In the past ten years, the world has witnessed a transformation in the relationship between governments and the supply of money. A number of countries, including the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the 11 European countries participating in EMU, have made their national central banks 'independent'. Inflation is at a post World War II low, and there a general recognition that inflation cannot, in the long term, create employment or boost economic growth. The economic consensus is that the best monetary policy is the pursuit of price stability. However, these changes to monetary regimes have been a pragmatic response to the problem of high inflation. There has been little recognition of the constitutional implications of the supply of money. I argue that this pragmatic approach is constitutionally dangerous. Upon examining the history of money, it is clear there are fundamental property rights associated with the issue of money. There is a strong need for monetary arrangements to be identified as constitutional issues, and for constitutional rules to be developed and applied in relation to the issue of money. This thesis analyses the appropriate relationship between governments and money from a constitutional perspective. Chapters II-VI examine the following issues: • the constitutional principles which should guide the behaviour of any government in relation to money; • the historical development of money and its theoretical qualities; • the difference between 'commodity' and 'fiat' money and the constitutional implications of their respective monopoly supply by governments; and • the constitutionally ideal monetary regime. Chapters VII, VII and IX then examine the existing monetary regimes in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and in the European Union, and I compare these regimes to the constitutionally ideal monetary order identified in Chapter VI. The penultimate chapter examines electronic payment systems over the Internet, and assesses the possible impact these will have on governments' monetary monopolies in the future. The fundamental conclusion of the thesis is that adherence to constitutional principles demands that money be supplied on a private competitive basis. Notwithstanding that many central banks are now 'independent', the way money is supplied today - by governments possessing monetary monopolies - is contrary to the principles of constitutionalism.

Depuis le 20 janvier 2002, la République du Congo s'est dotée d'une nouvelle Constitution. Ce quatrième texte fondamental depuis l'avènement de la démocratie en 1990 avait un double objectif : rompre avec le modèle constitutionnel français consacré par la Constitution de mars 1992 qui instaurait un régime semi-présidentiel et restaurer l'autorité de l'Etat affaiblie par les années de guerre civile. C’est donc finalement un régime de type présidentiel qui est mis en place. À cet égard, l'article 114 de la Constitution de 2002 déclare : « le Président de la République ne peut dissoudre l'Assemblée nationale. L’Assemblée nationale ne peut démettre le Président de la République ». Mais la comparaison avec le régime américain s'arrête là. Car le Président, au Congo, dispose d'une suprématie non conforme au principe d'équilibre des pouvoirs connu aux Etats-Unis et, surtout, n'encourt aucun risque de destitution. En définitive, le dispositif mis en place est plus proche d'une architecture des pouvoirs issue de la Constitution russe de 1993 et au présidentialisme latino-américain. Trois facteurs expliquent cette convergence : d'abord, l’objectif du texte fondamental adopté en 2002 était bien la consécration constitutionnelle de la victoire militaire de 1997. Cette réalité rapproche la Constitution congolaise de la Constitution russe adoptée à la suite de la « décommunisation » lors de la chute du Mur de Berlin. Ensuite, les constituants entendaient reproduire la culture bantoue dans le marbre juridique, en consacrant la suprématie du chef. Une telle approche est similaire à l’influence culturelle bolivar dans le présidentialisme latino-américain. Enfin, la nécessité de contenter la communauté internationale a conduit à l’adoption d’un texte fondamentalement libéral avec une pratique foncièrement autoritaire. Finalement, seule une instrumentalisation de la Communauté internationale peut expliquer le paradoxe du régime constitutionnel congolais. / Since the 20th of January 2002, the Republic of Congo has adopted a new constitution. This fourth fundamental text since the advent of democracy in 1990 has two objectives : to depart from the French constitutional model enshrined in the constitution of March 1992 which established a semi- presidential system and to restore the authority of the state that had be shaken and weakened by years of civil war. The new constitution opted for a presidential system. In this regard , Article 114 of the 2002 constitution states that " the President of the Republic may dissolve the National Assembly. The National Assembly cannot impeach the President of the Republic. " This is the only commun feature the system has with that of the United States. In the Republic of Congo, the President is not subject to the principle of checks and balances as in the case of United States and, especially, runs no risk of impeachment. In the end, the system in place is closer to the Russian architecture of powers and the Latin American presidentialism. Three factors explain this convergence : firstly, the fundamental objective of the text adopted in 2002 was indeed the constitutional enshrinement of the military victory of 1997. This reality takes the Congolese Constitution a step towards the Russian Constitution adopted after the " decommunisation " following the fall of the Berlin Wall. Then, the constituent Assembly had the intention to reproduce the Bantu culture in the legal marble, establishing the supremacy of the leader. Such an approach is similar to the bolivian cultural influence in the Latin American presidentialism. Secondly, the need to satisfy the international community led to the adoption of a fundamentally liberal text with inherent authoritarian practice. Finally, manipulation by the international community is the only plausible explanation to the paradox of the Congolese constitutional regime.

