This thesis aims to examine a selection of the standards identifiable in the published work of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment ("the CPT"). Part I commences with an examination of the mandate and modus operandi of the Committee, followed by an exposition of the two fundamental principles - of confidentiality and co-operation - which inform its work. The CPT's standard-setting work is introduced by means of an examination of its evolution and rationale, the purport of standards set and the ways in which such standards find expression. Part II concerns CPT precepts on police custody. It begins with an examination of the CPT's "three fundamental safeguards against ill-treatment": the rights to notify a third party of the fact of one's detention, of access to legal advice and to a medical examination by a doctor of one's own choosing. It then considers, in turn, the duty to inform a detainee of all his rights; the conduct of police interrogations; the electronic recording of interviews; the maintenance of custody records; and police complaints and inspection procedures. Part III is devoted to a number of matters considered under the umbrella term "imprisonment". It begins with a detailed examination of the phenomenon of prison overcrowding, its effects on detainees and the prison environment, and policies designed to eradicate it or at least mitigate its effects. There then follow two sections on recourse to and safeguards attending, the use of force and/or instruments of restraint and solitary confinement in places of detention (which places include, for the sake of completeness, police establishments, immigration detention centres, psychiatric establishments, etc.). Part IV attemptst o draw everything together, to assess the impact of CPT standards on national criminal justice and penal policy and to consider ways in which that impact might be enhanced.

The critical reception of Kristeva's writings has largely been in the field of feminist thought, literary studies and social theory. Her thought has been appreciated or abandoned on the grounds of its argument that the concepts and practices of 'psychoanalysis' and 'literature' present the truth of modern social and political relations - in distinction from and criticism of philosophical 'system' . The thesis implicitly challenges this general reception of I<risteva's thought. It presents a systematic reading of Kristeva's writings and discloses the Hegelian ambition of her analysis of the 'subject' in social and political relations. The main object of the thesis is to establish the philosophical foundations of Kristeva's 'return to Freud' in the philosophy of law from Kant to Hegel. The thesis presents the significance and limitation of her engagement with German idealism, and the consequences of that limited engagement for the ambition of Kristeva's oeuvre. The meaning of the speculative philosophy of law is recovered from its premature reduction in the developments of, and departures from, her thought in contemporary critical engagements with French and German philosophy.

The overarching discipline of the study is the sociolinguistics of law in which the analytical methods of discourse, genre and narrative analysis are brought together in the enterprise of describing language in its social context. The issues addressed in this study relate to communication processes in a court of law in Gaborone, Botswana. These have been identified as issues relating to the various stages of the trial process that some writers have labelled sub-genres of the courtroom genre and some have simply labelled discourses. The process typical to the Botswana courtroom are the administrative processes of Mentions Reading of Charge Sheets and Readings of Facts and the substantive processes of Direct and Cross Examinations, Submissions and Judgements. The study also includes the description of the bilingual nature of the Botswana courtroom including code switching and courtroom interpreting. The views and awareness of the legal practitioners - police prosecutors and lawyers - on and of the uses of language in the courtroom were sought and tested by a short questionnaire. These are cross-referred with observations and recordings of the court's proceedings with the aim of revealing the nature of bilingualism in this court. Many studies have described and critique different aspects of the trial such as courtroom questioning and jury summations, but few have attempted to describe the trial as a whole as this study has done. This broad focus has enabled the perception of the trial as a site for interlocking discourses, which together bring about the outcomes of trials. It has found out, for example, that while some processes are, ordinarily, unacceptably coercive of witness, like cross examinations, some are empowering, for instance, direct examinations. In which witnesses are allowed longer turns at talk where they give narrative accounts. The data comprises forty hour of recordings transcribed into texts comprising several examples of each of the stages of the trial.

