The South African Constitution in section 27(1)(c) obligates the state to develop a comprehensive social security system. It affirms the universal right to access to social security, including appropriate social assistance for those unable to support themselves and their dependants. It orders the state to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of these rights. The underlying normative commitment of social security is the improvement of the quality of life of the population by promoting economic or material equality. Social security ensures that all citizens have a stake in society and that each individual has an incentive to contribute to the development of the commonwealth. It plays a crucial role in the lives of communities and families viewed in the context of social transfers which provide broader development objectives and tackles income poverty transfers. The objectives of this study are threefold. Firstly, it examines the extension of social assistance coverage to the indigents in South Africa. Secondly, it looks at the legal mechanisms employed by courts and government in order to improve the social security rights of the poor in South Africa. Thirdly, the research investigates the possible reform and trends in India and Brazil with the aim of improving South Africa’s system of social security. For the avoidance of doubt, the law evaluated in this work is at 15 September 2015. / Jurisprudence / LL. D.

The researcher identified in her work as a social worker that sexually abused adolescents experience difficulties with testifying in court. The goal of this research was directed at developing guidelines to assist adolescents who have to testify in court. The researcher utilised the qualitative research approach with an exploratory and descriptive nature. Semi-structured interviews were done with a sample of adolescents who have testified in court, a sample of parents or caregivers of adolescents who have testified in court and social workers working with adolescents who testify in court. These interviews were conducted to gain insight into how the research participants experienced the court process in order to formulate guidelines for adolescents who have to testify in court. The researcher concluded that adolescents experience testifying in court as negative. Guidelines were developed from the information obtained from the research participants to support adolescents who has to testify in court. / Social work / M.Diac. (Play therapy)

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is a regional economic community established by Treaty in 1992 and comprising fifteen southern African countries. The Tribunal, SADC’s judicial organ, is situated in Windhoek, Namibia and became operational in 2005. The Tribunal enjoys a wide mandate to hear and determine disputes between states, states and SADC, and between natural and legal persons and states or SADC. It is mandated to develop its own jurisprudence having regard to applicable treaties, general rules and principles of public international law, and principles and rules of law of member states. Being new in the field, the Tribunal has not as yet developed a significant jurisprudence although it has delivered a number of judgments some of which are referred to in the study. The Tribunal is expected to develop its own jurisprudence having regard to the jurisprudence developed by other international courts involved in the judicial settlement of disputes. The study offers a comparative review and analysis of the jurisprudence of two selected courts: the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ). The focus is on four selected areas considered crucial to the functioning of the Tribunal and the selected courts. The study discusses the parties with access to the Tribunal and compares this with access to the ICJ and ECJ. The jurisdiction of the Tribunal is contrasted with that of the two selected courts. The sources of law available to the Tribunal are discussed and contrasted to those of the two courts. Lastly, the enforcement of law in SADC is contrasted to what applies in relation to the selected courts. In each selected area, similarities and differences between the Tribunal and the two courts are noted and critically evaluated. Further, rules and principles developed by the two selected courts are explored in depth with a view to identifying those which could be of use to the Tribunal. Recommendations are made on rules and principles which could be of use to the Tribunal and on possible improvements to the SADC treaty regime. / Constitutional, International and Indigenous Law / LL.D.