Doctor Legum - LLD / The history of prison reform after 1994 was shaped by the relationship between governance and human rights standards; the requirements for both are set out in the Constitution and elaborated on in the Correctional Services Act. Good governance and human rights converge in five dimensions of a constitutional democracy: legitimacy, transparency, accountability, the rule of law; and resource utilisation. The new constitutional order established a set of governance and rights requirements for the prison system demanding fundamental reform. It de-legitimised the existing prison system and thus placed it in a crisis. This required its reinvention to establish a system compatible with constitutional demands. The thesis investigates whether constitutionalism provided the necessary transformative basis for prison reform in South Africa after 1994. The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) senior management failed to anticipate this in the period 1990 to 1994. In the five years after 1994 senior management equally failed to initiate a fundamental reform process. This lack of vision, as well as a number of external factors relating to the state of the public service in the period 1994 to 2000, gave rise to a second crisis: the collapse of order and discipline in the DCS. By the late 1990s the state had lost control of the DCS and its internal workings can be described as a mess – a highly interactive set of problems in causal relationships. In many regards the problems beleaguering the prison system were created in the period 1994 – 1999. The leadership at the time did not recognize that the prison system was in crisis or that the crisis presented an opportunity for fundamental reform. The new democratic order demanded constitutional and political imagination, but this failed to materialise. Consequently, the role and function of imprisonment within the criminal justice system has remained fundamentally unchanged and there has not been a critical re-examination of its purpose, save that the criminal justice system has become more punitive. Several investigations (1998-2006) into the DCS found widespread corruption and rights violations. Organised labour understood transformation primarily as the racial transformation of the staff corps and embarked on an organised campaign to seize control of management and key positions. This introduced a culture of lawlessness, enabling widespread corruption. Under new leadership by 2001 and facing pressure from the national government, the DCS responded to the situation by focusing on corruption and on regaining control of the Department. A number of gains have been made since then, especially after 2004. Regaining control of the Department focused on addressing systemic weaknesses, enforcing the disciplinary code and defining a new employer-employee relationship. This has been a slow process with notable setbacks, but it continues to form part of the Department’s strategic direction. It is concluded that the DCS has engaged with and developed a deeper understanding of its constitutional obligations insofar as they pertain to governance requirements in the Constitution. However, compliance with human rights standards had not received the same attention and areas of substantial non-compliance remain in violation of the Constitution and subordinate legislation. Overcrowding, violations of personal safety, poor services and/or lack of access to services persist. Despite the detailed rights standards set out in the Correctional Services Act, there is little to indicate that legislative compliance is an overt focus for the DCS. While meeting the minimum standards of humane detention, as required by the Constitution, should have been the strategic focus of the DCS in relation to the prison population, the 2004 White Paper defines “offender rehabilitation” as the core business of the DCS. In many regards the DCS has assigned more prominence and weight to the White Paper than to its obligations under the Correctional Services Act. In an attempt to legitimise the prison system, the DCS defined for itself a goal that is required neither by the Constitution nor the Correctional Services Act. Compliance with the minimum standards of humane detention must be regarded as a prerequisite for successful interventions to