Le continent africain se distingue par le foisonnement des organisations à vocation intégrative. Ces organisations adoptent des actes qui s’imposent aux Etats membres ainsi qu’aux structures communautaires et qui ont vocation à être appliqués aux particuliers. Les juridictions communautaires sont dans ce cadre appelées à jouer un rôle central dans la dynamique d’intégration.Il apparaît cependant que les juridictions communautaires de l’Afrique en général et de l’Afrique de l’ouest et du centre en particulier jouent encore un rôle assez effacé, d’où le piétinement du processus d’intégration. Quels facteurs freinent la pleine efficacité de ces juridictions et quelles améliorations pourraient être apportées afin d’en faire des moteurs de l’intégration régionale ? Pour répondre à ces interrogations nous nous intéressons aussi bien au rapport vertical impliquant juridictions, Etats membres et institutions communautaires qu’au rapport horizontal, c’est-à-dire avec les juridictions nationales d’une part et celles communautaires d’autre part. Une restructuration ainsi qu’une relecture des différentes voies de droit sont ensuite proposées. / The African continent is distinguished by the proliferation of organizations with an integrative vocation. These organizations adopt acts that are binding on the Member States as well as on community structures and which are intended to be applied to individuals. In this context, Community courts are called upon to play a central role in the integration process.It appears, however, that the Community jurisdictions of Africa in general and of West and Central Africa in particular still play a rather unclear role, hence the trampling of the integration process.What factors hinder the full effectiveness of these jurisdictions and what improvements could be made to make them engines of regional integration? To answer these questions we are interested both in the vertical relationship involving jurisdictions, Member States and Community institutions, as well as in the horizontal relationship, that is to say with national courts on the one hand and Community courts on the other. A restructuring as well as a re-reading of the different lines of law are then proposed.

Various hazardous chemical substances are used daily as part of manufacturing and processing. Exposure to these hazardous chemical substances (HCSs) can cause adverse health effects in the exposed workers. Occupational exposure limits (OELs) are used to control exposure to these HCSs and thereby protect workers from the adverse effects that exposure may induce. The aim of this study was to compare South African list of OELs as contained in the Hazardous Chemical Substance Regulations (HCSR) to several developed and developing countries based on two aspects: (1) the number of substances that are selected and regulated by the lists of each country (2) and the overall level of the OELs set by the different countries and jurisdictions. Due to the nature and the large amount of data the study is divided into two parts. The first part is a comparison of South African OELs with nine developed countries and jurisdictions along with the Mine Health and Safety Act Regulation 22.9 (MHSR) of South Africa. The second comparison was conducted between South African and the four developing BRICS countries. BRICS is an acronym for: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, all are leading developing countries. Substance selection and coverage was compared by analysing the number of overlapping and uniquely regulated OELs that existed between countries. The over-all level of OELs was determined and quantified by using the statistical method, the geometric means of ratios. These ratios were compared in order to establish how the levels of OELs of the South African HCSR compare with the level of the various other countries. Results indicated that there are large and unsystematic differences between the selection of HCSs that are regulated by different countries and jurisdictions. Individual coverage and selection of HCSs between the various developing and developed countries and jurisdictions in the study was inconsistent and dissimilar. A high number of HCSs are regulated by only one of the various countries included in this study. Among the developed countries 20.8% of substances are uniquely regulated, whereas 46% of HCSs are regulated by only one of the various developing countries. According to the geometric means of ratios Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the only jurisdiction in a developed country that has a higher overall level of OELs when compared to South Africa as for the rest of the developed countries they all yielded a lower overall level of OELs. American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygiene (ACGIH) had the lowest overall level of OELs. When compared with the BRICS countries South Africa had a higher overall level of OELs. The average overall level of OELs differs substantially between the BRICS countries; Russia having the lowest, and Brazil having the highest overall limit when compared relative to South African HCSR. Strong similarities were found between South African HCSR and MHSR indicating national similarity. The South African OELs for HCSs have an overall higher level than the majority of developed and developing countries. Various factors may be responsible for these differences among countries and jurisdictions. These factors include, variations in scientific reasoning, the risk acceptance of the negative impact that various HCSs might induce and the time lags that countries have between updates. Further differences may be explained by the difference in consideration of socio-economical and practical feasibility of an OEL and the predominant industries in a country. / Thesis (MSc (Occupational Hygiene))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Various hazardous chemical substances are used daily as part of manufacturing and processing. Exposure to these hazardous chemical