Picketing, a method used by employees, collectively, to assert their demands against employers, is a controversial subject arising from the conflict of interest existing between labour and employers! Previously, South African law neither forbade nor regulated picketing. Consequently, no immunity from civil liability existed in relation to a person's conduct during a picket. Presently, picketing is regulated by section 17 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 108of19% (right to picket) and section 69 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995, which provides for a protected picket (one that complies with the requirements of section 69) whereby immunity from civil liability attaches to a person's conduct during a picket. These provisions and their coexistence is examined, comparing foreign law where relevant, in an attempt to provide a foundation for a topic relatively disregarded. Section 69 reveals elements of uncertainty and vagueness. / Law / LL.M.

This thesis examines determinacy and E-stability of economic policy in monetary union models. Monetary policy takes the form of either a contemporaneous or a forecast based interest rate rule, while fiscal policy follows a contemporaneous government spending rule. In the absence of asymmetries, the results from the closed economy literature on learning are retained. However, when introducing asymmetries into monetary union frameworks, the determinacy and E-stability conditions for economic policy differ from both the closed and open economy cases. We find that a monetary union with heterogeneous price rigidities is more likely to be determinate and E-stable. Specifically, the Taylor principle, a key stability condition for the closed economy, is now relaxed. Furthermore, an interest rate rule that stabilizes the terms of trade in addition to output and inflation, is more likely to induce determinacy and local stability under RLS learning. If monetary policy is sufficiently aggressive in stabilizing the terms of trade, then determinacy and E-stability of the union economy can be achieved without direct stabilization of output and inflation. A fiscal policy rule that supports demand for domestic goods following a shock to competitiveness, can destabilize the union economy regardless of the interest rate rule employed by the union central bank. In this case, determinacy and E-stability conditions have to be simultaneously and independently met by both fiscal and monetary policy for the union economy to be stable. When fiscal policy instead stabilizes domestic output gaps while monetary policy stabilizes union output and inflation, fiscal policy directly affects the stability of monetary policy. A contemporaneous monetary policy rule has to be more aggressive to satisfy the Taylor principle, the more aggressive fiscal policy is. On the other hand, when monetary policy is forward looking, an aggressive fiscal policy rule can help induce determinacy.

最近，在考慮一個小型開放經濟體系下，貿易條件(Terms of Trade)外生變化對其經 常帳(Current Account) 影響的相關文獻上，以兩期模型(Infinite-horizon Modcl) 處理時，若貿易條件恆常地惡化，則一方面由於實質所得減少造成儲蓄降低，因而使 得經常帳惡化 (此即所謂「財富效果」) ；另一方面則經由實質利率改變影響儲蓄與 投資決策，因此經常帳再度隨之調整 (此稱為「實質利率效果」) 。至於貿易條件惡 化對於經常帳究有改善或惡化的影響則端視各模型處理時假設不同有不同的結論。 在Heckscher-Ohlin 生產技術的假設下，兩要素用在兩部門間生產，會使得貿易條件 透過第三管道影響經常帳。由Stolper-Samuelson 定理可知，貿易條件惡化將會降低 出口財較密集使用要素的報酬，提高進口財較密集使用要素的報酬，在所得重新分配 之後儲蓄決策將有所改變，因而經常帳也跟著受影響。此稱之為 Stolper-Samuelson 效果。 本文擬運用Blanchard 式的跨代模型(Overlapping-generations Mode)考慮一個小型 開放經濟體系在面臨外生貿易條件惡化時，其經常帳與資本累積的動態變化。此模型 假設每個經濟個體(agent) 活有限期，因此長期均衡值不必滿足時間偏好率等於利率 的條件，我們在此考慮投資與儲蓄的動態決策行為。又由於假設Heckscher-Ohlin 生 產技術，本文也將著重於討論Stolper-Samuelson 效果在此模型中的影響。

"Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de Maîtrise en droit (LL.M.)". Ce mémoire a été accepté à l'unanimité et classé parmi les 15% des mémoires de la discipline. / La franchise: une recette magique que chacun aimerait maîtriser pour s'assurer la réussite dans le monde des affaires. Or, le secret de cette recette revient à appliquer un simple postulat: réitérer, par un franchisé, la réussite du concept d'un franchiseur qui a déjà fait ses preuves. Mais, auparavant, il est essentiel que le franchiseur transmette au franchisé les éléments qui lui ont valu cette même réussite, quitte à ce que ce dernier s'engage à les mettre en oeuvre selon les prescriptions de son initiateur et sous son contrôle. Une telle mise en ouvre appelle, cependant, que les deux protagonistes empruntent une avenue basée sur la coopération, la confiance, la loyauté et la bonne foi. Néanmoins, une telle démarche n'est pas évidente en pratique en ce que les deux partenaires sont animés par des intérêts divergents, conflictuels et antimoniques. Dès lors, le rapport contractuel né du contrat de franchise se verra empreint par un déséquilibre manifeste entre les prestations réciproques des parties issu de la position économiquement dominante du franchiseur. Ce dernier, sera à même de fixer unilatéralement le contenu contractuel, de sorte à diminuer ses obligations tout en élargissant le champ de ses droits. Surgit alors tout un pan de comportements opportunistes du franchiseur se traduisant, notamment, par des abus au détriment du franchisé qui ne peut qu'acquiescer à la volonté de son partenaire. En effet, l'étude du droit civil révèle que les systèmes civilistes reposent sur une conception libérale du contrat permettant de présumer que les parties sont capables de défendre leurs intérêts. En vertu de la théorie de l'autonomie de la volonté, le contrat est présumé être conforme aux intérêts respectifs des parties. À défaut de tout vice de consentement, le contrat ne peut qu'être équilibré. Cependant, s'il se trouve que le contrat est malgré tout déséquilibré, le droit civil, à moins de circonstances exceptionnelles, n y pourra rien en pareil cas. La lésion ne vicie pas les conventions conclues entre majeurs non protégés, et la théorie de l'imprévision est rejetée par la plupart des systèmes civilistes. L'indifférence du droit civil face à ce déséquilibre se justifie essentiellement par deux impératifs: la liberté contractuelle et la sécurité juridique. Le principe de la force obligatoire du contrat s'impose aux parties autant qu'au juge et, partant, exclut toute tentative du juge de réviser un contrat déséquilibré. Toutefois, devant cette indifférence et cet immobilisme de la loi, le droit a, depuis, énormément évolué dans le sens d'apporter une protection plus accrue à la partie la plus faible au contrat. À ce titre, nous assistons aujourd'hui à une double intervention plus réaliste: l'intervention du juge et celle du législateur (particulièrement dans les contrats d'adhésion). D'abord, le juge manifeste une volonté accrue de corriger des déséquilibres contractuels choquants, notamment en présence de clauses contractuelles manifestement abusives, et ce au regard des exigences d'une justice contractuelle basée sur la bonne foi des parties et l'exigence d'agir raisonnablement. Ensuite, le législateur à travers l'élaboration de droits spéciaux ayant pour finalité la protection de la partie la plus faible, instaure des règles impératives destinées à condamner les éventuels déséquilibres contractuels. Ce souci de protection justifie l'atteinte ainsi portée au principe de la force obligatoire du contrat. Aussi, le postulat de Fouillée se voit inversé par Lacordaire qui souligne pertinemment que « entre le fort et le faible, c'est la liberté qui asservit et la loi qui libère ». En somme, la protection du franchisé appelle au glissement du rapport contractuel d'un rapport conflictuel vers un rapport de coopération et notamment par la reconnaissance du concept de solidarisme contractuel. Néanmoins, une telle démarche n'est pas sans troubler l'ordre normal de l'idée classique du contrat. D'une part, l'introduction d'obligations implicites au contrat renie en quelque sorte l'idée traditionnelle qu'on a des obligations contractuelles basée sur la commune intention des parties, et d'autre part, elle appelle à la reconsidération, par les systèmes civilistes, de la théorie de l'imprévision comme le suggère le droit uniforme et notamment le Guide d'UNIDROIT sur les accords internationaux de franchise principale, mais aussi les Principes relatifS aux contrats du commerce international. / The Franchise: a magic formula that each individual would like to possess to be able to ensure success in the business world. The secret of this formula exists in the shape of a simple postulate: for the franchisee to reiterate success of the franchised concept, which has already proven itself successful. But first, it is essential that the franchisor transmit the essential elements ofthat success to the franchisee, so that the latter may put into practice those prescribed elements as per the created by the initiators concept and control. This kind of transaction requires that both protagonists enter into their dealing in a manner that is based on cooperation, trust, loyalty and goodfaith. Nevertheless, this process is not easy to establish. In deed, both parties may have divergent interests, causing conflicts and antipathies. Thus, the contractual relationship born ofthe franchise concept, will have at its core a manifest imbalance created by the dominant financial status ofthe franchisor. The latter, is in a position to unilaterally stipulate the contractual contents, in such a manner as to diminish his own obligations while enlarging the scope of his rights. From this, a plethora of opportunistic behaviours from the franchisor translating into varied kinds of abuse to the detriment of the franchisee whom has not choice but to acquiesce to the franchisors wishes. In truth, the study of civil law reveals that the civil systems are founded on a liberal conception of the contract, presuming that both parties are capable of defending their interests. By virtue of the theory of autonomy of the will, the contract is presumed to respect each partie 's interests. Without any vice of consent, the contract can only be balanced. However, if the contract proves to be imbalanced, civil law, unless there are no exceptional circumstances, will have no effect, in such a case. Lesion don't vice conventions concluded between unprotected parties, and the imprevision theory is rejected by most civil systems. The indifference of civil law to the contractual imbalance is justified by two imperatives: contractual liberty and judicial security. The principal of the obligatory force of a contract imposes on both parties, as well as to the judge, and, in that way, excludes all attempts by judge to revise the imbalanced contract. Nonetheless, in spite of the laws indifference and opposition to change, the law has since evolved enormously in supplying more protection to the weakest party of a contract. Thus, we are now witness to a double, more realistic intervention: the intervention of the judge and the legislator (particularly in contracts of adhesions). First, the judge manifests a will to correct the more obviously imbalanced aspects of the contract, most notably with regards to the presence of abusive contractual clauses, taking into account the requirements of a contractual justice based on the goodfaith of both parties and the obligation to act in a reasonable manner. Furthermore, the legislator through the use of special rights for the purpose of protecting the weakest party within the contract, implements imperative rules to restore the balance and fairness of the contract. This worry of protection is justified by the undermine as so imposed to the obligatory force of the contract. Also, the postulate of Fouillée is here revoked by Lacordaire which underlines that between the strong and the weak, it is freedom that enslaves and the law that liberates. To summarize, the protection of the franchisee calls for the modification of the contractual obligation from one of conflict to one of cooperation and notably by the recognition of the contractual solidarity concept. Nevertheless, such a measure does not take place without disturbing the classic concept of the contract. On the one hand, the introduction of the implied terms into the contract denies the traditional idea of the contractual obligations based on the common intention of both parties, and also, it calls for the reconsideration, by the civil systems, of the theory of imprevision as is suggested by the uniform law and especially the Guide to international master franchise arrangements, but also the Unidroit Principles of international commercial contracts.

