It is generally accepted that jus cogens norms are recognised to be non-derogable, and to bind all States because they protect the interests of the wider international community. If this is correct, it is incongruous that States could breach jus cogens norms with impunity. This thesis approaches this statement from two angles. Firstly, it questions whether States do in fact enjoy impunity; or whether there is a formal, or even ad hoc, practice of holding States accountable. Secondly, this thesis asks what it means to hold States accountable - whether the changing conception of international law, that accommodates jus cogens norms, is also developing to recognise a changing conception of State accountability. In order to answer these questions this thesis conceptualises State accountability as an interpretive framework, with which to analyse relevant State practice and identify juridical support for State accountability. In addition, consideration is given to how a theoretical concept of State accountability relates to existing doctrines of public international law and illustrates why it is that State and juridical support for a conceptual principle of accountability exists when there is already an established principle of State responsibility. It is submitted that rather than being an established legal principle, State accountability has legal, political and even moral characteristics and although the concept is currently lex feranda there is evidence of an evolution to lex lata.

Though commonly used in public international law, ethnic cleansing is a term which has not, as yet, been formally classified, either by international tribunals or conventions. Consequently, the notion has existed in a grey area since its coinage in the 1990s. With fresh instances of destruction and expulsion of civilian groups continually emerging, it is vital that efforts are made to redress this situation. With this in mind, the present thesis aims to formulate a classification of ethnic cleansing within the public international law order that reflects its specific characteristics and conditions. Previously, attempts to address the issue of ethnic cleansing (in UN resolutions, scholarly work and jurisprudence) have aligned it against the standards of international humanitarian law, war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. A similar methodological principle shall be adopted here, beginning with a detailed assessment of the validity of Security Council resolutions qualifying the practice as a violation of international humanitarian law – a verdict which has not been re-affirmed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia or any other tribunal, and thus lacks binding legal effect. Following this, a theoretical evaluation of all relevant case law will be used to examine ethnic cleansing against other international crimes – war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity – focussing not only on the parallels but also the crucial disparities between them. Via close analysis of conditions and limitations, it shall here be shown how the current qualification fails to provide an efficient instrument for identification. Having its own particular characteristics, ethnic cleansing ought to be classified as a specific independent crime: one whose mental element is similar to that of crimes against humanity, and which does not only target human groups, and can, in fact, be perpetrated against populations, both in the context of armed conflict and during peacetime.

No description available.

The current thesis seeks to evaluate the tort choice of law rules of the United Arab Emirates, by comparing these rules with the relevant rules adopted in the' United Kingdom and under the Rome IT Regulation on the Law Applicable to Non- Contractual Obligations at the European harmonisation level. The aim is to create a draft Bill, designed to reform the tort choice of law rules in the United Arab Emirates, by combining the most meritorious features of the three studied jurisdictions. Such a Bill is included in the final chapter of the thesis. A main concern of the thesis has been to address the latest developments, especially with regard to Rome II Regulation, which, during this study, has witnessed many amendments prior to the adoption of the final text. As well as the final text, its' earlier versions and proposals are referred to in'the thesis where necessary. To facilitate understanding, the thesis is accompanied by an appendix containing an English translation of the Introductory Chapter of the Civil Transactions Act of the United Arab Emirates, which includes the provisions containing the existing rules which are discussed in the thesis. The relevant provisions contained in the 1995 Act of the United Kingdom, and those of the Rome II Regulation, are also provided in appendixes. In the same vein, to make things easier and more valuable for the ' legislative authority in the United Arab Emirates, another appendix contains an Arabic translation of the draft Bill, designed to suggest amendments to the current tort choice of law rules in the United Arab Emirates. Finally I should add that for the sake of simplicity the footnotes are numbered separately for each chapter.

No description available.