substances (HCSs) can cause adverse health effects in the exposed workers. Occupational exposure limits (OELs) are used to control exposure to these HCSs and thereby protect workers from the adverse effects that exposure may induce. The aim of this study was to compare South African list of OELs as contained in the Hazardous Chemical Substance Regulations (HCSR) to several developed and developing countries based on two aspects: (1) the number of substances that are selected and regulated by the lists of each country (2) and the overall level of the OELs set by the different countries and jurisdictions. Due to the nature and the large amount of data the study is divided into two parts. The first part is a comparison of South African OELs with nine developed countries and jurisdictions along with the Mine Health and Safety Act Regulation 22.9 (MHSR) of South Africa. The second comparison was conducted between South African and the four developing BRICS countries. BRICS is an acronym for: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, all are leading developing countries. Substance selection and coverage was compared by analysing the number of overlapping and uniquely regulated OELs that existed between countries. The over-all level of OELs was determined and quantified by using the statistical method, the geometric means of ratios. These ratios were compared in order to establish how the levels of OELs of the South African HCSR compare with the level of the various other countries. Results indicated that there are large and unsystematic differences between the selection of HCSs that are regulated by different countries and jurisdictions. Individual coverage and selection of HCSs between the various developing and developed countries and jurisdictions in the study was inconsistent and dissimilar. A high number of HCSs are regulated by only one of the various countries included in this study. Among the developed countries 20.8% of substances are uniquely regulated, whereas 46% of HCSs are regulated by only one of the various developing countries. According to the geometric means of ratios Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the only jurisdiction in a developed country that has a higher overall level of OELs when compared to South Africa as for the rest of the developed countries they all yielded a lower overall level of OELs. American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygiene (ACGIH) had the lowest overall level of OELs. When compared with the BRICS countries South Africa had a higher overall level of OELs. The average overall level of OELs differs substantially between the BRICS countries; Russia having the lowest, and Brazil having the highest overall limit when compared relative to South African HCSR. Strong similarities were found between South African HCSR and MHSR indicating national similarity. The South African OELs for HCSs have an overall higher level than the majority of developed and developing countries. Various factors may be responsible for these differences among countries and jurisdictions. These factors include, variations in scientific reasoning, the risk acceptance of the negative impact that various HCSs might induce and the time lags that countries have between updates. Further differences may be explained by the difference in consideration of socio-economical and practical feasibility of an OEL and the predominant industries in a country. / Thesis (MSc (Occupational Hygiene))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

In Spanish Colonial America, as well as in the Iberian Peninsula at the same time, different jurisdictions intertwined in the same space. By way of consequence, the complex political organization of the New World was composed, at the local level, by the Indian and Spanish Councils, the doctrines, and the provincial structures called corregimientos. Although the officials of those institutions received precise instructions, in which the Spanish Crown defined and limited their functions, tensions were common between the Indian governors, the clergymen, the Spanish Councils’ officeholders, and the Spanish provincial magistrates, or corregidores. The present article will analyze a series of lawsuits that occurred in sixteenth century Yucatan and in which those authorities were implicated, in order to highlight not only the nature of the jurisdictional conflicts, but also the modalities of their resolution at stake in the Spanish Empire’s courts of justice. Special emphasis will be put on the jurisdiction of the Maya Councils with the objective of better understanding the scope of indigenous agency in Spanish Colonial America. We argue that the local control on the one hand, and the legal representation on the other, were key elements in these processes. / Al igual que en la península ibérica, en la América colonial se superpusieron distintas jurisdicciones en el mismo espacio, de modo que el complejo entramado político del Nuevo Mundo estaba conformado, a nivel local, por los cabildos indígenas y españoles, las doctrinas y los corregimientos. Aunque los representantes de aquellas instituciones recibieron detalladas instrucciones en las que la Corona española definía y limitaba sus funciones y prerrogativas, fueron frecuentes las tensiones entre los gobernadores indígenas, los alcaldes ordinarios, los curas beneficiados y los corregidores. A partir de una serie de pleitos en los que estuvieron involucradas estas autoridades, el presente trabajo analiza tanto la naturaleza de los conflictos jurisdiccionales que tuvieron lugar en el Yucatán del siglo XVI como las modalidades de su resolución en los foros de justicia de la Monarquía hispana. Se presta especial atención a la jurisdicción de los cabildos mayas con el fin de esclarecer el alcance de la participación indígena en el sistema político del Imperio hispánico. Consideramos que el control local, por un lado, y la representación legal, por otro, resultan fundamentales para comprender aquellos fenómenos.

