For many, the English criminal justice system is considered to be among the best in the world. An important feature of the system’s success is thought to be the jury trial whereby in the most serious of cases, use of ordinary citizens to determine guilt is thought to make for fairer verdict outcomes. Yet despite being a more democratic process, questionable verdicts and low conviction rates for crimes such as rape have led many to question how impartial lay jurors are likely to be and to what extent preconceived biases may in fact be influencing verdict decisions. The overarching aim of the current thesis was thereby to examine the relationship between personal characteristics and juror decisions. Specifically, the role of psychopathic personality traits, rape attitudes, and juror demographics upon individual decision formation were examined. Another aim was to develop and validate a self-report measure of individual juror decision making, directly integrating theoretical features of the dominant model of jury decision making into an empirically testable scale. Tested separately between two independent samples within Experiment one, an opportunity sample of 324 university students comprised within 27 separate jury panels observed a videotaped mock rape trial before making individual and collective decisions. Within Experiment two, a systematic randomly selected sample of 100 community participants comprised within nine separate jury panels observed a live rape trial re-enactment before making individual and collective decisions. All participants completed demographic, attitudinal, and psychological self-report measures before the onset of the trial including; the Psychopathic Personality Trait Scale (PPTS), Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression (AMMSA), and the Juror Decision Scale (JDS). Results displayed evidence of a discernible relationship between juror’s psycho-social make-up and the verdict decisions made during trial. Latent profile analyses revealed psychopathic personality traits were significantly associated with verdict preferences in the community sample and regression analyses displayed elevated rape attitude scores were consistent predictors of Not Guilty verdict decisions across both samples, pre and post-deliberation. Confirmatory factorial techniques displayed a bifactor model with three meaningful factors while controlling for the general factor was the best representation of the JDS data, with the three subscales evidencing differential predictive validity with external variables. Finally, path analyses revealed the structure of the relationship between all variables and verdict decisions, providing further evidence for the role of juror characteristics. These findings strongly support the assertion that within rape trials, juror decisions are directly related with the attitudes and psychological constructs jurors bring to trial. Evidence that a juror’s psycho-social make-up affects their interpretation of the evidence and ultimately predisposes them towards particular verdict decisions, gives rise to the possibility of needing to screen biased individuals out the jury trial process in the future. Whether change occurs or not to such historical English jury procedures, what can no longer be simply dismissed, is the role of individual juror bias upon trial outcomes within rape.

This dissertation examines the symbiotic relationship between intellectual property (“IP”) law and cultural heritage law, with an emphasis on intangible cultural heritage (“ICH”). These two fields of law have historically operated in relative isolation from each other, but the overlap of subject matter and practical effect of implementation is evident; the actual creative and traditional practices by individuals and communities are the subject matter of both fields. The central thrust of the research is to locate the effects of these two legal fields and to inform policy, research, and legislation when this previously under-considered effect and influence exists. This is accomplished through case studies of ICH and statutory intervention in three countries with diverse ICH: tartan in Scotland; cultural tourism and branding in Ireland, and the Welsh language and eisteddfodau in Wales. These countries were selected as they 1) are geographically proximate, 2) have shared cultural history, 3) are or were recently in a union legal structure with partially devolved governance powers, and 4) are ‘knowledge-based’ economies with strong IP laws. This selection facilitates the dissertation’s original contributions to research, which include highlighting the influence of ICH on IP law and how IP shapes ICH. This interaction challenges the domestic and international differential legal treatment between developed, Global North countries as IP- and knowledge-producing and developing and Global South countries as ICH- and culture-producing. Theoretical patterns emerged from the case studies: namely, first- and second-wave adoption, which is complementary to Hobsbawm and Ranger’s invented traditions; and ‘tangification’, which identifies the process through which ICH becomes IP in a modern legal framework and highlights the risks to ICH integrity as well as the over-extension of IP law. Each of these contributions support the assertion that properly managing risk to and safeguarding ICH, which provides social and economic benefits, can also help to ensure that IP law is functioning in a manner reflecting its jurisprudential underpinnings, facilitating longevity and enforceability of the law.

