Since his election into office, a cloud of uncertainty has surrounded President Trump’s foreign policy ambitions. Much of today’s scholarship concerns its unpredictable nature and scope. President Trump, like previous presidents who have come before him, entered office with very little foreign policy experience. A key feature of his non-principled, fast-alternating foreign policy is that few people know exactly what he is going to propose next in terms of his international strategy. Coupled with this strategy is Trump’s desire for international credibility and a strong reputation. This desire seems fundamentally at odds with his foreign policy strategy, as Trump proposes isolationist measures and countries learn to fear his foreign policy’s unpredictability. This paper aims to take a critical look at the role of humanitarian intervention in a country’s foreign policy. It analyses whether countries like the United States can successfully introduce humanitarian intervention as a successful foreign policy prescription. More specifically, it aims to answer the following research question: is it possible for the United States to reclaim its founding values through intervention in humanitarian crises without hindering the country’s military credibility? This paper first proposes theory, then aims to cement that theory in a real-world scenario through the analysis of a specific case study. It uses a combination of primary sources, secondary sources, and more qualitative methods of data gathering to deeply analyze the relationship between humanitarian intervention, military credibility, and the United States’ founding values. It then goes on to critically analyze the application of these findings to the genocide currently occurring in West Sudan.

This paper aims to explore the functions of the theory of legal argumentation (TLA) on Constitutional States and will especially focus on the political and self-reflective functions of the TLA within the framework of a neo-constitutionalistic legal theory. The first part of the paper includes a definition of the TAL and an analysis of its main functions. At the end of the paper the author provides the bases for the development of a neoconstitutionalistic legal theory. / Este trabajo pretende explorar las funciones de la teoría de la argumentación jurídica (TAJ) en los Estados constitucionales y se concentrará en subrayar las funciones políticas y autorreflexivas de la TAJ en el marco de una teoría del Derecho neoconstitucionalista. La primera parte incluye una definición de la TAJ y un examen de sus funciones generales. En la parte final, el autor ofrece un programa para el desarrollo de una teoría neoconstitucionalista.

O presente trabalho é resultado de uma pesquisa que teve como objetivo a investigação sobre o possível desenvolvimento de uma nova teoria jurídica nos trabalhos vinculados a Law and Economics. A hipótese testada ainda inclui a concepção de que essa Teoria Econômica do Direito teria a eficiência como seu fundamento moral, atribuindo ao Direito a função de maximização da utilidade, riqueza ou bem-estar sociais. Para tanto, apresenta descrição sobre a maneira pela qual modelos e conceitos econômicos foram transformados em instrumentos metodológicos usados para descrever e fazer prescrições a respeito do conteúdo das regras jurídicas e de sua aplicação. Este estudo ainda explora os mecanismos sociais de produção e aplicação do Direito, a fim de verificar como suas características podem limitar essa função maximizadora atribuída pela Análise Econômica do Direito. Por fim, investiga-se quais recursos teóricos e retóricos tomaram utilizável pelo Direito o conceito puramente econômico da eficiência e o transformaram em um valor moral a guiar decisões jurídicas ou políticas. O consenso é, então, perquirido como o fundamento último sobre o qual se assentam a eficiência e a maximização como valores morais. / This paper is a product of a research which aimed to study the potential development of a new legal theory within the paper works written by those authors usually associated with the Law and Economies School. The hypothesis tested established the existence of an Economic Legal Theory that would be morally based on efficiency concepts and that assigned to the legal rules a function related to the maximization of social utility, wealth and welfare. In order to accomplish this task, this paper presents a description of how economic models and concepts were turned into methodological instruments to describe and make prescriptions about the legal rules dispositions and their application. Further, the research explores the social structures assigned to enact legal rules and those responsible for their enforcement, in order to verify how their qualifications are able to promote within the social rules efforts the function prescribed by the Economic Analysis of Law. At last, this paper explores the theoretical and rhetoric instruments that made possible the use of the purely economic concept of efficiency into a moral value claimed as an ideal guide of political and legal decisions. The consent is, then, tested as the final basis on which efficiency and maximization as moral principles lay on.

