Dans le cadre du travail de recherche réalisé dans cette thèse, la réflexion porte sur les caractéristiques qualitatives des normes juridiques sous des dimensions à la fois théorique, pratique et comparée. L’intérêt majeur de ce travail est de s’interroger sur l’appréhension de la notion de qualité, qui intéresse beaucoup la doctrine, et est devenue une préoccupation croissante de nombreux systèmes juridiques alors même que les contours, et même le contenu, de la notion de qualité des normes restent flou. Le souci d’améliorer la qualité de la législation (au sens large du terme) répond à deux problèmes principaux dans la pratique et la théorie : sur le plan pratique, les défauts formels et substantiels de certaines normes les rendent inaptes à l’accomplissement de leur fonction principale, soit la régulation des relations sociales ; sur le plan théorique, l’exigence de bonne qualité des normes est une condition essentielle dans un état de droit qui permet aux citoyens de savoir à quoi s’attendre de leur gouvernement et à faire des investissements en conséquence (principes de prévisibilité et de sécurité juridique). En dehors de ces caractéristiques formelles ont été examinées les caractéristiques matérielles qui jouent un rôle important quant à l’acceptation des normes juridiques par les citoyens. La démarche adoptée dans le présent travail de recherche ne se limite pas à l’étude de l’élaboration d’une norme juridique, mais porte également sur l’exécution, l’interprétation et l’attitude des juges face aux normes. Toutefois, nous avons dépassé les études déjà réalisées, et nous avons examiné aussi la constitution et les actes administratifs / As part of the research work carried out in this thesis, reflection focuses on the qualitative characteristics of legal norms in terms of theoretical, practical and comparative dimensions. The main interest of this work is to question the apprehension of the notion of quality, which is of great interest to doctrine, and has become a growing preoccupation of many legal systems, even though, the contours, and even the content, the notion of quality standards remain unclear. The concern to improve the quality of legislation (in the broad sense of the term) addresses two main problems in practice and theory: in practice, the formal and substantive defects of certain norms render them unfit for the accomplishment of their main function,namely the regulation of social relations; on the theoretical level, the requirement of good quality of laws is an essential condition of the rule of law that allows citizens to know what to expect from their government and to make investments accordingly (principles of predictability and certainty). Apart from these formal characteristics were examined the material characteristics that play an important role in the acceptance of legal norms by the citizens. This implies the requirement of "rationality" and the "justice" in laws. The approach adopted in this research is not limited to the study of the development of a legal norm but also to the execution, interpretation and attitudes of judges in dealing with the legal norms. However, we have gone beyond the studies already carried out, and we have also examined the constitution and the administrative acts

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between noncognitive symptoms and premorbid temperament in a group with Alzheimer’s disease. The relationship between premorbid temperament and noncognitive symptoms can be used to understand symptom susceptibility and risk, caregiver burdens, as well as providing insights into the neuroanatomical substrates of temperament and noncognitive behaviour. Sixty-three primary caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients fulfilled the eligibility criteria for this study. Information regarding the noncognitive symptoms and premorbid temperament was procured from the primary caregivers. In fifty-one cases, a secondary caregiver also provided information about the premorbid temperament of the Alzheimer’s patient. The latter was obtained to enhance the reliability of retrospective data. The Behaviour Rating Scale for Dementia, the Formal Characteristics of Behaviour-Temperament Inventory, and the Blessed Dementia scale were used to elicit data on noncognitive symptomatology, premorbid temperament, and current cognitive status, respectively. ii Noncognitive symptoms were grouped into two clusters namely neuropsychiatric and neurobehavioural disturbances. The neuropsychiatric cluster included mood and psychotic symptoms and the neurobehavioural cluster included vegetative and overall behavioural dysregulatory symptoms. Results showed that there is a wide spectrum of noncognitive symptom manifestation in patients’ profiles and that the neurobehavioural dysregulatory symptoms are more common than the neuropsychiatric symptoms in this Alzheimer’s cohort. With regard to symptom manifestation and cognitive status, a Pearson product moment correlational analysis showed that a lower level of cognitive functioning is significantly associated with aggressive episodes and a higher level of cognitive functioning with manifestations of depressive symptoms. In terms of interrater concordance on premorbid temperament ratings, intraclass correlations were significant for five of the six temperament domains, thus indicating a reliable estimate of premorbid disposition. Canonical correlational analysis yielded two significant variates. The first variate indicated that Alzheimer’s disease patients with a proclivity for aggressive behaviours and general behavioural deregulation but lower depressive profiles, were premorbidly more emotionally reactive, had low sensory thresholds (high sensitivity), and greater cognitive deficit. The second variate showed that patients with Alzheimer’s disease who tended to manifest with depressive and dysregulatory behaviour appear to have been premorbidly perseverative in temperament with a low sensory threshold (high sensitivity) and the tendency to maintain and attain a low level of activity (stimulation). Taken together, the significant variates revealed a dimensional relationship between depressive symptoms, aggressive symptoms, and behavioural dysregulation; and sensory sensitivity, emotional reactivity, perseverance, and activity, with cognitive status serving as a moderating variable. In conclusion, the study indicated a dimensional relationship between specific premorbid temperament traits and noncognitive symptoms, thereby highlighting the possible predictive influence of premorbid temperament on noncognitive manifestations in Alzheimer’s disease patients. / Thesis (PhD (Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Psychology / unrestricted