La législation sur les clauses abusives, issue de l’article L. 132-1 du Code de la consommation, est d’application quotidienne. La notion de clause abusive n’en demeure pas moins confuse. Il est vrai que trente-cinq années d’applications erratiques ont contribué à la rendre peu accessible et peu prévisible, ce qui nuit à la sécurité juridique. Pour restaurer cette notion, une double démarche s’impose. Il faut, d’abord, la délimiter afin de réserver son application uniquement aux personnes qui méritent d’être protégées contre les clauses abusives et aux seules stipulations qui créent véritablement un déséquilibre significatif entre les droits et obligations des parties au contrat. La notion de clause abusive apparaît alors comme un mécanisme destiné à sanctionner les abus de la liberté contractuelle dans les contrats de consommation. Il faut, ensuite, procéder à l’identification de la notion de clause abusive en cherchant à définir et à caractériser le standard du déséquilibre significatif, notamment à l’aune des critères dégagés de la pratique. Chemin faisant, la notion de clause abusive s’impose comme une notion incontournable du droit de la consommation et, plus largement du droit des contrats, notamment en ce qu’elle participe au renouveau de la théorie générale du contrat. / The legislation on unfair terms set out by Article L. 132-1 of the French Consumer Code is applied on a daily basis. The notion of unfair terms nevertheless remains unclear. Thirty-five years of inconsistent and erratic application have indeed contributed to making this legislation inaccessible and difficult to predict, thereby damaging legal security. The reinforcement of this notion necessitates a two-pronged approach. First of all, the concept must be delimited in order to restrict application solely to those individuals requiring protection against unfair terms and only to those terms that genuinely do generate a material imbalance between the rights and obligations of the parties to the contract. The notion of unfair terms then becomes a mechanism aimed at sanctioning abuses of contractual freedom in consumer agreements. The concept must then be identified, by seeking to define and characterize the standard of material imbalance, in particular against the yardstick of criteria generated by practical application. In doing so, the notion of unfair terms becomes a central notion of consumer law and, more widely, of contract law, in particular with regard to its participation in the renewal of general contract theory.