This thesis explores the extent to which the incorporation of same-sex relationships into formal regulatory domains is working to reinforce heteronormativity. It focuses on this issue in relation to the provision of legal advice on civil partnership dissolution. It concentrates on three main questions: 1) How can same-sex relationships, in light of civil partnerships (and, by extension, same-sex marriage), help to challenge social and legal constructions about the gendered nature of roles in intimate relationships? 2) To what extent do solicitors construct the issues and legal framework as being identical in same-sex matters to different-sex cases? 3) How do lesbians and gay men understand and experience the law of financial relief? It is argued that heteronormative conceptions of gender have been carried over from (different-sex) marriage into civil partnership proceedings, and that lesbians and gay men have, to a large extent, been assimilated into the mainstream. That said, civil partner clients have also resisted the imposition of heterosexual norms on their relationship, preferring to settle dissolution matters on their own terms, and opposing substantive financial remedies such as maintenance and pension sharing. In this way, civil partnership dissolution does still pose some novel challenges for family law.

This thesis evaluates the combination of two criminal justice interventions in the field of the domestic violence. The intervention, termed a Domestic Violence Court Advisory Service (DVCAS) throughout the thesis, comprises two elements –Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs) and Specialist Domestic Violence Courts (SDVCs). Both initiatives were instituted in the wake of much criticism of the treatment of domestic violence in the Criminal Justice System (CJS). To date, however, there has been no rigorous evaluation of the combined efficacy of these initiatives – in particular, regarding their impact on the number of offenders brought to justice. This thesis examines how a DVCAS can increase the successful prosecution of domestic violence offences through increased victim participation, better court outcomes and a wide and varied use of sentencing options. The thesis highlights ‘what works and why’ in prosecuting domestic violence offences, and in so doing identifies a number of outcomes to suggest that certain practices in the police and CPS do not always support the DVCAS in achieving its aims, in particular, through ineffective investigations, inappropriate safeguarding responses and poor prosecution practices.

This study examines the justifications and regulations for going to war in both international and domestic armed conflicts under Islamic law. It studies the various kinds of use of force by both state and non-state actors in order to determine the nature of the Islamic law of war, specifically, whether Islamic law sanctions “holy war”, offensive war or only defensive war. It discusses international armed conflicts, i.e., war against non Muslims, in the first four chapters: Chapters One, Two and Three treat the justifications for war in the Sīrah biographies of the Prophet)literature, Tafsīr (exegesis) literature, and classical and modern juridical literature respectively. Chapter Four treats the Islamic regulations for war in international armed conflicts. Chapter Five is devoted to the justifications and regulations for the use of force in internal armed conflicts. It investigates the permissibility under Islamic law of resorting to the use of force to overthrow the governing regime and discusses the Islamic treatment of terrorism and the punishment of terrorists and their accomplices. It also discusses the claim that contemporary acts of domestic and international terrorism perpetrated by Muslims are motivated and justified by jihād. This study is limited to the four Sunni schools of Islamic law and also refers in some cases to the extinct Zāhirī school. It studies the writings of classical and modern Muslim jurists and scholars and compares them with the western literature on the subject. This study finds that Jihād, in the sense of international armed struggle, as the term is currently used, is a defensive war justified in cases of aggression on the Muslim nation and fitnah, i.e., the persecution of Muslims. It also finds that the core justification in Islamic law for the use of force in domestic armed conflicts, and which may give an indication to future conflicts in the Muslim world, is the violations of the rules of the sharī‛ah. The study concludes that the Islamic law of war as maintained by the majority of mainstream Muslims scholars has great potential for contributing to international peace and security in the modern world, particularly with regard to the humanization of armed conflicts and the peaceful resolution of internal conflicts.

The principal aim of the Lisbon Treaty is to address the pre-Lisbon concerns about the coherence of EU action. In this regard, coherence is the simple litmus test for EU external action in the post-Lisbon era. This thesis investigates the coherence of EU external action towards Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in the post-Lisbon era in light of the requirement of coherence in EU external relations law and the introduction of the HR/VP and the EEAS in her service with the aim of enhancing coherence in EU external action. The principle of coherence governs the interaction between various policy strands of EU external action (horizontal coherence). The importance of coherence is linked to visibility and efficiency based on the effective use of EU resources, as well as to the credibility of the Union. This thesis concentrates on coherence in the interaction between EU policies towards SSA using the key EU policies towards the region namely development policy, trade policy, the CFSP and the CSDP. The regional context facilitates the analysis of the different strands of external action policies where, despite of or perhaps due to the Treaty of Lisbon, the different instruments of EU foreign policy and lines of competence demarcation between their institutions are still mired in complexity. Although the focus is on coherence, the specialised regional focus of the thesis also facilitates a broader understanding of the nuances in the implementation of EU external relations law and EU external policies in different contexts especially in the post-Lisbon era. Using Mali as a case study, the thesis submits that while it can be argued that policy coherence for development (which is a key requirement in EU external action towards SSA) cannot be certainly determined, Mali clearly illustrates incoherence vis-à-vis synergy in the sequencing of available policy options in EU external action towards SSA. The thesis also discussed the limits and prospects of coherence in EU external action despite the changes made at Lisbon.

