South Africa has already implemented three tax–amnesty programmes: the Second Small Business Tax Amnesty 10 of 2006, the Exchange Control Amnesty Act 12 of 2003 and the Tax Amnesty Act 19 of 1995. In the 2010 budget announcement the Minister of Finance, Mr. Pravin Gordan, announced that there will be another chance for taxpayers to get their tax affairs in order with the Voluntary Disclosure Programme. The main goal of this study is to determine whether the Voluntary Disclosure Programme will prove to be effective or not. The research method utilised is based on an advanced literature study. The secondary goals are as follows: * to obtain a thorough knowledge regarding the three previous tax–amnesties that was implemented in South Africa. A prediction as to the success of the Voluntary Disclosure Programme can be made when using the total number of applications received and the amount of revenue that was received by the previous amnesties, as a measure of success; * to obtain a thorough knowledge of other countries' amnesty–programs, including the following: Australia, Ireland, Canada and the United Kingdom. Their experience and successes regarding their amnesty–programs will be used to predict the success of the Voluntary Disclosure Programme; an * to determine whether the Voluntary Disclosure Programme can be declared as fair. This study indicated that the Voluntary Disclosure Programme may not be effective and that it may have a negative impact on the tax compliance of taxpayers. A recommendation from this study is that the government should win the trust of taxpayers, which will lead to an automatic improvement in tax compliance. This study indicated that the tax amnesty programs should not be used as a mechanism to enhance tax compliance. An issue that needs further exploration is the impact that the Voluntary Disclosure Programme will have in the long–term on tax compliance in South Africa. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tax))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Militancy in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria is a problem that affects government, private organizations, and individuals. The government's Amnesty and Reconciliation Program encouraged individuals to denounce militancy in return for skills training and a monthly allowance. However, the amnesty program has not yielded the desired result of ending insurgent militancy. The purpose of this research was to better understand factors that cause individuals to join militant groups in the Niger Delta region, in order to proffer plausible solutions to address the causes of militancy. Using the root cause conceptual framework in this phenomenological research, I explored the causal factors of militancy in the Niger Delta region for an in-depth understanding of this phenomenon. The key research questions focused on the motivating factors that spur individuals to participate in militant terrorism in Nigeria's Niger Delta region and whether the implementation of the Amnesty and Reconciliation Program mitigated the problem of militant terrorism in Nigeria's Niger Delta. Data were collected from 10 individuals through in-depth face-to-face interviews, while concept mapping was applied in completing the analysis of interview data. Key results revealed 8 core areas as causes of militancy: the lack of local control of resources, underdevelopment, relocation of local government headquarters, poverty, marginalization, environmental pollution, education opportunities, and poor implementation of the amnesty program. Implications for positive social change include using the findings to develop more effective programs and policies for addressing the problem of militancy and to implement strategies that will reduce or eradicate militancy and associated problems.

Text in Afrikaans / Hierdie navorsing is gerig op die vrylating van die gevangene en bet ten doel om aan die hand van 'n literatuurstudie, die Suid-Afrikaanse vrylatingstelsel binne die korrektiewe sisteem, histories met die nodige penologiese perspektief te beskryf. Aangesien bestaande Suid-Afrikaanse penologiese literatuur arm is aan inligting met betrekking tot die vrylating van die gevangene en meer spesifiek die vorme van vrylating, is verskeie bronne geidentifiseer ten einde historisiteit saam te vat en kontemporere beleid in die verband te bespreek. Alhoewel 1910 as vertrekpunt geneem is, is die fokus in die grootste mate geplaas op ontwikkeling sedert 1962. Bepaalde aksies deur onder andere die Inrigtingskomitee en Paroolraad kulmineer in die vrylating van die gevangene en om die rede bet die navorser ook die samestelling, bevoegdhede en werksaamhede van vermelde liggame nagevors en beskryf. / This research is aimed at the release of the prisoner and the objective is to historically elucidate the release system within the South African correctional system on the basis of a literature study, with the necessary penological perspective. Considering the fact that the existing literature on penology has hardly any information regarding the release of the prisoner and more specifically the different types of release, various sources have been identified in order to condense the historical information and to discuss contemporary policy in this regard. Although 1910 was taken as the starting point, the focus has largely been placed on development since 1962. Specific actions by, inter alia, the Institutional Committee and the Parole Board culminate in the release of the prisoner and for this reason the compilation, the competencies and the activities of the mentioned bodies were also described by the researcher. / M.A. (Penologie) / Sociology

