Since the advent of the new democratic order established under the 1996 Constitution, South Africa has been plagued with many new challenges .One of the facts that our new democratic state could not ignore was the rapid increase in both national and international, organized criminal activity .The South African Legislature realizing the desire to combat serious criminal activities, introduced into South African Law, the Prevention of Organized Crime Act 121 of 1998. The Act recognizes that conventional criminal penalties are inadequate as measures of deterrence when organized crime leaders are able to retain the considerable gains derived from organized crime, even on those occasions when they are brought to justice. It strives to strip sophisticated criminals of the proceeds of their criminal conduct. The Courts, in applying this legislation, has also created a new field of law that had until the advent of the Act, not existed in South African Law, namely organized crime law. A field, distinct from the ordinary principles of criminal law. The bulk of jurisprudence created over the past decade or more, however seems to be threatened to be undone by the recent judgment concerning the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Act. The confirmation of this judgment is being considered by the Constitutional Court and the purpose of this thesis is to argue against the confirmation of this judgment / Public, Constitutional and International Law / LL. M.

No description available.

Germany’s economic dominance in Europe, generous investment incentives, and technical manufacturing prowess has encouraged an influx of Chinese-led inbound activity, concentrated in high-tech sector mergers and acquisitions. A close examination of these M&As yields evidence of systemic Chinese state-financing through both state-owned and private vehicles that likely stems from China’s “Made in China 2025” policy, which hopes to stem capital outflow and to indigenize technological innovation. As Germany braces for what it sees to be continuous attempts by China to take patented German technology through M&As, it worries that Chinese patent law will allow for rampant patent infringement by copycat Chinese entities. This paper presents an overview of the root causes of China’s heavy economic activity in Germany, as well as an analysis of the legal concerns held by German firms based on a close reading of the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China and strategic recommendations for German companies hoping to work with or in China.

The dissertation called "Flaws of the legislative procedure and the legislation itself" aims to describe the main problems and flaws of the legislative procedure and the current condition of the legislature. It deals with the question of the cause of the current unintelligible and disorganized law. The paper analyses the situation in the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria. The thesis deals with four main questions. First, what kind of law the legislator should create. The question is answered by the description of the formal attributes of the law. Subsequently, it is put into question how the legislator should create such law. The duties of the legislator are described as those which were deduced by the German Federal Constitutional Court. In the chapter which deals with the question of how the legislator creates such law in reality, the particular safety measures and particular flaws of the legislative procedure are described. Finally, the last question analyses what kind of law is created by the legislator in reality, i. e. it deals with the problems of the current legislature which are specifically caused by the so called flood of laws. In conclusion, the thesis answers the question whether there is a connection between the particular flaws of the legislative procedure and the particular flaws...

Submitted by Priscilla Araujo (priscilla@ibict.br) on 2017-12-05T17:14:33Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Deila Batista Salino-Dissertação-Mestrada-IBICT-UFRJ-2016.pdf: 1439653 bytes, checksum: 7387f9fca454e1881c99b4615e17d7a5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-05T17:14:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Deila Batista Salino-Dissertação-Mestrada-IBICT-UFRJ-2016.pdf: 1439653 bytes, checksum: 7387f9fca454e1881c99b4615e17d7a5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-04 / A pesquisa destaca a importância da promoção da transparência no acesso à informação pública, tendo como foco de análise os Tribunais de Contas do Brasil. O estudo propõe um diálogo entre a Ciência da Informação e Filosofia da Linguagem para discutir as questões de informação pública sobre o ponto de vista epistemológico e aplicado. Para esta abordagem teórica, adota-se parte dos conceitos da segunda fase de pensamento de Ludwig Wittgenstein, a saber, ―jogos de linguagem‖, ―semelhança de família‖, ―formas de vida‖ e ―regras‖, encontrados, predominantemente na obra Investigações Filosóficas, como forma de contribuir para a compreensão do uso das noções ―informação pública‖, ―transparência pública‖ e ―desinformação‖. O estudo tem como procedimento metodológico a pesquisa descritiva, bibliográfica e documental, tendo por foco analítico as legislações internas pesquisadas nos sites dos Tribunais de Contas do Brasil, na busca da aplicação da Lei nº 12.527, de 18 de