reduce future criminality. After seven years, delivery results on the rehabilitation objective have been minimal and not objectively measurable. The noble and over-ambitious focus on rehabilitation at policy level distracted the DCS from its primary constitutional obligation, namely to ensure safe and humane custody under conditions of human dignity. Throughout the period (1994 to 2012) the DCS has been suspicious if not dismissive of advice, guidance and at times orders (including court orders) offered or given by external stakeholders. Its relationship with civil society organisations remain strained and there is no formal structure for interaction. Since 2004 Parliament has reasserted its authority over the DCS, not hesitating to criticise poor decisions and sub-standard performance. Civil society organisations have increasingly used Parliament as a platform for raising concerns about prison reform. Litigation by civil society and prisoners has also been used on a growing scale to ensure legislative compliance. It is concluded that prison reform efforts needs to refocus on the rights requirements set out in the Correctional Services Act and approach this task in an inclusive, transparent and accountable manner.

The Ibero-American constitutions over the years have had multiple purposes from a formalistic conception to a materialistic conception. In these circumstances, it is vital to determine the new conception of these constitutions, due to the subsequent influence that could lead to the constitutions of countries of civil law tradition, such as Latin America. / Las Constituciones Iberoamericanas a lo largo de los años han tenido múltiples finalidades, desde una concepción formalista hasta una concepción materialista. En estas circunstancias, es de vital importancia determinar la nueva concepción de estas constituciones, debido a la influencia posterior que podría generar a las constituciones de países de tradición civil law, como el latinoamericano.

This thesis provides a reinterpretation of J.A.G. Griffith’s lecture ‘The Political Constitution’—a reinterpretation that stresses the commitment Griffith expressed in that lecture to the normative dimension of legal positivism. I call this normative dimension ‘normative positivism’. Identifying Griffith as a normative positivist serves to clarify a number of debates surrounding Griffith’s arguments in ‘The Political Constitution’ and serves to clarify our understanding of the concept that has come to be known in UK public law scholarship in recent years as ‘political constitutionalism’, of which Griffith is regarded as a leading exemplar. The thesis argues that Griffith’s political constitutionalism is best understood as a form of normative positivism and is very different from some more recent defences of political constitutionalism available in the scholarly literature. The thesis also considers how the big constitutional questions of the age in the UK—questions relating, for example, to bills of rights and devolution—play out in the light of our discovery and appreciation of Griffith’s normative positivism.

Inside the field of Law, the usual question about the meaning of a determined concept or the question towards what it makes reference to has alwaysbeen complicated. In the last years, different events have produced that philosophical trends reconsider the understanding of the legal system.In the present article, the author does a presentation of what new constitutionalism means and its opinion towards it. The author also makes a critical analysis of the positivist and jusnaturalist visions, connecting them with the understandingof Law and the legal system, making an emphasis on Administrative Law. / En el campo del Derecho, la pregunta sobre qué significa o a qué hace referencia determinado concepto siempre ha sido complicada. En los últimos años diversos acontecimientos han ocasionado que corrientes filosóficas replanteen la forma de entender el orden jurídico.En el presente artículo, el autor hace una presentación de qué se entiende por nuevo constitucionalismo y su opinión sobre el mismo. Asimismo, realiza un análisis crítico de los planteamientos positivistas e iusnaturalistas, conectando los mismos con el entendimiento del Derecho y del orden jurídico, poniendo énfasis en la rama del Derecho Administrativo.