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Technology: Taxation, Durban University of Technology, 2013. / South Africa has seen tremendous changes since 1994, from the introduction of a new government to structural changes in tax administration; one of the challenges the government faced in the new democracy, was the restructuring of the tax system. Multiple tax amnesty programs were thus introduced between 1995 and 2010 to provide immunity for limited periods to citizens and small businesses for past non-compliance without being subjected to additional tax, interest, penalties or prosecution. Although extensive research conducted abroad has illustrated the potential problems and complexities that could arise from multiple amnesties, very little research has been conducted in South Africa to evaluate the viability of offering repeated amnesties. The emphasis in this study was therefore on the Small Business Tax Amnesty of 2006, and its primary purpose was to explore the effects that multiple tax amnesties have on compliance and whether it is possible for tax compliance to improve if further tax amnesties are introduced. This study used a quantitative research approach to gather data from 146 respondents from an Audit firm database containing information about taxpayers qualifying as small business who applied for amnesty and taxpayers that did not apply for amnesty between 1 August and 30 June 2007. Analysis of the data revealed that tax amnesties in South Africa should not be offered on a frequent basis to non-compliant taxpayers as it causes non-compliant taxpayers to anticipate further amnesties which could impact negatively on tax compliance as a whole. The findings also indicated that educating taxpayers about tax issues could result in better tax compliance thus contributing to the development of a fair and equitable society. Based on the findings, this study makes recommendations to government, the tax authority and policy makers regarding the effects of multiple tax amnesties.

Amnesties are a common feature in peace negotiations. Since the end of the Second World War, 45% of all bargained solutions to conflict included an amnesty provision (Binningsbø  et al., 2012:732). Even though it is such a common feature in modern conflicts, the research on amnesties in relation to peace is surprisingly scarce (ibid:732). Most scholars have studied the legality of amnesties, their legal implications, and their relation to human rights and democracy (Olsen et al., 2012; Bell, 2008; Freeman & Pensky, 2012). During recent years, a debate has sparked between peacemakers and human rights advocates within the transitional justice literature regarding the justifiability of amnesties as a tool in peace negotiations. The debate is commonly referred to as the peace v. justice debate (Sonnenberg & Cavallaro, 2012). Although several scholars have contributed to the debate, no consensus on if and how amnesties are beneficial for peacebuilding has been established. This paper will contribute to the debate by testing a newly developed theory in a comparative study, and strives to answer the question How do different types of amnesties affect prospects of peace?

This thesis explores the political struggles that followed after the appearance of irregular migrants in Sweden. The analysis starts from the assumption that the group’s precarious circumstances of living disrupted the understanding of Sweden as an inclusive society and shed light on the limits of the welfare state’s inclusionary ambitions. The overarching analytical point of entry is accordingly that the appearance of irregular migrants constitutes an opening for contestation of the demarcation of the welfare state. The analysis draws on two strands of theory to explore this opening. Citizenship theory, first, provides insights about the contradictory logics of the welfare state, i.e. the fact that it rests on norms of equality and inclusion at the same time as it is premised on a fundamental exclusion of non-members. Discourse theory, furthermore, is brought in to make sense of the potential for contestation. The study approaches these struggles over demarcation through an analysis of the debates and claims-making that took place in the Swedish parliament between 1999 and 2014. The focal point of the analysis is the efforts to make sense of and respond to the predicament of the group. The study shows that efforts to secure rights and inclusion for the group revolved around two demands. The first demand, regularisation, aimed to secure rights for irregular migrants through status, i.e. through the granting of residence permits, whereas the second demand, access to social rights, aimed to secure rights through turning the group into right-bearers in the welfare state. The thesis concludes that the debates and claims-making during the 2000s resulted in a small, but significant, shift in policy. In 2013, new legislation was adopted that granted irregular migrants access to schooling and health- and medical care. I argue that this was an effect of successful campaigning that managed to establish these particular rights as human rights, and as such, rights that should be provided to all residents regardless of legal status. Overall, however, I conclude that there has been an absence of more radical contestation of the citizenship order, and of accompanying notions of rights and entitlement, in the debates studied.