Le gouverneur civil portugais ne cesse d’être, pour les juristes, les politistes et les historiens, une sourceconstante d’interrogations. Établi en 1832 par José Xavier MOUZINHO da SILVEIRA avec le titre de prefeito, puisen 1835 avec celui de gouverneur civil, en même temps que la création du district en tant que division administrativedu territoire, il a été, dès ses origines, fortement inspiré du préfet français. L’institution a été instaurée dans laperspective de créer une séparation entre les fonctions juridictionnelles et administratives, lesquelles relevaient descomarcas. De même, il s’agissait de doter le pouvoir royal d’une réelle structure politique à l’échelon local. Par lasuite, les Codes administratifs successifs, révisés ou adoptés quasiment à chaque alternance politique, avantl’avènement de l’État Nouveau et la Constitution Politique de 1933, n’ont pas bouleversé fondamentalement lesattributions de l’institution en tant que représentation locale du pouvoir central, et il a fallu attendre le Codeadministratif de 1940 pour faire du gouverneur civil un acteur essentiel de la vie administrative et politique locale.Après la transition démocratique, qui a fait suite à la Révolution des OEillets du 25 avril 1974, et l’adoption de laConstitution de la République Portugaise de 1976, le gouverneur civil, toujours nommé par le pouvoir central, a étémaintenu à titre transitoire… durant quatre décennies. Depuis l’échec du référendum du 8 novembre 1998, relatif à larégionalisation administrative du territoire, les relations complexes de la classe politique à l’égard de l’institutioncentrale du district se sont toujours inscrites entre perspectives de suppression, volonté de réformes et indécisions. Encela, elles sont révélatrices des atermoiements et des paradoxes de la classe politique qui souhaitait une réforme enprofondeur du gouverneur civil, mais qui maintenait l’institution dans une situation ambiguë. La loi organiquen° 1/2011 du 30 novembre 2011 a disposé que le gouverneur civil était supprimé. En l’absence d’un représentantlocal du pouvoir central on propose une réforme théorique dans laquelle le prefeito régional représenterait l’État dansles régions administratives lorsqu’elles auront été instaurées. / The role of the Portuguese Civil Governor remains a constant source of interrogation for lawyers, politicalscientists and historians. It was established in 1832 by José Xavier MOUZINHO da SILVEIRA, under the title ofPrefeito then in 1835 at the time of the creation of the district as an administrative division of the territory, the titlebecame the “Civil Governor”. It was initially inspired by the French Prefect. The institution was founded in anattempt to separate the jurisdictional and administrative functions within the districts. Similarly, the goal was toprovide the royal power with a real political structure at local level. Accordingly, before the advent of the New Stateand the Political Constitution of 1933, the revised and adopted administrative codes, resulting from any politicalchange, did not fundamentally alter the powers of the institution as a local representation of the central power. TheCivil Governor only became a key player in the administration and local politics following the Administrative Codeof 1940. After the democratic transition following the Carnation Revolution (April 25, 1974) and the adoption of theConstitution of the Portuguese Republic in 1976, the Civil Governor, who was always appointed by the centralgovernment, has remained in a transitory state for four decades, more than a third of a century. Since the referendumof November 8th 1998 relating to the administrative regionalization of the territory failed, the complex relationshipsbetween the political class and the central institution of the district have always wavered between the prospect ofsuppression, the desire for reform and indecisiveness. As such these relations revealed the prevarications andparadoxes of the political class which wanted an in depth reform of the Civil Governor’s role while maintaining theinstitution in an ambiguous situation. The organic law n° 1/2011 of November 30th 2011 states that the CivilGovernor is abolished. In the absence of the local representative of the central power, a theoretical reform is proposedwhere the regional Prefeito represents the State in the administrative regions once they are established.

This thesis investigates the compatibility of a crucial aspect of Sudanese criminal justice, namely, the compatibility of the right to a fair trial with two main sources of this right: international human rights law and Shari’a law. The right to a fair trial is a cornerstone for any society and serves to observe the rule of law and other rights of citizens. The study illustrates that the right to a fair trial could play a significant role in the protection of human rights in Sudan. The main aim of this study is to establish ways in which the right to a fair trial can be strengthened in Sudan. The thesis has examined the work emanating from the international level by reviewing decisions, providing general comments and analysing other jurisprudence emanating from bodies such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Human Rights Committee. The decisions, general comments and other jurisprudence from these bodies are juxtaposed against Sudan’s laws to establish the extent to which the right to a fair trial is upheld at the domestic level in Sudan. The study critically examines the sources of the right to a fair trial in Sudan. The main sources of right to a fair trial in Sudan are the Constitution, the Criminal Procedure Act, the Penal Code, Shari’a law and international human rights law. It seeks to answer the question whether Sudanese fair trial rights are compatible with international standards. The study establishes that one of the sources of law that govern the right to a fair trial in Sudan is Shari’a law. The main principle in Islam is that nothing is unlawful, unless it is expressly forbidden by law. However, the Shari’a law in Sudan has not been properly implemented as is illustrated through the rigid and traditional implementation of some of its provisions. The selective and rigid implementation of provisions of Shari’a law has resulted in a conflict with the accepted international standards of fair trial rights. What the study establishes is that a more progressive interpretation of Shari’a law can potentially solve the contradictions with international human rights law that currently exist. The study identifies a number of factors that have affected the development of the right to a fair trial in Sudan. Among these factors are the lack of political will, poverty, the lack of awareness about rights, laws that are contrary to the right to a fair trial, laws that inadequately protect victims and witnesses, impunity, corruption, the lack of resources both human and financial, abuse of power, existence of military and special courts, institutional constraints, discrimination against women, and the refusal or resistance of the executive branch of government to implement decisions of the courts. This study concludes that some pre-trial, trial and post-trial rights and standards in Sudan are not in conformity with international and regional standards. The study concludes by making a number of recommendations aimed at institutional and legal reform. / Dissertation (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Centre for Human Rights / LLD / Unrestricted