Global climate change is now a reality and this change is mainly happening due to global warming. The world has begun to witness the consequences of climate change with the increased frequency of extreme natural events like cyclones, tsunamis, hurricanes and floods. Populations affected by these extreme natural events are left helpless, miserable and in limitless agony. Due to its geographical location, topography, high population density, poverty and lower adaptive competence Bangladesh is considered to be highly vulnerable to natural disasters in the world. Climate changes have triggered an increase in the incidences of natural disasters (like cyclones) over the coastal region of Bangladesh. The coastal part of the country is the most vulnerable and the southwestern part of the coastal area is identified as environmentally handicapped by climate change. Climate change is openly threatening the very existence of people’s lives and livelhoods in Bangladesh. In recent times Bangladesh was hit by two consecutive cyclones Sidr in 2007 and Aila in 2009. The effects of climate change on the environment interacts with the health and population in Bangladesh at numerous complex levels. There are direct health effects through various vector and waterborne diseases, but arguably more important indirect effects as well. So far, little is known about climate change and its impact on human health in Bangladesh. This study was devised following the recent super cyclone Sidr that hit Bangladesh in November 2007 and cyclone Aila that hit in May 2009. The study aims to assess the impact of climate change on health of the coastal population of Bangladesh. This study was conducted in the cyclone Sidr affected area Amtali Upazila of Barguna District and in the cyclone Aila affected area Koyra Upazila of Khulna district. A questionnaire survey was used to collect primary data from households of the affected populations. Focus groups with health service providers of the affected areas was also employed. A mixed method approach was used in this research. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics, frequency distribution, chi-square, correlation analysis and logistic regression analysis. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. This research concludes that climate change largely affects human health in Bangladesh. Natural disasters due to climate change are affecting the general and mental health of the population of the affected areas. Prevalence of diarrhoea, skin diseases, hepatitis (jaundice) and other infectious diseases has increased after the cyclones. The risk of injury and death also increased during the time of natural disaster. According to the health service providers’, climate change affected the mental status of people. On the other hand, the focus group discussion revealed that women, children and older adults are the most vulnerable group and are facing serious health concerns due to climate change. A majority of the health professionals, service providers and local community of coastal areas of Bangladesh are aware of the health impacts of climate change but their knowledge regarding health protection measures is limited. It is hoped that the findings of this research will have enormous policy implications.

The object of this work is two-fold. It is, first, intended to ascertain what the law of homicide in the Sudan is and to examine critically the attitude of the Sudan Courts in interpreting the homicide provisions of the Sudan Penal Code. It is felt that the main value of this is that, apart from Professor Gledhill's invaluable commentary on the Code, The Penal Codes of Northern Nigeria and the Sudan, no work has been done in this field and the literature on it is extremely scant. This is so despite the fact that it is now more than seventy years since the Code first came into existence. Further, the present writer had the good fortune of having had access to a considerable wealth of unreported criminal cases dating back to the enactment of the Code and throwing significant light on the courts' interpretation of the S.P.C. The significance of these cases may be realised if it is borne in mind that law reporting in the Sudan was started as late as 1956. In addition to the above, and in order to extract more information and to ascertain the opinions of leading contemporary Sudanese lawyers on some controversial matters and some suggested amendments and criticisms of the Sudan law of homicide, a Questionnaire was prepared and distributed among members of the Judiciary, the Ministry of Justice, the Bar and the academic field. Their response on these matters will be referred to in the appropriate places. In the second place, it is intended to oompare and contrast the homicide provisions of the Code with those of other legal systems. The S.P.C. was enacted in 1899 and since then has been subjected only once, in 1925, to a general revision. The Sudan Code was based on the Indian Penal Code which had, in turn, been largely taken from nineteenth century English law. Magistrates who applied the S.P.C. in its first fifty-five years were British lawyers and administrators, trained in the common law tradition, and the Sudanese lawyers who took over from them are also largely oriented in the same tradition. This has made it necessary to consider the extent to which the S.P.C. has been interpreted to conform with the socio-political and economic conditions of the country and the extent to whioh the influence of foreign systems has affected the application of the Code. Again, the comparison and contrast of the Sudan law with those of India and England becomes of great importance in the effort to determine objectively whether the provisions of the S.P.C. are satisfactory and whether there is room for modification and reform. To widen the scope of the contrast it has been thought necessary to include the Scottish law of homicide which has no claim to have influenced the law of the Sudan.

