Current research tends to describe loneliness among the elderly as an individual issue, focusing on psychological or biological causes and negative effects on health. This dissertation lays the groundwork for an alternative, sociological approach. Drawing on the model developed by Durkheim in his study of suicide, the argument operates on three levels. First, it critically examines the dominant analytical framework for studying loneliness, highlighting the influence of concepts and methods inherited from psychology. Next, it contextualizes loneliness historically, tracing through the archives of international organizations (especially the ILO, the WHO, and the Council of Europe) the emergence of policies that contributed to loosening intergenerational ties and isolating the elderly from the rest of society. Finally, the dissertation introduces an innovative quantitative approach based on data from a major European telealarm provider. These "organic" data, derived from real-life settings rather than conventional survey-based research, reveal the macrostructure of the phenomenon. Taken together, the findings point to the need to reconceptualize loneliness not as mere absence of interpersonal connections but as a misalignment of the individual with group norms, especially norms related to time. This has both theoretical and practical implications in terms of the nature of the phenomenon and the types of interventions needed to address it.

This dissertation deals with judicial review of governmental action and individual legal activism. It investigates whether judicial protection of individual rights and individual legal activism, within the field of public law, can be seen as an alternative or complement to electoral control of political and administrative powers. To discuss the effect of various standing rules and the potential societal function of public law adjudication, a model for analyzing the character of public law adjudication has been developed. The model allows for a characterization of public law adjudication as either Liberal or Republican, depending on features of standing rules, court proceedings, and court decisions. It concludes that judicial protection of individual rights and individual legal activism within the field of public law can be seen as an alternative or complement to electoral control of political and administrative powers, especially when public trust in, and the powers of, the legislative assembly and political parties is low and decreasing, and if the preconditions for individual legal activism are of such a character that access to justice is available to the larger public and not only a limited group of advantaged individuals. This theoretical framework is then used to analyse judicial protection of individual rights and individual legal activism in post-Socialist Russia. The results show that the Russian state is best described as authoritarian and that the traditional principal-agent relationship is weak. Thus, in order to strengthen the individual in relation to the state, alternatives for exercising control and participation are required. An analysis of the legislative framework, i.e., the law as it is laid down in the books, shows that Russian administrative law is rights-based and that the character of Russian public law adjudication is closer to the Republican model than the Liberal. However, the Russian support structure is still weak and finds itself in an increasingly inhospitable environment – legally, financially, and politically. In addition, this dissertation concludes that Russia’s membership in the CoE has had an impact on judicial protection of individual rights within the sphere of public law in terms of: improving the legislative framework; developing Russian court jurisprudence referring to the ECHR and to the jurisprudence of the ECtHR; exerting pressure on the Russian state to improve practices of the state bureaucracy; stimulating individual legal activism, and increasing individuals’ knowledge and awareness of their lawful rights and how to implement them.

"Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de maître en droit option droit international" / Ce mémoire concerne le droit de l'immigration. Il s'agit des étrangers visés d'une mesure de renvoi malgré le fait qu'ils aient des liens familiaux au Canada. L'affaire Baker, de la Cour suprême du Canada, est notre point de référence puisqu'elle prône, entre autres, le respect de l'intérêt supérieur de l'enfant en matière d'immigration. À partir de cette affirmation et de la pratique législative et jurisprudentielle qui s'en est suivie, arriverait-on un jour à reconnaître la protection du droit de l'étranger à mener une vie familiale normale comme il se fait en Europe ? Ce chemin lui serait-il accessible ? Ce projet vise à démontrer cette évolution juridique qui pourrait survenir au Canada dans le cadre d'un plus grand respect des droits fondamentaux de la personne. / This thesis relates to the right of immigration. It concems aliens who are aimed with a removal order in spite of the fact that they have family bonds in Canada. The Baker case, of the Supreme Court of Canada, is our point of reference since it preaches, inter alia, the respect of the best interest of the child as regards to immigration. Starting from this assertion and legislative & jurisprudential practices that followed from the case, would one arrive one day at recognizing to every migrant the right to a normal family life like it is done in Europe? Would this path be accessible? This project aims at showing this legal evolution that could occur in Canada within the framework of a larger respect of the fundamental human rights.