[pt] O presente estudo tem o objetivo de compreender o desenvolvimento do conceito de safe third country (terceiro país seguro) e suas consequências para a proteção internacional dos refugiados, a partir do princípio do non-refoulement (princípio da não devolução). Busca-se analisar de que forma esta ideia está sendo aplicada pelos Estados, através dos tratados internacionais com a finalidade de transferência de solicitantes de refúgio a terceiros países supostamente seguros. Além disso, a pesquisa analisa a jurisprudência dos Sistemas Interamericano e Europeu de Direitos Humanos sobre as devoluções de refugiados e migrantes, assim como o diálogo entre as cortes internacionais sobre este tema, especialmente à luz das especificidades regionais do continente americano. Portanto, o trabalho demonstra que as políticas dos países com base na noção de safe third country são mecanismos para transferir suas responsabilidades em relação ao refúgio e representam obstáculos para a garantia dos direitos humanos de refugiados. / [en] The present study aims to understand the development of the concept of safe third country and its consequences for the international protection of refugees, based on the principle of non-refoulement. It seeks to analyze how this idea has been applied by States, through international treaties with the purpose of transferring asylum seekers to supposedly safe third countries. Moreover, the research analyzes the jurisprudence of the Inter-American and European Human Rights Systems on the returns of refugees and migrants, as well as the dialogue between international courts on this topic, especially considering the regional specificities of the American continent. Therefore, this research demonstrates that countries policies based on the notion of safe third country are mechanisms to transfer their responsibilities in relation to refuge and represent obstacles to guaranteeing the human rights of refugees. / [es] El presente estudio tiene como objetivo comprender el desarrollo del concepto de safe third country (tercer país seguro) y sus consecuencias para la protección internacional de los refugiados, a partir del principio de non-refoulement (principio de no devolución). Se busca analizar cómo dicha idea está siendo aplicada por los Estados, a través de tratados internacionales con el propósito de trasladar solicitantes de refugio a terceros países supuestamente seguros. Además, la investigación analiza la jurisprudencia de los Sistemas Interamericano y Europeo de Derechos Humanos sobre las devoluciones de refugiados y migrantes, así como el diálogo entre cortes internacionales sobre este tema, especialmente a la luz de las especificidades regionales del continente americano. Por lo tanto, el trabajo demuestra que las políticas de los países basadas en la noción de safe third country son mecanismos para transferir sus responsabilidades con relación al refugio y representan obstáculos para garantizar los derechos humanos de los refugiados.

