The purpose of this paper is to explore whether there is an absolute right to freedom of expression with regard to hate speech, and more specifically, whether tolerance should be exercised toward speech even in circumstances where this speech presents a clear and present danger to the public. The author will use legal research methods to analyze this question. The paper will delve into four major Supreme Court cases in the case of hate speech, as well as the decision by the Virginia Court that allowed the rally in Charlottesville which ended with the death of 32-year old woman. The aim is to determine how the Supreme Court has looked at hateful expression over the years and the status of hate speech in America today. The four major cases are Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie (1977), R.A.V v. City of St. Paul (1992), and Virginia v. Black (2003). Although the case of Kessler v. Charlottesville (2017) is not a Supreme Court case, its significance in relation to the right to freedom of expression is no less than those precedent four cases. This incident and related legal cases bring the concerns about hate speech and the constitutional right to freedom of expression directly into the public discourse.

Master of Arts / History / Lou F. Williams / During the course of Reconstruction both the Supreme Court and the lower level federal courts faced the task of interpreting Reconstruction legislation, including the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and the Enforcement Acts. By the end of Reconstruction the Supreme Court had defined these groundbreaking pieces of legislation in a conservative manner that negatively impacted the former slaves. The lower-level courts, however, had embraced earlier opportunities to broaden the nationalistic meaning of these Amendments. One such opportunity was United States v Hall. This trial level court case initially expanded the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment to protect the rights of African Americans. The Hall Case was one of the great “might have beens” in U.S. Constitutional history. This study analyzes Ku Klux Klan violence leading up to the Eutaw riot and the subsequent court case, U.S. v Hall. Conflict broke out during a pre-election political rally when Democrats and Republicans met simultaneously at the Greene County, AL, Court House. The riot resulted in the federal government’s attempts to prosecute the rioters under the Enforcement Act of 1870. The Hall case was one of the first in which federal judges interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment. Federal prosecutors challenged the judges to make a broad, nationalistic interpretation, which would have enabled the federal government to protect the rights of the former slaves for the long haul. What—exactly—were the privileges and immunities of national citizenship? Did the Fourteenth Amendment apply the Bill of Rights to the states? Are these rights protected against the state governments? These are the issues Attorney General John P. Southworth and Circuit Court Judge William Woods tackled in the federal trial. Ultimately, the government failed to secure a conviction of the rioters but set a strong precedent in Judge Woods’ opinion for later federal courts to establish the Fourteenth Amendment’s connection to the Bill of Rights. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court failed to follow the precedent. This analysis provides historians a better understanding of the work of the lower level federal courts’ and their contribution to the constitutional issues of Reconstruction.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:34:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Claudia Ajaj.pdf: 529330 bytes, checksum: bb5986f902252bda0c224502b3f426b8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-02-27 / The present search studies the transformation and development of Brazilian petroleum sector, from the law point of view and also about politics and economics sector. Historically, the Brazilian petroleum monopoly question was legalized from Law 2.004/53 that excepted only aspects of distribution. This monopoly was changed in constitutional rule with the Constitution of 1967 and transformations done by Constitutional Amendment n. 01/69 that expected the petroleum search and cultivation in national territory constitute Federal monopoly, in terms of law, designated by article 169 of referred Federal Constitution. The Federal Constitution of 1988 refers, in the article 177, afterward changed by Constitutional Amendment 9/95, remain the petroleum monopoly of the State that is the owner of the patrimony above mineral resources, instituted in article 29, IX. Nevertheless, with the modification in the text of the first paragraph of article 177, instituted by Constitutional Amendment 9/95, occurs an innovation in to allow to the State in system of search and cultivation, the option of to adopt a new system of agreement private enterprises or State control enterprises in order to execute this job or to maintain the regular system, according to law. It s necessary to mention yet, Law 9.478/97, (Petroleum Law) and the new period of petroleum industry with juridical modifications already mentioned, Petrobras role by loosing exclusiveness in monopoly execution and the creation of Petroleum National Agency, to regulate State monopoly. Therefore, the present search intends in an objective way, to show the occurrence of petroleum monopoly pliable, maintaining State patrimony above subsoil mineral resources, characterizing thus legal State petroleum monopoly like a State intervention in economics property. / O presente estudo trata das transformações e do desenvolvimento do setor petrolífero brasileiro sob o ponto de vista jurídico e faz breves abordagens econômicas e políticas sobre esse setor. Historicamente, a questão do monopólio do petróleo no Brasil foi legalizada a partir da Lei n. 2.004/53, a qual excetuava somente o aspecto da distribuição. Esse monopólio foi transformado em norma constitucional com a Constituição de 1967 e sofreu alterações promovidas pela Emenda Constitucional n. 1/69, prevendo que a pesquisa e a lavra de petróleo em território nacional constituem monopólio da União, nos termos da lei , instituídas pelo art. 169 da referida Carta Magna. A Constituição Federal de 1988, no art. 177, posteriormente alterado pela Emenda Constitucional n. 9, de 1995, mantém o monopólio do petróleo para a União, que permanece titular do domínio sobre os recursos minerais disposto no art. 20, IX. Porém, com a alteração da redação do § 1º do art. 177, instituído pela EC n. 9/95, ocorre inovação no sentido de permitir à União, no sistema de pesquisa e lavra, a opção de contratar empresas privadas ou estatais para a execução desse trabalho ou a manutenção do atual sistema, sempre nos termos da lei. Há de se citar ainda a Lei n. 9.478/97 (Lei do Petróleo) e a nova fase da indústria do petróleo, com as alterações jurídicas mencionadas, o papel da Petrobras com a perda da exclusividade na execução do monopólio estatal e a criação da Agência Nacional do Petróleo (ANP) para regular o monopólio da União. Assim, o presente trabalho pretende, de maneira objetiva, demonstrar a relativização do monopólio do petróleo, com a manutenção do domínio da União sobre os recursos minerais do subsolo, caracterizando-se, então, o monopólio legal do petróleo pela União como uma intervenção do Estado no domínio econômico.

