<p> In public schools, student expression commonly calls for the attention of school staff in one form or another. Educators have a practical interest in understanding the boundaries of student freedom of speech rights and are often directed to the four student speech cases decided to date by the Supreme Court (<i>Tinker v Des Moines</i> (1969), <i>Bethel v Fraser </i> (1986), <i>Hazelwood v Kuhlmeier</i> (1988), and <i> Morse v Frederick</i> (2007)). Sources about these cases abound, but most focus on legal reform issues such as the political arguments of opposing preferences for more student freedom or more school district control or the lack of clear guidance for handling violations </p><p> I propose an alternative approach to understanding the Supreme Court&rsquo;s student speech jurisprudence focusing not on its correctness but on cultural influences which have worked and continue to work on the Court both from without and within. This approach may lead to a new understanding of Court decisions as legally binding on educators and an appreciation of the necessary rhetorical artistry of the Justices who write them. Not intended in any way as an apologetic of the Court&rsquo;s decisions on student speech, this study is based particularly on the work of Strauber (1987), Kahn (1999) and Mautner (2011). It takes the form of a cultural history going back to the Fourteenth Amendment&rsquo;s influence on individual rights from its ratification in 1868 to its application in Tinker in 1969 and beyond. </p><p> Seen as cultural process which begins with the Amendment&rsquo;s initial almost complete ineffectiveness in restricting state abridgment of fundamental rights including speech to its eventual arrival, fully empowered, at the schoolhouse gate, this study attempts to make student speech rights more accessible to educators and others. The tensions between the popular culture which espouses the will of the people and the internal legal culture of the Court itself and its most outspoken and articulate Justices resolve into decisions which become the law of the land, at least for the moment. The study also offers implications for administrators together with suggestions on how to stay current with free speech case law applicable to the schools.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Political Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 394-434). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR19827

The appropriate treatment of children is not only a moral issue, but an important investment in a country’s future. No child should be excluded from quality education. Schools should therefore be managed in such a way that it ensures that all children can learn in a child-friendly, safe and stimulating environment in order for its learners to reach their full potential. Simply put, schools should operate with the “best interests of the child” in mind. In South Africa the “best interests of the child” gained prominence in section 28(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa in 1996. Section 28(2) of the Constitution states: “[a] child’s best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child.” Quality education is one of the cornerstones of any society. It is therefore important for any country to develop a functional education system. Unfortunately this is not the case in South Africa. South Africa’s education system performs poorly and lags behind much poorer countries which spend less on education. South Africa has experienced important political, legal and social changes since 1994, but in spite of many positive changes, the education system is characterised by great inequalities and considerable differences regarding learners’ access to quality education. All families, including those in rural areas, would like to see their children attain success through formal and effective education. The majority of schools in KwaZulu-Natal are poor, dysfunctional and unable to equip learners with the necessary skills. Most of these schools are located in the rural areas and lag behind their urban counterparts. The reason for my research is to explore whether current educational practice is in the best interests of the child who attends a rural school. Too few policy-makers pay attention to what our legislation promises. The purpose of this study was not to generalise, but to explore and understand how perceptions of education managers, with regard to the “best interests of the child” principle, may affect the quality of education in a rural setting. The study focused on education managers of under-performing rural schools, in the uThungulu District of KZN. The purpose is to understand why many public schools in disadvantaged areas (mostly rural areas) in KZN are under-performing. This multi-site case study aimed to make a case for education in the “best interests of the child”. The multi-site case study also aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of the “best interests of the child”, attending a rural school and how to improve the output and through-put (progression) of learners attending these under-performing rural schools. The research question driving the research was: How may the perceptions of education managers, regarding the “best interests of the child”, affect the quality of education at rural schools in KwaZulu-Natal? The study adopted a qualitative research approach that was based on an interpretive paradigm. Data were collected by means of document analysis, semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews. Convenience and purposeful sampling was used to select under-performing rural schools from the uThungulu District of KwaZulu-Natal. The data which emerged from the thematic data analysis revealed that, education managers from these under-performing rural schools are well aware of what the “best interests of the child” should be, but challenges, circumstances and contextual factors prevent them from delivering quality education which will serve the “best interests of the child”. Based on the findings, the following recommendations are suggested: Introduce a Basic Education Act that includes the “best interests of the child” principle. Findings revealed that education in the “best interests of the child” should include the fulfilment of the child’s emotional needs; physical needs and the ability to attend a school in a safe environment. Education in the “best interests of the child” should also include the availability of adequate human and physical resources. It is further recommended that school laws, policies and procedures should be reviewed to align with the well-being of children and with the “best interests of the child” in mind. Based on the findings it is suggested that the “best interests of the child” should become the leading principle in guiding all decisions affecting a child’s education. Furthermore, it is recommended that adequate and context specific management training needs to be put in place in order for education managers to manage a rural school with the “best interests of the child” in mind. All schools, including rural schools should offer at least three streams. Lastly, education managers need to establish a culture of teaching and learning in public rural schools. Education in the “best interests of the child” will level the playing field between rural and urban learners and close the achievement gap which exists amongst them. Former President, Nelson Mandela believed that the soul of a society could be seen in the way it treats its children. Taking education in the “best interests of the child” seriously, may have a huge impact on vulnerable children in rural areas. / Thesis (PhD) University of Pretoria, 2016. / Education Management and Policy Studies / Unrestricted

