The recent enlargements of the European Union brought about a strategic shift in the EU’s approach to conflict management and security in the eastern neighbourhood. The Partnership and Co-operation Agreements between the EU and Moldova contained no mention of the Transnistrian dispute, while the agreement between the EU and Geor gia included a vague phrase regarding political dialogue which may include the issue of conflict resolution. The addition of new members to the Union, however, expanded the EU into its neighbourhood and brought closer the unresolved territorial disputes. Concerns that were once further away are now right next door. While the former accession states might have served as buffers to these concerns, they can no longer, as members of the Union, be seen as such. Therefore, there is a greater need to address security issues, such as the ‘frozen conflicts’ bordering the EU. This thesis will examine the evolution of the EU’s responses to security chal lenges in the Eastern neighbourhood, and assess the role the EU plays in addressing these ‘frozen conflicts’ through the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy. Fur ther, this thesis will argue that the EU has thus far exerted limited direct pressure towards direct resolution of these conflicts and has instead approached regional stability through a variety of other indirect and long term means, such as the pursuit of economic growth and political stability. In particular, the research will look at the security sector reform (SSR) and will focus on the EU’s impact, or Europeanization, in the rule of law and border management sectors of Moldova and Georgia. It will be shown that these two sectors are related to promoting political stability and economic growth, which is in line with the EU’s effort to support development in Moldova and Georgia, and thus indirectly address ‘frozen conflict’ resolution by. altering the incentive structures. This thesis will conclude that the EU does have an impact on the rule of law and border management sectors and subsequently some impact on the ‘frozen conflict’ in Moldova but less so on the conflicts in Georgia. / Arts, Faculty of / Central Eastern Northern European Studies, Department of / Graduate

The subject of the present treatise concerns termination of employment contracts that are effected as a result of an employee’s incapacity on the grounds of ill-health or injury. Every employee has the right not to be dismissed unfairly. The Labour Relations Act, 1995 recognises three grounds on which termination of employment might be legitimate. These include the conduct of the employee, the capacity of the employee and the operational requirements of the employer’s business. However, fundamental to any contract of employment is the obligation that rests on an employee not to be absent from work without justification. The Incapacity Code and Procedure in respect of Ill-health or Injury applicable to Educators is contained in Schedule 1 to the Employment of Educators Act, 1998. In addition there are collective agreements which are the products of collective bargaining that are also applicable to all categories of employees employed in the public education sector. Notably, PSCBC Resolution 7 of 2000 forms part of the subject of our discussion. The Department of Education determined the use of independent Health-risk Managers to provide advice on the management of incapacity leave and ill-health retirement, thereby ensuring objective and impartial evaluation which are largely acceptable to employees and their labour representatives. This is the Policy and Procedure on Incapacity Leave and Ill-Health Retirement in the Public Service. The appointed Health-risk Managers make recommendations to the Head of Department who thereafter implement the recommendations and deal with issues of a case to absolute finality. More importantly, the Policy and Procedure for incapacity leave and ill-health retirement in the Public Service is issued in terms of legislation, that is, section 3(3) of the Public Service Act, 1994 and therefore is not a collective agreement. Under the circumstances, it is not always easy to determine a real dispute and an issue in dispute. Because of this uncertainty arbitrators often found that bargaining councils have no jurisdiction to entertain these disputes, while on the other hand some arbitrators opined that bargaining councils do have jurisdiction In this treatise the general principles of the employment contract, the legislative framework applicable in the public education sector in determining an application for temporary incapacity leave and ill-health retirement and procedural and substantive issues in the termination of employment contract due to ill-health are considered and explained. The legal questions around the issue of discretion exercised by the Head of Department in granting or declining applications for ill-health are also examined. The primary aim of the treatise is to provide a clear exposition of the rather complicated law relating to incapacity due to ill-health and injury in public education.

