The aim of this thesis is to formulate a better definition of religion for legal purposes than the formulation arrived at by the High Court of Australia in the 1983 decision of Church of the New Faith v Commissioner of Pay-roll Tax (Vic). In that case, known in Australia as the Scientology (or Church of the New Faith) case, two of five justices of the High Court of Australia considered belief in a supernatural Being, Thing or Principle to be an essential prerequisite for a belief system being a religion. Two other justices stated that if such belief were absent it was unlikely that one had a religion. There are major problems with the High Court’s formulation in the Scientology case. First, it does not accommodate a number of important belief systems that are generally regarded as being religious belief systems, even though they do not involve any notion of the supernatural in the sense in which that word is ordinarily understood. Secondly, the Court provided little or no guidance as to how one determines whether a particular belief system involves a supernatural view of reality. The guidance that was given is ill-conceived in any event. Thirdly, it is philosophically impossible to postulate a meaningful distinction between the “natural” and the supposedly “supernatural” in a way that would enable the courts and other decision makers to meaningfully apply the “test” enunciated by the Court. The thesis combines a phenomenological approach and the philosophical realism of the late Professor John Anderson with a view to eliciting those things that permit appreciation or recognition of a thing being “religious”. Ultimately, religion is seen to comprise an amalgam of faith-based ideas, beliefs, practices and activities (which include doctrine, dogma, teachings or principles to be accepted on faith and on authority, a set of sanctioned ideals and values in terms of expected ethical standards and behavior and moral obligations, and various experientially based forms, ceremonies, usages and techniques perceived to be of spiritual or transformative power) based upon faith in a Power, Presence, Being or Principle and which are directed towards a celebration of that which is perceived to be not only ultimate but also divine, holy or sacred, manifest in and supported by a body of persons (consisting of one or more faithxvii based communities) established to give practical expression to those ideas, beliefs, practices and activities. The new definition is tested against 3 very different belief systems, Taoism (Daoism), Marxism and Freemasonry.

The aim of this thesis is to formulate a better definition of religion for legal purposes than the formulation arrived at by the High Court of Australia in the 1983 decision of Church of the New Faith v Commissioner of Pay-roll Tax (Vic). In that case, known in Australia as the Scientology (or Church of the New Faith) case, two of five justices of the High Court of Australia considered belief in a supernatural Being, Thing or Principle to be an essential prerequisite for a belief system being a religion. Two other justices stated that if such belief were absent it was unlikely that one had a religion. There are major problems with the High Court’s formulation in the Scientology case. First, it does not accommodate a number of important belief systems that are generally regarded as being religious belief systems, even though they do not involve any notion of the supernatural in the sense in which that word is ordinarily understood. Secondly, the Court provided little or no guidance as to how one determines whether a particular belief system involves a supernatural view of reality. The guidance that was given is ill-conceived in any event. Thirdly, it is philosophically impossible to postulate a meaningful distinction between the “natural” and the supposedly “supernatural” in a way that would enable the courts and other decision makers to meaningfully apply the “test” enunciated by the Court. The thesis combines a phenomenological approach and the philosophical realism of the late Professor John Anderson with a view to eliciting those things that permit appreciation or recognition of a thing being “religious”. Ultimately, religion is seen to comprise an amalgam of faith-based ideas, beliefs, practices and activities (which include doctrine, dogma, teachings or principles to be accepted on faith and on authority, a set of sanctioned ideals and values in terms of expected ethical standards and behavior and moral obligations, and various experientially based forms, ceremonies, usages and techniques perceived to be of spiritual or transformative power) based upon faith in a Power, Presence, Being or Principle and which are directed towards a celebration of that which is perceived to be not only ultimate but also divine, holy or sacred, manifest in and supported by a body of persons (consisting of one or more faithxvii based communities) established to give practical expression to those ideas, beliefs, practices and activities. The new definition is tested against 3 very different belief systems, Taoism (Daoism), Marxism and Freemasonry.