novembro de 2011 (Lei de Acesso à Informação – LAI). Tais legislações, que visam à promoção da transparência através dos serviços prestados, podem ser compreendidas nesta pesquisa a partir das semelhanças e dessemelhanças entre as Cortes de Contas estudadas. As noções wittgensteinianas possibilitam entender as dimensões histórico-institucionais a partir do modo como estas comunicam suas transformações, evidenciando que a pragmática da linguagem influencia na constituição das práticas sociais cotidianas. Assim, a análise da linguagem em sua inserção contextual passa a ser vista como uma ferramenta de compreensão da LAI e de sua aplicação. / The research highlights the importance of promoting transparency in the access to public information, with the focus of analysis the Audit Courts of Brazil. The study proposes a dialogue between the Information Science and Philosophy of Language to discuss the public information issues on the epistemological point of view and applied. For this theoretical approach, we adopt part of the concepts of the second phase of thought of Ludwig Wittgenstein, namely "language games", "family resemblances", "life forms" and "rules" found predominantly in work Philosophical Investigations, in order to contribute to the understanding of the use of the concepts "public information", "public transparency" and "disinformation". The study's methodological approach descriptive research, bibliographic and documentary, with the analytical focus the national legislation surveyed in the portals of the Audit Courts of Brazil, seeking the application of Law n. 12.527 of 18 November 2011 (Access Law to Information - LAI). Such legislation, aimed at promoting transparency through the services provided, can be understood here from the similarities and dissimilarities between the Accounts of Cortes studied. The notion of "language games" makes it possible to understand the historical and institutional dimensions, showing that the pragmatics of language influences the constitution of everyday social practices. Thus, the analysis of language in its contextual integration is seen as an understanding tool of LAI and its application.

Abstract : The present study addressed the feasibility of reinforced-concrete squat walls totally reinforced with GFRP bars to attain reasonable strength and drift requirements as specified in different codes. Nine large-scale squat walls with aspect ratio (height to length ratio) of 1.33—one reinforced with steel bars (as reference specimen) and eight totally reinforced with GFRP bars—were constructed and tested to failure under quasi-static reversed cyclic lateral loading. The key studied parameters were: (1) use of bidiagonal web reinforcement; (2) use of bidiagonal sliding reinforcement; and (3) web reinforcement configuration (horizontal and/or vertical) and ratio. The reported test results clearly revealed that GFRP-reinforced concrete (RC) squat walls have a satisfactory strength and stable cyclic behavior as well as self-centering ability that assisted in avoiding sliding shear that occurred in the companion steel-reinforced wall following steel yielding. The results are promising regarding using GFRP-reinforced squat walls in areas prone to seismic risk where environmental conditions are adverse to steel reinforcement. Bidiagonal web reinforcement was shown to be more effective than conventional web reinforcement in controlling shear-cracks width. Using bidiagonal sliding reinforcement was demonstrated to be not necessary to prevent sliding shear. The horizontal web reinforcement ratio was found to have a significant effect in enhancing the ultimate strength and deformation capacity as long as the failure is dominant by diagonal tension. Existence of both horizontal and vertical web reinforcement was shown to be essential for cracks recovery. Assessment of the ultimate strengths using the available FRP-reinforced elements code and guidelines (CSA S806-12 and ACI 440.1R-15) was conducted and some recommendations were proposed to attain a reasonable estimation of ultimate strengths. Given their importance in estimating the walls’ later displacement, the effective flexural and shear stiffness of the investigated walls were evaluated. It was found that the cracked shear stiffness could be estimated based on the truss model; while the flexural stiffness can be estimated based on the available expressions in FRP-reinforced elements codes and guidelines. Based on a regression analysis, a simple model that directly correlates the flexural and shear stiffness degradation of the test walls to their top lateral drift was also proposed. / Résumé : La présente étude traite de la faisabilité de voiles courts en béton armé totalement renforcés avec des barres de polymères renforcés de fibres de verre (PRFV), obtenant une résistance et un déplacement latéral raisonnable par rapport aux exigences spécifiées dans divers codes. Neuf voiles à grande échelle ont été construits: un renforcé avec des barres d'acier (comme spécimen de référence) et huit renforcés totalement avec des barres de PRFV. Les voiles ont été testés jusqu’à la rupture sous une charge quasi-statique latérale cyclique inversée. Les voiles ont une hauteur de 2000 mm, une largeur de 1500 mm (élancement 2000 mm/1500 mm = 1,33) et une épaisseur de 200 mm. Les paramètres testés sont : 1) armature bi-diagonale dans l’âme; 2) armature bi-diagonale