D’après la Convention n° 182 de l’OIT, toutes les formes d’esclavage ou pratiques analogues, telles que la servitude pour dettes et le servage, la traite, le travail forcé, ainsi que le recrutement obligatoire des enfants dans les conflits armés figurent parmi les pires formes de travail des enfants. Ledit instrument regroupe l’ensemble de ces notions dans une seule et même catégorie pouvant donner lieu à une possible ambiguïté. Le but de ce travail est de faire toute la lumière sur les nuances qui distinguent chacune de ces notions en droit international, européen (en particulier, le droit du Conseil de l’Europe) et iranien. Cette thèse se compose de deux parties. La première partie traite de l’évolution du cadre juridique international, européen et iranien dans la lutte contre le travail des enfants dans son ensemble. La deuxième partie, quant à elle, se penche sur les formes particulièrement graves de travail des enfants, d’ordre économique, qui nécessitent de ce fait un régime juridique spécifique. / Child Labour and Child Exploitation in International, European and Iranian law (a Comparative Legal Study): According to the ILO’s Convention No. 182, all forms of slavery or similar practices, such as debt bondage and serfdom, trafficking, forced labour and compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflicts appear among the worst forms of child labour. The aforementioned Convention classifies all these concepts into a singlecategory which may give rise to a possible ambiguity. The aim of this thesis is to shed light on the nuances of each of these notions in international, European (in particular, Council of Europe) and Iranian law. This thesis consists of two parts. The first part deals with theevolution of the international, European and Iranian Legal framework in the fight against child labour in general. The second part particularly focuses on grave forms of child labour of economic nature which require a specific legal regime.

Ce travail de thèse a pour objectif d’étudier l’évolution de l’« Europe des régions » au sein du Conseil de l’Europe de 1957 à 2010. L’histoire du fait régional au sein de l’Organisation de Strasbourg est caractérisée par trois périodes clés. La première période débute en janvier 1957, avec la première réunion de la Conférence européenne des pouvoirs locaux (CPL) et dure jusqu’en 1975, quand elle devient un organe permanent du Conseil de l’Europe et reconnaît officiellement lesrégions en son sein. Une deuxième période se dessine ensuite de 1975 jusqu’en 1994, date de la création du Congrès des pouvoirs locaux et régionaux d’Europe (CPLRE). Le Congrès a un nouveau rôle politique et une place bien déterminés dans l’architecture institutionnelle du Conseil, et il dispose de deux Chambres, à savoir une Chambre des régions et une Chambre des pouvoirs locaux. Une dernière période s’étale enfin de 1994 à 2010. Il s’agit pour les régions et le Congrès de contribuer à la stabilité démocratique du continent européen par les activités de suivi de la démocratie locale etrégionale, des élections et de la réalisation de plusieurs programmes de coopération. / This research studies the evolution of the “Europe of the regions” in the Council of Europe from 1957 to 2010. The history of regions in the Council of Europe can be divided in three key periods. The first one starts in January 1957, with the first meeting of the European Conference of Local Authorities (ECLA) and ends in 1975, when it becomes a permanent organ of the Council of Europe and recognizes officially the regions. The second period starts in 1975 and ends in 1994, when theCongress of Local and Regional Authorities is created. The Congress has a new political role and status within the institutional architecture of the Council of Europe. Two Chambers are created within the Congress, one for regional authorities and another one for local authorities. The last period spreads from 1994 until 2010. From 1994, the regions and the Congress work to achieve the new statutory role, which is contributing to the democratic stability of the European continent by monitoring local and regional democracy, observing local and regional elections and implementing new cooperation programs.

Les droits de l’homme au Royaume-Uni sont un objet de vif débat, à la frontière entre le domaine juridique et le domaine politique. L’une des toutes premières mesures du gouvernement de Tony Blair a été de faire voter une loi en 1998 incorporant la Convention européenne des droits de l’homme au droit national, transformant ainsi sa protection à l’échelle nationale. Pourtant, les faiblesses de la loi sont rapidement apparues et elle a été remise en cause. En outre, le gouvernement a dû faire des choix politiques pour mettre en œuvre la protection des droits de l’homme. L’évolution de celle-ci a pu être paradoxale : d’un côté le droit à l’égalité a été renforcé et élargi, quand, de l’autre, le développement d’une politique sécuritaire a entraîné de nombreuses limites aux libertés individuelles. Enfin, les cours britanniques ont pu participer à la création de nouveaux droits comme le droit à la vie privée, qui est apparu dans le droit britannique. Tous les changements législatifs ont entraîné un changement dans la distribution des pouvoirs au Royaume-Uni, tant à l’échelle nationale, où le pouvoir exécutif a été renforcé, qu’à l’échelle européenne, où les pouvoirs des cours internationales a été perçu comme une ingérence dans la souveraineté du Parlement britannique. La politique des droits de l’homme des gouvernements de Tony Blair et Gordon Brown a donc été pétrie de contradictions, entre un engagement réel pour la défense de certains droits et les limites apportés à certains autres pour défendre la sécurité, et entre une volonté d’intégration dans l’UE et une réaction à un euroscepticisme croissant. / In the United Kingdom, human rights have been strongly debated, both in the legal and political fields. One of the very first measures taken by the government of Tony Blair in 1998 has been to pass the Human Rights Act, a law incorporating the European convention on human rights into national law, therefore transforming the protection of human rights at the national level. However, the flaws of the Human Rights Act have appeared and it was contested soon after its passage. Furthermore, the government had to make political choices to implement in practice the protection of human rights. Their evolution can be considered paradoxical: the right to equality was strengthened and included more varied elements while the development of a strong security policy caused some civil liberties to be severely constrained. The British courts have also been able to participate in the creation of new rights, like the right to privacy which did not have an independent existence in English law until the courts recognised it, under European influence. The legal changes in the protection of human rights have caused a change in the way power is distributed in the United Kingdom, both at a national level, where the executive branch was strengthened, and in the relationship with Europe, where the power of international courts has been seen as infringing on British sovereignty. The human rights policies of the Blair and Brown governments, therefore, has been fraught with contradictions, living somewhere between the stronger protection of some rights and the tighter restraints created to defend security, and between the desire to participate more fully in European integration while still having to deal with growing Euroscepticism.