Les dernières réformes de la procédure pénale, telles que les lois relatives à la garde à vue ou à la participation des citoyens à la justice pénale et au jugement des mineurs, constituent autant d'illustrations qui témoignent de l'évolution de la procédure pénale. Néanmoins, que faut-il entendre réellement par le terme « réforme » ou encore quelle différence existe t-il entre une réforme et une loi ? Aucun élément de réponse ne peut être efficacement apporté au regard de l'état du droit positif. En conséquence, l'objet de cette étude est de proposer une définition juridique de la réforme de la procédure pénale. Ceci permettra de mettre un terme à la confusion qui règne en la matière et d'offrir aux règles de la procédure pénale des qualités formelles et substantielles. Particulièrement, la réforme doit être une norme juridique adéquate, provoquée, mesurée, concertée et consentie et respecter le principe d'utilité juridique. Ces caractéristiques constituent la clé de la qualification de la réforme. Elles participent également à la qualité de celle-ci, et par voie de conséquence, à la qualité de la procédure pénale, objet de la réforme. / The last reforms in criminal procedure, such as the new police custody legislation or the one about citizen participation in criminal justice and in minors' judgment, represent as many illustrations which testify of the evolution of criminal procedure. However, how can we really understand the term “reform” or moreover, what is the difference between reform and legislation? No efficient answer can be exposed as regards substantive law. Consequently, the object of the present study is to propose a legal definition of the reform of criminal procedure. It will enable to put an end to the existing confusion on the subject and finally to bring some formal and substantial qualities to the rules concerning criminal procedure. Particularly, the reform has to be an adequate, provoked, measured, concerted and granted legal norm, and has to respect the legal utility principle. These characteristics are the keys to the legal definition of the reform. They also contribute to the quality of the legal definition, thus in the quality of the criminal procedure which is the object of the reform.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-02-22T11:43:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Felipe Gonçalves Fernandes.pdf: 1310151 bytes, checksum: 8e079d2206f6e0214dad7e675e4bc8b9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-22T11:43:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Felipe Gonçalves Fernandes.pdf: 1310151 bytes, checksum: 8e079d2206f6e0214dad7e675e4bc8b9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-15 / The Brazilian State is governed by a democratic Constitution that enshrines several principles, which are spread through the Legal System and extend to all the branches of the Law, including administrative law, and as a consequence reach disciplinary law, a sub-division of the matter that will be specifically approached in this study. Among said long-standing principles is the principle of legal security, which, among other aspects, ensures citizens a minimum foreseeability when it comes to government conducts. Nevertheless, over history one has accepted (including a significant portion of legal scholars to date) that the formal legal definition of punishable conducts under the disciplinary law (a sub-system that provides for the sanctioning of civil servants) were to be distinct from that applied to criminal law, where one not only recognizes but also requires a clearly delineated legal concept as a means to afford citizens an individual guarantee, in order that the conduct defined as an offense in such system be necessarily described by the law in a clear and accurate manner, in that no generic or vague concepts be accepted. Accordingly, in this study one will analyze the requirements for enforcement of administrative sanctions, with a special focus on disciplinary sanctions, as opposed to the system of guarantees afforded to civil servants by the Brazilian Constitution of 1988 and the grounds underlying it. The analysis will be made from a historical and dogmatic study of the theories that have influenced (and that still influence, to a certain extent) the interference exercised by the Public Administration in those who engage in special relationships of power with it. Therefore, one shall scrutinize the issues concerning the definition of generic punishable conducts under the disciplinary law, historically justified by the so-called special relationships of subjection, in light of the guarantees established in our Constitutional State, particularly legal security, democracy and the fundamental right to a proper administration. The analysis will look into the need for an objective perception of punishable conducts, if not through legislative amendment (a task we are not undertaking here), then through the organization of the chaotic whole of legal rules, by setting out hermeneutical guidelines that will function as limits to public authorities and will thus contribute to an analysis of the matter that is more compatible with the values found in the Federal Constitution / O Estado Brasileiro vige sob a égide de uma Constituição democrática que consagra diversos princípios, os quais se irradiam pelo Ordenamento Jurídico para avançar sobre todas as áreas do Direito, inclusive sobre o direito administrativo, de maneira que também toca o direito disciplinar, sub-ramo daquela matéria que será especialmente tratado nesta pesquisa. Dentre os consagrados princípios, se encontra o princípio da segurança jurídica, o qual, além de outras facetas, garante aos administrados um mínimo de previsibilidade em relação às condutas estatais. Não obstante, foi aceito historicamente (hipótese admitida por parcela significativa da doutrina até os presentes dias) que a tipificação formal de condutas no direito disciplinar (subsistema que cuida do sancionamento de servidores públicos) seria distinta daquela estabelecida para o direito penal, onde não só se reconhece como se exige uma tipicidade fechada como garantia individual dos cidadãos, de modo a se fazer imprescindível nesse sistema que a conduta descritiva do delito seja posta de maneira clara e precisa no texto legal, de sorte que não são admitidos, como regra, conceitos genéricos