<p>Even though many states have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and sworn to protect human rights, viloations occur every day both in developed and developing countries. United Nations gave Sweden critique for not implementing the Convention conrerning article 11, which raises the question how respected the Convention is amongst other states? Does democracy contribute to a higher level of implementation?</p>

Magister Legum - LLM (Criminal Justice and Procedure) / In previous centuries, millions of women, men and children were victims of inconceivable atrocities that deeply shocked the scruples of mankind. Regrettably, such crimes often went unpunished in the past. Several people lost lives in the two world wars and in conflicts in Rwanda, Sierra Leone and the former Yugoslavia. Although the International Military Tribunal and ad hoc courts prosecuted some of the major perpetrators in these conflicts, before then, many criminals such as German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, remained unpunished. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first permanent court with jurisdiction over the most malignant crimes threatening the peace, security and well-being of the world.

Magister Legum - LLM / The study objective has been to examine the progress and challenges of implementing the Rome Statute in Uganda and to what extent the substantive provisions of the Rome Statute are implemented by the International Criminal Court Act.

Magister Legum - LLM / The aim of this study is the coming into force of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was a thriving success for the international community insofar as that it contributed greatly to international criminal law jurisprudence. The Rome Statute establishes the International Criminal Court and confers upon the ICC jurisdiction over the international crimes namely: the crime of genocide; crimes against humanity; war crimes and the crime of aggression

Magister Legum - LLM

Political parties have ceased fulfilling substantial representative functions. Their legitimacy lies now on their role as governmental agencies. This led to an increasing interpenetration between parties and the states, and to the empowerment of those leaders that occupy executive offices. In the Latin American context these features are particularly intense in the case of ruling parties in countries where traditional parties collapsed or suffered significant brand dilution. In these cases the president controls the ruling party, while the «really existent» party organization is built up on the basis of networks recruited by the elected leader to run the government. The central argument of this article is that Peronism is the sole political force which has managed to adapt successfully to the conditions of electoral competition in contemporary Argentina. The president´s autonomy in terms of public policies´ in relation to a political machine sustained on the basis of the control of sub-national states makes it possible to disentangle the legitimacy of the party from that of its current national leadership. This scheme provides Peronism with a successful self-preservation mechanism, which is exceptional in the Latin American context. / Los partidos políticos han dejado de cumplir funciones representativas significativas para legitimarse a partir de su rol como agencias de gobierno. Esto ha implicado la creciente inter- penetración entre partidos y estados, así como la concentración de recursos en los líderes que ocupan cargos ejecutivos. En el contexto latinoamericano, estas características alcanzan mayor intensidad en los partidos de gobierno de países en los que se ha producido el colapso o la dilu- ción del valor de la etiqueta de los partidos tradicionales. En estos casos, el presidente controla al partido de gobierno, mientras la estructura partidaria realmente existente se constituye sobre la base de las redes reclutadas por el líder electo para el ejercicio del gobierno.El argumento central del artículo consiste en que el peronismo es la única fuerza política que ha logrado adaptarse exitosamente a las condiciones de la competencia electoral en la Argentina contemporánea. La autonomía del presidente en términos de orientación de políticas públicas frente a una máquina partidaria sostenida sobre la base del control de los estados subnacionales hace posible escindir la legitimidad del partido respecto a la de su coyuntural liderazgo. Esto provee al peronismo de un exitoso mecanismo de preservación, excepcional en el contexto latinoamericano.

Even though many states have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and sworn to protect human rights, viloations occur every day both in developed and developing countries. United Nations gave Sweden critique for not implementing the Convention conrerning article 11, which raises the question how respected the Convention is amongst other states? Does democracy contribute to a higher level of implementation?

"The promotion and protection of human rights is important both at the national and international level. However, at the national level, several factors including government excesses tend to negatively affect the status of implementation of human rights. This has led to national human rights situations being measured against international standards. In this regard, different strategies have been developed to ensure compliance with international norms, the most basic of which is that of state reporting. ... This procedure is found in international and regional human rights instruments. Examples are treaties in the United Nations (UN), European, Inter-American and African human rights systems. In the African system, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights is the core human rights instrument. The African Charter is seen as a 'unique' document that represents the 'African' concept of rights. ... Under article 1 of the Charter, state parties undertake to adopt legislative and other measures to give effect to the rights in the Charter. Article 62 obliges each state party to submit every two years, from the date the Charter comes into force, a report on the legislative or other measures taken with a view to giving effect to the rights and freedoms recognised and guaranteed by the Charter. The organ responsible for evaluation of reports is the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (African Commission). ... It should be noted from the outset that the African Commission's competence to ensure effective implementation of the African Charter by member states has been affected due to various problems affecting the state reporting system. The most endemic of these include infrequent and inadequate reporting. ... Chapter one introduces the study, the framework of the problem that the study seeks to address and the methodology to be employed. Chapter two discusses the concept of state reporting, how the system works under the African Charter and the challenges therein. A comparative analysis of other international and regional reporting systems is also made with the chief objective of identifying how they deal with state reporting problems. Chapter three presents an overview of the APRM which includes an analysis of the human rights aspects of the mechanism. Chapter four critically analyses how the APRM can be utilised to help the African Commission address the problems of infrequent and inadequate reporting under the African Charter, and chapter five contains the conclusion and recommendations of the study." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Alejandro Lorite at the Department of Law, American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

This limited scope dissertation deals with the protection against torture in international law. The mechanisms which have been established over the years to protect individuals against torture are analysed. The principles of international customary law dealing with torture and the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) have been examined against the failure by States to honour their obligations under the Treaty and other legal normative rules. This required deep exploration of the definition of torture and how States can compromise the rule of law by manipulating the definition of torture as contemplated by the Treaty or other instruments. Examples from the former US government highlight the ways in which domestic laws can be used and are continued to be used to allow the use of torture. Measures by South Africa in joining the international community in the fight against torture are also discussed as a case study. While all efforts have been made by the South African system to adopt desirable frame works on the protection of individuals against torture, the lack of education on torture remains the down fall of the system. The dissertation clearly explains that universal jurisdiction applies in respect of torture and this is recognised by both treaty law and customary law. Indeed despite all the current measures in place the use of torture persists. The research clearly reveals that countries hide behind their own laws to perpetrate acts of torture. It is then recommended that proper implementation of the legal structures, informed of the objectives of the structures, is essential in completely eradicating torture. / Public, Constitutional, and International Law / LLM

This limited scope dissertation deals with the protection against torture in international law. The mechanisms which have been established over the years to protect individuals against torture are analysed. The principles of international customary law dealing with torture and the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) have been examined against the failure by States to honour their obligations under the Treaty and other legal normative rules. This required deep exploration of the definition of torture and how States can compromise the rule of law by manipulating the definition of torture as contemplated by the Treaty or other instruments. Examples from the former US government highlight the ways in which domestic laws can be used and are continued to be used to allow the use of torture. Measures by South Africa in joining the international community in the fight against torture are also discussed as a case study. While all efforts have been made by the South African system to adopt desirable frame works on the protection of individuals against torture, the lack of education on torture remains the down fall of the system. The dissertation clearly explains that universal jurisdiction applies in respect of torture and this is recognised by both treaty law and customary law. Indeed despite all the current measures in place the use of torture persists. The research clearly reveals that countries hide behind their own laws to perpetrate acts of torture. It is then recommended that proper implementation of the legal structures, informed of the objectives of the structures, is essential in completely eradicating torture. / Public, Constitutional, and International Law / LLM