La criminalité organisée constitue une préoccupation pour les pouvoirs publics français et haïtiens et sa répression pénale se situe au cœur des droits français et haïtien. Pour ce faire, les deux législateurs ont dû adapter leur législation pénale afin de doter l’institution judiciaire de nouveaux instruments répressifs permettant la détection et la répression des infractions de criminalité organisée. Celles-ci sont réprimées via une double approche répressive proactive et réactive. On remarque que le droit pénal de la criminalité organisée tant substantiel que formel opère un glissement du réactif vers le proactif. Il s’agit d’une logique répressive qui privilégie l’efficacité répressive sur le respect des principes fondamentaux. Le droit à un procès équitable s’y trouve alors malmené. Dans les deux droits, les personnes impliquées dans des infractions organisées sont sévèrement sanctionnées et la confiscation des avoirs criminels est utilisée à des fins préventives et répressives. Cette répression se fait dans le cadre d’une coopération policière et judiciaire efficace qui favorise l’émergence de nouveaux instruments de coopération provoquant ainsi la mutualisation et la régionalisation des normes destinées à la répression pénale de la criminalité organisée. Cette étude comparative montre qu’Haïti peut bénéficier de l’expertise judiciaire française fondée sur la spécialisation des acteurs judiciaires qui interviennent dans le procès pénal. / Organized crime is a major concern for the French and Haitian public forces and the related crime repression methods are at the core of the French and Haitian Criminal Law. In that sense, both legislators had to adapt their criminal legislation in order to provide the judicial system with new instruments of crime control to help detect and punish organized crime offenses. The latter are fought down via a double punishment approach that is proactive and reactive. We notice that the criminal law of organized crime, whether substantive or formal, slides from the reactive towards the proactive. It is a repressive logic that favours efficient repressive methods over the respect of fundamental principals. And therefore, the right of a fair trial is ill-used. In both Rights, the people involved in organized offences are severally sanctioned and the criminal assets are forfeited in order to apply preventive and repressive measures. This repression takes place within a cooperative efficient framework between the police and the judicial body and causes the emergence of new instruments of cooperation and the sharing and regionalization of the norms of criminal sanctions against organized crime. This comparative study shows that Haiti can benefit from the French judiciary expertise founded on the specialisation of the judiciary actors who participate in the criminal proceedings.

La tesi ha per oggetto l’autotutela amministrativa, specialmente quella c.d. decisoria “spontanea”, ovvero quell’insieme di poteri che consentono all’amministrazione di riesaminare i propri provvedimenti e di rimuoverli a vario titolo.
Di questi poteri si è indagato il fondamento dogmatico e positivo. La questione del fondamento è stata per lunghi anni affrontata dalla dottrina e dalla giurisprudenza in termini totalmente pre-critici e non problematici: l’esistenza di questi poteri era semplicemente scontata e le riflessioni sulla loro base giuridica si esaurivano perlopiù nella constatazione della loro necessità nell’immemore consenso circa la loro ammissibilità. Negli ultimi anni, invece, una parte degli Autori ha disconosciuto la natura implicita e per così dire “originaria” di questi poteri e ne ha perciò patrocinato la stretta riconduzione al principio di legalità: in altre parole, l’annullamento e la revoca non sarebbero affatto conseguenza della c.d. inesauribilità del potere amministrativo – negata da questa dottrina – e sarebbero perciò oggi ammissibili unicamente nei casi e nei modi disciplinati dalle due norme introdotte nella legge sul procedimento nel 2005. Ciò a garanzia della certezza dei rapporti giuridici e del legittimo affidamento dei destinatari dei provvedimenti ampliativi. Secondo un filone ricostruttivo in pare contrastante con il primo, altri Autori hanno inteso valorizzare gli elementi de iure condito a favore della obbligatorietà dell’avvio del procedimento di riesame, auspicandone contemporaneamente la generalizzazione, nell’ottica di una più complessiva trasformazione dell’annullamento d’ufficio in un nuovo istituto ibrido, rispondente alla funzione di alternative dispute risolution system o, se si vuole, di ricorso gerarchico. Per le stesse ragioni, l’istituto dovrebbe perdere il carattere ampiamente discrezionale, in favore di una vincolatezza totale o parziale. Questo secondo “fronte di attacco” alla ricostruzione tradizionale intende offrire soluzione al venir meno del sistema dei controlli di legalità sull’azione amministrativa. Lo studio ha sottoposto a verifica entrambi i filoni evolutivi richiamati, discostandosi dal secondo e, pur accogliendo parte delle argomentazioni ad esso sottostanti, anche dal primo. Quanto alla teoria dell’esauribilità del potere amministrativo, oggetto della prima linea evolutiva, si è ritenuto di condividere le considerazioni circa la tutela dell’affidamento degli interessati e della stabilità dei rapporti giuridici. È parsa tuttavia meglio rispondente alle categorie generali e alle esigenze del sistema (anche sulla base di una visione del diritto amministrativo quale “diritto dei terzi”, per natura volto alla tutela dell’interesse generale e non solo dell’interesse privato particolare coinvolto dall’esercizio del potere) la conservazione della tradizionale inesauribilità del potere, seppur assai mitigata, nella pratica, con riferimento all’esercizio dei poteri di ritiro degli atti favorevoli ai privati il cui affidamento sia concretamente meritevole di tutela. La natura discrezionale dell’annullamento d’ufficio (e della revoca), sottoposta a critica dalla seconda linea evolutiva, viene difesa sia sul piano del diritto positivo e pretorio (attraverso la riconduzione dei principali casi di annullamento c.d. doveroso al modello generale), sia sul piano delle categorie generali, a partire dalla natura dei poteri coinvolti e dall’analisi delle posizioni giuridiche dei soggetti interessati dai procedimenti di secondo grado. / The thesis focuses on the Italian system of so called autoprotection or selfprotection. This expression refers to the powers of public administration to revoke its own acts when deemed necessary to repair a vice of legitimacy or a vice of opportunity, without being bind to resort to the courts. Given the aim of this powers – the same of first grade powers plus a semi-judicial one – they are usually meant by judges and scholars as “widely discretionary”. Furthermore, it has always been believed that the choice to activate the correspondent proceeding is totally free for public administration; consequently, a demand of interested parties does not make binding the start of the procedure, opposite to what happens with administrative appeal proceedings. In recent years ECJ, ECHR and national case law has emboldened the limits to selfredress, making clear that legitimate expectations and the public interest to legal certainty must be taken into consideration and given sufficient protection. Lately, also the Legislator followed, making the annulment and the revocation harder to be put in effect when the first act is favorable to the addressed subject. In such cases, the revocation cannot be ordered for a mere reconsideration of already known circumstances (ius poenitendi) but only if new ones show up. At the same time, ex officio annulment is precluded after 18 months from the issuing of the first act, instead of the previous general limit of a “reasonable time”. On the other hand, the case law has apparently pointed out some hypothesis of mandatory annulment, such as for “anticomunitarian acts” and cost-producing acts. Based on these two orientation, some scholars suggested a global rethinking of the self-protection, its bases and its rules. The study analyzes the case law and the latest legislative reforms, proving that no mandatory annulment exists in the Italian legal system. Therefore, nor the ECJ principle of equivalence nor other principles require that selfredress become generally obliged. The thesis also aims to prove that selfprotection remains a discretionary power, in order to ensure that the contrasting needs (the rule of law on the one hand, and the legal certainty and legitimate expectation on the other hand) can be properly balanced in every decision, according to the Constitutional provision of article 97, which requires that both impartiality and good administration are pursued.

