"The enjoyment of all human rights by all persons is the ultimate horizon of democracy. It is generally admitted that democratic societies are less likely to violate human rights. The good human rights records of these societies can be justified, among others, by the promotion of a strong legal culture, which provides procedural avenues for allocating responsibility for human rights violations. Thus, the protection of human rights follows from the functions of law in society, and the nature of human rights claims. At the national level, human rights are protected by both domestic and international mechanisms. Therefore, the human rights claims should be based on violations of either domestic law or relevant provisions of operational international human rights instruments. However, most of the time this is not the case, especially in Africa. Many African states have ratified several international human rights instruments, but the record of the way the latter are applied in their respective judicial systems remains very poor. This study aims to analyse the case of Burundi, one of these state whose judicial system only rarely applies international human rights instruments in spite of the importance devoted to them by the Constitution. It must be understood that international human rights as a source of law will be referred to, in this study, both as a source of rights and as a source of interpretation of domestic human righs instruments such as the Bill of Rights. ... Chapter one will set out the content of the research, identify the problem and outline the methodology. Chapter two will focus on the status of international law in domestic legal systems. It will highlight the theories that have been used to determine the relationship between international and domestic law in general. Chapter three will analyse on basis of some samples of cases how the Burundian courts interpret and apply international human rights instruments. Chapte four discusses the role played by the Burundian lawyers in the enforcement of these instruments. Chapter five will draw [a] conclusion and recommendations." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2005. / Prepared under the supervision of Professor Grace Patrick Tumwine-Mukubwa at the Faculty of Law, Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

On 18 November 2010, the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held that legal reforms adopted by Senegal in 2007 to incorporate international crimes into the national Penal Code to enable its domestic courts to prosecute Hissene Habre for, among others, crimes against humanity committed in Chad twenty years before, violated the principle of legality, specifically the principle against non-retroactivity of criminal law. The court held that such crimes could be prosecuted only by a hybrid tribunal with the jurisdiction to try Habre for the international crimes based on general principles of law common to the community of nations. Some scholars opined that the ECOWAS decision was wrong, stating that the crimes in question were criminalised already under international law and that Senegal‟s legal reforms simply served jurisdictional purposes. Given that, as a core component of the principle of legality, the role of non-retroactivity is to prohibit the creation of new crimes and their application to past conduct, the opinions of such scholars may hold true. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2011. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / nf2012 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

This study deals with two aspects of international law. The first is ‘immunity of state officials’ and the second is ‘prosecution of international crimes.’ Immunity is discussed in the context of international crimes. The study focuses on Africa because African state officials have become subjects of international criminal justice before international courts and various national courts both in Europe and Africa. It presents a new contribution to international criminal justice in Africa by examining the practice on prosecution of international crimes in eleven African states: South Africa; Kenya; Senegal; Ethiopia; Burundi; Rwanda; DRC; Congo; Niger; Burkina Faso and Uganda. The study concludes that immunity of state officials has been outlawed in these states thereby rendering state officials amenable to criminal prosecution for international crimes. The thesis argues that although immunity is founded under customary international law, it does not prevail over international law jus cogens on the prosecution of international crimes because such jus cogens trumps immunity. It is argued that, committing international crimes cannot qualify as acts performed in official capacity for the purpose of upholding immunity of state officials. In principle, customary international law outlaws functional immunity in respect of international crimes. Hence, in relation to international crimes, state officials cannot benefit from immunity from prosecution or subpoenas. Further, the study criticises the African Union’s opposition to the prosecutions before the International Criminal Court (ICC). It argues that however strong it may be, such opposition is unfounded in international law and is motivated by African solidarity to weaken the role of the ICC in Africa. It concludes that the decisions taken by the African Union not to cooperate with the ICC are geared towards breaching international obligations on cooperation with the ICC. The study calls upon African states to respect their obligations under the Rome Statute and customary international law. It recommends that African states should cooperate with the ICC in the investigations and prosecution of persons responsible for international crimes in Africa. At international level, the study reveals the conflicting jurisprudence of international courts on subpoenas against state officials. It argues that, state officials are not immune from being subpoenaed to testify or adduce evidence before international courts. It contends that issuing subpoenas to state officials ensures fairness and equality of arms in the prosecution of international crimes. It recommends that international courts should treat state officials equally regarding prosecution and subpoenas. It further recommends that African states should respect their obligations arising from the Rome Statute and that, immunity should not be used to develop a culture of impunity for international crimes committed in Africa. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies / MPM