Attempts to regulate competition in Brazil have been made since the early 1960s without much success. However, with the adoption of trade liberalisation measures in the early 1990s, competition has gradually been regarded as an essential element of the process of liberalisation of the economy, and thus efforts have been made to develop and enforce competition law and policy. This thesis describes and evaluates competition law in Brazil during this last period. It critically analyses the legislation, the practices of enforcement agencies and the relevant case law. Emphasis is given to the study of cases which involve restrictive business practices as well as mergers, and which have been decided at the administrative level. This thesis highlights four main points: 1) developing countries should try to develop their own approach to competition law, and avoid adopting models created in other countries that reflect another reality; 2) competition legislation must define the approach to be adopted in the implementation of competition law in order to avoid uncertainty in the market; 3) a well structured institutional framework is necessary for the enforcement of competition law and policy; and 4) competition policy should be part of a coherent set of economic policies adopted by the government. The conclusion of this thesis is that competition policy in Brazil has not yet produced significant results. Factors that undermine competition policy in Brazil are the system for the enforcement of the law, the lack of coherence in case law, and changes in economic policy. On the other hand, there has been some progress: the legislation covers the main aspects of competition; the performance of enforcement agencies is improving; these agencies are co-ordinating their enforcement practices; and there is growing awareness among economic actors in Brazil that competition is desirable and should be protected.

In the era of globalization many writers (e.g. Hannah Arendt, David Held, Robert Fine) have argued that the ideology of nationalism is being challenged by the growth of cosmopolitan developments, ideas and institutions. This thesis takes off from the evolution of 'cosmopolitan criminal law' out of international law. It argues that implicit in the elaboration and use of the 'crimes against humanity' charge at Nuremberg and at the ad hoc International Criminal Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda (ICTY and ICTR), is the admission that genocide and ethnic cleansing are the business of the whole of humanity and that perpetrators may no longer hide behind the principle of national sovereignty. I argue that the establishment of the principle of individual criminal responsibility for such crimes is not simply a legal fiction. I further argue that the greatly expanded role for short-term instrumental rationality which prevails in modem society (e.g.Zygmunt Bauman) does not limit social actors to a choice of either complicity in or a stepping out of society. The evidence shows that perpetrators do make choices for which they may be held responsible and are not simply puppets of rational structures. The thesis looks at three responses made by the international community to ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia: the peace at all costs policy, which allowed ethnic cleansing to go unhindered in Bosnia; the bombing policy which failed to stop but reversed some of the effects of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo; and the establishment of the ICTY which is judging some of the perpetrators. I use the trials of Dusko Tadic and of Tihomir Blaskic as case studies to investigate the working of the first international criminal tribunal. I also investigate the trial of Andrei Sawoniuk, held in London in 1999, for his actions during the Holocaust in Belarus, and the libel trial in which David Irving sued Deborah Lipstadt. Using these four cases, I examine the functioning of cosmopolitan criminal trials, the different contexts in which they are held, their use of evidence and law, the extent and limits of the justice they achieve, and their role in the production of authoritative cosmopolitan narratives.

This thesis examines some of the contested meanings of what it is to be a self, person and individual. The law of obligations sets the context for this examination. One of the important aspects of contemporary feminist philosophy has been its move beyond highlighting inconsistencies in political and legal theory, in which theoretical frameworks can be shown to rely upon an ambiguous treatment of women. The feminist theorists whose work is considered use these theoretical weaknesses as a point of departure to propose different conceptual frameworks. I start by analysing contemporary work on the self from within both philosophy of science and feminist metaphysics to draw out common approaches from these diverse positions. These themes are then discussed in the context of the law. I then critically examine the concept of legal personhood in the work of Drucilla Cornell and her proposals for the amendment of tort law. This is juxtaposed with an analysis of the practical operation of tort law by adapting François Ewald's work on risk and insurance to English law. I concentrate on women's ambiguous position with regard to both risk and to the image of the individual that is the subject of Ewald's critique. This is followed by an examination of the changing position of women with regard to 'possessive individualism', 'self-ownership' or 'property in the person' in relation to contract law and social contract theory. There are a number of different social contracts discussed in the thesis: Cornell's reworking of John Rawls and the stories of Thomas Hobbes and of Carole Pateman. The final 'social contract' to be discussed is that of 'new contractualism', the employment of contract as a technique of government. I argue that Pateman's critique of possessive individualism continues to be relevant at a time when the breadwinner/housewife model has broken down.