The documentary credit has for a long time served as a very reliable form of financial instrument in the trading of international goods. The certainty of payment guaranteed under the documentary system is attributed to the autonomous nature of the credit contract, which is that it is independent of and unaffected by the contract of sale which it supports. So long as the documents which are presented strictly comply with the terms of the credit, the paying bank will be under an obligation to pay. However, documents which are non-compliant are also frequently presented in practice. The autonomous characteristic of the instrument also gives rise to problems because there are circumstances where, even though compliant documents are tendered, payment made under the credit would be unfair. This thesis attempts to investigate the various grounds which could provide a basis for withholding payment under a documentary credit. From the perspective of all the main parties involved in a documentary credit transaction, issues relating to payment are of utmost importance. Discrepant documents and fraud, which are well established as valid grounds, will be examined. The thesis will also explore other possible grounds to withhold payment such as illegality, nullity, unconscionability and breach of negative stipulations which exist in the underlying contract connected to the credit. The parameters of these grounds will be identified and where appropriate, recommendations will be made.

Following over a decade of debate, sex-selection for non-medical reasons using PGD was prohibited by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008. The prohibition was justified on the basis of several objections to the procedure. This thesis will consider the veracity of those objections and will focus on the objections relating to: the alleged harms to individuals and families; potential sex ratio imbalance; and sex discrimination and the impact of the prohibition upon Punjabi ethnicity women. Part I will focus predominantly on the alleged harms of the procedure. It will analyse the manner in which the principles of harm and precaution were applied and interpreted during the consultations and reviews that led to the prohibition. A comparison with the approach taken in relation to ‘saviour siblings’ will demonstrate the manner in which the principles should have been applied to sex-selection. Part II will consider the issue from the perspective of the north-Indian state of Punjab. An examination of the reasons belying the sex ratio imbalance in Punjab will demonstrate the unlikelihood of such an imbalance materialising within the UK. Sex discrimination and the impact of the prohibition upon Punjabi ethnicity women within the UK will be considered against this background.

This thesis deals with the question of whether developing countries can effectively protect themselves against the effects of international cartels and what strategies they should develop in order to do so. While combating cartels has been one of the pillars of both domestic and international competition law policy, developing countries continue to suffer the brunt of the negative effects of international cartels. Because most developing countries have little to no functioning competition law policy, they are often the most likely targets of international cartels and therefore the most in need of assistance. This thesis will discuss both the qualitative and quantitative effects international cartels have on developing countries and the global market. This discussion will also include analysis of case studies conducted on the effects of these cartels. Another chapter will be devoted to the current legislation and strategies that have already been established to combat international cartels in general. The final chapters will cover what has already been done to help developing countries protect themselves and what the appropriate welfare benchmark should be when considering reform options. Global reform strategies discussed will include a discussion on whether forming a global, harmonised competition law agreement would be feasible and methods on how to foster greater cooperation between jurisdictions.

This thesis argues that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is in a unique position to advance environmental norms but that it does not. Reasons for this situation are analysed and, ultimately, a biocentric natural law philosophy is presented to address the deficiencies of the Court's environmental protection. To construct this argument the thesis demonstrates that it is not unreasonable to assume that the Court’s decision-making may embody a tacit philosophy. Notions of environmental duty and the traditions of thought they may be based upon are explored to understand this. Changing conceptions of the place of humans in the world and related notions of responsibility are shown to culminate in morally neutral utilitarianism, which removed all that had limited a ruinous environmental regard. Modern environmental philosophical perspectives must be characterised as movements to different extents, away from utilitarian thinking. ICJ case analysis is conducted against these perspectives, where it is found that the Court is inconsistent and hesitant to articulate the content and status of principles of international environmental law. In response, the thesis sketches a biocentric perspective based on natural law. To conclude the thesis considers what it would take for the ICJ to develop a biocentric legal doctrine.