Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: Peter Garretson, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of History. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Feb. 6, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 297 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Catholic University of America. / Vita. Bibliography: p. 205-216.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Auburn University, 1975. / Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 230-242).

Inaug.-diss. - Jena.

The presence of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the Constitution of Canada has transformed the historic discourse about what types of people should be appointed to the Supreme Court and the manner in which they should be selected. During the period between 1949, when the Supreme Court replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Britain as Canada's highest appellate body, and the Charter's entrenchment in 1982, the debate centered almost exclusively on questions of federalism. Specifically, the provinces argued that in a federal country, it is inappropriate that the status and composition of the court of last resort be left to the sole discretion of the central government. The Charter, with its enumeration of a variety of social categories, has produced new demands that the Court be more socially representative. Feminist legal scholars and women’s advocacy groups claim that a more representative judiciary in general and Supreme Court in particular would perform both symbolic and instrumental functions, while ethno cultural organizations have to date concentrated almost solely upon the symbolic dimension. By contrast, claims for self-government and separate justice systems illustrate that many aboriginal leaders believe their peoples’ grievances can best be met through disengagement from, rather than further integration into, Canadian political and legal processes. The Charter's presence also has conditioned demands for are formed appointment process. Now that the Court is to serve as the arbiter of citizen-state relations, many suggest, it is improper for the state to have sole control over who is appointed to that body, and therefore a more participatory and pluralistic appointment process is advocated. Clearly, these two broadly-defined reform agendas can conflict with one another. While the provinces demand more diffuse government involvement in the appointment of judges, those concentrating on the Court's Charter responsibilities believe that the state already unduly dominates the process. However, the current debate has further, largely unexplored consequences for potential reform. The failure of most participants in the debate, be they governments, scholars or advocacy groups, to articulate coherent approaches to questions of jurisprudential theory, combined with the difficulties inherent in applying the concept of representation to a judicial body, renders their critiques less valuable as guides to reform. Worse, their inadequate treatment of these issues often results in such critics undermining the legitimacy of the institution whose reform they seek. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that the conduct of judge-led commissions of inquiry in Canada could be improved, and rendered more consistent with purposive values embodied in the rule of law, were judicial commissioners to observe a principle of fidelity to adjudication. The rule of law, practically understood as a political and legal ideal, treats independence as integral to the judicial role in interpreting and applying law, safeguarding the Constitution, and honouring individual rights. Public confidence in the independence and integrity of Canada’s judiciary flows not just from constitutional safeguards, however, but from judicial observance of adjudicative procedure. So too does confidence that in exercising their functions, judges respect the boundaries commanded by the separation of powers. Contrary to categorical distinctions that are often drawn between commissions of inquiry and courts, adjudicative procedure is an essential feature of many inquiries. This is so because the participants in such inquiries legitimately demand an assurance of justice equivalent to that associated with traditional judicial proceedings. Recognizing this commonality does not mean burdening public inquiries with the evidentiary and procedural rigidity of courts. It does suggest, however, that adjudication has a valuable (if non-exclusive) role to play in the conduct of some inquiries, establishing a compelling reason why judges should be their leaders. Fidelity to adjudication directs judicial commissioners to account for this reality when confronting common dilemmas and challenges in inquiry conduct. I explore the methodological implications of fidelity to adjudication in two broad areas, first concerning procedural fairness, and second concerning the protection of a commissioner’s independence. Finally, I consider how fidelity to adjudication establishes boundaries cautioning against judicial service in inquiries that demand different conceptions of justice, or advance different notions of truth-seeking, than those in which judges are traditionally informed. A principled alignment is thus established between judicial service on commissions of inquiry, judicial methods and skills, and observance of the rule of law.

Theoretical and Legal Analysis of Lay Element in Judiciary Abstract This work is dealing with the lay element in judiciary. The main emphasis in laid on the institute of lay judges in the Czech legal order. The main goal of the work is to answer the questions whether the lay element in judiciary is still a democratizing component, further if there are fulfilled enough the constitutional conditions of an independent, impartial and statutory judge principle in case of lay judges, whether the democratic or the expert legitimacy may prevail and at last, if the lay element should be preserved in the Czech legal order. In the first chapter, there is described a historical development of the lay element in judiciary. In modern times, it has appeared firstly in the form of jury courts in the Czech lands, more precisely in the Austrian monarchy, after the revolutionary year 1848. Its functioning is illustrated on two famous cases, which were the process with K. H. Borovský and with Leopold Hilsner. On the one hand, these cases show the advantage of participation of lay people into judiciary, as it can serve as correction of the state's despotism. On the other hand, there should come to wrong decisions in the consequence of an easy suggestibility of the public. At the age of the so called First Czechoslovak Republic,...

<p> The book of Judges fairly bristles with 'heroes' of ambivalent moral character, and acts of dubious propriety, such as Gideon's use of signs to determine YHWH's will, Jael's murder of Sisera, and the sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter. The terse narrative and the reticent narrator frequently leave the ethical character of these actions in doubt. My goal in this dissertation is to identify evidence available in the text, both literary and linguistic, in order to evaluate the characters and actions of various participants in the narratives of the "major" judges. On the basis of this evidence I will not only draw evaluative conclusions about the characters of the judges and the Israelite people themselves, but also about their varying perceptions of YHWH that these characters hold.</p> <p> In order to facilitate these goals, I will take an interdisciplinary approach. I will employ the concept of narrative perspective from literary criticism and consider the evaluative stance of the implied author, the narrator, and the various characters in the narrative. I will also draw heavily on the Appraisal Theory of J. R. Martin and P.R.R. White, which in turn derives from Systemic Functional Linguistics. By merging these two approaches I will develop a new model which I call Narrative Appraisal which will then be applied to the Hebrew text of Judges. The Narrative Appraisal Model can clarify individual evaluative instances as well as patterns of linguistic features at the level of discourse that elucidate the implied author's stance.</p> <p> The lexicogrammatical and ideational evidence produced by this methodology reveals contrasts and trajectories within and across the narratives which, when analyzed, give insight into the characters of the Israelites, the character of YHWH, and the relationship between the Israelite people and their God. It also helps to identify the unifying ideological stance of the book. In simplified terms, this ideology affirms the holiness, justice, mercy, and faithfulness of YHWH, the need for the Israelites to maintain absolute loyalty and obedience to him, the legitimacy of discipline, the engrained tendency of humanity to defy their God and follow their own ways, the ultimate failure of human leadership in the form of judges, and the essential need for YHWH to intervene with a new model of leadership.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed October 13, 2009). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 375-400).