dans l’encastrement du mur à la fondation (zone de glissement); 3) configuration d’armature verticale et horizontale réparties dans l’âme et taux d’armature. Les résultats des essais ont clairement montré que les voiles courts en béton armé de PRFV ont une résistance satisfaisante et un comportement cyclique stable ainsi qu'une capacité d'auto-centrage qui ont aidé à éviter la rupture par glissement à l’encastrement (sliding shear). Ce mode de rupture (sliding shear) s’est produit pour le voile de référence armé d’acier après la plastification de l’armature. Les résultats sont prometteurs concernant l'utilisation de voiles en béton armé de PRFV dans les régions sismiques dans lesquelles les conditions environnementales sont défavorables à l’armature d’acier (corrosion). L’armature bi-diagonale en PRFV dans l’âme s’est avérée plus efficace pour le contrôle des largeurs de fissures de cisaillement comparativement à l’armature répartie dans l’âme. L'utilisation d'un renforcement de cisaillement bi-diagonal a été démontrée comme n'étant pas nécessaire dans les voiles courts en béton armé de PRFV pour prévenir la rupture par glissement à l’encastrement (shear sliding). Par ailleurs, les résultats d’essais ont montré que le taux d’armature horizontale répartie dans l’âme a un effet significatif sur l’augmentation de la résistance et la capacité en déformation des voiles dont la rupture par effort tranchant se fait par des fissures diagonales (tension failure). L'existence d’armature verticale et horizontale répartie dans l’âme du voile en béton armé de PRFV s'est révélée essentielle pour l’ouverture et la fermeture des fissures au cours des chargements cycliques. Les normes calcul CSA S806-12 et ACI 440.1R-15 ont été utilisées pour évaluer la résistance au cisaillement des voiles courts en béton armé de PRFV. Certaines recommandations ont été proposées pour obtenir une estimation raisonnable des forces ultimes. Compte tenu de leur importance dans l'estimation du déplacement latérale des voiles, la rigidité effective en flexion et en cisaillement des voiles étudiés a été évaluée. On a constaté que la raideur de cisaillement du béton fissuré pourrait être estimée en utilisant le modèle de treillis. La rigidité à la flexion peut être, quant à elle, estimée en fonction des expressions disponibles dans les normes et les guides de conception de membrures en béton armé avec des barres en PRFV. Sur la base d'une analyse de régression, un modèle simple qui corrèle directement la dégradation de la rigidité en flexion et en cisaillement des voiles courts en béton armé de PRFV testés avec le déplacement latérale dans la partie supérieure des voiles a également été proposé.

Judicial activism implies a hidden politicization of the Court. The legal arguments and the methods used by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) might seem coherent. However, an inquiry into judicial activism means looking beyond the legal reasoning of the Court and trying to “connect the dots” of an alternative narrative that can explain the Court’s long-term approach to certain issues. In the case of judicial activism of the CJEU in the case-law concerning public international law, the veil for the politicization of the Court is provided by the pluralist architecture of global law. The heterarchical structure of relations among legal orders in the international arena activates the CJEU as an actor of global governance. Simultaneously, it results in the Court adopting a rather internal and defensive approach, undermining legal security.<p><p>Judicial activism of the CJEU finds its particular expressions in the case-law concerning public international law. The pro-integrationist tendency of the CJEU often raised in the literature concerning the Court’s role in the process of EU integration, translates into a substantial and an institutional dimension of judicial activism. The substantial articulation of judicial activism in the case-law concerning international law is the Court’s emphasis on the autonomy of the EU legal order. This internal perspective is adopted not only for virtuous reasons, but also in defense of definitely not universal European interests. The institutional dimension refers to the Court’s position within the EU structure of governance. The case-law concerning international law is marked by a close alignment with the European Commission and the integration of the EU goals in external relations. Moreover, the pluralist veil can cover the extent to which the Court’s decisions concerning international law are influenced by considerations completely internal to the EU. <p><p>In my analysis I proceed in three steps that are reflected in three chapters of the thesis. There is no clear and prevalent definition of judicial activism, but instead rather multiple possibilities of approaching the concept. While the general intend of the research project is to critically reflect on the concept of judicial activism of the highest courts within a legal order, the particular focus will be on the CJEU dealing with international law. I proceed in three steps. First, I assess different understandings of the role of the judge and the concept of judicial activism in legal literature in view of ascertaining the relevance of the debate and distilling some general components of a possible definition. Secondly, I identify the factors particular for the position of the