The gradual evolution of zakat law during the 23 years of the prophetic life of ruhammad positively reflects a major and effective role of ijtihad in the formulation and evolution of the detailed regulations of the law. Beside the Qur'an which was in fact a binding and normative source for the ijtihidio activity of the Prophet, his own personal judgement and wisdom constituted the second major source in this regard. Consultation with the Companions and the selective adoption of the ancient Arab traditions/legal customs as well as those of AbI a'-K4tah might be considered as the secondary sources of subjective nature. Whereas the interpretation of the relevant Qur'anic texts, the formulation of the applicative details, deduction and derivation from the general explicit rules in the Qur'anic texts were the major parts of the ijtihidio methodology of the Prophet, the new legislation and the selective adoption from the above mentioned secondary sources can not be denied altogether. Moreover, certain guiding principles which were presumably followed in the process of ijtihad during the Prophet's time can be deduced. After the Prophet, the changing conditions of the time of the Older Companions (10 A.H. to 35 A.B.) demanded not only the systematisation of implementative details of the law and legal solutions to new problems, but aneed of some addition and alterations in the old law was also felt. In all these spheres certain ijtihidic/legislative steps on the part of the older Companions can be proved. Beside the authoritative sources, namely the Qur'an and the practices of the Prophet's time, the major sources for the ijtihidic activity of the Companions were their individual reasonings and mutual consultation. The criteria of preference and acceptance of the proposals on the eve of mutual consultation, however, seems to be gradually moved towards argumentation and rationalisation instead of seeking a final approval by a central authority. During the period of the Younger Companions (35 A.H. to 73 A.H.) which was generally a time of internal conflicts and civil riots, the ijtihidic/legislative activity appears to have been increasingly shattered. Mutual consultation over ijtihidic issues and the central leadership of Caliph in this regard could not be retained at all. This, as well as several other factors, eventually resulted in a shift of control over the ijtihidic activity from the hands of the government to the private jurists. Hence different and sometimes contradictory fatiwi on the part of the individual jurists began to be issued and practised in different regions. Whereas the Qur'an, the laws of the Prophet's time and the relevant statements of the Prophet were given a status of the coercive and authoritative sources, the precedents of the period of the Older Companions as well as individual reasoning was held as a major source for the ijtihidic activities of private jurists. The last mentioned, i.e. individual reasoning, however, gradually lost its value against a growing trend of respect for early precedents. During the time of the Successor Jurists (73 A.B. to 101 A.H.) while the political conditions had been improved and a specific system of government had been established, ijtihidic activity as compared to the preceding time appears to have flourished. Its control, however, could not be regained by the government throughout the period until the time of 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Acts. Only in his brief reign (99 A.H. to 101 A.H.) can an effective involvement of the government on the ijtihidic/juristlc activity be proved. A specific development of the Successor's time as a whole was a growing trend among the jurists towards evolving and formulising the general principles and technical theories for the law and to apply them in the derivative details. Whereas this trend refined and systematised the process of expansion making the law more uniform and balanced in all its derivative details, the same trend was also responsible for creating some technical complexities in the law.

No description available.

The board of directors at a company usually comprises both executive and non-executive directors. Their role is to run and direct the company for its benefit since it is incapable of acting by itself. Where there is a separation of ownership and control it is recognised that there is a risk that those in control may use their power for self-interested means. Attention is often focused on the executive directors and how legal controls and governance mechanisms can reduce the possibility of self-interest in the performance of their functions. However, seldom are non-executives the focus of this problem yet they are playing an increasingly important role in the running and governance of the company. This thesis is an investigation in to whether the legal rules and governance mechanisms are suitable in reducing the possibility of self-interest amongst non-executive directors. The study uses multiple directorships as a proxy for non-executive self-interest to demonstrate whether the controls and incentives are suitable. It begins by examining the nature of a nonexecutive’s fiduciary liability to the company focusing on the nature and purpose of the duty to identify when and why the duty is owed. Identifying the nature and purpose of the duty will allow the thesis to demonstrate that existing authority and academic literature on the scope of a non-executive’s fiduciary duty is an unsuitable interpretation based on the company’s current objects and reanalyses it from the perspective of the non-executive’s undertaking on the board. Whilst the analysis concludes that this interpretation would offer a suitable scope in deterring self-interest the thesis continues by examining the enforcement of fiduciary duties by considering the new statutory derivative claim. This analysis reveals that enforcement is low and may reduce the deterrence the fiduciary duties themselves might have. With low levels of enforcement the thesis turns its attention to ex ante incentives, particularly corporate governance mechanisms, which can “nudge” the non-executive in to acting for the benefit of the firm. This analysis contains a review of the corporate governance theories and an empirical study to identify the ways non-executive self-interest may be reduced. The theoretical analysis considers the ways boards may be structured to reduce the potential for self-interested behaviour. Using multiple directorships as a proxy for self-interest the empirical analysis provides evidence as to whether they are in fact perquisite consumption and identifies possible means of control. It is considered herein that there are insufficient controls and incentives on non-executive behaviour, which may lead to increased self-interest to the detriment of the company.