of cases reaching the Supreme Court, more accordingly with its original competence, however, they did not clarify important issues so as to guarantee consensus about their interpretation.

Thesis (LLD (Public Law))—University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / Aggression is regarded as one of the core crimes under customary international law, but the definition of aggression is still contentious. At present there is no international instrument that provides for effective individual criminal liability for the crime of aggression. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) provides for the inclusion of the crime of aggression within the court’s jurisdiction, but the Statute needs to be amended to include a definition of aggression and conditions for the exercise of jurisdiction by the ICC. This dissertation seeks to identify the elements of the international crime of aggression, for purposes of individual criminal liability. It is submitted that the creation of the ICC provides the international community with an historic opportunity to establish effective jurisdiction over the crime of aggression.