Submitted by Edileide Reis (leyde-landy@hotmail.com) on 2013-04-16T18:59:32Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Almeida Neto.pdf: 533312 bytes, checksum: 0677f22a7c36a080683755702cc8999f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Meirelles(rodrigomei@ufba.br) on 2013-05-09T17:33:07Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Almeida Neto.pdf: 533312 bytes, checksum: 0677f22a7c36a080683755702cc8999f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-05-09T17:33:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Almeida Neto.pdf: 533312 bytes, checksum: 0677f22a7c36a080683755702cc8999f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / O escopo do presente artigo é discutir a partir dos movimentos constitucionalistas os fundamentos da Jurisdição e da Supremacia das Normas Constitucionais especialmente o controle de constitucionalidade das leis municipais á luz da jurisprudência do Supremo Tribunal Federal tema apaixonante devido ás peculiaridades que envolvem a fiscalização abstrata bem como a evolução jurisprudencial no controle difuso. Com efeito a autonomia municipal brasileira foi conquistada ao longo da historia até a Constituição de 1988 que deu forma republicana ao governo e estrutura federativa ao Estado. Inscreveu ainda a autonomia municipal como prerrogativa intangível capaz de autorizar em caso de violação a intervenção federal. A Carta de 1988 reparte as competências entre os seus entes federativos (União Estados Municípios e o Distrito Federal) reconhecendo a autonomia política legislativa e organizacional dos municípios. Assim caminhando pelos meandros das correntes doutrinárias nacionais e estrangeiras mais abalizadas sobre o tema e à luz da evolução jurisprudencial do Supremo Tribunal Federal verifica-se que o controle de constitucionalidade das leis municipais permanece em constante transformação na jurisprudência da nossa Suprema Corte. São tantas as evoluções desde a promulgação da Constituição Republicana de 1988 examinadas ao logo do presente trabalho que é possível falar-se em um novo controle de constitucionalidade das leis municipais tanto na via concentrada por meio da ADPF quanto na atribuição de efeito vinculante e eficácia erga omnes nas decisões em controle difuso. / Salvador

Esta dissertação analisa a relação entre os princípios da isonomia e da proteção ao trabalhador, examinando como ambos atuam para efetivar ou não a igualdade material entre empregador e empregado. Parte-se de uma contextualização histórica e científica do debate. A seguir será estudado o conceito de princípio do direito, analisando-se três deles: a igualdade, a proporcionalidade e a proteção ao trabalhador. Então, será averiguado se a isonomia e a norma protetora são complementares ou contraditórias, bem como a possível existência de um quantum justo de tutela a se conferir ao ―hipossuficiente‖ em cada caso concreto, procedimento esse que teria como fim igualar os polos da relação laboral – acaso não seja assim, a proteção a ser concedida será invariável. A metodologia usada será a pesquisa bibliográfica e, eventualmente, jurisprudencial, com um enfoque primordialmente dogmático, mas também zetético e interdisciplinar. Para o exame dessas questões – bem como para respondê-las -, seguir-se-á principalmente os chamados ―neoconstitucionalismo‖ e o ―pós-positivismo‖ naquela vertente liderada por Robert Alexy. Ao final, serão apresentadas conclusões no sentido de ser ou não possíveis a adoção do princípio da proporcionalidade para ponderar igualdade e proteção ao trabalhador, equiparando-se assim as partes em justa medida na busca pela Justiça. / This study analyses the relationship between the principles of legal equality and worker protection, examining how both operate to effect or otherwise the material equality between employer and employee. It starts from an historical and scientific contextualization of the debate and then moves on to study the concept of the principles of law, analyzing three of them: equality, proportionality and worker protection. Then it will examine whether equality under the law and protection regulations are complementary or contradictory, together with the possible existence of fair portion of protection which would provide the ―disadvantaged ― in each case with a procedure aimed at equalizing the opposing positions in the labour relationship - otherwise, it would be an unvarying protection. The method will employ bibliographical and juridical research, which is primarily focused on the strictly legal, but is also zetetic and interdisciplinary. Examination of these questions, together with responses to them, will principally follow the ―neo-constitutionalism‖ and ―post-positivism‖ of the approach propounded by Robert Alexy. Finally, it will present conclusions about whether or not it is possible to adopt the principle of proportionality in consideration of worker protection and equality, thus equalizing the parties in the fair pursuit of justice.

