This thesis discusses the cultural contributions – artistic patronage, art theory, art satire - of four Ladies-in-Waiting employed at the early eighteenth-century century British court: Mary, Countess Cowper; Charlotte Clayton, Baroness Sundon; Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk; and Mary Hervey, Baroness Hervey of Ickworth. Through a close reading of archival manuscripts, published correspondences and art historical treatises, I explore the cultural milieu, historical legacy and historiographic reception of these individuals. I argue that their writing reveals fresh insight on the switch from Baroque to Rococo modes of portraiture in Britain, as it does critical attitudes to sex, religion and politics among aristocratic women. Through the use of satire, these courtiers comment on extramarital affairs, rape, homosexuality and divorce among their peer group. They also show an interest in issues of feminist education, literature, political and religious patronage, and contemporary news events, which they reference through allusions to painting, architecture, sculpture, engravings, ceramics, textiles and book illustrations. Many of the artists patronized by the court in this period were foreign-born, peripatetic, and stylistically unusual. Partly due to the transnational nature of these artist’s careers, and partly due to the reluctance of later historians to admit the extent of foreign socio-cultural influence, biased judgements about the quality of these émigré painters’ work continue to predominate in art historical scholarship. While little-studied themselves, these Ladies-in-waiting were at the center of political, social and cultural life in Britain. Their letters therefore have much of value in reclaiming, not only their own contributions to the development of British cultural life, but those of the French or Francophile émigré artists patronized at court. By studying the work of these artists and the lives of their patrons, I examine the intersection between biography and artistic practice at the early eighteenth-century British court. / Thesis (Ph.D, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2013-04-29 03:14:47.731

De 1896 à 1960, quoique placée sous différents statuts (colonie, territoire d'outre-mer, puis État membre de la Communauté), Madagascar est restée sous la domination française. Durant cette période, la France administre le pays, notamment, elle doit faire régner la justice, un des premiers éléments de la mission du colonisateur. A cet égard, la politique consiste à introduire dans l'organisation judiciaire des magistrats français qui, en charge de véhiculer les valeurs occidentales, vont assurément participer de la domination. Toutefois, en même temps, en exerçant sur le territoire malgache, ces juges se heurtent à l'existence d'institutions indigènes déjà bien établies qu'il convient de respecter. Par ailleurs, ils se trouvent face à une population européenne nouvellement installée à qui il faut aussi « dire » le droit, un droit somme toute particulier. Ainsi, au sein de la Cour d'appel de Madagascar, les magistrats jouent un rôle majeur en ce qu'ils ont à remplir une triple mission à la fois : appliquer un droit spécial aux Français, appliquer leurs lois coutumières aux indigènes et appliquer le droit métropolitain, « symbole éminent de la culture française », à la population locale. Dans la pratique, malgré les difficultés qu'ils ont rencontrées outre-mer, et les contraintes qui se sont imposées à eux, les magistrats s'en sont plutôt bien sortis dans la délicate tâche qui leur a été confiée. En se dotant, sans complexe, de toute la liberté nécessaire à leur fonction, ils ont su, à leur façon, satisfaire « leurs » justiciables tout en restant fidèle à la politique coloniale. / From 1896 to 1960, Madagascar remained under French domination, first as a colony, then as a territoire d'outre-mer, finally as a member of the Communauté française. One of the most important elements of the « mission » of the colonizer was to assure the administration of justice. French policy consisted in introducing into the judiciary organization French judges whose task it was to bring to the country Western values, thus playing an important role in colonial domination. They were obliged, however, at the same time, to respect certain traditional native institutions. Their decisions also concerned the recently settled European population of Madagascar, for whom French metropolitan law had to be specially adapted.There were therefore three tasks to be accomplished by the judges of the Court of Appeals of Madagascar : to implement a special law to the French population, to implement their customary laws to the indigenous population and implement the law of metropolitan France, « eminent symbol of French culture », to that indigenous population. In practice, despite the difficulties encountered and the limits imposed on them, the judges managed these delicate tasks rather well. In confidently granting themselves all the liberty necessary to their function, the judges managed to satisfy the various communities in Madagascar, while remaining faithful to colonial policy.