La question du traitement de l’aléa affectant les contrats publics semble opposer de façon « incommensurable » les droits anglais et français. Si le droit français est doté de règles de droit objectif permettant, dans l’intérêt général, le traitement de l’aléa affectant les contrats publics sans accord des parties, rien de tel n’existe en droit anglais ou la règle de la force obligatoire commande l’intangibilité de l’accord initial. La comparaison anglo-française permet, grâce à cet antagonisme, de mettre en exergue les ressorts profonds du traitement de l’aléa affectant les contrats publics au travers de l’opposition théorique entre force obligatoire et intérêt public. Dans cette perspective, les règles générales permettant, en droit français, le traitement de l’aléa sans accord des parties apparaissent comme étant fondées sur une conception économique et téléologique du contrat et de sa force obligatoire, que l’on peut également identifier dans certains aspects du droit anglais des contrats. En outre, le mode de traitement de l’aléa priviligié en Angleterre aussi bien qu’en France est l’accord de volontés – initial ou subséquent. Néanmoins, les possibilités de modification du contrat en cours d’exécution sont drastiquement limitées par le droit de l’Union européenne. A l’inverse, les stipulations initiales qui tendent à ériger, du fait de la généralisation des clauses standardisées, un régime contractuel autonome de traitement de l’aléa, apparaissent désormais comme le mode incontournable d’adaptation des contrats publics en cours d’exécution. / The question of the treatment of uncertain/unforeseen events affecting public contracts seems to oppose in an immeasurable way English and French laws. While, in French law, general rules provide, in the public interest, the treatment of uncertain/unforeseen events affecting public contracts without the consent of the contractors, no such provisions exist in English law, where the sanctity and intangibility of contract prevails. Thank to this antagonism, the proposed comparison enables to highlight the deep motivations of the treatment of uncertain/unforeseen events affecting public contracts, through the theoretical opposition between sanctity of contract and public interest. In this respect, the general rules allowing, in French law, the treatment of the uncertain/unforeseen events without the consent of the parties appear to be based on an economic and teleological approach of the contract and its biding force. Surprisingly, the latter approach can also be noticed, in some respects, in the English law of contracts. Moreover, the priviledged mean to treat uncertain/unforeseen events in England as well as in France is the agreement of the parties – whether ex ante or ex post. Nonetheless, the possibilities of variating the contract in the course of its performance have been drastically limited by the European Union law. By contrast, the intial terms which tends to erect an autonomous regime of treatment of uncertain/unforeseen events through the spreading of standard terms appear to be the major and indispensable mean of adaptation of public contracts in the course of their performance.

This work deal with a consumer protection in insurance in conditions of the Czech Republic. It specifies an insurance service and reasons leading to necessity of clients of insurance companies protection. The central theme of the work is delimitation of instruments serving to consumer protection in insurance. It treats of legislative acts, Czech National Bank as a supervisory authority in insurance, consumer associations, codes of ethics, financial education of consumers and institute of insurance arbiter or ombudsman, which is not still established in the Czech Republic. A proposal of European Commision to Insurance Guarantee Schemes is mentioned too. The work deal with an insurance terms as well, its transparency for clients of insurance companies and necessity to read it before signing a contract of insurance. In conclusion of the work the most important deficiencies of the particular instruments and the recommendations for improvement of situation are presented.

The purpose of my dissertation was to make an analysis of factors influencing the process of the carrying out of the cross-border merger of the Czech company with the company in the European Union. Solution procedure stems from a general definition of acquisitions and mergers, their historical development, reasons for the carrying out thereof, through the picture of these processes in international standards of financial reporting up to the regulation in the European Union. When analyzing the rules for cross-border mergers within the EU, I ascertained problematic places consisting in non-finalization of harmonization - in accounting context - of mergers, and in possibilities of a selection of a tax solution. Apart from the Czech legal regulation, I also analyzed the Slovak legal regulation since the last application part contains a practical example of merger of the Czech company and two Slovak companies carried out in 2009 and prepared on the basis of empirical data.

