Of the questions concerning the many great minds of the European Enlightenment, the question of what constitutes right and proper government perhaps had the most enduring influence on the world stage. Both Thomas Jefferson and Immanuel Kant attempted to answer the question of what constitutes right government, in particular by basing the system upon the idea of human freedom as an inalienable right. This project is an attempt to compare the systems proposed by these two authors, as well as to critique each on its ability to protect and foster individual freedom. It is my opinion that neither manages to do what it is constructed to do, as each fails to fully protect individual freedom, and each has as part of it a component which conflicts with individual freedom.

Magister Legum - LLM

"Torture continues to feature as a serious human rights violation in Africa. This explains why, during its 32nd ordinary session held in Banjul, The Gambia, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (the African Commission) resolved to adopt the Guidelines and Measures for the Prohibition and Prevention of Torture, Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Africa (The Robben Island Guidelines (RIG)). This is a new development in Africa aiming at operationalisng article 5 of the African Charter. The RIG are phrased in a seemingly ambitious language, but their implementation by the African states remains doubtful because they are not legally binding. This has to be viewed in the light of the fact that many African countries are states parties to major regional and international human rights instruments, but human rights violations still persist. ... Chapter I has covered the proposal which includes the background to the study, research question, research methodology, limitation of the study, definition of torture, torture as jus cogens, literature review, and the division of chapters. Chapter II covers a synopsis of the international instruments and mechanisms to combat torture. Chapter III deals with the European and American systems' approach to combating torture. Chapter IV covers the African human rights system and torture, and finally, chapter V includes the general conclusion and recommendations. A draft of the recommended African Charter on the Prevention of Torture which has been drafted after looking at international, the European and Inter-American conventions on torture, has been attached as the main recommendation." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2005. / Prepared under the supervision of Professor Julia Sloth-Nielsen at the Faculty of Law of the University of the Western Cape, Republic of South Africa / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

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<p>The thesis firstly looks at how women&rsquo / s right to freedom from violence has developed in international (global) human rights law since the early 1990s. In this regard, the study finds that while the issue of violence against women (and women&rsquo / s rights generally) was barely on the international human rights agenda at the beginning of this period, an enormous degree of development has subsequently taken place. Through the adoption of documents such as General Recommendation No. 19 by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Declaration on Elimination of Violence against Women and the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, international norms and standards were set regarding role of the State in providing women with protection against violence.</p>

<p>The thesis firstly looks at how women&rsquo / s right to freedom from violence has developed in international (global) human rights law since the early 1990s. In this regard, the study finds that while the issue of violence against women (and women&rsquo / s rights generally) was barely on the international human rights agenda at the beginning of this period, an enormous degree of development has subsequently taken place. Through the adoption of documents such as General Recommendation No. 19 by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Declaration on Elimination of Violence against Women and the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, international norms and standards were set regarding role of the State in providing women with protection against violence.</p>

Doctor Legum - LLD / The thesis firstly looks at how women's right to freedom from violence has developed in international (global) human rights law since the early 1990s. In this regard, the study finds that while the issue of violence against women (and women's rights generally) was barely on the international human rights agenda at the beginning of this period, an enormous degree of development has subsequently taken place. Through the adoption of documents such as General Recommendation No. 19 by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Declaration on Elimination of Violence against Women and the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, international norms and standards were set regarding role of the State in providing women with protection against violence. / South Africa

"Every country has religious minorities. Any study of religious minorities and the protections afforded to them must also examine the significance of minorities per se. Minorities have no internationally accepted definition. Definitions are either broad and with little specificity or narrow and exclusive. Generally, two trends with regard to minority rights can be observed. On the one hand, in many countries, a comprehensive system of the legal protection of minorities has been introduced. Here the biggest problems stem from the difference between formal and informal rights. On the other hand, a number of countries have not legally committed themselves to the protection of minorities; ranging from inadequate safeguards to non-recognition of the minority. National minorities have received broad, although not well-differentiated, reporting in the international media and attention in international organisations and its impact on the discourse on religious rights have been minimal. However, minority religious rights have featured less significantly on the public agenda. The implications of the status of national minorities and religious groups are that many minorities believe that the majority group generally receive privileged status in state structures, while the minorities are viewed with suspicion. The issue of religious representation and safeguards arose within the Constitution of the Republic of Kenya ("Kenyan Constitution") where there is a recently concluded Constitutional Review Commission that had the Christian majority object to the "excessive protection" being granted to the Muslim minority. There was a huge debate as to the extent of inclusion of Sharia in the resultant draft constitution as well as the protection of fundamental principles of human rights and Islam. The question thus arises, should one apply Sharia or enshrine it in the constitution of a country, or will this involve overprotection that may lead to long-term exploitation of the law by the minority. The Arab Republic of Egypt ("Egypt") and the Republic of Kenya ("Kenya") have been chosen as case studies as they are interesting reflections of the development of states in Africa: Kenya with a Muslim minority maintaining a hold on the application of Islamic law where there is a Christian majority, while in Egypt the Copt and Shia Muslim populations are trying to assimilate into the state. Sharia is of imporance both to Kenya and Egypt. In Egypt the entire legal system is premised on the constitutional provision that Sharia is the principle source of law, thus some religious minorities in Egypt look for ways to maintain their identity and circumvent the application of Sharia provisions. Kenya, with a Muslim religious minority, is grappling with the concept of Sharia and how far it should apply to Muslims in a country. Thus these two countries have an inverse mirror image problem of each other as between the two major world religouns, Christianity and Islam. ... Chapter one sets out the content of the research, identifies the problem and applies the methodology. Chapter two discusses the international and regional law on religious minorities with a regional emphasis on African and the Arab region. Chapter three discusses the Islamic law on religious minorities, both Muslim minorities in non-Muslim states and non-Muslim minorities in Muslim states. Chapter four will focus on case studies comparing the protection accorded to the Muslims in Kenya with the Copts in Egypt, and analysing the extent to which Kenya and Egpyt have complied with international and regional law. Chapter five will set out recommendations and conclusions." -- Introduction. / Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Naz Modirzadeh at the Department of Political Sciences, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, The American University in Cairo, Egypt / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2004. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