LL.M. (International Law) / The after-effects of the Second World War (WWII) and the Cold War that followed engendered a radical paradigm shift in the collective accountability for international crimes. Indeed, institutions have been established to take stock of the catastrophic effects of wars and enable states to come to terms with their confrontational past. The Nuremberg and Tokyo trials mainly focused on reigning in military leaders who perpetrated mass killings. These trials laid the foundation for a reconfiguration of the international criminal justice. This study argues that the complementarity principle in the classical sense and the prosecutorial strategy of the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of only bringing to justice high-level perpetrators effectively creates an impunity gap if states are unwilling and unable to prosecute. Therefore, positive complementarity becomes necessary for the ICC to encourage states to prosecute both high and low-level perpetrators. In an endeavour to achieve this, TJ mechanisms become necessary as they provide a holistic approach, i.e. involvement of victims, provision of reparations and prosecution of offenders. The statute of the International Criminal Court (Rome statute) is said to have a so-called “catalysing effect” on domestic criminal justice systems by some authors mainly because the principal obligation to investigate and prosecute international crimes is entrusted to the domestic criminal justice systems. The ICC may exercise its prerogative over a case only if the states have not genuinely investigated or prosecuted the perpetrator. However, the catalysing effect of the complementarity principle can be discordant with transitional justice (TJ) mechanisms in post-conflict societies where justice might have to be compromised over peace and vice versa. This has been observed where measures such as amnesty, the use of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRCs), and pardons have been solicited by rebels or de facto holders of power, such as military chiefs, as a way of evading accountability.

This study is concerned with the political impact of the Supreme Court's decisions concerning state legislative apportionment. First, an attempt is made to describe the political environment in which they were made, with special reference to the existing bases of representation in the states and the political reaction to the decisions. Secondly, the study traces the major issues relating to judicial enforcement of the apportionment standards enunciated by the Supreme Court and the modification and development of those standards that followed the initial decisions. Finally, the extent to which reapportionment has been successfully enforced by the courts may suggest some tentative conclusions about the viability and utility of the equal population doctrine as a constitutional standard, as well as some of the possible political consequences of enforcement of that standard.

This thesis attempts to answer the following questions: (1) has Hugo Black abandoned his philosophy of the "absoluteness" of the First Amendment which has long been his basis of decision-making in problems involving the First Amendment, and (2) has he ceased to maintain his strong position for individual liberties?

The problem undertaken is a study of the Senate's right to refuse confirmation of presidential nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States and its interpretation of this constitutional prerogative today. A case study of the nomination and rejection of Abe Fortas is used to illustrate the contemporary role of the Senate and to serve as a basis for predictions for future nominations.

This thesis revolves around one of the secure institutions of the Czech civil procedural law which provides the settlement of legal relations on a temporary basis or ensures the possibility of realization of an execution of judgement. The goal of this thesis is to demonstrate a complete summary of Czech legal regulation of a preliminary ruling in a civil proceedings, which can be used in situations that renders immediate solutions necessary and is impossible to hold back until the decision on merits.The thesis is composed of five chapters. The first chapter explicates the preliminary ruling as the civil prodecural law institute and demonstrates the various types of preliminary ruling. The conclusion of this chapter highlights the legal nature of this institute which includes preliminar and temporal settlement of a legal relations between parties to an action. The second chapter briefly outlines the history of the preliminary ruling in Czech legislation. Chapter three, the most important part of the thesis, is concerned with the general preliminary ruling. The structure of this chapter respects the system of a legal provisions contained in Civil Procedure Rules. The third chapter is subdivided into thirteen subchapters. The first seven subchapters illustrates preconditions of a civil procedure of a...