Nesta tese é apresentado um esquema novo de alta resolução upwind (denominado TDPUS-C3) para reconstrução de fluxos numéricos para leis de conservação não lineares e problemas relacionados em DFC. O esquema é baseado nos critérios de estabilidade CBC e TVD e desenvolvido utilizando condições de diferenciabilidade \'C POT. 3\'. Além disso, é realiozada a implementação da associação do esquema TDPLUS-C3 com a modelagem de turbulência RNG \'\\kappa - \\epsilon\'. O propósito é obter soluções numéricas de sistemas hiperbólicos de leis de conservação para dinâmica dos gases e equações de Navier-Stokes para escoamento incompreensível de fluidos newtonianos e não newtonianos (viscoelásticos). Fazendo o uso do esquema TDPUS-C3, a precisão global dos métodos numéricos é verificada acessando o erro em problemas teste (benchmark) 1D e 2D. Um estudo comparativo entre os resultados do esquema TDPUS-C3 e os esquemas upwind convencionais para leis de conservação hiperbólicas complexas é também realizado. A Associação das modelagens numéricas (upwinding mais RNG \'\\kappa - \\epsilon\') é , então, examinada na simulação de escoamentos turbulentos de fluidos newtonianos envolvendo superfícies livres móveis, usando a metodologia URANS. No geral, em termos do comportamento global, concordância satisfatória é observada / In this thesis, a new high-resolution upwind scheme (named TDPUS-C3) for reconstruction of numerical fluxes for nonlinear conservation laws and related CFD problems in presented. The scheme is based on CBC and TVD stability criteria and developed by employing differentiability condictions (\'C POT. 3\'). In additon, the implementation of an association of the TDPUS-C3 scheme with the RNG \'\\kappa - \\epsilon\' turbulence modelling is also performed. The purpose is to obtain numerical solutions of systems of hyperbolic conservation laws for gas dynamics and Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible flow of Newtonian and non-Newtonian (viscoelstic) fluids. By using the TDPUS-C3 scheme, the global accuracy of the numerical methods is verified by assessing the error on 1D and 2D benchmark test cases. A comparative study between the TDPUS-C3 scheme and convectional upwind schemes to solve standard and complex hyperbolic conservation laws is also accomplished. The association of the numerical modelling (upwinding plus RNG \'\\kappa - epsilon\') is then examined in the simulation of turbulent Newtonian fluid flows involving moving free surfaces, by using URANS methodology. Overall, satisfactory agreement is found in terms of the overall behaviour

A reestruturação do Setor Elétrico Brasileiro introduziu uma nova categoria de clientes no mercado consumidor. Os chamados Clientes Livres, ao contrário dos Clientes Cativos, podem formalizar a aquisição de energia elétrica para atendimento dos requisitos de seu processo produtivo, através de contratos bilaterais, onde os prazos, os preços e os volumes são livremente negociados entre os agentes. A segmentação imposta pelas reformas do setor promoveu a competição na atividade de comercialização, repercutindo em novas responsabilidades para os agentes setoriais, com oportunidades para a busca de resultados financeiros, mas, por outro lado, com riscos associados que requerem adequado gerenciamento. Conseqüentemente, o estabelecimento de contratos neste ambiente evidencia a importância da adoção de estratégias de hedge adequadas para mitigar os riscos de exposição financeira dos Clientes Livres ao Mercado de Curto Prazo. Sob essa perspectiva, o texto aborda a formação de preços contratuais no curto e longo prazos, propõe critérios de risco para aferir as estratégias mais promissoras, de acordo com o perfil do consumidor, de modo a otimizar a obtenção de energia no Ambiente de Contratação Livre, contemplando, também, o efeito da recente possibilidade da comercialização dos excedentes de energia elétrica, como forma de flexibilização contratual para esta categoria de consumidores. / The power sector reforms in Brazil introduced a new sort of consumers in the electricity market. The Free Consumers are able to choose their suppliers and freely negotiate contractual terms. The restructuring process of electricity industry promoted the competition into the retail sales subindustry. It gave new responsibilities to market participants and also potential opportunities to reduce its energy costs. On the other hands, the Free Customers are requested to manage their own risks. It is important therefore the establishment of contracting strategies to hedge against price risks. As consequence, the purpose of this study is to address a methodology to implement short and long-term contract pricing and evaluate the risks associated with its strategies. Moreover, the work identifies the contracting decisions to optimize electricity costs accordingly to customer´s needs. Finally, it is presented a study on contract flexibility where an opportunity could be given to such kind of consumers, making possible to resell part of their electricity contracts.