CJEU within the EU legal order and with regard to international law. The particular characteristics of the CJEU result in a limited applicability of the general definitions of judicial activism. Finally, I analyze the case-law in view of identifying examples as well as counter-examples of the particular symptoms/attributes. Because judicial activism broadens the scope of the factors guiding judicial decision-making, it enables us to better understand the contingencies in the Court´s jurisprudence. / Doctorat en Sciences juridiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Les statuts et les règlements des juridictions internationales pénales reconnaissent la plupart des garanties du droit à un procès équitable prévues par les instruments internationaux relatifs aux droits de l’homme. Pourtant, si on examine le volume du contentieux pénal international, nous allons vite nous apercevoir que les allégations relatives à la violation de ce droit occupent une place importante. C’est pourquoi, il nous paraissait nécessaire de déceler et d’analyser les raisons de cette distorsion. Pour faire une telle étude, nous avons préalablement avancé qu’au-delà de la dimension originelle de la procédure pénale internationale visant à mettre en œuvre les règles du droit international pénal, deux autres dimensions se sont confirmées aussi bien à travers les textes que dans la pratique. Il s’agit de la dimension humaniste d’une part et de la dimension managériale d’autre part. Partant de ce constat, nous avons voulu lever le voile sur les impacts de ses dernières sur la mise en œuvre effective du droit à un procès équitable, et ce, en procédant à une analyse critique. Le but de cette démarche est de démontrer que ces dimensions intrinsèques de la procédure pénale internationale, ont des effets directs et indirects sur le caractère équitable des procès pénaux internationaux / The statutes and the rules of international criminal courts recognize most of the guarantees of the right to a fair trial under international instruments on human rights. However, if we examine the size of international criminal litigation, we will soon realize that the allegations relating to the violation of this right take a large place. Therefore, it seemed necessary to identify and analyze the reasons for this distortion. To do such a study, we have previously argued that beyond the original dimensions of the international criminal procedure to implement the rules of international criminal law, two others dimensions were confirmed by the texts and the practice. There are the humanist and the managerial dimensions. With this in mind, we wanted to uncover their impact on the effective implementation of the right to a fair trial, conducting a critical analysis. The purpose of this approach is to demonstrate that these intrinsic dimensions of international criminal procedure have direct and indirect effects on the fairness of international criminal trials

The issue addressed in this study is whether the South African insolvency law provides adequate debt relief measures to deal with the growing problem of overindebtedness amongst individuals. Against the background of a historical and comparative investigation this study focuses on a critical evaluation of debt relief measures provided for by the Insolvency Act 24 of 1936 as well as the alternative measures outside the ambit of the Insolvency Act. Although it is not a prime object of the Insolvency Act to afford the individual debtor a discharge of pre-sequestration debts it is a consequence of sequestration after rehabilitation of the debtor. Nevertheless, sequestration followed by rehabilitation is not readily available as a debt relief measure. This can mainly be attributed to the advantage for creditors requirement that can be viewed as an impediment to obtaining a fresh start for many individual debtors. This is also the debtor's position regarding debt relief provided by the procedure of composition in terms of the Insolvency Act, as it is currently only available after sequestration As far as creditors' interests are concerned, the efficiency of this requirement may also be questioned as statistics indicate that the sequestration process is implemented in instances where doing so is not cost-effective. It is furthermore submitted that the current alternative debt relief measures provided for by South African law are inadequate and that the problems encountered in practice regarding friendly sequestrations can to a great extent be attributed to this fact. In order to reserve sequestration for extreme cases, insolvency law reform aimed at preventing implementation of the sequestration process when doing so is not cost-effective is recommended. However, it is emphasised that these recommendations should only be implemented if provision is made for an adequate alternative debt relief measure that would accommodate debtors whose estates do not justify a concursus creditorum. It is submitted that the administration procedure in terms of section 74 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 32 of 1944 should be adjusted to offer the required debt relief by inter alia affording the debtor a discharge of his debts. It is furthermore submitted that this procedure should be combined with the pre-liquidation composition proposed by the South African law commission and that the combined procedure should only be open for