Rape is one of the most heinous and degrading crimes that exist. It attacks the victim's sense of human dignity and self-worth. Some argue that the crime of rape is akin to that of torture. The issue of rape is one that is experienced around the world; however, South Africa is one of the highest countries affected. This paper argues that South Africa is in contravention of its international obligations under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, specifically with regards to the crime of rape and its relation to the crime of torture. This paper aims to prove the above statement through, first establishing a link between the crimes of rape and torture and that that this link is applicable in both international law and South African law. This paper will proceed to show that there are obligations, stemming from both international and domestic laws, on South Africa to take positive steps in preventing the crime of rape among private persons. This paper will demonstrate that through failing its obligation of due diligence in this regard, the state of South Africa fails to comply with the duties imposed upon it by international law.

Includes bibliographical references. / The Brundtland Report also defines sustainable development as “a process of change in which the use of resources, the directions of investments, the orientation of technological developments, and institutional change all enhance the potential to meet human needs both today and tomorrow.” This vague and broad definition relies on the notion that the world’s environment is a system where actions in one country can affect life on other continents. Examples of this include the 2010 Icelandic volcano eruption that affected air quality and travel in Europe, and the recent radiation detected in the United States after the earthquake and subsequent radiation leaks in Japan. The definition also implies that practically every aspect of our lives can have some effect, or can be relevant to, achieving a sustainable development goal. Most forms of production and consumption, key aspects of international trade, affect and can harm the environment. Thus, the issue is less about stopping these actions and more about making them less harmful to the environment and humankind. There will always be tension between forms of economic activity and environmental protection. However, trade is only one of many economic activities, and the WTO cannot be solely responsible for all aspects of the promotion of sustainable development and environmental protection. At its most general definition, international trade is the “economic interaction among different nations involving the exchange of goods and services.” It can lead to both economic growth and development. At its core, international trade involves the basic concept of supply and demand. Human needs and desires drive what will be in demand. This demand drives the need for a supply of that resource. Thus, the real question is what aspects of the current trading system, including the WTO, can be enhanced or changed to promote sustainable development. This paper aims to examine the relationship between the WTO and sustainable development. It further seeks to evaluate the ways in which the relationship has been successful and the ways in which it has been hindered. Finally, this paper looks to the future and suggests ways to enhance and change this relationship and more effectively protect the environment through the WTO.

The problem of piracy and armed robbery at sea has sharply risen in the last decades. As a result, shipping companies, governments, insurances and maritime organisations have tried to approach the problem in different ways, the employment of private maritime security companies being one of them. State navies do not have enough resources to cover the vast areas of the high seas. As a result, armed security teams are exercising traditional State functions to protect vessels from being attacked. This study aims to find the legal foundations in international public law for the employment of armed guards on-board of commercial or private vessels. Furthermore, legal questions about the seizing of pirates, the use of force, criminal jurisdiction on-board of ships and the carrying of weapons will be scrutinized. For this purpose, the applicability of the Geneva Conventions and other key documents of the international humanitarian law will be analysed such as the Montreux Document and the Draft International Convention on the Regulation, Oversight and Monitoring of Private Military and Security Companies. Moreover, relevant aspects of the UNCLOS rules will be highlighted. An additional chapter will review existing international and regional soft law standards, mainly developed by the shipping and the security industry. The analysis concludes that international law has not yet developed distinct rules for the use of private maritime security companies. Especially the UNCLOS does not deal with private actors in the fight against piracy at all. As a result, national law remains responsible for the creation of a comprehensive set of rules concerning the employment and the conduct of maritime security guards. In addition, the vast number of soft law guidance and standards are missing enforceable and effective mechanisms and cannot yet be seen as an alternative for national regulations.

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The aim of this thesis is to analyze international environmental agreements. It characterises the process of the making of international environmental agreements, the background in which they are made, the subjects, who take part in the process and generally define the position they have in international law. The focus is to point out their differences from the other international agreements. The second part concentrates on the analyses of the individual agreements, at first the general historical development and then follow the specific groups of agreements, divided by topics with the emphasis on the most important ones.

