This thesis deals with the origin and development of the preventive detention legislation in Bangladesh, studying its necessity, relevance and desirability based on the judicial decisions. This study shows that the preventive detention legislation in Bangladesh runs contrary to the doctrines of fundamental rights; and the prejudicial acts for future commission of which are the basis for preventive detention are categorically included in the existing penal laws and can be dealt with more efficiently. The study investigates the preventive detention legislation and its impact over the fundamental rights of the citizens analyzing the judicial decisions in Bangladesh. Four aspects are considerered in this thesis. Firstly, it studies all the preventive detention legislation, Consititutions, and relevant statutes since their inception during the British period in the Indian sub-continent which have been carried through Pakistan till today. Secondly it investigates executive decisions to reflect the usage of the preventive detention legislation and views of the courts in this regard. Thirdly it analyses the definition and concept of 'subjective satisfaction of the executive authority and 'objective satisfaction of the Court' which has been the key factor detaining individuals. And fourthly, it provides an empirical study of the available number of cases from the Register of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh to draw a scenario of preventive detention cases, decisions for and against the preventive detention orders made by the Executive authority in Bangladesh.

In a drive to make local government as interesting and popular as generations of Westminster's politicians have believed it ought to be, the reform of local government as become as English an obsession as the weather. Throughout the 20th century a range of subjective criteria have been developed to justify reorganisations of local government, along with increasingly complex models of how subjective measures can be used to justify change. The complex and time-consuming procedures that characterised the 1929 'review' of local government were compounded by a layer of additional complexity in the, eventually abandoned, review of 1945. By then the development of urban spatial planning as a discipline had given policy makers a renewed optimism in their ability to effect scientific change, and the complexity of post war local government reorganisation increased incrementally. The Government in 1992 and again in 2003, avoided the question of identifying what the purpose of local government was, and establishing cross-party consensus on how it might be established. Instead, local administration has become synonymous with local democracy, whilst being referred to under a generic title of 'local government'. Proposals to reform one have created concerns regarding the future of the other. This confusion, along with a general lack of interest by the general public has led to a scenario where government ministers have become defenders of the status quo, or champions of change, but rarely informed arbitors of reform. With the benefit of 170 years of evidence to draw from, objectives that stood little chance of success remain stated outcomes of local government reform. It will be shown that fanciful claims have not been consigned into the dustbin of history, but have incrementally produced heirs.

Within a Gramscian analysis, concepts of hegemony, passive revolution and organic intellectuals are employed to investigate and theorise the New Right think tanks' critique of English local government. Unlike other accounts, it is argued that the New Right think tanks successfully modernised traditional Conservative party concerns that elected local government was susceptible to demands for social welfare and of bureaucrats and politicians self-seeking efforts. The Gramscian analysis further suggests that in a highly centralised state elected local government was never only concerned with locality but was often embroiled in the statecraft strategy if the dominant bloc. Previously when the dominant hegemony had been endangered, elected local government has been usefully deployed to resolve social tensions. This strategy however, has been problematic and has been destructive of the relative independence of elected local government. More generally, elected local government's decisive role in civil society means that it too has become a site where counter hegemonic projects have clustered. During the 1980s, such tensions become critical. The organic intellectuals associated with Thatcherism, the New Right think tanks, acted as a clarion for demands to end elected local government's role in providing social welfare that effectively questioned its existence. Elswhere in a parallel development increased regulation of elected local government by the centre restricted the activities of local authorities, a strategy that also adversly affected those who supported the dominant bloc's hegemony.

The thesis focuses on Local Government duties and powers for enabling energy and sustainability projects in England and Wales. It establishes a theoretical understanding for well-being in international law, European law and a pragmatic approach on how legal and policy instruments should be interpreted when assessing obligations for energy and sustainability. It then illustrates how various objectives are currently delivered across Europe. This leads to a theoretical and legal context for council members and officers working in local government with both mandatory duties and permitted powers available to advance the carbon emissions and fuel poverty agenda in their communities. The thesis evaluates the implications of ultra vires and judicial review on local authority behaviour in hand with the Local Government Act 1999 (Best Value) and suggests the combination has restricted positive action by the majority of local authorities in areas crucial to the well-being of many vulnerable residents. Compounding this, the subsequent Local Government Act 2000 (Powers of Well-Being) is currently underused due to a lack of legal certainty about their interpretation or realisation of their potential to address substantive community issues. To help counter the issue the thesis provides a theoretical context and working definition for energy and sustainability in local government which aligns Aristotelian thought and the principles of sustainable development. Then a practical example illustrates how energy and sustainability projects could be used to achieve wider community well-being. The thesis concludes by offering local government is under an implied duty to promote well-being and it should not defer actions on the grounds of the absence of a mandatory duty in the area. It must look to its history in public health reform in order to recognise the substantive issues of the day involving energy and poverty. It must become more outward looking, exploratory and adventurous in scope and find the political will to address the issues and the moral courage to direct resources to long term solutions.

Madras legislature 1921-1939

A psychoanalytic critique

Communist parties in Andhra Pradesh

Emergence of Andhra Pradesh

The upland kallars of Thanjavur District

Dravidar Kazhagam