This essay analyzes in a comparative manner, the cases of Argentina and Uruguay regarding the amnesty laws that both issued to members of the armed forces after the transition to democracy from the authoritarian regime, for violations of human rights committed during the military dictatorship. The research seeks to understand the causes that have made the amnesty law in Argentina from 1986 and 1987, together with the presidential pardoning of 1989 to be declared unconstitutional in 2005 and 2007 by the Argentinian Supreme Court, while the Uruguayan amnesty law issued in 1986 is at the time when this research was made still in force. The focus of this study relies on four main actors that have made an impact on this issue: the Executive; the Supreme Court; the Inter-American system of Human Rights; and the human rights movement. Our research intakes a qualitative nature that is the most appropriate method for this kind of study. A comparative methodology is developed studying the cases of Argentina and Uruguay in order to outline similarities and differences between them both, which let us see the different variables that both cases have in an effort to better understand the causes that led to different outcomes regarding the present legal status of the amnesty laws. This essay utilizes as its theoretical framework, theories of Transitional Justice and Human Rights from below, which are applied to the material presented in both cases. In Argentina, the Supreme Court, the Executive, the human rights movement and the Inter-American system of Human Rights, have worked together in the last decade to abolish the amnesty laws and the pardoning in the country. The Supreme Court in Uruguay acting against the Executive power in the last time is seen as a keen factor to why the amnesty law is still in force today. Here, the referendums in 1989 and 2009 supporting the further upholding of the law influenced the decision of the Supreme Court, and also made a negative impact in the human rights movement.

The aim of this study was to outline how the media image of the Václav Klaus' amnesty, brought by four Czech dailies in the first half of 2013, looked like and what editorial procedures were used by these media. The research focused on Mladá fronta Dnes, Hospodářské noviny, Právo and Haló noviny. From the methodological point of view it was a long-term research during the first six months of 2013. Articles that contained the keyword amnesty, belonged to the period under review, published in the selected newspapers and for which Anopress database assessed score of at least 90 % were included as a part of the final data collection. After eliminating duplicated and irrelevant articles, 448 units remained and these were subsequently analyzed by the quantitative content analysis. The work itself was divided into several parts, which gave to the analysis a final "form". In the first, theoretical part, were briefly mentioned basic theoretical approaches related to the research. The second part presented a practical section that put the event in the sufficient context. The methodological part outlined steps of the content analysis and also defined the main and subsidiary research questions and relevant hypotheses. Finally, in the last, fourth - analytical, part were answered partial research questions and answers...