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (hereafter referred to as "the Constitution"), outlines the different roles and functions of the arms of government, namely the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature. In terms of international agreements, Section 231 of the Constitution provides the parameters within which the Executive and the Legislature are responsible for when entering into international agreements. The Executive is responsible for negotiating and signing all international agreements, which must then be approved by the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces in order to be ratified. Furthermore, the Constitution requires the Legislature to oversee the work of the Executive. In this regard, Parliament, as the representative of the people of South Africa, has a duty to ensure that even international agreements will benefit the citizenry and not undermine national objectives. However, due to the democratic principle of separation of powers, Parliament has little control over the outcomes of the negotiations which the Executive undertakes on behalf of the nation. Signed international agreements may not always be in the national interest. In these instances, Parliament cannot alter the terms of the agreement. It can at best approve this for ratification with reservations or reject it once it has been tabled. Several challenges arise in relation to the approval for ratification of international agreements. This is primarily related to Parliament's capacity and the time available to consider signed agreements, and its knowledge and understanding of the content and implications of international agreements. This study, therefore, considers how Parliament can effectively oversee developments during international trade negotiations. This is to circumvent situations where the trade agreements do not support national strategic objectives. A grounded theory approach was used to develop a theory on how to strengthen Parliament's oversight role during international trade negotiations. Grounded theory is a qualitative research method, which uses a mainly inductive approach. Data was gathered through conversational interviewing with a number of stakeholders such as Members of Parliament and parliamentary officials, as well as technical and nontechnical literature. These were analysed to develop key concepts or variables. Next, a literature review was conducted to determine the parent body of knowledge within which the research study falls. This process yielded further variables. It also assisted in determining the linkages between the key concepts. Finally, I undertook a theory building process to determine the relationships between the key concepts and the key concern variable. From the analysis, this study proposes that the Executive and Members of Parliament need to understand the importance and relevance of holding the Executive accountable for its actions in relation to international trade negotiations. Once this is clearly established, there will be an incentive to develop institutional capacity to perform oversight over this type of Executive action. This enhanced capacity will lead to more effective oversight over the Executive's involvement during international trade negotiations and thus greater accountability by the Executive to ensure that these negotiations support national strategic objectives.

