The prevalence of rape and its widespread impunity, whether committed during armed conflict or peacetime, has been firmly condemned by the UN and its prohibition has been consistently recognised in international law. This development, however, is a rather novel endeavour. The belated response is in part a consequence of rape being characterised by such myths as sexual violence representing an inevitable by-product of war or as being committed by sexual deviants. Its systematic nature has thus been ignored as has the gravity of the offence, often leading to a culture of impunity. This was evident, for example, through the failure to prosecute crimes of rape during the Nuremberg trials, in qualifying it as a harm against a woman’s honour in the 1949 Geneva Convention (IV), or in considering it a violation located in the “private sphere”, thereby beyond regulation by international law. However, substantial efforts have been made in international law to recognise obligations for states to prevent rape. A prohibition of the offence has developed both through treaty law and customary international law, requiring the prevention of rape whether committed by state agents or by a private actor. One measure to prevent such violence has been identified as the duty to enact domestic criminal laws on the matter. The flexibility for states in determining the substance of such criminal laws is increasingly circumscribed, leading to the question of whether a particular definition of rape or certain elements of the crime must be adopted in this process. Elaborations on the elements of the crime of rape have been a late concern of international law, the first efforts made by the ad hoc tribunals (the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia), followed by the regional human rights systems as well as the International Criminal Court. The principal purpose of the thesis is consequently the systematisation and analysis of provisions and emerging norms obliging states to adopt a particular definition of rape in domestic penal codes. The prohibition of rape and, subsequently, the process of defining the crime has been made in three areas of international law – international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law. Emerging norms in all three regimes are consequently examined in this thesis, bringing to the fore overarching questions on the possible harmonisation of defining rape in these distinct branches of international law. The study will thus provide a contextual approach, aiming to evince whether the definition can be harmonised or if prevailing circumstances, such as armed conflict or peace, should necessarily inform its definition. Ultimately, the advances in international law are evaluated in order to identify possible areas for further development.

This thesis seeks to examine the ethical basis for occupational medicine, as it is practised in the United Kingdom (UK). There is empirical evidence of occupational physicians being confused with regard to confidentiality and consent, and variations in their practice. It is argued that the ethical guidance from the General Medical Council and the Faculty of Occupational Medicine on these matters, contributes significantly to such confusion. The doctor-patient relationship, consent for disclosure of a medical report, and medical confidentiality, all in the context of occupational medicine practice, are explored. These issues are addressed in the core part of this thesis in the form of the three published papers. In the first paper, the doctor-patient relationship in occupational medical practice is reviewed, and it becomes apparent that in the UK, the occupational physician carries out different roles and functions, ranging from duties that mirror those of a therapeutic encounter, to those that require the occupational physician to be completely independent for the purposes of a particular type of assessment (for ill-health retirement). The former is compatible with the assumption of a fiduciary relationship between doctor and patient, whereas in the latter situation, it would be incongruous to expect the doctor to be independent and owe the patient a “duty of undivided loyalty” simultaneously. In the second paper, consent for disclosure of information, in particular a medical report, is distinguished from the “informed consent” for treatment or interventional research, and the phrase “permission to disclose” is proposed for the disclosure situations. Although this distinction may not have much significance in therapeutic practice, the output of virtually all occupational physician activities results in the writing of a report, so this difference between the two “consents” has greater relevance. The third paper reviews the ethical, and in particular, legal basis for medical confidentiality with reference to an independently commissioned report. In such a situation, UK courts have been consistent in stating that disclosure of such a report to the commissioning party does not breach confidentiality, and no further consent for such disclosure is required. This conflicts with ethical guidance to occupational physicians on this matter. Such conflict between the law and ethical guidance are a further, and important, source of ethical confusion for occupational physicians. Indeed, a common theme through the three papers is that ethical guidance to occupational physicians is in parts either incongruent, incoherent, or conceptually flawed. This may not be surprising, as current ethical guidance is predicated on a doctor-patient relationship that exists in the usual setting for most doctor-patient encounters, that is, the therapeutic setting. It seems unreasonable to expect that simply transposing such an ethical paradigm into a different setting, with dissimilar roles and obligations, could work in a seamless manner. The occupational physicians’ ethical confusion thus reflects the confusion in their ethical guidance.