implementation if an informal arrangement, coupled with debt counselling, cannot be reached. As regards international guidelines for insolvency law reform it is contended that South Africa should follow the example of other systems by fully embracing the fresh start approach. With regard to rehabilitation in terms of the Insolvency Act it is submitted that the automatic rehabilitation of bona fide debtors after three years should be the point of departure. Regarding assets excluded from the insolvent estate recommendations aimed at enabling the debtor to continue his household as a social and economic unit are made. In the end, South African insolvency law reform should seek to find a balance between debtors' and creditors' interests. It is submitted that the current proposals for insolvency law reform will not achieve this objective. / Dissertation (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Procedural Law / unrestricted

This thesis examines the validity of exclusionary clauses in medical contracts, more especially, hospital contracts in which the healthcare provider exonerates itself against edictal liability arising from the negligent conduct of its staff, resulting in the patient suffering damages. In assessing whether these types of clauses should be outlawed by our courts, this thesis attempts to synthesize six major traditional areas of law, namely, the law of delict, the law of contract, medical law and ethics, international and foreign law, statutory law and constitutional law into a legal conceptual framework relating specifically to exclusionary clauses in medical contracts in South Africa. This thesis highlights systemic inconsistencies with regard to the central issue, namely, whether these types of clauses are valid or not, especially, given the fact that the practice of exclusionary clauses or waivers in hospital contracts has hitherto traditionally been assessed within the framework of the law of contract. The alignment of the various pre-existing areas of statutory and common law with the Constitution highlights that an inter-disciplinary and purposive approach under the value-driven Constitution, brings about a less fragmented picture in assessing the validity of these types of clauses. This approach accords with the new solicitude of the executive, the judiciary, the legislature and academia to transform the South African legal system not only in terms of procedural law but also substantive law. This has resulted in the alignment with constitutional principles and the underlying values to test the validity of these types of clauses, alternatively, contracts. Whereas pre-constitutionally the assessment of disclaimers in hospital contracts was done against the stratum of antiquated principles, namely, freedom of contract and the sanctity of contract, ignoring values such as reasonableness, fairness and conscionability, post-constitutionally, because the values that underlie the Bill of Rights and which affects all spheres of law, including the law of contract, concepts such as fairness, equity, reasonableness should weigh heavily with the decision-maker. In this regard, broader medico-legal considerations, normative medical ethics and the common law principles of good faith, fairness and reasonableness play a fundamental role in the assessment of contractual provisions, including the practice of disclaimers or exclusionary clauses in hospital contracts. This thesis critically examines how these types of clauses or contracts ought to be adjudicated eventually against the background of such alignment. It concludes that the entering into a hospital contract, in which the patient exonerates a hospital and its staff from liability flowing from the hospital or its staff's negligence causing damages to the patient, would be inconsistent with the Constitution and invalid. In the old order in which traditional divisions of law have been encouraged, a fragmented approach resulted in legal in congruencies which, in turn, created turbulence and a lot of uncertainty. This approach is apposite to that which the new constitutionally based legal system, aims to achieve. The rights in the Bill of Rights which are interconnected and which influences all spheres of law, including contract law, offers a fairer basis upon which, the validity of contracts, or contractual provisions, can be measured than, the pure contract approach. In this regard, although contracts or contractual provisions in the past may have been unfair and unreasonable, the courts, however, refused to strike them down purely on this basis. The law of contract, as a legal vehicle for adjudicating the validity of exclusionary clauses or waivers in hospital contracts, is therefore not ideal. This is primarily due to the antiquated approach the South African courts have always taken in this area of law. The law of delict, statutory law and medical law, standing alone, also does not provide a satisfactory answer. What is needed is an integrated approach in which the traditional areas of law are united and wherein constitutional principles and values, give much guidance and direction. Alternatively, should the unification of the traditional areas of law not be possible in bringing about fair and equitable results, the introduction of legislative measures may very well be indicated. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Public Law / unrestricted