The impact of the law on the lives of homeless people in Queensland has, to date, remained largely unexplored by legal academics and researchers. This is despite the fact that homeless people experience a number of legal difficulties that seriously affect their lives. This thesis by published papers aims to make a significant and original contribution to filling this gap in the research evidence by presenting the results of analyses of the legal, theoretical and practical issues that arise in the context of homeless persons' interactions with the legal system in Queensland. Most notably, it is comprised of three pieces of empirical research which identify those areas of law that impact most on homeless people in Queensland and explore the consequences of the operation of these laws on their lives. In sum, this thesis examines the extent of the law's influence on the lives of homeless people in Queensland, and finds that the consequences of the law's operation on homeless people in Queensland are serious. The thesis first examines the effect on Queensland's homeless people of laws which regulate behaviour conducted in public space. The criminal offences of vagrancy, begging and public nuisance are analysed; their historical origins, the reasons for their retention on modern statute books, and arguments in favour of their repeal are discussed. The impact of 'public space law' on homeless people in Queensland is also explored through a survey of 30 homeless people residing in inner-city Brisbane. This part of the thesis concludes that public space law in Queensland results in breaches of homeless persons' human rights, as well as the contravention of rule of law principles. The thesis then explores the impact of the law on homeless persons' experiences of citizenship. Empirical research and theoretical analysis demonstrate that the application of various laws, particularly public space laws, social security laws and electoral laws, encroaches on homeless persons' citizenship rights. The thesis then reports on the results of a unique survey of Queensland's homelessness service providers. This survey is the most extensive piece of empirical research ever conducted on the extent to which various laws impact on homeless people. Respondents were asked to indicate which areas of law impact most adversely on their homeless clients. Based on the research findings outlined above, the hypothesis was that criminal law issues, particularly public space offences, would be proven to impact particularly adversely on homeless people in Queensland. Somewhat unexpectedly, the findings of the survey indicated that fines law, debt law and family law difficulties are those legal difficulties most often encountered by homeless people in Queensland. Difficulties produced by criminal laws, social security laws and electoral laws, while still generally relevant, rated less highly. However, the survey did demonstrate that experiences differ between sub-groups within the homeless population, for example Indigenous homeless people were reported to be most affected by criminal law issues, while young homeless people were reported to be most affected by social security law issues. Together, the five papers which comprise this thesis make an original and substantial contribution to knowledge by identifying empirically for the first time the various laws that have a significant impact on the lives of homeless people in Queensland, and analysing the consequences of this in terms of their effect on homeless persons' citizenship rights, human rights and rule of law entitlements.

The aim of this study was to increase understanding of the extent to which the child's will is given in Swedish courts' overall assessments of the best interests of the child in disputes on custody, resident and visitation (VBU). 18 District Court judgments have been collected from the database Zeteo via court judgments from Sweden's six Courts of Appeal. Based on a qualitative research effort, a content analysis was conducted on the judgments. The content analysis resulted in the following three categories being identified: The court judges according to the expressed will of the child, The court judges against the expressed will of the child, and The will of the child was omitted in the district court's assessment. The results were mainly analyzed based on childhood sociological perspectives, Hart’s ladder of participation and family law regulations. The theoretical framework was used to illustrate how the child was presented and socially constructed, and what impact this had on the space the child's will was given in the court's assessments of the best interests of the child. This was then reflected in the prevailing laws. The results of the study showed that the child's will appeared in about half of the cases, and that the court judged according to the will of the child in less than one third of them. The study also showed that the court tended to question the authenticity of the will of the children whose wishes did not comply with what the court considered to be the best interests of the child. In the majority of the cases where the children’s will were not given any room in the judgment, the court generally gave no reasons why the will was not reported.