This thesis deals with current amendment of the International Financial Reporting Standards Conceptual Framework. This Amendment is one of the most awaited projects of the International Accounting Standards Board for the year 2017. Conceptual Framework serves as a basic ideological basis and theoretical premise for the creation of the accounting standards. Consistence between Conceptual Framework and IFRS and being up to date are the key factors for the whole system to work properly. This thesis deals with the Conceptual Frameworks development from its beginnings in the USA to the current amendment made by IASB and the thesis is trying to analyse the whole concept of the Conceptual Framework, its importance and its contained information which are under a strong pressure to be perfect. This thesis primary goal is to analyse the current amendment of the Conceptual Framework, which is being evaluated and commented with help of the comment letters received to the Exposure Draft 2015. There are also suggested some recommendations, that should be considered before finalizing the new Conceptual Framework.

It took 18 months of intensive negotiation at the Millennium Labour Council, NEDLAC and the Labour Portfolio Committee before the Labour Relations Amendment Act of 20021 completed its passage through Parliament, taking effect on 1 August 2002. Fifty-seven amendments to specific sections of the Labour Relations Act2 and its schedules cure some obvious anomalies in the original version. It is further apparent that the legislature has taken cognisance of the observations by judges and arbitrators, who voiced their criticism in respect of certain aspects of the original "Act". The amended "Act"3 does appear to be a genuine commitment by both business and organised labour to improve efficiency in the labour market, to promote employment creation and to protect vulnerable workers. Improved dispute resolution mechanisms, enforcement mechanisms and the resurgence of an unfettered discretion in awarding compensation go some way to improving the application of the "Act". The most dramatic amendments have taken place in the law regulating retrenchments by large employers, inclusive of the controversial introduction of a right to strike after retrenchments of this nature have been effected, and the regulation of the transfer of a business as a going concern and its impact on workers. Critics indicate that business and organised labour have subscribed to the package of amendments despite respective reservations and due to certain time constraints. The nett result is a package of amendments that could be described as failing to address, in certain respects, or intentionally overlooking, areas of the "Act" that have traditionally been shown wanting in the past. In the individual employment law sphere specifically, the failure to address the meaning of "benefits" in the definition of unfair labour practices; to allocate a precise meaning to the concept of the transfer of a going concern; or to regulate the conduct of employers when transferring employees, remain some of the areas for concern. It appears that the legislature has decided that certain issues should be resolved by the Labour Court, and ultimately the Labour Appeal Court, on a case-by-case basis rather than by legislative intervention. Whilst this approach has merit, it does present problems to those seeking to apply the provisions of the amended "Act" 5 in everyday practice. On the whole, the amendments do not, nor were they designed to, mark a major shift in the government's labour market policy. The changes clearly focus on correcting and clarifying sections of the "Act", which have resulted in unintended consequences, or lost touch with commercial reality, over the past seven years.