Esta pesquisa procurou averiguar de forma comparada a atuação dos deputados brasileiros nas Cortes de Lisboa (1821-1822) e a atuação dos deputados novos-hispanos nas Cortes de Cádiz (1810-1812). Centramos nosso trabalho na leitura dos Diários de ambas as Cortes e procuramos perceber de que formas as propostas autonomistas e de organização dos novos Impérios constitucionais estavam relacionadas com o conceito de nação e seus correlatos. Inicialmente procuramos realizar uma breve retomada das discussões historiográficas em torno da questão do Estado e da Nação na historiografia brasileira e latino- americana, onde pudemos notar a necessidade de desenvolvimento de teorias específicas sobre o surgimento dos Estados Nacionais na Ibero-América. Por fim, notamos a existência de diversos pontos comuns de reivindicação política nos espaços das Cortes entre as elites brasileiras e novo-hispanas. Destacando-se aí o desejo pelo estabelecimento de acordos que privilegiassem a autonomia administrativa das províncias. Ressaltamos ao final de nosso trabalho a percepção de desenvolvimento já nas Cortes de Lisboa de uma proposta alternativa para a organização do Estado brasileiro, vinda das elites mais ao sul do Reino, que privilegiava a constituição de um acordo mais centralizado para o Reino do Brasil. / This research examined on a comparative basis the performance of Brazilian deputies in the Cortes of Lisbon (1821-1822) and the performance of New Hispanic deputies in the Cortes de Cádiz (1810-1812). We focus our work in the reading of Diaries of both Cortes and seek to see how the autonomist projects and the new constitutional proposals for the Empires were related to the concept of nation and its correlates. Initially we also conduct a brief resumption of historiographical discussions around the issue of the state and nation in the Brazilian and Latin American historiography and there we note the need to develop specific theories about the emergence of national states in Latin America. Finally, we note that there were several common points of political claim in between Brazilian and New-Hispanic elites. Standing out where the desire to establish agreements centered in the administrative autonomy of the provinces. We also could noticed the development in the Cortes of Lisbon of an alternative proposal for the organization of the Brazilian state, coming from the elites located in the south of the Kingdom, which favored the creation of a more centralized State in the Kingdom of Brazil.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Faced with the concrete reality of the new imperialism's advance through the spoliation of Latin America through the processes of land alienation and intensification of export agribusiness and, on the other hand, of the new constitutions of countries like Ecuador and Bolívia, which institute the principle of buen vivir and the rights of Pachamama, the paper intends to analyze the relationship between imperialism via espoliation and new Latin American constitutionalism, with a view to answering: what kind of relationship is there between the two concepts / phenomena? Are they antithetical to each other? Can it be said that the new Latin American constitutionalism consists of an anti-imperialist legislative movement and legal set? With this, the investigation seeks to arrive at a synthesis on the conceptual and concrete relationship between imperialism via plunder and new Latin American constitutionalism. In order to reach the established objectives, the author adopts as a research technique the bibliographic review. It observes, from the outset, that the relationship between imperialism via espoliation and the new Latin American constitutionalism is at the same time a relation between concepts and a relation established in concrete reality. Against this, the investigation proceeds from data on the advance of the new imperialism in Latin America (especially on the foreignization of land and the advancement of agribusiness) that are confronted with the constitutional normativity of Bolívia and Ecuador in order to verify what has been the concrete synthesis between Imperialism via espoliation and new constitutionalism. The development of the work shows that the new Latin American constitutionalism, partially the product of anti-colonial popular aspirations, brings within it two fundamental concepts: Pachamama e buen vivir. The former, by not accepting the possibility of marking the land and the beings that inhabit it, is incompatible