This thesis examines the criminal law's treatment of women who kill their abusive partners through a theoretical framework developed from queer theory and social justice. More specifically, in relation to queer theory, the thesis considers the work ofJudith Butler and her notions of gender as performativity, cultural intelligibility, materialisation and resignification. The model of social justice used is drawn from the work of Iris Marion Young. One particular aspect of her model of social justice is considered to be pertinent: cultural imperialism. Cultural imperialism maintains that an injustice in the form of domination and oppression is committed when inferior social groups are constructed from the outside by the dominant social group and where their particular characteristics are rendered 'Other'.The thesis applies the work of these two authors to a number of criminal cases in order to analyse the following issues: the construction of a woman's identity by the legal system; the existence of differences between women - particularly racial, cultural and ethnic differences - and the possibility of achieving justice within the existing criminal law. The thesis scrutinises Court of Appeal judgments and provides a close reading of two cases: Zoora Shah, who remains convicted for murder, and Diana Butler, who was, on retrial, convicted for manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.I argue that the murder/manslaughter and custody/probation distinctions are linked to the unintelligible/intelligible gender distinction. I further argue that in those cases in which a manslaughter conviction is achieved, the result can be seen to be both at once just and unjust. Whereas it may be 'legally just' when compared to cases involving men who have killed their partners, it is also 'socially unjust' due to the cultural imperialistic manner in which a woman's identity is constructed. Furthermore, the thesis highlights that, in addition to prevailing gender scripts to which women must conform, there also exists racial regulatory scripts which impact upon the construction of a woman's identity and her perceived cultural intelligibility. Attention is also paid to the instability of meaning which is considered to provide an opportunity for subversive transformation.In the conclusion the thesis forwards an overview of a proposed defence, which is based upon a reformulation of the battered woman syndrome and the defence of duress. This defence is considered to offer a more socially just outcome for womenwho kill.

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Military confrontations in many parts of the world raise concerns regarding the treatment of prisoners of war. Whilst the regime of prisoners of war under international law is clearly codified in the 1949 Geneva Convention relating to the treatment of prisoners of war, questions arise, particularly from western thinkers, regarding their treatment under Islamic law. This thesis attempts to fill this gap in the literature. The legal status of prisoners of war as presented in the Quran and Sunna and interpreted by prominent Islamic scholars is analysed and compared with the Geneva Convention provision is examined.The discussion begins in Chapter One with an examination of the context in which the issue of prisoner of war status arises. The concept and legitimacy of war are discussed and the rules of war, as well as relations between Islamic and non-Islamic States areexamined. In Chapter Two, the definition of the term 'prisoners of war' in each legal system is examined, and the classes of people excluded from the definition areconsidered. Chapter Three investigates the legal status of prisoners of war from the moment of capture, with reference to the coercion of prisoners of war to reveal military secrets protection inside the camps, the labour and financial status of prisoners of war,and the right to food and clothing, to communication with the outside world, to medical attention and to freedom of religious practice. There follows in Chapter Four a discussion of the ways in which capture may be terminated.The thesis shows that Islam provides for the just and humane treatment of prisoners of war and its rules are in general consistent with the provisions of international law. There are, however, some differences, such as the Islamic provision on enslavement attributable to differences in historical context. Such discrepancies however, have either been removed by changing custom, or can be resolved by analogy and by application of the general rules of just and humane treatment. There is, therefore, no reason why an Islamic country should not conform with the generally accepted principles of international law on the treatment of prisoners of war.

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The main themes of this thesis focus on organisational change and learning in different geo-political contexts, bound together in a common moment of globalisation. These topics are explored through three case-studies from the manufacturing sector, one each from the United Kingdom, the Republic of South Africa and the Russian Federation. The project, on which this thesis is based. had a qualitative and interpretive design and took a comparative, narrative approach. It argues on the basis of this comparison, that organisational learning has to be related to the wider environment in which companies operate; individualistic models of learning are inadequate to explain the complex processes involved in learning in organisations. The thesis demonstrates that learning is most productively viewed as a form of sensemaking, which is particularly important in periods of change. This way of thinking about work-based learning subsumes all previous analytical descriptions of learning at work and all methods of promoting it, as sub-sets of a more generic process: making sense of experience. This approach of conceiving learning draws attention to the fact that learning involves the whole person, their sense of self, their understanding of the past and their grasp of the skills and relationships involved in their jobs. The concept of sense-making is explored at three levels - the macro-level with a focus on globalisation, the meso- or organisational level with an emphasis on strategic change and the micro- or personal level highlighting individual experiences of change and learning at the workplace. Narrative analysis is a powerful tool in organisational research to recover accounts of learning because it is through stories that people construct and make sense of the world. The comparative frame to this study highlights the cultural, historical and situated nature of narratives. This thesis shows that globalisation and strategic change are not impersonal phenomena, but become real and meaningful to everybody in an organisation through stories. Comparisons help to make otherwise tacit issues explicit.