No description available.

La reconnaissance du droit de participation et du droit à réparation des victimes est l’évolution la plus remarquable des dernières décennies dans le domaine des droits nationaux et dans le cadre de la justice pénale internationale. Les Juridictions Pénales Internationales construisent le statut des victimes. Confrontés à des concepts innovants, les juges doivent créer des précédents et organiser les modalités des droits des victimes. Ils doivent allier la coordination de la représentation légale de milliers de victimes avec les impératifs de la justice. Au vu des premières décisions, la place des victimes est acquise puisque les juges ont accepté leur participation. Cependant, leur interprétation des règles apporte de sérieuses restrictions aux droits des victimes dans la pratique. La participation des victimes n’est pas pleinement effective et leur réparation se révèle exceptionnelle. Ainsi, l’intérêt de l’étude de la jurisprudence réside dans la détermination du statut réel des victimes au sein des procès internationaux et l’importance des droits appliqués. Des évolutions positives sont possibles en faveur de la reconnaissance du statut de parties au procès et de l’effectivité des droits des victimes. / The recognition of the right to participate and the right to reparation to the victimes is the most remarkable evolution of these last decades in the national laws and in the International Criminal Justice. The International Criminal Jurisdictions built the victims’ status. Confronted to innovative concepts, the judges have to create precedents and organise the modalities of the victim’s rights. They have to combine the coordination of the legal representation of thousands of victims with the necessity of justice. In view of the first decisions, the place of the victimes is established since the judges grant them the right to participate. However, their interpretation of the rules brings serious limitations to the rights of the victims in the practice. The victims’ participation is not fully applied and their reparation turns out to be exceptionnal. So, the interest of the jurisprudence study resides in the determination of the real status of the victims in the international trial and the importance of the granted rights. Positive evolutions can be made in favor of the recognition of the status of parties in the trial and the effectiveness of the rigths of the victims.