This Thesis is focused on the criminal trial, which is the most important part of the criminal proceeding. The purpose of the criminal proceeding, which is to investigate the perpetrator of the crime and his just punishment, is fulfilled during the criminal trial. The object of this Thesis is to present the process of the criminal trial and to particularly elaborate about the legal regulation of those juridical institutes, which may appear problematic or not fully clear. The aim is also to present the critical view on some juridical institutes contained in the legislation or to those which cause difficulties in practice together with the outline of their future regulation or de lege ferenda view or how the foreign regulation deals with them. This Thesis consists of five chapters which are subdivided into subchapters where it is necessary. The first chapter follows the purpose, object and legislation of the criminal trial together with introduction to the forthcoming recodification of the criminal procedure law, which should follow the recent recodification of the criminal substantive law. The second chapter deals with the basic principles of the criminal proceeding which apply to the criminal trial. The aim of the third chapter is to outline the process before the criminal trial itself, while...

AABSTRACTBSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive view on the issue of promissory notes as a guarantee in legal relations. It is supposed to serve both the debtor in building up his defense and the creditor in the evaluation of the risks he may face during the application of his promissory note. Apart from reference books and legislation, the main source used is the analysis of the case law and its contribution to the topic. This thesis is divided into four chapters. General issues are the theme of the first chapter with the focus on the signature and necessary entries on the note. Then the core of the hedge bill is questioned, concerning especially the nature of the securing contract, which is the reason of the guarantee function of the note and consequences associated with the transfer of the note. The second chapter is focused on the bilateral rights and obligations connected with the note and its secured claim, the risk of abuse of negotiable instruments and also the admissibility of causal objections in the case of the endorsement. Following that, suggestions of the possible defense against the abuse are proposed. The third chapter is devoted to procedural issues and the specifics of the procedure in this matter. The payment order is then discussed as well as the nature of the...

Les applications émergentes dans la gamme des fréquences Térahertz (THz, 10¹² Hz) stimulent le développement des composants actifs et passifs rapides ainsi que des émetteurs et des détecteurs de radiation travaillant dans ce domaine. Les dispositifs actuels ne répondent pas à tous les besoins de l'industrie à cause de la consommation, la taille et le coût très importants. La solution pour la réalisation des émetteurs et des détecteurs peut venir des transistors à ondes plasma que nous avons étudiés. Ce sont les composant à base de HEMT Ill-V exploitants les nouvelles propriétés de transport électronique. Les mesures de ces dispositifs ont montré les possibilités de l'émission et de la détection de la radiation autour de 1 THz, à température basse et ambiante. Une détection résonante avec une fréquence ajustable est possible. D'un autre côté il est nécessaire de réaliser les composants actifs électroniques (transistors) capables de fonctionner aux fréquences proches du THz. Ceci est nécessaire pour la réalisation des circuits rapides comme les amplificateurs, les mélangeurs et autres. Pour répondre à cette demande, nous avons étudié deux types de transistors double-grilles. Les mesures ont prouvé l'amélioration des performances statiques et dynamiques (saturation de courant de drain et courant de drain maximal, efficacité de commande, transconductance et conductance de sortie, fréquences de fonctionnement). De plus, la consommation aux performances équivalentes est plus faible. Les simulations montrent que les performances peuvent être améliorées d'avantage. / The emergent applications in the Terahertz (THz) frequencies range stimulate the development of active and passive rapid devices as much as of emitters and detectors working in this domain. Actually existent devices do not respond to all industry needs because of too high consumption, size and cost, and other inconvenient. A solution for realisation of emitters and detectors could come from plasma-wave transistor that we studied. These devices are based on 1I1-V HEMT and utilised a particular behaviour of electronic transport. Measurements have shown the possibility of emission and detection of radiation at about 1 THz. From the other hand it is necessary to realize electronic active devices (transistors) able to operate near the THz range. This is necessary for realisation of rapid integrated circuits such as amplifiers, mixers and so on. To do this we have chosen to study two kinds of double-gate transistors. Measurements have shown the increasing of static and dynamic performances (maximum drain current and drain current saturation, efficiency of charge control, transconductance, output conductance, operation frequencies). Besides, the same performances can be obtained at lower consumption. Simulations show that performances could be improved even more.