LL.D. / Millions of human lives have been affected by gross human rights violations since 1945. Genocide and crimes against humanity have been perpetrated repeatedly against civilians despite the vow after the Holocaust that such atrocities would “never again” occur. The Holocaust acts were not criminalised as “genocide” in the London Charter, but as “persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds” under the broader international crime of “crimes against humanity”. “Genocide” was criminalised on 9 December 1948 by the adoption of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by the United Nations General Assembly. Two main obligations were imposed on signatory states by Article I of the Genocide Convention, namely to prevent the commission of the international crime of genocide, and the obligation to punish the perpetrators of such a crime. Both genocide and crimes against humanity form part of the “most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole”, which are also gross human rights violations. It is of interest to all states of the international community to prevent the commission of these gross human rights violations and to prosecute perpetrators. The prohibition of the international crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity is erga omnes in nature. The research objective of this doctoral thesis is to analyse the causes for the repeated failure of the international community to fulfil the erga omnes obligation to prevent and prosecute gross human rights violations. This endeavour is furthermore aimed at formulating recommendations that will enhance future compliance with the erga omnes obligation in accordance with the international legal developments that will form the subject matter of the thesis. The thesis consists of five parts. Part 1 is an introduction in which the research objective and aims of the thesis are explained and demarcated, as well as the issues focused upon. Core legal concepts, terms and notions explained in Part 1 include “gross human rightsviolations”, “erga omnes obligation”, “jus cogens norms”, “customary international law”, “states upon whom the erga omnes obligations to prevent and prosecute gross human rights violations are imposed”, “the obligation to prevent”, “the obligation to prosecute”, “state responsibility”, “individual criminal responsibility”, “state immunity”, and various other terms. Part 1 further explains the research methodology followed in the thesis and contains a brief overview of the parts and chapters.