with the capitalist mode of production and essentially contrary to any imperialist longing for the spoliation of natural wealth. The second, because it is also incompatible with the marking of nature, contradicts the capitalist / imperialist logic that causes imbalances and disharmonies. However, Pachamama's rights and the principle of buen vivir alone are incapable of producing the desired transformations of reality, since they do not themselves institute the mechanisms necessary for their realization. This requires the existence of constitutional precepts that block the commodification and spoliation of nature. Contradictory, however, the Constitutions of Ecuador and Bolívia assure the maintenance of the capitalist mode of production, reason why it is not possible to be affirmed that the new constitutionalism, in the current configuration, consists in a normative standard antitético to the imperialism. In terms of concrete social relations, the new constitutionalism presents the contradictions typical of a class society, based on the capitalist mode of production and linked to the world economy in a situation of dependency, which makes it incapable of completely blocking harmful spoliation imperialist practices To the full realization of the good life and the realization of the rights of Pachamama. / Diante da realidade concreta do avanço do novo imperialismo via espoliação sobre a América Latina por meio dos processos de estrangeirização da terra e intensificação do agronegócio exportador e, de outro lado, das novas constituições de países como Equador e Bolívia, que instituem o princípio do buen vivir e os direitos da Pachamama, o trabalho pretende analisar a relação entre imperialismo via espoliação e novo constitucionalismo latino-americano, com vistas a responder: que tipo de relação há entre os dois conceitos/fenômenos? São eles antitéticos um em relação ao outro? Podese dizer que o novo constitucionalismo latino-americano consiste em movimento e conjunto jurídico normativo antiimperialista? Com isso, a investigação busca chegar a uma síntese sobre a relação conceitual e concreta entre imperialismo via espoliação e novo constitucionalismo latino-americano. Para alcançar os objetivos estabelecidos, o autor adota como técnica de pesquisa a revisão bibliográfica. Observa, de partida, que a relação entre imperialismo via espoliação e o novo constitucionalismo latino-americano é, ao mesmo tempo, uma relação entre conceitos e uma relação que se estabelece na realidade concreta. Frente a isso, a investigação procede a partir de dados sobre o avanço do novo imperialismo na América Latina (especialmente acerca da estrangeirização da terra e avanço do agronegócio) que são confrontados com a normatividade constitucional de Bolívia e Equador a fim de verificar qual tem sido a síntese concreta entre imperialismo via espoliação e novo constitucionalismo. O desenvolvimento do trabalho mostra que o novo constitucionalismo latino-americano, parcialmente produto de aspirações populares anticolonialistas, traz em seu seio dois conceitos fundamentais: Pachamama e buen vivir. O primeiro, por não aceitar a possibilidade de mercadorização da terra e dos seres que a habitam, é incompatível com o modo de produção capitalista e essencialmente contrário a qualquer anseio imperialista de espoliação de riquezas naturais. O segundo, por ser também incompatível com a mercadorização da natureza, contraria a lógica capitalista/imperialista causadora de desequilíbrios e desarmonias. Porém, os direitos da Pachamama e o princípio do buen vivir sozinhos são incapazes de produzir as transformações da realidade desejadas, já que não instituem eles próprios os mecanismos necessários à sua efetivação. Esta requer a existência de preceitos constitucionais que bloqueem a mercadorização e espoliação da natureza. Contraditoriamente, no entanto, as Constituições de Equador e Bolívia asseguram a manutenção do modo de produção capitalista, razão pela qual não se pode afirmar que o novo constitucionalismo, na configuração atual, consista em um padrão normativo antitético ao imperialismo. Em termos de relações sociais concretas, o novo constitucionalismo apresenta as contradições próprias de uma sociedade de classes, assentada sobre o modo de produção capitalista e atrelada à economia mundial em situação de dependência, o que lhe torna incapaz de bloquear por completo práticas imperialistas espoliatórias prejudiciais à realização plena do buen vivir e à efetivação dos direitos da Pachamama.