Le droit d'accès au tribunal garantit au justiciable un accès concret et effectif à un juge afin d'obtenir une décision de justice. L'Etat doit offrir aux justiciables un accès aux juridictions qui répond aux attentes de ses usagers. Cependant, l'application d'une vision managériale en matière budgétaire pousse l'Etat depuis l'adoption de la LOLF à réformer le service public de la justice selon une logique de performance et de gestion des flux qui recherche à désengager l'Etat et à réduire les dépenses publiques. Cette vision risque alors de s'opposer à la promotion d'un accès au tribunal. Ainsi, la thèse s'attache à examiner les réformes de l'organisation juridictionnelle non pas au prisme d'une vision managériale mais au prisme des attentes du justiciable. Deux aspects du droit d'accès au tribunal doivent alors être analysés. D'une part, l'accès au tribunal nécessite de s'interroger sur les conditions permettant d'accéder réellement à la juridiction. La capabilité du justiciable permettra de dégager ces conditions. D'autre part, le droit d'accès au tribunal poursuit une finalité courte qu'est la décision de justice et une finalité longue qu'est la pacification sociale. Afin de tendre à ces finalités, le droit d'accès au tribunal doit rechercher l'acceptabilité de la décision de justice par le justiciable. / The right of access to the Courts is to provide litigants a concrete and effective access to judges in order to obtain a Court's decision. The State has to ensure such an access to the Courts in a way to better adress litigants' needs. However, the State's managerial vision on the national budget since the LOLF Reform steers Justice reforms towards a performance logic and workflow management resulting in a State withdrawal. Such an approach is contravening the promotion of a right of access to the Courts. This research aims to tackle Justice reforms regarding litigants needs without regards to the management point of view. Two aspects of the right of access to the Courts shall be analysed in this respect. Firstly, one shall look at the concrete conditions to access Courts. Litigants' capabilities is a usefull concept in this respect. Secondly, the right of access to the Courts aims at providing a judicial decision (short purpose) and at providing peacekeeping (long purpose). To fulfill those two purposes the right of access to the Courts is to based on and has to ensure litigants' acceptance of judicial decisions.

Public procurement-related crimes (in Czech republic) (summary of the dissertation) Vladislav Hřebíček In his paper, the author focuses on the area of public procurement-related crimes in the Czech Republic. As there has been no comprehensive coverage on the subject so far, the paper's primary ambition is to sum up the current state of knowledge while critically considering particular resources (mainly legislation and practice of courts), overlapping significantly into the area of daily practice of detecting such crimes and gathering evidence. In the first chapter, the author provides definitions for key terms and examines the term procurement from the perspectives of its legal definition as well as its interpretation based on court practice. Furthermore, the chapter specifies what is to be understood as procurement-related crime, placing this type of crime within the broader context of economic crime. At the same time, it offers answers to the related criminological questions and presents statistical data provided by the Police of the Czech Republic and the Czech Ministry of Interior. The second chapter gives the reader a historical overview of this area of law mainly from the perspective of criminal law. Covering the timeframe of 1918 (when the previous legislation was adopted) until the present day, it...

Book Summary: Offering a unique resource for students, scholars, and citizens, this work fully explains all of the 21 enumerated powers of the U.S. Congress, from the "power of the purse" to the power to declare war. • Presents comprehensive coverage of all congressional powers through authoritative essays by recognized experts • Enables readers to connect the long-ago goals and perspectives of the Founding Fathers to current issues and controversies • Facilitates a fully contextualized understanding of the legislative power of Congress―and the extent and limitations of leverage that it can wield on domestic and foreign policy • Provides an accessible gateway to further, more detailed research of each of the individual congressional powers • Includes appendices containing the full texts of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union and the Constitution of the United States

No description available.

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / This is an evaluative research study which was undertaken to establish whether the legal reforms, through the establishment of the Special Sexual Offences Courts, have been effective in reducing secondary traumatisation. In attempting to examine this crucial area, I focused specifically on the perceptions of professionals who are involved in child sexual abuse matters in the Special Sexual Offences Courts at Wynberg (Court G) and Cape Town (Court 32). The study employed qualitative research methodology, in the form of individual and group interviews, structured questionnaires and participant observation, to collect data. The respondents included magistrates, prosecutors, both victims support services coordinators within the court system, social workers who work with child abuse matters, Child Protection Unit investigating officers who investigate matters of this nature and attorneys who have defended offenders of child sexual abuse. The results indicate a marked disparity in physical appearance, location and an overall sense of child-friendliness between the two Special Sexual Offences Courts; a need for joint training of inter-disciplinary professionals, and a need for a more effective multidisciplinary team approach to the problem of child sexual abuse. The findings also indicate a need for regular contact between the professionals involved at the two Special Courts to ensure uniformity in terms of service provision, and a need for the restructuring of the job description of the co-ordinator. The findings reported and discussed, suggest that the legal reforms promulgated are but one aspect to the entire area of child protection. The overall success of these legal reforms depends upon the involvement, commitment and development of a common philosophy in child protection by, the medical, social, legal and police service systems. It is hoped that this report will act as a catalyst to urgently address the shortcomings which have been identified by the respondents, and that the recommendations reported will contribute to measures which will result in the development and implementation of effective child protective policies and practices.

The purpose of this project was to determine whether certain personal, socioeconomic, and court-related factors are significantly related to the differential placement of delinquent and dependent children from the detention facility at the Donald E. Long Home. A stratified random sample was composed of 173 placements of children who were held in detention after a preliminary hearing. The review of literature revealed that little systematic. Information is known regarding the placement process as it is related to differential placement of children from a detention facility. A code sheet was developed for recording the information in the children’s records maintained by the court. Fourteen variables were ultimately selected for analysis of their relationship to differential placement. These variables were subjected to three statistical approaches; a descriptive analysis of the random sample, testing of the significance of each variable to the alternatives in placement by either Chi square or analyses of variance, and testing of several variables in combination by discriminant function. This study was limited by the fact that only demographic variables were tested. Although three individual variables were found to have a high degree of significance in relation to placement, the data as produced within the scope of this research project does not provide an effective placement profile. The need for additional research in the area of the differential placement process is clearly indicated. Suggestions are made for future research.