Défini comme un ensemble de mesures d'intérêt général compatibles avec un fonctionnement concurrentiel des marchés, le service universel est l'obligation pour un opérateur (ou un groupe d'opérateurs) de fournir un service de base d'une qualité donnée à tous les consommateurs à un tarif abordable. Le plus souvent, une contrainte de prix uniforme est également imposée. Jusqu'ici, la littérature économique s'est surtout articulée autour des questions allocatives. Néanmoins, l’argument de la Pareto-efficacité n’est pas suffisant pour justifier pleinement le service universel. En particulier, si la littérature souligne également l'aspect éthique des OSU, aucune référence n'est faite aux développements récents des théories économiques de la justice.Nous proposons d’articuler cette thèse en trois points. Premièrement, nous proposons l’étude des soubassements éthiques des OSU, tels qu’analysés dans la littérature. Cela consiste à proposer une lecture de l’économie industrielle des OSU en termes d’équité et de justice entre les agents impliqués dans les transactions. La notion d’égalitarisme spécifique à la Tobin est traditionnellement avancée pour justifier les OSU. Les nouvelles approches économiques de l’équité peuvent permettre d’aller plus loin et d’affiner les principes en mettant l’accent sur des arbitrages tels que égalité-responsabilité ou égalité-liberté de choix. Dans un deuxième temps, les préférences éthiques du régulateur sont représentées par une fonction de bien-être social à la Atkinson-Stiglitz. Ceci permet d’élucider l’implémentation de critères éthiques à travers les OSU dans un contexte ou il existe des contraintes de marché (telles qu’une tarification ou une couverture de monopole ou de duopole). Ceci révèle les avantages comparatifs de chaque instrument des OSU en termes d’efficacité et d’équité. Cela permet également de déterminer quels instruments sont complémentaires ou substituts au regard des différentes mesures d’équité et d’efficacité. Enfin, nous décrivons l’évolution du cadre législatif du service universel, avant d’exposant l’impact distributif du changement de structure de marché dans les industries de réseaux. Alors que le service universel est souvent présenté comme le parent pauvre de la concurrence, visant à considérer les question de justice sociale, nous montrons que l’introduction de la concurrence s’inscrit en elle-même dans une logique distributive qui lui est propre. / Defined as a set of public interest measures compatible with a competitive environment, universal service is the obligation for an operator (or a group of operators) to provide a range of basic services of specified quality to all consumers at an affordable rate. In many instances, a uniform price is imposed as an additional requirement to the service provider.Until now, the economic literature has focused essentially on efficiency issues. Nevertheless, this Pareto efficiency argument is not sufficient to justify plainly the universal service. Particularly, the literature stresses on the ethical aspect of USO but without using the recent development in distributive justice and without introducing it in a competitive market benchmark.The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the nature and the justification of USO and its relationship with ethic considerations. Why should USO constraints be imposed? What should a regulator do with social preferences in term of coverage, pricing, and market structure? Indeed, most models on coverage and pricing of USO generally assume their implementation exogenously, but do not give a justification for them.We propose to articulate this thesis around three points. First, we propose the study of the underlying ethical principles of USO, as analyzed in the literature, in order to provide a reading of the industrial organization of USO in terms of equity and justice between the agents involved in transactions. The notion of Tobin specific egalitarianism is traditionaly given to justify the USO. The new economic approaches to equity can allow going further and refining the egalitarian principles with emphasis on trade-off such as equality-responsibility and equality-freedom of choice. Secondly, equity preferences of the regulator are represented by an Atkinson-Stiglitz social welfare function. This allows us to study how to implement equity criteria through USO in a context where there is market constraints (such as monopoly or duopolistic pricing and coverage). This reveal the comparative advantages of each USO instruments in terms of efficiency and equity. This also determines which instruments are substitutes or complements with respect to different equity and efficiency measures.Thirdly, we describe the evolution of the legislative framework of universal service. Then we expose the distributional impacts of market structure changes in network industries. While universal service is often presented as the residual of competition intended to consider the issues of social justice, we show that the introduction of competition is rather fit itself in a distributive logic.

Doctor Legum - LLD / South Africa

Doctor Legum - LLD / This study sets out to establish what is required of the South African government to comply with international human rights treaties and Constitutional obligations with respect to early childhood development (ECD) for children with disabilities. This requires clarification of the nature, scope and content of ECD and conceptual frameworks for child development and childhood disability are therefore presented. Early childhood is defined as the period from birth to four years of age. It is a period (by comparison to any other phase in the life course) of accelerated growth, during which brain development can be optimally promoted. It is at the same time a highly sensitive period when permanent damage caused by toxic stress can be averted. Early childhood is an opportunity for early intervention for children with disabilities, and is ideally suited for promoting social inclusion between children with disabilities and those without disabilities, particularly in early learning settings. By virtue of its potential to promote optimal development of young disadvantaged children in particular, ECD is not only a means of working towards equity, it has been recognised as a national investment. The content of ECD, drawing from the most recent publication of the South African Child Gauge (2013), is seen as comprising an ‘essential package’ of services, including nutrition, health, social services, caregiver support and early learning opportunities. The focus of this study is on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) all of which have provisions relating to the general context of children with disabilities as well as to the components of the ‘essential package’. In addition to the sector-related rights contained in these treaties, they impose general obligations on the State with respect to legislative and other measures which it must undertake. These are discussed together with the State obligations under the South African Constitution which provide not only for non-discrimination, dignity and equality, but also for specific socio-economic rights for children which create justiciable obligations for the State. Having established the obligations of the State under international law and the Constitution, there is analysis of current legislation and policies and the extent to which they are compliant. A brief description is given of the history of disability and ECD-related services during the apartheid era, and how these have shaped current provision. Attention is given to provisions of the Children’s Act for ECD, partial care and prevention, and early intervention, where there is a lack of a clear mandate for funding services. Further, while limited Social Security is provided to children with disabilities in the form of Care Dependency Grants, these are likely to reinforce a welfarist perspective unless viewed as part of a broader initiative for equalisation of opportunities and development of children with disabilities. In respect of the right to health, progress made in reducing maternal and child mortality rates is applauded, but the primary focus on preventive and curative care has ‘crowded out’ a comprehensive view of primary health care as also encompassing rehabilitative care. Further, mechanisms to ensure early identification and intervention for children with disabilities, through developmental screening and referral, need to be strengthened. In respect of the right to education, there has been limited attention given to children under the age of five years, including within the Inclusive Education Policy (White Paper 6). The study therefore concludes that there are various areas in which there is a lack of alignment between the State obligations under international law, and current legislation and policies. However, drawing on the CRPD in particular, and the current heightened political attention being given to ECD, evidenced by its inclusion in the National Development Plan, this study further concludes that there exists at present a tremendous opportunity to ensure the inclusion of children with disabilities such that they are able to enjoy all the benefits of ECD and thereby reach their full potential.