Aprovada há mais de duas décadas, a anistia foi um marco no processo de abertura do país. Cinco anos depois de sua sanção pelo então presidente do Brasil, general João Baptista Figueiredo, encerrava-se o regime militar-autoritário iniciado em 1964. Tema desta dissertação, a anistia ora em análise não se limita à lei aprovada em 1979, sendo aqui definida como um processo político de longa duração, orientado por legislação federal e composto de três momentos fundamentais. São eles: a lei 6.683 (a Lei da Anistia propriamente dita), a lei 9.140 (Lei dos Desaparecidos) e a lei 10.559. Com a intenção de reconstituir tal processo e a fim de apreender seu sentido político, este estudo parte das primeiras demandas que antecederam cada uma das leis, passa pelos mais importantes acontecimentos históricos relacionados ao tema no período em exame e pelos debates que marcaram o processo até chegar na aprovação da legislação, pelo Congresso Nacional. Além de identificar, caracterizar e analisar o papel dos principais atores sociais que participaram de cada um dos três momentos, reconstitui-se aqui também o papel desempenhado pelas instituições envolvidas, examina-se a entrada em vigor das leis e os efeitos de sua aplicação. Conquanto não se trate de um estudo comparado, contribuem para o entendimento do caso brasileiro experiências semelhantes de outros três países da América do Sul que foram governados por regimes militares e sancionaram anistias: a Argentina, o Chile e o Uruguai. Percorrendo as últimas quatro décadas da história do país, este estudo trata do legado deixado pelo regime militar-autoritário à luz da teoria contemporânea de democracia e do desenvolvimento do conceito de direitos humanos. / Approved more than two decades ago, amnesty was a landmark in Brazil’s democratization process. Five years after its sanction by former Brazilian president, General João Baptista Figueiredo, the military-authoritarian regime initiated in 1964 was reaching its end. In analysis for the scope of this dissertation, amnesty does not limit itself to the law approved in 1979. Amnesty has been analyzed here as a long lasting political process, guided by federal legislation and integrated by three fundamental moments. These moments are: Law 6.683 (Amnesty Law), Law 9.140 (Missing Political Activists Law) and Law 10.559. This study describes and analysis the initial demands that preceded each of the laws. It also incorporates the main historical facts related to the issue and the debates and disputes along the process until the legislation approval by the Congress. Besides identifying, characterizing and analyzing the role of the main social actors that took part in each of the three moments, it also reviews the role issued by the institutions involved, it examines the entrance in force of the laws and their effects on its application. The final goal has been to reconstitute the process in order to understand its political meaning. The similar South American experiences of amnesty in dictatorial Argentina, Chile and Uruguay contribute for a better understanding of the Brazilian case, even though the present study is not a comparative one. Encompassing the last four decades in Brazil’s history, this study takes into account the legacy left behind by the military-authoritarian regime in light of the contemporary theory of democracy and the development of human rights’ concept.

This doctoral research project conducts a political sociology of knowledge of non-governmental actors engaged in advocating and reporting on issues relating to conflict and human rights. It engages the following research question: what are the limits of knowledge produced by non-governmental advocates? This question is applied to empirical case studies looking at, firstly, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group, and secondly, a network of global activists working on post-war Sri Lanka (2010-2014). Applying a Bourdieusian sociological framework, the thesis argues that professional advocates' epistemic practices are shaped by an array of socio-political dependencies. Contrasting with past applications of Bourdieu to International Relations, this thesis reveals contextually-specific dependencies through multiple levels and scales of analysis. At the organisational level, these dependencies manifest through advocacy NGOs' market-like relations with their targeted consumers, as well as their relations with rival knowledge producers. At the level of the human practitioner, it is shown how leading advocacy NGOs are reliant upon a relatively narrow labour market, consisting of practitioners who share a strong dispositional affinity with their consumers. Studying a smaller group of global advocates working on post-war Sri Lanka, the thesis also demonstrates how symbiotic relations between NGO practitioners and leading policy stakeholders had a structuring effect on advocates' network relations, as well as stimulating a deference to a dominant policy discourse of 'liberal peace'. Shifting the attention to advocates' extraction of knowledge from its proximal contexts, this thesis also examines the influence of advocates' localised dependencies. In the case of post-war Sri Lanka, it is shown how foreign advocates' knowledge is informed by a limited set of domestic actors, primarily encompassing the country's liberal elites. Overall, these dependencies are argued to place significant constraints on knowledge generated in advocacy contexts - limits that differ to other modes of knowledge production.