Le droit privé érige le contrat en loi des parties. Cette règle connaît des exceptions en droit administratif: branche du droit dans laquelle la puissance publique dispose d’un pouvoir de modification et de résiliation unilatérales. Cependant, si l’administration dispose de pouvoirs étendues dans l’exercice de son pouvoirs de modification et de résiliation unilatérales des contrats administratifs pour des motifs tenant à l’intérêt général, aucune définition minutieuse de la notion d’intérêt général n’a encore été consacrée. Cette imprécision conduit, dans certains cas, à l’exercice quasi arbitraire par l’administration de ses pouvoirs et au déséquilibre du contrat. Cette situation a entraîné divers préjudices pour les bénéficiaires de projet en raison de la suspension de la mise en œuvre de plusieurs contrats importants pour une longue période et, en conséquence, a accru le nombre des litiges. / The rule in private law is that the contract is considered to be the absolute law between the contracting parties, and therefore it cannot be modified or terminated without their consent. That is not the case in the field of administrative law as long as this law permits the administration to use its authority in unilateral amendment and termination of the contract. The problem can be stated here that the administration white practicing its authority in unilateral , modification or termination the contract might abuse its right of such practice under the justification of undefined concept of public interest. The ambiguous and loos of the concept of public interest led to the illegitimate and misuse of the administration of its authority in unilateral amendment and termination of administrative contract which results in disturbance of the balance between the interests of the administration on one hand and the other contracting party on the other.

The aim of this master thesis is to deal with and systematically describe the legislative process which is regulated by law and also the legislative process at the level of the government which has not been formalized completely. The phenomenon of legislative process significantly influences the legal and social environment in the Czech Republic. The first and the second chapter is focused on theoretical definition of the legislative process and deals with the legislative process at the level of the Parliament. Special attention is paid to the lacks of legal regulation and practice, such as to changes implemented by the amendment of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies from 2015. It is also dealt with the Collection of Laws and its intended electronization. The third chapter is related to the position of the government within the legislative process. The government is the most important initiator of lawmaking, as it has the expert workers of ministries which create the legal drafts at its' disposal. Due to the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union, the government must deal with the topic of compatibility of the Czech and EU law. The level of compatibility depends especially on the quality work of individual ministries. Planning of legislation works is also connected to this...

1 Abstract Thesis title: Hate speech throughout the continents The aim of this thesis is to shed light on standings and rulings of the United States Supreme Court and the European Court of Human rights in hate speech cases. It defines the term "hate speech" and presents grounds used for its restrictions when it comes to freedom of expression. Through introducing established principles that govern the decision-making of both courts and analysing them in key judgments on both continents, the author is trying to determine possible alterations that may lead to enhancing the protection given by hate speech case-law. The author also analyses historical and social impact on the case-law of both the Supreme Court and the ECHR and finds that this influence has led to establishment of crucial principles without which the hate speech cases could hardly be decided today. Both historical and social factors lead the author to the conclusion that the protection against hate speech could still use a tune-up. In author's point of view, the Supreme Court should ease the grip on the First Amendment and give the "true threats" principle, established in Virginia v. Black, leave to prohibit not only intimidating expressions but harmful expressions as well - both physical and mental. The Supreme Court should also strengthen the...