Bien que né et théorisé comme contrat commercial maritime, le contrat d’assurance est actuellement plus couramment envisagé comme un contrat terrestre de consommation. Pour appréhender cette évolution, il a paru convenable de s’interroger sur l’histoire du contrat d’assurance depuis le XVIe s. jusqu’en 1930. En effet, le XVIe s. est le moment où le contrat d’assurance commence à concerner le monde terrestre en étant conceptualisé par des auteurs de doctrine puis en éveillant l’attention du législateur français. Cette phase qui s’étend jusqu’au milieu du XIXe s. est donc une phase de construction théorique et législative du contrat d’assurance - avec une base maritime et une tendance de plus en plus prégnante à l’installation sur terre. La période suivante commence au milieu du XIXe s. qui amorce les premiers grands changements de nature du contrat d’assurance avec l’avènement de la société industrielle, l’émergence des idées socialistes et de l’État providence. À cette occasion, doctrine et jurisprudence adaptent le contrat d’assurance aux besoins de sécurité croissants de la population. L’on peut parler d’un véritable enracinement terrestre du contrat d’assurance, car la base maritime est mise de côté tandis que la base terrestre passe au premier plan. Les adaptations et nouveautés juridiques amènent des auteurs, juges et autres praticiens à s’interroger de nouveau sur la nature du contrat d’assurance. En 1930, la première loi française sur le contrat d’assurance terrestre cristallise certaines de leurs conclusions et positions sans toutefois donner de définition ni de contours fermes au contrat d’assurance. Il demeure encore difficile d’en trouver. / Looking back through history, the very nature of the insurance contract has often been questioned. Indeed, although it started off its career with, and was developed by, the merchant shipping industry ; today it is used as a consumer product contract, strongly anchored into terrestrial reality. In order to apprehend this evolution, it would be interesting to look into what defines the criteria of an insurance contract since the 16th Century right through to 1930. During the 16th Century, the insurance contract started to be used in the terrestrial world and was drafted by the authors of the profession, and in doing so, interested the French legislators. This phase was a theoretical construction and a legislative phase for the insurance contract, which was based on the merchant shipping activity, in spite of applying to a growing number of terrestrial concerns. The next period starts in the middle of the 19th Century, whereby we start to see the first major changes to the insurance contract with the increase in industrial activities and the emergence of socialist ideas and a welfare state. At this point in time, the profession and jurisprudence adapt the insurance contract to the increasing security needs of the population. We can refer to this as a real terrestrial implantation of the insurance contract as the shipping and naval basis takes a back seat. These adaptations and new additions to the legal system make the legislators, judges and other professions concerned ; re-assess the contents of the insurance contract. In 1930, the first French law on the terrestrial insurance contract crystallizes a certain number of their conclusions and positions, without however, giving a strict definition of what an insurance contract is. It still doesn’t exist today.

