Magister Legum - LLM

This thesis examines the persistent widespread discrimination against widows in Uganda and Nigeria that results from mandatory observance of harmful widowhood rituals, interpersonal violence, disinheritance, and forceful deprivation of property in marriage, in violation of and contrary to the provisions of international and regional human rights conventions and domestic laws. The thesis argues that international, regional, and domestic laws have not been effective to address the violation of widows’ rights because the terms in which these laws are expressed are not meaningful at the grassroots level. The thesis proposes social, cultural, economic, and legal measures to address the use of widows as cultural tools. In this thesis, I use the term ‘cultural tools’ to refer to the use of widows in Uganda and Nigeria, as in many other sub-Saharan African countries, as embodiments of cultural identity, especially in most parts of rural areas. Widows are used as tools to perpetuate traditional cultural customs such as widowhood rituals, levirate marriages, disinheritance, and widow cleansing. Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) proclaims that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. This provision is complemented by various international and regional instruments on discrimination and gender equality. Using the Igbo tribe of the Eastern part of Nigeria and the Baganda tribe of Uganda as case studies, my thesis examines to what extent widowhood rites amount to an infringement of the human rights of the widows in most part of the sub-Saharan African countries. The thesis examines the various international, regional, and domestic laws as they apply to or affect Nigerian and Ugandan widows either as a consequence of their status as widows or as members of the community. Thus, in light of the gap between international and state laws, on the one hand, and cultures and customary law on the other hand, this thesis draws insights from the concept of “vernacularization”. This approach combines the views espoused in Sally Engle Merry’s work and argues that to change the cultures and practices of customary law on the ground, initiatives must be taken at the grassroots level.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:20:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Adriana Souza Dellova.pdf: 777174 bytes, checksum: 4a4a41882c8fc49915e49705553a2bb1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-09-13 / The present study is to delineate the scope within the epitome of International Law, the Exception to the Rule of Parity remanded to the Tax Law for the existence of Article 98 of the Internal Revenue Code and its implications. First, it presents issues for basic understanding of the issue in comment, basic concepts, general characteristics of the treaties, theories, monist and dualist, on the reception of treaties in domestic law and the way how it is operationalized. It follows the evolution of the topic in the field of hierarchy, with the aim of entering the reader on aspects peculiar to the rule of parity and the case law regarding positioning, addressing the normative species, starting immediately for the Exception to the Rule of Parity in tax, which addresses the criteria to be used in case of contradiction between the treaty and domestic law. Care was taken of the exemptions from state and local taxes granted by international treaties, and the concept of exemption and heteronomous positioning of jurisprudence on the matter, as well as the importance of agreements to avoid double taxation and tax evasion / O presente trabalho tem o escopo de delinear dentro do epítome do Direito Internacional, a Exceção à Regra de Paridade deferida ao Direito Tributário, pela existência do artigo 98, do Código Tributário Nacional e suas implicações. Apresenta, inicialmente, assuntos basilares para compreensão do tema em comento, conceitos básicos, características gerais dos tratados, as teorias - monista e dualista - sobre a recepção dos tratados no direito interno e a forma de como ela é operacionalizada. Segue-se pela evolução do tema no campo da hierarquia, com o fito de inserir o leitor nos aspectos peculiares à regra de paridade e o posicionamento jurisprudencial a respeito, abordando as espécies normativas, partindo-se imediatamente para a Exceção à Regra de Paridade no âmbito tributário, que aborda os critérios a serem utilizados no caso de antinomia entre tratado e lei interna. Cuidou-se das isenções de tributos estaduais e municipais concedidas por tratados internacionais, além do conceito da isenção heterônoma e o posicionamento jurisprudencial sobre a matéria, bem como a importância dos acordos para evitar a bitributação e a evasão fiscal