This dissertation discusses the influence of the Consumer Protection Act No 68 of 2008, the “CPA”, on franchise arguments. It is argued that the provisions of the CPA will lead to the consequences of restoring equality between a franchisee and a franchisor. A franchise agreement is viewed as an ordinary commercial contract, governed by the same legal principles as any other contract. In reality franchising is in fact far beyond a simple contract; it is also used as a governing system. The franchisors create structures whereby their franchisees can be controlled. In order to manage franchisee opportunism such as the unauthorized use of intellectual property and addressing under-performance, an inherent power imbalance was present in favour of franchisors. The CPA introduced certain provisions that address the relationship between franchisors and franchisees by prescribing and controlling the rights and obligations of the parties. As a result, a fair structure is created to regulate the franchise relationship between the parties. The promulgation of the CPA is welcomed by this study and it is submitted that the country’s economy as a whole can only benefit from it. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / lmchunu2014 / Mercantile Law / unrestricted

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This study investigates the association between CEO severance agreements and corporate tax avoidance. Severance agreements, by providing executives with additional compensation when there is a change in employment status, should serve to encourage additional risk-taking, as reflected by increased tax avoidance activities. Using a large sample of aggregate compensation data, I find some evidence of a relation between the presence of a CEO severance agreement and tax avoidance. Using a smaller sample of hand-collected data, I find a significant negative relation between the magnitude of cash severance pay and tax avoidance and a significant positive relation between the magnitude of equity severance pay and tax avoidance. Overall, this study provides evidence that the structure and magnitude of severance agreements are related to tax avoidance. / Ph. D.

This study examines the extent to which the equivalency provision presented in the SPS agreement is able to foster trade negotiations between countries adopting different food safety measures. The study examines the role of scientific evidence as well as the political, economic, and cultural factors in impacting the national regulatory process and the international trade negotiations. It focuses on the limitations of science in allowing countries to reach consensus in contentious trade-related debates laden with risk uncertainty and missing data. The study consists of comparing the key components of the U.S. and French regulatory systems to identify the cultural basis for the differences in the perception of listeria risk and in preferences to control it. The stringent standards adopted in the U.S. and the preference for pasteurization are attributed to the complete separation of the regulatory functions form those of food production, the open style of decision-making which allows private citizens to review and comment on administrative actions, the unwillingness of U.S. regulators to expose vulnerable individuals to deadly pathogens, and the reliance on quantitative data to validate the effectiveness of pasteurization. The more flexible standards impacting listeria regulation in France are attributed to the the integration of regulatory functions with those of food production, the consumer preference for natural products, the public's trust in the government's regulatory decisions, and the belief that the determination of appropriate safety measures should be left up to the producers. / Master of Science

Previous research has examined the various types of online infidelity, gender differences in online sexual behaviors, and relationship consequences of online affairs. Despite this attention, there remains a research gap regarding ways to prevent online infidelity. When couples seek therapy to address this issue, therapists report a lack of specific preparedness. This qualitative research project focused on methods for assisting couples by studying how they develop an agreement regarding appropriate and inappropriate online behaviors. Grounded theory was used to analyze the data from dyadic interviews with 12 engaged heterosexual couples. The interviews generated five common steps in the process of developing an agreement: (a) discuss the various online activities the couple participates in online; (b) define online infidelity; (c) discuss which activities are appropriate and which are not appropriate; (d) develop rules; and (e) state what occurs when an agreement is violated. Three couples had developed an agreement prior to the study and two couples developed an agreement through the process of the interview. Seven couples reported, however, that an agreement would not be beneficial in their relationship. These couples suggested using alternatives to an online behavior agreement including have mutual respect, eliminate questionable activities, get to know their fiancé or fiancée, and not participate in any online activities that they would not do in front of their partner. Although the study presupposed that couples would embrace the development of a mutual agreement, most couples elected to use other approaches. The results raise useful questions about couple readiness for structured prevention strategies and therapist approaches for clinical intervention. / Ph. D.