Au sein des champs disciplinaires que l'on qualifie traditionnellement de droits public, privé et pénal, de nouvelles branches du droit se développent au fil de l'évolution des besoins et connaissances humains, conformément à leurs logiques, mais quelquefois au détriment du droit commun. La présente thèse s'efforce de déterminer ce qu'est une branche du droit et d'appliquer cette notion à un exemple concret : la génétique. La notion de branche du droit que nous proposerons de définir est simple : il s'agit d'une collection de normes relatives à un objet déterminé. Une branche constitue une collection de normes. Un champ disciplinaire constitue une collection de branches.La distinction de chaque branche relève de la théorie de l'ensemble flou, c'est à dire qu'il faut reconnaitre un degré limité d'incertitude sur la délimitation. Cette incertitude relative est normale et dépendra de plusieurs facteurs, notamment de l'organisation préexistante des normes ou des rapports entre objets de droit entre eux.De cette définition découle naturellement deux séries d'opérations.La première porte sur la détermination du périmètre de la collection des règles et donc du rapport de celle-ci avec les normes qui la composent.Le seconde concerne l'organisation des règles de cette collection. Sans être déterminante de la définition de la branche, elle permet de donner une cohésion particulière à celle-ci et présente donc un intérêt théorique et pratique.Plusieurs types d'organisation peuvent être envisagés, et dépendent tous de la matière et de l'angle choisi. Cependant, ces organisations peuvent conduire à la création d'un code, c'est à dire d'un ensemble organisé par un plan spécialement adapté et qui peut être soit reconnu par l'autorité publique soit adopté par la doctrine comme présentant un caractère pratique pour une profession.A la suite de cet examen, nous proposons, parmi d'autres modèles, une organisation particulière du droit de la génétique. Cette organisation correspond à la logique allant de l'acquisition à la manipulation. Il s'agira d'exposer les règles relatives à l'accès au matériel et aux informations génétiques d'une part et les règles relatives à l'utilisation et à la modification du matériel génétique d'autre part.Ce travail de codification, au moins doctrinale, semble justifié, compte tenu de son utilité pour les professionnels et chercheurs en matière de génétique. / Within disciplines that are traditionally qualified rights public, private and criminal law new branches grow over the changing needs and human knowledge, according to their logic, but sometimes at the expense of the common law . This thesis seeks to determine what branch of law and to apply it to a concrete example: genetics.The concept of law that we propose to define is simple: it is a collection of standards for a specific purpose. A branch is a collection of standards. A discipline is a collection of branches.The distinction of each branch is the theory of fuzzy set, ie it must recognize a limited degree of uncertainty concerning the delimitation. This uncertainty is normal and depends on several factors, including the organization's existing standards or relations between objects right between them.This definition naturally follows two sets of operations.The first is determining the scope of the collection of rules and therefore report it to the standards that comprise it.The second concerns the organization of the rules of this collection. Without being critical of the definition of the branch, it can give a particular cohesion and it therefore presents a theoretical and practical interest.Several types of organization can be considered, and all depend on the material and the angle.However, these organizations can lead to the creation of a code, ie an organized plan by specially adapted and can be recognized by the public authority must be adopted by the doctrine as having a practical for a profession.Following this review, we propose, among other models, a particular organization the right genetics.This organization is the logic from acquisition to manipulation. It will set out the rules relating to access to genetic material and information on the one hand and the rules relating to the use and modification of genetic material from the other.This codification, at least doctrinal seems justified, given its usefulness to practitioners and researchers in genetics.

This dissertation offers new insights into Carl Schmitt's early Catholic thought, especially Die Sichtbarkeit der Kirche and Römischer Katholizismus und politische Form. Focusing on the concept of "form," I examine Schmitt's idiosyncratic usage of the term, its theological underpinnings, and the implication of Schmitt's early Catholic thought for understanding his place in the history of mid-20th-century political thought. Schmitt is best known as a political theorist of "decisionism" and "the exception," who favors the extra-legal, irrational, and existential in shaping "the political." His theory arises from theological commitments later obscured by his association with the Nazis. I argue that Schmitt's theological perspective and his concept of form reinforce one another by elevating a particular brand of personalist, juridical rationality that establishes the basis of a polemic against the irrational in political and religious life. Placing Schmitt's concept of political form in dialogue with his Catholic public intellectualism, I explore Schmitt's early attempts to overcome the form/substance dichotomy in political theory through his use of theological constructs. Beginning with responses of other high-profile Catholic intellectuals to Sichtbarkeit and Römischer Katholizismus, I find that concerns with political form, representation, and the threats of the "mechanization" of liberal bureaucracy and anarchic atheism were shared by Schmitt's peers. Through an analysis of Schmitt's early articulations of the relationship between form and substance--in his strictly legal and political writings and in his Catholic writings--I demonstrate that Schmitt emphasizes public belief, community, political action, and "personalist" representation as conditions of a viable social life. Close reading of Schmitt's theological inquiry shows that his characterization of God, Christ, human nature, and the earthly and divine kingdoms fits his understanding of political form and human sovereignty. I argue that Schmitt's theological perspective is both humanized and rendered problematic by his privileging of "form," a concept that benefits from his theological perspective, while also being hindered by it.