A doutrina internacional costuma conceituar o \"forum shopping\" como a escolha da jurisdição mais favorável ao demandante, nas hipóteses em que haja competências internacionais concorrentes. Toda uma série de fenômenos trazidos com a globalização (sejam eles políticos, sociais ou econômicos) repercute concretamente no direito internacional privado, ampliando as possibilidades de litígios em escala mundial, e trazendo consigo diversas inquietações. O exercício dessa mesma opção em jurisdições estrangeiras, ao longo do tempo, tem levado a doutrina e a jurisprudência internacional a qualificar o forum shopping quer como um abuso do direito processual quer como um direito potestativo legítimo do demandante. A proposta deste trabalho é a análise do fenômeno no âmbito do direito internacional privado, com enfoque nos efeitos de ordem material e processual que refletem nos conflitos instaurados no Brasil e no estrangeiro, analisando-se casos de repercussão internacional. / The international doctrine usually conceptualizes forum shopping as the choice of jurisdiction more favorable to the plaintiff, in the hypothesis where there is international concurrent jurisdictions. A whole series of phenomena brought with the globalization (whether political, social or economic) reverberate concretely in the private international law, expanding the possibilities of disputes in a worldwide scale, bringing with itself several concerns. The exercise of such option in foreign jurisdictions, through out the time, has led the international doctrine and jurisprudence to qualify the forum shopping either as an abuse of procedural right either as a legitimate potestative right of the plaintiff. The purpose of this work is the analysis of the phenomenon in the context of private international law, focusing on the effects of substantive and procedural order that reflect in the conflicts filed in Brazil and in abroad, analyzing the cases of international repercussions.

The idea of internal market is one of the basic concepts of the European integration. The internal market of the European Union is a single market in which the free movement of goods, services, capital and persons is ensured. This thesis focuses on the free movements of legal persons in the European Union, namely freedom of establishment and the possibility of cross-border transfer of a company's registered office. This business focused freedom is regulated mainly by primary law in Articles 49 a 54 TFEU and its main objective is to enable the exercise of economic activities even in the territory of other Member States. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the regulation and development of case law regarding freedom of establishment of companies and give their comprehensive analysis. Furthermore, the thesis points out the fact that the choice of company's seat and its change is often associated with advantageous conditions laid down by national legislation. Companies often choose countries which have minimum requirements for their establishment and existence. States are aware of this behavior. Consequently, some of them reduce their legal standards and try to attract companies into their territory. This may cause the battle of jurisdictions. The thesis consists of the initial and final part and...