ou indeterminados na descrição do tipo. Diante isso, analisamos na presente pesquisa os pressupostos para a aplicação das sanções administrativas, com ênfase nas sanções disciplinares, contrapondo-as ao regime de garantias dos servidores fixado pela Constituição da República de 1988 e os fundamentos que o justificam. Referida análise se deu a partir de estudo histórico e dogmático das teorias que influenciaram (e continuam a influenciar em determinada medida) a interferência da Administração Pública sobre aqueles que estabelecem com ela vínculos especiais de poder. Sendo assim, problematizamos o estabelecimento de tipos punitivos abertos no direito disciplinar, justificados historicamente pelas chamadas relações especiais de sujeição, à luz das garantias estabelecidas em nosso Estado Constitucional, especialmente a segurança jurídica, a democracia e o direito fundamental a uma boa administração. Essa análise incita a reflexão sobre a necessidade de objetivação dos tipos disciplinares, se não por meio de alterações legislativas (tarefa a que não nos propomos), pela ordenação do todo caótico representado pelas regras jurídicas por meio do estabelecimento de diretrizes hermenêuticas que representarão limites ao hierarca e se prestarão a contribuir para uma análise mais consentânea do tema com os valores da Constituição Federal

Disertacinio darbo temos aktualumas. Statistiniai duomenys, leidžiantys teigti, kad korupcinių veikų mastas Lietuvoje mažas, prieštarauja sociologinių tyrimų rezultatams, anot kurių, korupcijos faktų Lietuvoje yra labai daug , kas reikalauja šio reiškinio mokslinės analizės. Temos aktualumą grindžia ir korupcijos reiškiniui būdingas latentiškumas, šio reiškinio dinamika, formų, pasireiškimo sričių, subjektų, dalyko kaita, be to, tikslios ir aiškios korupcijos sąvokos, kurią būtų lengviau taikyti teisėkūroje, viešojo administravimo institucijų praktikoje, ją geriau suvoktų visuomenė, lengviau būtų deramai taikyti antikorupcinius įstatymus, stoka. Atsižvelgiant į tai, kad formuojant teisinės sistemos modelį, svarbiausios yra teisės sampratos, teisės doktrinos problemos, disertacijoje pabrėžiama, kad, visų pirma, kuriant nacionalinę antikorupcinių įstatymų bazę ir teisės normose apibrėžiant korupcines veikas, negalima apsiriboti vien tik teisės aktų keitimu kitais, o būtina išsiaiškinti žmonių teisinio mąstymo principus, visuomenės vertybių sistemą ir kriterijus, ir tik po to pereiti prie socialinių reiškinių objektyvizacijos ribų nustatymo teisės normose ir jų įgyvendinimo. Atitinkamai disertacijos įvade konstatuojama, kad efektyvinant korupcinio pobūdžio nusikalstamų veikų tyrimą, ypatingas dėmesys turi būti skiriamas kriminalistikos mokslui, nes suvokimas, jog korupcija yra sudėtinga socialinė, ekonominė, politinė, teisinė, kultūrinė, moralinė problema, kurią reikia spręsti... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The Relevance of the Topic of the Dissertation Work. The statistical data allowing stating that the extent of corruption acts is small in Lithuania disagree with the results of the sociology researches according to which there are a lot of facts of corruption in Lithuania , what requires the scientific analysis of this phenomenon. The relevance of the topic is grounded by the latency which is characteristic to corruption, dynamics of this phenomenon, the change of the forms, manifestation spheres and the subject, besides, the lack of the adequate and lucid concept of corruption which could be easier applied in the legislation and the practice of the institutions of public administration, and which could be easier perceived by the society and it would be easier to apply properly anti-corruption laws. In respect that when forming the model of the legal system, the most important are the law concepts, the problems of law doctrine, it is emphasized in the dissertation that, first of all, when creating the national base of the anti-corruption laws and determining the corruption acts in the rules of law, we should not restrict ourselves only to the change of legal acts, but it is necessary to find out the principles of people’s legal thinking, the value system and the criteria of the society, and only then pass on to the determination of the materialization limits of social phenomena in the rules of law and their implementation. Respectively, it is stated in the introduction of... [to full text]

En France, la réalité des crimes en série et plus particulièrement des meurtres en série a trop longtemps été minorée, voire niée. Même si elle est quantitativement peu élevée, la commission de meurtres sériels sur notre territoire est pourtant indéniable. Il serait donc logique que le droit pénal français, qui commence à s'intéresser à ces actes, en donne enfin une véritable qualification pénale. En sa qualité de tueur à victimes multiples criminologiquement singulier, le tueur en série mérite une appréhension juridique adaptée. Tout d'abord, l'acte de donner la mort doit recevoir une qualification pénale adéquate. Puis, la répétition de cet acte doit être prise en compte. Or, la série va apparaître comme un mode particulier de commission de plusieurs infractions. En effet, la série représente un nouveau cas de pluralité d'infractions. Dès lors, une définition juridique en sera proposée dans cette étude. De plus, les éventuelles répercussions d'une telle définition sur la procédure et la sanction pénales seront envisagées. / In France, the reality of serial crimes and more specifically serial murders has been minimized and even denied for a very long time. Even if serial crimes represent quite a small proportion, they do undeniably occur in our country. It should be logical that French criminal law starts to pay attention to these acts and finally gives them a real legal definition. As a singular criminal in criminology, a murderer of multiple victims deserves an appropriate apprehension. First of all, the act of giving someone death has to be correctly characterized. Then, the repetition of this act has to be taken into account. The series will appear as a new particular way of committing multiple crimes. Indeed, it actually represents a new category in plurality of offences. Thus, we propose in this essay to give it a legal definition. Moreover, the potential repercussions of such definition on criminal procedure and penalty will be envisaged.