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This thesis explores how an action research approach based on a critical systemic perspective can benefit the practice of mediators in dealing with issues of justice during mediation processes. First, methodological reflections on critical systems thinking are presented, and a new development is proposed based on the ethics of Levinas. Also, a new synergy of methods and tools is developed. This brings together boundary critique, action science, statistics, system dynamics, alternative dispute resolution games, and interviewing. A description is then provided of how the methodology was used at a Colombian mediation centre. Here, the staff members and the author began the transformation of their professional mediation practice by reflecting on alternative perspectives on how they currently deal, and might deal in the future, with issues of justice. A critique was developed of several basic assumptions that are deeply ingrained in the mediation literature of the English speaking countries of the western world - in particular, that disputants are primarily concerned with their own private interests, and that mediation should therefore be considered successful if these interests are satisfied. In the mediation centre studied, most disputants prioritised justice principles over personal gain. Additionally, a new way of organising the interpretations of mediation presented in the literature is developed that can help mediation practitioners to be more conscious of the assumptions informing their professional practice. Finally, drawing upon both a literature review and the action research results, reflections are provided on the relevance of the notion of justice to mediation practice.

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The apparent lack of any previous work focusing on Police Probationer Training was the impetus behind this research. This very important area of police training is undergone by all officers and their probationary period lasts two years. Numerous reviews and amendments have taken place over the years but do not seem to have been documented in any structured way. The aim of this research was to discover how this training evolved, the reasons for change, and the way it has been implemented. Finally the present day system was examined in detail, compared with the experience of older officers and other systems. Method Obtaining the information has proved a task of detective work, examining numerous minutes, reports and documents produced within and without the police service. Field work was carried out throughout Lincolnshire Police and by visits to Ryton Police Training Centre and the central Planning Unit at Harrogate (now renamed as Training Support, Harrogate). Questionnaires were circulated to officers undergoing the training, officers who attended earlier courses and the trainers themselves. These were followed up by selected interviews. Training delivery was witnessed at Ryton Police Training Centre and within the Lincolnshire Force. Conclusions The results of this research indicate that the training given to initial recruits within the police service is as good as it has ever been. It is, however, cost led and, although the two year probationary period is somewhat euphemistically referred to as a training period, it is much more beside as, once the foundation course of 31 weeks is completed, probationers become a resource deployed in much the same way as their experienced colleagues. The post foundation phase of training is delivered in force with little or no central control and consequently the standard of training is not consistent. The thesis traces the development but, owing to lack of access to, or simply nonexistence, of some documents it cannot be claimed to be absolutely complete.

Despite the fact that the Commission of the European Community has made Korea one of three main target countries of anti-dumping measures, because Korea is pressing to export more of the electronics products which the Community is struggling to protect, study of the Community Antidumping Law in Korea has barely begun. Therefore, in this thesis, the measures that may be imposed by Community authorities with respect to trade with countries not members of the European Community, especially with Korea, under the Community Anti-dumping Regulation, in the context of the GATT Anti-dumping system are explained and analysed. With regard to the Community's anti-dumping rules, protectionist bias in their application is examined, in particular the determination of normal value and export price, constructed normal value and constructed export price, the comparison of normal value and export price, the calculation of dumping margin, and the determination of injury, and proposals are made as to the extent to which the Community anti-dumping rules need to be revised to diminish the bias in their range that explicitly favours Community producers and a finding of dumping, in the context of the GATT rules. With regard to the Korean Anti-dumping rules, on the other hand, they are introduced, generally. Anti-dumping measures in Korea have not been applied properly in favour of Korean producers, mainly because of the lack of transparency and institutional inertia. Therefore, enactment of a special Act governing anti-dumping complaints, modelled on a unitary system rather than a bifurcated system, should be considered for the transparent and speedy investigations. Institutional inertia must be rectified, i.e., more precise definition is required in some terminologies, and provisions on cumulation and anti-circumvention should have been prescribed before their application. Through a comparative study of the anti-dumping laws in the Community and Korea, it becomes clear that various aspects of the technical methodology applied by the authorities in anti-dumping determinations have a tendency to make findings of dumping largely automatic and inevitable. Therefore, it must always be borne in mind that anti-dumping measures can be imposed only where dumping and resulting injury is actually established, not artificially. This study has looked at anti-dumping laws in the Community and Korea comparatively, in the context of the GATT Anti-dumping rules. The Community refers to GATT and the Code in the preamble of its anti-dumping regulation, which has no binding effect in Court, and adopts the regulation in accordance with existing international obligations, in particular those arising from Article VI of the GATT and from the GATT Anti-dumping Code. However, this does not ensure an interpretation in conformity with GATT rules and its spirit, because the wording of the GATT anti-dumping rules taken literally is very ambiguous and can be interpreted very differently. Therefore, a comparative study with the Community's antidumping rules and its practice as a legislative model should be very helpful, in order to improve the current Korean anti-dumping system, because the GATT anti-dumping rules can play a very limited role only as a guideline.