In the thesis I consider the potential effectiveness of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 4 of 2000 (hereafter “the Act”) in reaching its stated goal of achieving societal transformation in South Africa. I consider and analyse those socio-legal theories that have a bearing on the relationship between “law” and “society”, and the extent to which state law may be used in a “top-down” or instrumental fashion to steer society in a desired direction. I identify several characteristics of effective laws and compare these to the Act. As the Act is the South African version of what may be termed “antidiscrimination legislation”, I determine the usual shortcomings of this legislation in foreign jurisdictions, and identify the steps the South African legislature has taken to obviate these shortcomings. This thesis analyses four requirements of effective laws in more detail: (i) that the enforcementmechanisms should consist of specialised bodies staffed by well-trained personnel; (ii) that the source of the new law must be authoritative and prestigious; (iii) that the purpose behind the legislation must at least to a degree be compatible with existing values; and (iv) that the required change must be communicated to the large majority of the population. In order to assess the degree of expertise of equality court personnel, the first requirement above, I discuss and analyse the implementation of training programmes for court personnel tasked to preside in courts applying the Act. I illustrate that the current pool of equality court personnel was probably inadequately trained, inter alia because the individuals tasked to manage the training of equality court personnel did not follow good management practice. As to the second and third requirements of effective legislation referred to above, I report on an empirical study relating to unfair discrimination undertaken in 2001 in “white Pretoria”, Mamelodi and Atteridgeville. The results of this study suggest that the majority of South Africans do not experience explicit discrimination and where they do, they generally do not approach courts to have their grievances aired. In turn, this finding suggests that the Act will be underutilised and will not play the role envisaged for it by Parliament in combating discrimination. As to the last requirement highlighted above, I illustrate that the public awareness campaign relating to the Act was inadequate in its impact. In conclusion, the study identifies a number of weaknesses in the Act and proposes a range of amendments that would facilitate the use of these courts by complainants. I also identify further avenues of socio-legal research that could be undertaken relating to the Act, specifically how the Act may be utilised to combat poverty in South Africa. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Jurisprudence / LLD / Unrestricted

During the legislative works on a new Civil Code for the Czech Republic, it has been proposed that the concept of trust be introduced into Czech law, largely by transplanting the concept of fiducie contained in the Civil Code of Québec. The thesis, after introducing the principal concepts of trust as known around the world today, whether in common law jurisdictions, civil law jurisdictions or mixed jurisdictions, describes the principal commercial uses of trust in trust jurisdictions and analyses the possibilities of current Czech law to replicate the trust function not using the trust. The thesis argues that the classical civilist objections to the possibility to implant true trust into civil law jurisdictions are largely unfounded in respect of the Czech legal system. The thesis further performs a comparative assessment of the Czech Civil Code proposal. It is argued that the legal construct at hand in the proposal is actually not trust, but a mere trust-like arrangement, as it lacks one of the trust's most salient features -- transfer of the trust property by the settlor to the trustee. Apart from that, the thesis analyses specific provisions of the proposal and subjects them critique. Based on this analysis, it introduces a number of proposals for the enhancement of the proposed provisions.

Šis magistro baigiamasis darbas skirtas teismų jurisdikcijų kolizijų civilinėse bylose, turinčiose užsienio elementą, bendrojoje tarptautinėje, užsienio ir Lietuvos teisėje įtvirtintos teisės normų reglamentacijos sukeliamų problemų analizei. Pagrindine tyrimo užduotimi autorius laiko po Lietuvos Respublikos tapimo Europos Sąjungos nare išaugusią užsienio elementą turinčių civilinių ginčų teismų jurisdikcijų teisingo nustatymo instituto svarbą įtvirtinančių tarptautinių, užsienio ir Lietuvos teisės normų nuostatų bei teismų jurisprudencijos įvertinimą bendrame pasauliniame kontekste. Darbą sudaro trys dalys. Pirmojoje dalyje išryškinama teismų jurisdikcijų kolizijos samprata, jos atskirų kriterijų reikšmė nustatant kompetentingą teismą ir tos teisminės institucijos priimtų sprendimų pripažinimą bei vykdymą. Taip pat detaliai susipažįstama su įvairių valstybių (Vokietijos, Prancūzijos, Lietuvos...) nacionalinių, pasaulinių (UNIDROIT Romos konvencija dėl pavogtų ar