No description available.

La tesi studia l’impatto degli standard internazionali sulla libertà di associazione sindacale negli ordinamenti nazionali e a livello europeo, al fine di verificare se essi favoriscano un innalzamento del livello di tutela dei diritti sociali collettivi. La ricerca parte dallo studio delle fonti Oil sulla libertà di associazione, considerata diritto fondamentale da promuovere universalmente, e dalla qualificazione dello sciopero come suo “corollario intrinseco” operata dagli organi di controllo dell’organizzazione. Si sofferma poi sull’utilizzo degli international labour standards da parte dei giudici di diversi ordinamenti e sul fenomeno della cooperazione tra autorità giurisdizionali e organismi non giudiziari specializzati. In particolare, la ricerca prende in esame alcune pronunce della Corte europea per i diritti dell’uomo, come Demir e Enerji Yapi, in cui gli strumenti Oil, insieme alla Carta sociale europea e alle decisioni del Comitato per i diritti sociali, sono stati impiegati per ampliare il contenuto dell’art.11 Cedu, includendovi il diritto di contrattazione e azione collettiva. Alla luce delle modifiche introdotte dal Trattato di Lisbona, successive alle sentenze Viking e Laval, si considera se e in che modo gli standard Oil e la giurisprudenza di Strasburgo possano avere un impatto positivo sull’Ue, stimolando un bilanciamento più equilibrato tra diritti sociali e libertà economiche. / The thesis analyses the impact of international labour standards about freedom of association on national legal systems and on the European level, to verify if they can reinforce the protection of collective social rights. The research starts from a survey of ILO sources on freedom of association, considered as a fundamental right to be promoted universally, and from the definition, provided by the supervisory bodies, conceiving strike as an “intrinsic corollary” of the right to organize. The thesis focuses on the use of international labour standards by judges in the context of the cooperation among judiciary authorities and quasi-judicial specialized bodies. In particular, the research considers some judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, as Demir and Enerji Yapi, where ILO instruments, together with the European Social Charter and the decisions of the European Committee of Social Rights, were used to extend the scope of art. 11 ECHR so as to cover the right to collective bargaining and collective action. In the light of the Lisbon Treaty modifications, the thesis considers, after the ECJ rulings in the Viking and Laval cases, if and how ILO standards and the recent ECHR case-law may have a positive impact on EU, stimulating a fairer balancing between economic freedoms and social rights.

Existing research on states and human rights focuses primarily on international treaty ratification, post-treaty rating systems, and ad hoc reports on adherence in individual countries. Additionally, the literature is characterized by disproportionate attention to certain rights to the neglect of others, thereby painting an incomplete and potentially inaccurate picture of a state’s practice and implementation of human rights. Consequently, the extant literature too frequently disregards key domestic and international factors as determinants of cross-national variation in the implementation and protection of human rights, and it instead generates paradoxical claims about human rights and state behavior. With Europe as its empirical focus, this study tests one assertion that state strength relative to societal actors impacts the frequency of cases heard at the European Court of Human Rights. Findings suggest that state strength indeed plays a role in the overall number of cases from member states in the European human rights system.

Ce mémoire concerne le droit de l'immigration. Il s'agit des étrangers visés d'une mesure de renvoi malgré le fait qu'ils aient des liens familiaux au Canada. L'affaire Baker, de la Cour suprême du Canada, est notre point de référence puisqu'elle prône, entre autres, le respect de l'intérêt supérieur de l'enfant en matière d'immigration. À partir de cette affirmation et de la pratique législative et jurisprudentielle qui s'en est suivie, arriverait-on un jour à reconnaître la protection du droit de l'étranger à mener une vie familiale normale comme il se fait en Europe ? Ce chemin lui serait-il accessible ? Ce projet vise à démontrer cette évolution juridique qui pourrait survenir au Canada dans le cadre d'un plus grand respect des droits fondamentaux de la personne. / This thesis relates to the right of immigration. It concems aliens who are aimed with a removal order in spite of the fact that they have family bonds in Canada. The Baker case, of the Supreme Court of Canada, is our point of reference since it preaches, inter alia, the respect of the best interest of the child as regards to immigration. Starting from this assertion and legislative & jurisprudential practices that followed from the case, would one arrive one day at recognizing to every migrant the right to a normal family life like it is done in Europe? Would this path be accessible? This project aims at showing this legal evolution that could occur in Canada within the framework of a larger respect of the fundamental human rights. / "Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de maître en droit option droit international"