Includes bibliographical references / The transport sector is critical to the performance of various sectors of the economy both trade in goods and services hinges on an efficient and reliable transport services sector. South Africa has undertaken limited commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in the transport sector. South Africa's transport sector in general is controlled by the government through state owned firms. The transport sector is competitive relative to Africa, however, relative to developed economies, the transport sector lags behind in terms of efficiency and cost (DBSA, 2012). Inefficiencies result in increased transaction costs and impede the overall competitiveness and economic performance of the country. The transport sector and other services sectors in general are mainly governed by domestic legislation. Barriers to trade in services may be located in laws and regulations of individual economies often referred to as behind the border measures such as license, technical, educational, registration and local ownership requirements and as such are more difficult to address than barriers to goods. (Hartzenberg, 2012). To identify these measures it is important to undertake an assessment of the legislation governing sector. This study analyses both vertical and horizontal legislation governing the sector. This study aims to assess the level of liberalisation of South Africa's transport sector to gauge the presence of trade restrictive measures in the sector that would limit access, establishment and or operation by foreign service suppliers. This is done through an analysis of domestic legislation governing the transport sector and its related sub - sectors. This effectively entails a comparison between actual commitments as reflected in South Africa's GATS schedule of specific commitments and applied policy as reflected in legislation. Data from such a study provides valuable technical information to trade negotiators regarding the policy space available allowing them to develop and formulate informed negotiating positions. The methodology employed in this study is adapted from the World Bank's Regulatory Assessment of Services, Trade and Investment (RASTI) and has been adapted for purposes of this study. A country, prior to engaging in a services negotiation should conduct an assessment of the level of liberalisation of each service sector to gauge its competitive strengths and weaknesses. Such an assessment entails an assessment of the country's regulation to determine if such regulation is overly burdensome to the extent that it inhibits competition and trade in services in an economy. Once such an assessment is concluded, a large number of countries have found that domestic regulatory reforms are necessary for effective participation in services negotiations. (Molinuevo & Sáez, 2014). The importance for such assessments often referred to as audits, have been confirmed as the most effective way of ensuring that regulations are not restrictive of trade. (Molinuevo & Sáez, 2014). Moreover, periodic regulatory audits serve the purpose of identifying discriminatory measures and minimising discriminatory effects that have the effect of increasing costs and discriminating against foreign service suppliers. A comparison of the liberalisation of South Africa's transport sector in terms of the actual commitments (as reflected in the GATS services schedule) against the applied domestic regulation is an important exercise in view of the discussions at the WTO level about the liberalisation of services and at a regional level in view of South Africa's regional and continental aspirations to promote regional integration. The transport sector has been identified as a priority sector in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) invol ving, COMESA, E AC and SADC. In the TFTA negotiations, even though the first phase focused on trade in goods, the second phase will address trade in services, including transport services. Negotiations in SADC based on the Protocol on Trade in Services are ongoing and wil l include transport services. A study of this nature is important for undertaking and formulating negotiating positions for trade in services and may be replicated across various service sectors.

Includes bibliographical references / The study examines the export tax as a trade policy tool in Malawi, with a specific focus on the timber industry. This study was motivated by the sudden imposition of an export tax on timber trade by the Malawi Government in 2011, as a reactive policy to an upsurge in timber exports from Malawi. The objective of the study was, therefore, to investigate why the Malawi Government decided to impose the export tax, and whether this trade policy tool has been effective in meeting the objectives. In this regard, the study was done in a broad manner to cover both the theoretical aspects of the export tax, as a trade policy tool, and the practical realities about the Malawi Government's management of the forestry sector and the timber trading in an environment where the Government decided to join the global rules-based trading system. The study used a descriptive explanatory design, employing qualitative methods that involved the use of questionnaires and analysis of the existing literature. The results revealed that an export tax is a duty that is applied on products before they are exported in order to achieve certain objectives, which include government revenue collection, domestic price stabilization, achieving food security, or promoting value addition, hence, industrial development. The review of the literature has demonstrated that care should be exercised when adopting this policy tool because export taxes can be trade-restricting and welfare diminishing on a country, or can constitute a "beggar-thy-neighbour" policy when not properly designed. It is in consideration of such consequences that it has now become fashionable for modern free trade agreements (FTAs) to include provisions on export taxes. For instance, the SADC Protocol on Trade includes Article 5 which prohibits Member States from applying any export duties on goods for export to other Member States. However, from the study, it has been established that if the export taxes are properly designed and implemented, they can boost Government revenue and catalyse industrial productivity. In this respect, evidence has shown that the Government imposed the export tax on timber to curb influx of foreign traders who have been buying the timber because it was cheaper that the timber found in the neighbouring countries. This was a reactionary use of export tax as a trade policy tool, rather than taking a proactive approach to ensure that the Government achieves the policy objectives. Thus, the available literature has shown that the Government could combine the various objectives for introducing the export tax on timber. In this regard, the efficacy of the export taxes depends on the creation of proper linkages with other policy initiatives, such as existence of local knowledge, technological development and processing capacity for increased local production to meet high standards of the international market. Thus, while the Malawi Government can maintain the export tax on timber, it should be done with a very clear objectives and timeframe for using it as a trade policy tool. The Government can combine a number of policy objectives, such as, revenue generation and use the proceeds to undertake re-afforestation programme and protect the environment while, at the same time, encouraging value addition or encouraging global value chains. Such initiatives have the capacity to generate economic gains because as the country builds the productive capacities, there is employment creation and use of other domestically produced inputs or raw materials. In this respect, it is important that the pricing of timber or forestry products should also reflect the appropriate or true economic rent, which should be levied from the use of the natural resource. The study has, therefore, revealed that the Malawi Government should review the method of collecting the export taxes to ensure maximum compliance, curb corruption, and avoid loss of foreign exchange earnings. The Government should devise other ways of collecting the export taxes than at the points of exit or the designated borders. One recommendation is for the Government to place the Malawi Revenue Authority officials at the sites where the timber is harvested, and make such sites as the collection points. More importantly, the study recommends that Government should conduct civic education campaigns targeted towards timber producers and exporters, highlighting the benefits of the export taxes to avoid illegal trade and corruption. The study has further revealed that it is possible for the Government to increase the stumpage fee to the levels that would be comparable to the stumpage fees in other countries such as Kenya, South Africa, and Tanzania.