Le droit des sociétés prévoit un régime de nullité dérogatoire du droit commun, applicable aux actes et délibérations de la société. Cependant, l’accroissement du contentieux, encouragé par des textes particulièrement sibyllins, et l’important travail d’interprétation fourni par la jurisprudence révèlent manifestement l’insuffisance des dispositions actuelles. C’est ce que nous nous proposons de constater dans une première partie. L’imperfection des textes apparait dès l’étude du domaine du droit spécial, les notions d’acte et de délibération ne permettant pas d’en tracer correctement les contours. L’analyse des causes de nullité confirme les lacunes du droit positif. Le système des nullités, reposant sur une distinction infondée entre violation d’une disposition expresse et violation d’une disposition impérative, soulève d’inextricables difficultés. L’imprévisibilité des solutions est du reste renforcée par une politique jurisprudentielle instable, tantôt audacieuse, tantôt rigoureuse. Dans le même sens, l’étude des règles processuelles, gouvernant l’action en nullité et le prononcé de la sanction, met en évidence la confusion entourant le régime des nullités sociales. Tous ces maux nous conduisent à une même conclusion : la nécessité d’une réforme. Fort de ce constat, nous proposons dans une seconde partie les moyens d’une éventuelle réforme. Pour rendre la matière plus lisible et plus prévisible, il nous faut redéfinir le domaine des nullités sociales mais aussi simplifier et moderniser les règles de nullité, au regard des mutations ayant marqué le droit des sociétés ces dernières années. Au demeurant, l’équilibre du système de nullités des décisions sociales suppose de repenser les règles processuelles, dans l’optique de juguler le contentieux et d’inhiber les effets perturbateurs de la sanction sur le fonctionnement de la société. / The company law provides for a special nullity system, applicable to acts and décisions of the company. However, the increase of litigation, reinforced by abstruse rules, and the different jurisprudential interpretations, highlights the inadequacy of the current rules. This is what we propose to demonstrate in the first part. The imperfection of the rules appears as soon as the field of the special law is studied. The analysis of grounds of nullity confirms the shortcomings of the positive law. The system of nullity, based on the distinction between violation of an express provision and violation of an imperative provision, causes inextricable difficulties. The unpredictability of solutions is strengthened by an unstable caselaw. Moreover, the study of the process by means of a court declaring the nullity of an defective act or decision leads to the same negative comments. Taking the imperfection of positive law into account, we conclude the need for legal reform. Accordingly, we propose in the second part the means of a possible reform. To make the rules easier to understand, we have to redefine the field of the nullity system but also to simplify and modernize the rules, according to transformations which have marked the company law in recent years. Finally, a comprehensive reform of the nullity system implies the rebuilding of the procedural rules, in order to decrease litigation and to reduce the disruptive effects of the sanction on the company.

Free movement of persons is one of four basic freedoms of internal market EU. Graduation theses reports history and basic documents, rights and obligations of citizens of EU, limitation of free movement and social security. The thesis accentuates eastern enlargement in 2004 and transition period on free movement of workers. In terms of statistics dates and documents is striked a balance on impact of movement of workers from eastern countries on labour markets in EU. The thesis targets the austrian labour market in consequence of eastern enlargement.

Setting of transfer price, which is in line with arm's length principle and also with other legislature obligations, is currently with respect of limited experiences with such problematics very actual topic espetially with regard to possible impact. Institution of Billing Rulings of determination of transfer price is a newly established tool leading to legal confidence of tax payers and desireable step forward in Czech legislature. Evaluation of operation and usefulness of this tool is the main goal of my diploma thesis. Tax legisature includes also other editorial obligations of tax authority. Theire description is another objective of my thesis. Analysis of transfer pricing problematics is necessary for understandig the topic and therefore is a partial goal of my thesis. The full picture of transfer pricing Billing Rulings problematics with its aspects analysed on theoretical level is completed with practical example of application for Billing Rulings. The analysis of legislature lead to formulation of suggestions leading to better functioning of this institution.