The thesis examines the social basis of the property and contractual relations of social groups in German East Africa. Chapter 1 oonsiders property relations arising principally from the labour of the producer. Social groups characterised by a communal mode of production are subdivided into shifting and stable sub-forms. In the first form, production units comprise production communities and family work-teams. In contrast to Meillassoux's study of the Guro, property relations are realised atthe level of the work-team. Land tenure in the two sub-forms differs, reflecting distinct practices in agriculture and labour organisation. Chapter 2 examines property relations arising from the direct appropriation of surplus labour by non-producers. Tributary and feudal modes of production are distinguished. Forms of tribute are examined. The 'bundle of rights' concept and Honore's theory of ownership are criticised. Chapter 3 concerns the social dissolution of the two previous forms of property due to the growth of commodity relations. Forms of sale, lease and mortgage are examined. The notion of 'absolute title' is analysed and comparisons with English Law made. Chapter 4 is a theoretical study of forms of exchange and corresponding legal relations. Chapter 5 applies aspects of the theory to contracts in East Africa. Contracts were generally not enforced. The significant point in the emergence of a law of contract was in debt relations. Generally loans were made without interest. In this case there is no distinction between restitution and enforcement of a promise. Instances of charging of interest are found where trade was developed. The Islamic rule against usury was found on the coast, but numerous exceptions developed. The enforcement of interest necessarily implies the enforcement of a promise and hence the emergence of a law of contract.

This dissertation examines the claims of "neurolaw" in relation to Christian theological anthropology.

Throughout the 20th century, the regulatory frameworks that govern midwifery in the UK have grown, such that the current practice of midwifery and the provision of maternity care are now influenced by a myriad of regulation. Despite these controls there is little empirical data, especially in relation to the practice of midwives, which demonstrates the effectiveness of these systems and strategies. Whilst maternal mortality rates are at an all-time low, patient safety incidents still occur and claims of clinical negligence have continued to climb over the past thirty years. This raises the question of whether the regulatory mechanisms which are designed to ensure the health and wellbeing of the pregnant woman undermine or promote quality care and, whether the current statutory aim of ‘protecting the public’ is being realised. Whilst this is too ambitious a question to resolve fully in a doctoral thesis, I aim to make a contribution to answering it by giving voice to one specific group who are particularly well placed to comment but to whose voices are rarely heard, namely midwives. The study offers a socio-legal exploration of midwifery governance through an examination of the understanding and experience of a group of midwifery practitioners. The study gathered both quantitative and qualitative data from a cohort of midwives practising in the South East of England between the period of May 2012 and March 2013. This data was analysed in order to establish the views and opinions of the midwives in relation to the regulatory frameworks. As a result, a complex picture of regulation emerged, with a particular focus on the importance of clinical governance, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and statutory supervision of midwives. The themes that emerged included: the impact of regulation on the provision of care, the role of regulation in facilitating woman centred care, and the unease about mechanisms used to address issues of poor practice. Whilst good practice was evident, concerns and challenges also arose in terms of the regulatory framework, which, to the study participants, at times did not appear to support the provision of safe quality care.

Arbitration is of growing importance across the United Arab Emirate (UAE) and there are various arbitral regimes with different levels of international respectability within the federation. Despite the existence of a draft federal arbitration law there is no respective federal law in place. The economy of the UAE has expanded over the last 5 decades and with economic development has come an increase in commercial activities, which has led to higher incidence of commercial disputes on an equally high rate. Arbitration has not only become a favourite route for domestic commercial transactions but it also applies to international commercial transactions and investment disputes. With the increase of arbitration cases in the UAE, it has become necessary to pass a federal law for arbitration in general in order to fill the legal vacuum in the present civil and procedures law No.11/1992. Passing a federal law to regulate arbitral proceedings would enhance the legal position of the UAE and not just a part of it in attracting international investment. This will in turn lead to improved economic growth and the encouragement of foreign investments. The significance of enacting a new arbitration law is that it would also help to end the conflict between the existing nine arbitration centres in the UAE with regard to the enforcement of local and foreign judgments. The different regulations and laws for each centre furthermore creates uncertainties about how to enforce awards between these centres. This begs the question of when will this important Gulf Cooperation Council member state have a deserving and fit for purpose federal law on commercial arbitration. This thesis evaluates the draft federal law, investigates the socio-legal challenges preventing the achievement of the noble aim of implementation of a federal law and evaluates the existing regimes and bodies regulating arbitration in the federating parts of the UAE.