Includes bibliographical references / The purpose of this study was to analyse the Automotive Industry in Southern Africa, to assess how best Lesotho can contribute to this supply chain. This analysis was done to better understand the sector, to identify Lesotho's potential to produce car seat covers for South African automotive assembly plants, and find the best trade policies and programmes to support value chains in the sector. The plan was to assess the possibility for Lesotho made automotive components manufacturers to supply the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs - the main automotive assembly plants), and use the South African Automotive Industry as the entry point for the Lesotho components to penetrate the Regional Automotive Value Chain. The main focus of this study was the manufacturing of car-seat covers to supply the seven Original Equipment Manufacturers namely: Volkswagen, BMW, Renault, Toyota, Daimler Chrysler, Ford and Mercedes Benz. The impact of Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) and Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP) on the industry was assessed. The impact of the APDP on relocation of components manufacturers to other Southern African Customs Union (SACU) countries was assessed, Lesotho being used as a case study. It set out to find out if Lesotho firms have the potential to contribute to the automotive value chains through manufacture of car seat covers.

<p> This dissertation examines the special issue of peer harassment of students with disabilities through a legal lens, exploring the legal standards used in cases involving three federal statutes&mdash;Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (&ldquo;Section 504&rdquo;), the Americans with Disabilities Act (&ldquo;ADA&rdquo;), and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"). Using legal research methods, litigation trends regarding the number of cases and the legal standard used and applied were explored. There has been no Supreme Court case on the legal standard to be used under Section 504, the ADA, or IDEA in peer harassment of students with disabilities, and circuit courts of appeals have not reached consensus on which legal standard should apply. Instead, courts have applied several different legal standards, including the Davis standard, a modified <i>Davis</i> standard, bad faith and gross misjudgment, deliberate indifference, disability discrimination, intentional discrimination, and denial of a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). This dissertation synthesizes the relevant legal standards used in each federal circuit and identifies trends that might guide the future of this type of litigation.</p><p>

This thesis examines criminal law in the context of Australian indigenous–settler relations. Through the jurisprudence of Justice Kriewaldt in the Northern Territory, it explores the relationship between the policy of assimilation and the application of the criminal law to Aboriginal people. Justice Kriewaldt was the sole judge of the Northern Territory Supreme Court during the 1950s. This was an important period in Australian history when the assimilation policy was at its highpoint. The thesis focuses on three areas of criminal justice—provocation, sentencing and alcohol consumption regulation. Both for Justice Kriewaldt and, in contemporary times, these areas were and continue to be of particular relevance to Aboriginal people confronting the criminal justice system. The thesis demonstrates that Justice Kriewaldt’s approach in these areas was informed by his support for the assimilation policy. It is argued that Justice Kriewaldt generally understood Aboriginal people to be uncivilised and that he applied the criminal law to assist in civilising Aboriginal people so that they could become assimilated. / This thesis also explores how Justice Kriewaldt’s jurisprudence has pervaded current approaches to dealing with the interaction between Aboriginal people and the criminal law. The thesis argues that although echoes of Kriewaldt’s 1950s approach are persistent within contemporary applications of the criminal law to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, there have also been shifts in approach. It is contended that Aboriginal people are increasingly understood to be culturally devastated and sick, and that contemporary criminal law frequently aims to restore and repair Aboriginal people to their communities, rather than to assimilate Aboriginal people. It is argued that this approach has opened up a space for Aboriginal people to become more involved in the application of criminal justice and, from this involvement, a form of weak legal pluralism has emerged.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2002. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 116 p. : ill. (some col.). Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.