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Magister Legum - LLM / This study explores the nexus between gender inequality and food security through the lens of female students at tertiary institutions in South Africa. It aims to highlight the gendered dimensions of the political, socio-economic and cultural structures contributing to South Africa’s national food crisis. In so doing, it argues that legislation on the right to food with specific gender considerations is essential for ensuring food security for female students on campuses in particular and women in general.

In this dissertation, I argue that the Rule of Law is made vulnerable by technological innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) that take power previously delegated to legal decision-makers and put it in the hands of machines. I assert that we need to interrogate the potential impacts of AI and ML in law: without careful scrutiny, AI and ML's wide-ranging impacts might erode certain fundamental ideals. Our constitutional democratic framework is dependent upon the Rule of Law: upon a contiguous narrative thread linking past legal decisions to our future lives. Yet, incursions by AI and ML into legal process - including algorithms and automation; profiling and prediction - threaten longstanding legal precepts in state law and constraints against abuses of power by private actors. The spectre of AI over the Rule of Law is most apparent in proposals for "self-driving laws," or the idea that we might someday soon regulate society entirely by machine. Some academics have posited an approaching "legal singularity," in which the entire corpus of legal knowledge would be viewed as a complete data set, thereby rendering uncertainty obsolete. Such "regulation by machine" advocates would then employ ML approaches on this legal data set to refine and improve the law. In my view, such proposals miss an important point by assuming machines can necessarily outperform humans, without first questioning what such performance entails and whether machines can be meaningfully said to participate in the normative and narrative activities of interpreting and applying the law. Combining insights from three distinct areas of inquiry - legal theory, law as narrative scholarship, and technology law - I develop a taxonomy for analysing Rule of Law problems. This taxonomy is then applied to three different technological approaches powered by AI/ML systems: sentencing software, facial recognition technology, and natural language processing. Ultimately, I seek the first steps towards developing a robust normative framework to prevent a dangerous disruption to the Rule of Law.

In the 21st century Muslims can be found as minorities in what can be described as secular, democratic western countries. The research presented in this study will trace the process by which this community arrived in Western Europe and in particular Britain. Furthermore, it will explain how the community developed its faith identity within this context by detailing three particular stances they have adopted, namely; assimilation, isolation, integration. The thesis argues that rather than the assumption which exists that applying Traditional Islam causes Muslims to isolate from the indigenous population and form a ¿state within a state¿ it actually gives the religious confidence and identity to integrate within the wider society. The study also focuses on Islamic Law as interpreted by the ¿anaf¿ Law school and highlights in detail the multi-pronged and robust nature of its legal theory and subsequent application. There is an opportunity whilst determining the context to challenge the so-called ¿classical¿ Islam¿s view of the world, especially the view that all non-Muslim lands are d¿r al-¿arb. The research details a novel understanding of the classical view and discusses how the state¿s attitude towards Islam and Muslims determines its territorial ruling. In conclusion, the study has shown that the traditional interpretive model inherently possesses the flexibility, relevance and applicability to take into consideration minority-status of Muslims in Britain adhering to the ¿anaf¿ Law School. This is manifest by the ability this model has to deal with contemporary issues in wide ranging subjects like Medicine, Politics and Finance As a result it facilitates their integration within this secular society whilst remaining true to their faith.

This research aim was to investigate any gap in the international and national legal framework regarding sex trafficking and prostitution, as well as to identify areas for improvement to better protect victims. The research took on a feminist perspective to critique these laws and used Thailand's national framework for further research on how anti-trafficking and prostitution work on a national level. The feminist views come from feminist legal theory as well as radical feminism. Feminist theories are combined with existing literature, along with a qualitative method, legal analysis, and feminist legal method for examining legal frameworks addressing sex trafficking to find gaps in the field. Thailand was chosen due to it being a country with high problems with sex trafficking and prostitution. Thailand has also tried to combat these problems by implementing laws such as the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2008 as well as The Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act 1996. Thailand has also signed The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children which was relevant to this thesis.  In summary, legal feminists and radical feminists share many important perspectives about the gaps and improvements that need to be made in the international and legal framework concerning prostitution and sex trafficking. Some of the gaps are that laws fail to address the root causes of prostitution and sex trafficking, struggles with interpretation, and criticism like MacKinnon's claim that laws are fundamentally gendered and cannot be neutralized. furthermore, Thailand's anti-trafficking laws fail to recognize prostitution as trafficking, which criminalizes women in the industry. Rather than handling the demand side (those who pay for sex) the emphasis frequently tends toward prosecuting traffickers, while failing to address enough protection for victims. solutions for the gaps partly involve guidelines for Thailand's officers to easily identify victims.