neteisėtai išvežtų kultūros objektų...) ir ES (Reglamento 44/2001…) teisės aktų bei Lietuvos Respublikos pasirašytų teisinės pagalbos sutarčių nuostatomis, įtvirtinančiomis civilinių bylų su užsienio elementu priskirtinumą konkrečioms teismų jurisdikcijoms. Antrojoje dalyje susipažįstama su Europos Teisingumo Teismo, Nuolatinio Tarptautinio Teisingumo Teismo, užsienio ir Lietuvos valstybių teisminių institucijų praktika. Aptariant šią praktiką bei pirmojoje dalyje aprašytus kriterijus, įvardijamos daugiausiai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The present thesis is devoted to the analysis of collisions of courts' jurisdictions in civil cases involving a foreign element and the analysis of the problems caused by the regulation of law norms confirmed in General International Law, Foreign Law and Lithuanian Law. After becoming an EU member state, the growth of civil contentions involving a foreign element is noticeable in the Republic of Lithuania. According to the author of this thesis, the main task of the thesis is considered to be the evaluation of the right determination institute of civil law jurisdictions importance confirmed by International, Foreign and Lithuanian Law norms regulation as well as the courts’ jurisprudence in the common world context. The thesis consists of three different parts. In the first part the author emphasizes the definition of collision of the courts’ jurisdiction and the importance of its separate criteria by identification of the qualified court, the recognition of its taken judgments and implementation. After that, national laws of different countries (such as Germany, France, Lithuania, etc.), international (UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects, etc.) and the European Union (EU) (Council Regulation 44/2001, etc.) rules of law as well as some legal provisions from the international legal assistance treaties signed by the Republic of Lithuania, that deals with civil cases’ involving foreign element, attributability to the particular courts will be... [to full text]

Il n'existe pas à l'heure actuelle de définition « officielle » des juridictions fiscales non coopératives, l'appréhension de ces dernières étant particulièrement difficile à cerner. D'où la grande difficulté de les recenser avec exactitude et du même coup de leur donner une désignation géographique précise... Or, cette notion est d'autant plus importante qu'elle est le critère de détermination de territoires à régime fiscal dit « privilégié. » L'étude de la notion des juridictions fiscales non coopératives apparaît dès lors comme fondamentale pour aborder l'approche des législations fiscales internationales dans l'avenir. En effet, à partir de quand sommes-nous en présence d’une juridiction fiscale non coopérative ? Quels critères juridiques adopter pour les définir ? Bref, comment identifier de telles juridictions ? Quelles sont leurs caractéristiques premières ? Combien y'en a-t-il de par le monde et quel est leur poids exact dans l'économie mondiale ? Quelle a été l'évolution de l'approche internationale de ces juridictions dans le passé ? Comment cette approche peut-elle évoluer dans le futur pour tenir compte des contraintes économiques et financières avec la mondialisation ? En réalité, cette ambigüité accompagnant la notion de juridictions fiscales non coopératives, ne relève pas seulement de la simple négligence législative de la part des États qui a priori devraient être chargés de la définir. Bien plus, il s'agit là d'un véritable flou juridique plus ou moins organisé qui contribue grandement à entretenir l'opacité de ces territoires et à faciliter la tentation de l'évasion fiscale. / There is at the moment no "official" definition of the not cooperative fiscal jurisdictions, apprehension of these last ones being particularly difficult to identify. Hence the great difficulty of accurately identifying and thereby give them a specific geographic designation... Now, this notion is especially important as it is the criterion for determining territories Tax System "privileged." The study of the notion of the not cooperative fiscal jurisdictions therefore appears to be fundamental to discuss the approach of international tax laws in the future. Indeed, from when we are in the presence of a non cooperative fiscal jurisdiction? What legal criteria to adopt to define them? In brief, how identify such jurisdictions? What are their first characteristics? How much has it to it throughout the world and which is their exact weight in the world economy? What was the evolution of the international approach of these jurisdictions in past? How can this approach evolve in the future to take into account economic and financial constraints with the globalization? In reality, this ambiguity accompanying the notion of not cooperative fiscal jurisdictions, recover not only from the simple legislative negligence on behalf of the States which a priori should be in charge of defining it. Much more, it is about a real more or less organized vagueness of the law there which contributes largely to maintain the opacity of these territories and to facilitate the temptation of the tax evasion.