My diploma thesis called "Distribution Agreements" treats of distribution agreements as one possible way of distribution of products. Distribution agreements are a type of distribution relations arrangement where the purchaser buys products from the supplier in order to distribute them. The topic of distribution agreements is interesting especially from the reason that the distribution agreements are a very frequent and necessary legal instrument in business relations, but are not legaly regulated on national, european or even on the international scale. Neither the law theory treats of them too much. On the other side, there is a quite broad decision practice of Competion Authority and practice of the European Court of Justice. These decisions were used as a basis of this thesis. Distribution agreements do not only handle the contractual relationship, but they have often anti-competitive effects. In this diploma thesis I handle both the aspect of contractual law and the aspect of competition law. The aim of the work is especially to describe the distribution agreement in the sence of an innominate contract type and to determine its essentials. The core of the work is a categorization of distribution agreements into individual types of distribution agreements, their characteristics and finding...

In a mineral development scenario, Aboriginal groups rely heavily on Environmental Assessment (EA) and Impact and Benefit Agreements (IBAs) to address their interests and concerns. While EA and IBAs are separate processes – EA is legislated and informed by the Crown, and IBAs operate in the realm of private contract law – together, the two are ostensibly part of a parallel process that connect the Aboriginal group(s), Government and the mining proponent. Indisputably, IBAs support a more inclusive development based on consultation, partnership and participation. IBAs and EA have the potential to enhance Aboriginal involvement in mineral development and positively influence the design and planning of the mine. This thesis examines the Tahltan Nation’s involvement and participation in the Galore Creek Project in British Columbia, and demonstrates the challenges and opportunities that arose during the EA and IBA process. It uses key informant interviews to gain multiple perspectives – from the proponent, Tahltan, and Government, to understand how the Tahltan utilized the EA and IBA to participate in the mineral development.

Genomförandeavtal är ett civilrättsligt avtal med offentligrättslig grund. Ingen lag behandlar upprättandet av genomförandeavtal, däremot har kommunen och exploatören stöd från bland annat plan- och bygglagen (PBL) och lagen om offentlig upphandling (LOU) vid upprättande av avtal. I tidigare studier har problematiken angående bristande lagstiftning gällande upprättandet av genomförandeavtal diskuterats. Det primära syftet är att analysera sex genomförandeavtal i Västra Götalands län. Granskningen bygger på en textanalys, det vill säga en kvalitativ metod för att få en djupare förståelse i hur avtalen skrivs. En sammanställning görs för att få en bra överblick över de olika bestämmelserna i avtalen. De tre frågeställningar som besvaras i studien avser vad kommunen och exploatören reglerar i avtalen, vad som eventuellt saknar lagstöd samt om planen genomförs. Resultatet i studien visar att två av de sex avtal som har ingått i studien är mindre detaljerade medan de andra fyra är utförligare. Efter granskning av avtal i studien kan en slutsats dras att grundläggande information om exempelvis parter, exploateringsområde och köpeskilling finns med i alla avtalen. Gemensamt för avtalen är också att vissa formuleringar är opreciserade och därför svåra att tolka samt att alla avtalen saknar bestämmelser angående vilka konsekvenser som blir om delar av avtalen inte genomförs. Avtalen innehåller även villkor som eventuellt saknar lagstöd. Det visade sig också att områdena i princip utformades enligt detaljplanerna. / Implementation Agreement is a civil contract with public legal basis. No law deals with establishing the implementing agreement, however, the municipality and the developer support from, among other things, the Planning and Building Act (PBA) and the Public Procurement Act (LOU) on the formation of contracts. In previous studies, the problem regarding the lack of legislation regulating the establishment of implementation agreements has been discussed. The primary purpose is to analyze six executive agreements in California. The review is based on a text analysis, i.e. a qualitative method to gain a deeper understanding of how contracts are written. A compilation is done to get a good overview of the various provisions of the agreements. The three questions answered in this study refers to what the municipality and the developer regulate in the agreements, what possibly has no legal basis and also if the plan is implemented. The results of the study show that two of the six contracts that have been included in the study are less detailed, while the other four are more detailed. After reviewing the agreement in the study, a conclusion is drawn that basic information such as parties, exploitation area and the purchase price is included in all contracts. In common for the agreements are also that some formulations are imprecise and therefore difficult to interpret. The agreements also contain conditions that may lack legal support. It was also found that the area were basically designed according to detailed plans.