Esta dissertação examina, da ótica da teoria política normativa, as justificativas oferecidas para intervenções humanitárias com uso da força dentro do contexto atual, quando a internacionalização dos direitos humanos e as crises humanitárias exigiram uma adequação da soberania estatal a princípios internacionais de justiça. Como se trata de uma intervenção militar, ainda que humanitária, o uso abusivo da força pode comprometer a eficácia dos direitos humanos que a própria intervenção pretendia defender. Daí ser importante circunscrever a intervenção humanitária dentro de limites toleráveis, de modo que o emprego da força física não comprometa o objetivo de proteger direitos humanos. Tanto as justificações normativas para as intervenções, como os riscos envolvidos nesse tipo de ação, são discutidos / This dissertation discusses, from the perspective of the normative political theory, the justification for forcible humanitarian interventions in world\'s present circumstances, when both the international reach of human rights and humanitarian crises call for an adjustment of the state sovereignty to international principles of justice. Since a military, though humanitarian, intervention is involved, the abusive use of force may endanger the very human rights which is the main purpose of the intervention to protect. Hence the importance of circumscribing the humanitarian intervention within tolerable moral limits, so that the use of physical force does not undermine the protection of human rights. Both the moral justification for and the risks of humanitarian interventions are examined

Esta dissertação examina, da ótica da teoria política normativa, as justificativas oferecidas para intervenções humanitárias com uso da força dentro do contexto atual, quando a internacionalização dos direitos humanos e as crises humanitárias exigiram uma adequação da soberania estatal a princípios internacionais de justiça. Como se trata de uma intervenção militar, ainda que humanitária, o uso abusivo da força pode comprometer a eficácia dos direitos humanos que a própria intervenção pretendia defender. Daí ser importante circunscrever a intervenção humanitária dentro de limites toleráveis, de modo que o emprego da força física não comprometa o objetivo de proteger direitos humanos. Tanto as justificações normativas para as intervenções, como os riscos envolvidos nesse tipo de ação, são discutidos / This dissertation discusses, from the perspective of the normative political theory, the justification for forcible humanitarian interventions in world\'s present circumstances, when both the international reach of human rights and humanitarian crises call for an adjustment of the state sovereignty to international principles of justice. Since a military, though humanitarian, intervention is involved, the abusive use of force may endanger the very human rights which is the main purpose of the intervention to protect. Hence the importance of circumscribing the humanitarian intervention within tolerable moral limits, so that the use of physical force does not undermine the protection of human rights. Both the moral justification for and the risks of humanitarian interventions are examined

This master thesis is focused on international-legal analysis of the relationship between development projects and environmental migration. The relationship between development projects and environmental migration is from the point of view of the international law almost unexamined and unregulated area, so this is the reason why I chose this theme as the topic of my research. The aim of this thesis is to analyse this relationship in respect to the international law and to search for an appropriate international legal instrument to regulate this relationship. The outputs are the answers to the following research questions: What is development project and what is environmental migration? What are the legal aspects of the relationship between development projects and environmental migration? Is it possible to treat this relationship in international law? Why is this area neglected by international law? Would not it be better to create a separate international legal framework for resettlement caused by development projects? The diploma thesis is composed of four main chapters, under which I am progressively trying to find answers to the above mentioned research questions. The first chapter is devoted to the development project and to determination of its definition, including its terminological...

International relations is constructed of ideas and concepts that have won legitimacy through the passage of time. Diplomacy is an ancient practices that has evolved and has become a practice that states have accepted as legitimate. The arrival of the digital world and the new Information Communications Technologies (ICTs) in the diplomatic world has made it possible to adopt trends like engaging in social media applications like Twitter to practice diplomacy. This creates the need to better understand the use of social media platforms as a tool of diplomacy. The growing engagement of Heads of States and Governments in communicating messages on Twitter, the so-called Twidiplomacy, is changing from what was considered a mere “trend” to a “common practice” in the conduct of diplomatic practice. As authorities share their culture through their behaviour and it is further shared and emulated through the use of Twitter by other authorities, these actions create new collective identities and shared knowledge in the diplomatic practice. These trends may lead to new patterns of diplomatic behaviour that may transform the diplomatic practice. Abdullakkutty (2018:11) contends that as an extension of innovative digital diplomacy “the use of social media is so extended that it can easily realise the diplomatic functions of negotiation, representation and communication”. Using a case study of tweets by a few Heads of States and Governments tweeting on similar major diplomatic incidents, this study researches these trends in innovative diplomacy leading to Twidiplomacy and how these are affecting the traditional roles of diplomacy, namely: negotiation, representation and communication. / Mini Dissertation (MDips)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Political Sciences / MA (Diplomatic Studies) / Unrestricted