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Economics / Yang M. Chang / Concerns over the possible loss of government revenue resulting from tariff reductions under trade liberalization have triggered many developing countries to opt for a strategy of raising destination-based consumption taxes on tradable goods. The first essay analyzes the welfare effects of a coordinated tariff reduction and domestic tax reform when the objective of a reforming country is to keep its government revenue unchanged. Assuming imperfect competition in an import-competing industry, we find that revenue-neutral reform involving tariff reduction and an increase in domestic tax rate may reduce domestic welfare under plausible assumptions. It also discusses the scenario in which the reforming country's objective is to keep domestic profit (or production) unchanged. We further identify the conditions under which a profit-neutral tariff and tax reform may be welfare-improving or welfare-deteriorating. The second essay uses a reciprocal-dumping model to examine the welfare effects of the Byrd Amendment (i.e., the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act, or CDSOA). It analyzes the differences in optimal tariffs set by the home and foreign governments when the home (i.e., the U.S.) government redistributes anti-dumping duties to its domestic firm under the new trade law, as compared to the traditional antidumping policy under which these duties are government revenues. We derive conditions under which the CDSOA may raise or lower the price of an import-competing good in the U.S. market. The results show that the CDSOA is an instrument of protectionism and strictly improves the home country welfare when markets are less competitive than in Cournot equilibrium. We find that under the same market characteristics, the new trade law strictly reduces foreign country welfare. The CDSOA's welfare effect is shown to be ambiguous, however, when markets are more competitive than Cournot. The third essay modifies the model presented in Essay 2 to allow for the scenario in which the foreign country strategically responds to the home country's CDSOA law by adopting similar trade law. The results show that the foreign country is able to enhance its national welfare when the import-competing markets are less competitive than in the Cournot equilibrium. We also discuss whether it is welfare-improving for the U.S. to voluntarily repeal the Byrd Amendment and restore the traditional antidumping policy, considering that, otherwise, its trading partner may also adopt the CDSOA law. We find that it is still in the best interest to the U.S. not to revoke the Byrd Amendment when markets are less competitive than Cournot. When markets are more competitive than Cournot, however, repealing the Amendment may turn out to be socially welfare-improving.

Magister Legum - LLM / Generally the Courts have a discretion to impose sentence. Violent crime was rampant in South Africa. The response of the legislature in dealing with crime was to enact legislation in 1997 like sections 51 to 53 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997 which prescribe severe mandatory sentences for a large number of serious offences like murder, rape and armed robbery. This legislation come into effect on 1 May 1998 and was to have effect for two years. The President could with the concurrence of Parliament by proclamation extend its operation for one year, that was in fact done. The latest extension of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997 was for a further two years making the minimum sentence provisions valid until 30 April 2005. The Courts did not like these mandatory sentences because of the limitation it places on judicial discretion and dealt with this legislation that limited their judicial discretion restrictively in order to defend their sentencing discretion. Although the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 105 of 1997 was held not to be unconstitutional the Courts stll sought to give it a narrow interpretation. This research paper include an outline of the Criminal Law Amendment Act; the Constitutional challenges that were brought against the Criminal Law Amendment Act; the judicial interpretation of the Criminal Law Amendment Act as well as the applicability of the Criminal Law Amendment Act to District Courts and juvenile ovenders; the procedural requirements that must be complied with in the Criminal Law Amendment Act and its consequences if not complied with. This paper examined how the Courts defined substantial and compelling circumstances, the approaches adopted by the Courts and when deviation from the Criminal Law Amendment Act can take place. It also include the challenges posed by mandatory minimum sentence legislation as well as recommendations for the improved implementation of the Criminal Law Amendment Act. / South Africa