Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 254-266). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 254-266).

The dynamic social and economic conditions in Namibia warranted a periodic review of labour legislation. Given these needs, uhe then Ministry of Labour, undertook a project in 1998, to assess the effectiveness of the first post kndependence Labour Act, 1992 (Act No 6 of 1992) a trirartite task force was established which recommended the amendment of the 1992 Act. This led to the enactment of the Labour Act, 2004 which introduced a new system of dispute prevention and resolution. However, the 2004 Act could not be put into effect in its entirety, because of its technical flaws and the fact that the Namibian Employers Federation (NEF) took issue with some of the provisions of the Act, such as leave provisions. In 2005, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare with its social partners undertook a complete technical review of the entire 2004 Act. As a result, In 2007, the new Labour Bill 2007 was tabled in Parliament, which eventually adopted it as the Labour Act, 2007 (Act No 11 of 2007) which became operational on the 1st November 2008. The new Labour Act, 2007 (Act No 11 of 2007) brings in sweeping changes to the familiar terrain of labour law and industrial relations practice in Namibia. The new Act, has done aware with the District Labour Court system, in its place comes the Labour Commissioner. The rudimentary dispute- settlement mechanisms of the old (first ) Labour Act, 1992 ( Act No 6 of 1992) have made way for the more sophisticated, yet speedier and more economical system of alternative dispute resolution through arbitration and conciliation by the Labour Commissioner. The Labour Act, 2007, requires parties to the labour dispute to seek conciliation before either taking industrial action or seeking adjudicative solutions to the dispute. Not only does the Labour Act, establish or makes provision for the appointment of the Labour Commissioner to provide for dispute resolution, it also permits parties to establish their own process for dispute resolution through a private arbitration route. Faced with this daunting array of untested rules and institutions, I have approached the writing of this work with some trepidation. My aim is to provide a thoroughgoing commentary on the provisions relating to dispute resolution. In the absence of much authoritative interpretation, I had to rely heavily on past practices and foreign South African precedents to identify the construction that judges and arbitrators are likely to arrive at. The present treatise provides a, comprehensive and integrated commentary for all involvement in the resolution of labour disputes in Namibia; it further provides rules and procedures which govern statutory disputes resolution through the Labour Commissioner. I sincerely hope that this paper, will prove useful to all those involved in labour law and industrial relations practice, as well as to teachers and students of this subject.

The purpose of this thesis is to critically examine elements of public participation in environmental decision-making and to propose that public participation processes may be made more meaningful through the provision of comprehensive and flexible procedural mechanisms coupled with a true ability to affect the outcome of the process, rather than through simply granting more rights. Over the years, natural resources management has grown as a response to ecological concerns over the state and future of our environment. The law too, has developed to accommodate environmental concerns and define legal rights and procedures. Public participation becomes a vehicle for ensuring that affected interests are taken into account in environmental decision-making. In Chapter 1, the established and traditional means of involving the public in environmental decision-making such as litigation and public hearings are examined; however, they have been characterized as too restrictive, not only in terms of the parties who are included, but also the issues. Furthermore, agency administration of complex resource management issues has fuelled public discontent, as many groups understand it is an inherently political process and doubt its legitimacy. In exploring this phenomenon, this paper is first placed in a theoretical context, drawing upon ecological, legal, and ethical philosophies. However, it is also informed by the perspectives of local environmental groups and residents. The turn to other techniques, or Alternative Dispute Resolution, may seem a logical and appropriate evolution, suggesting ways for all affected parties to be involved. Chapter 2 reviews different forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution which provide some principles about the use of mediation and agreements to supplement the regulatory processes of resource management. It is important to consider the mediation process itself, the desire to remedy what is considered to be the failings of the traditional adversarial system, the psychological dynamics of the process, and the parameters for successful negotiations leading to implementation. Chapter 3 commences with an analysis of the legal context of public participation in British Columbia. It determines the discretionary authority of the administrative agencies, and the formal window of opportunity for public input, under the (federal) Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the (provincial) British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act. This chapter also discusses an additional and interesting vehicle for public participation, although not yet implemented in British Columbia - the Environmental Bill of Rights. Chapter 4 provides a more concrete setting for the use of public participation processes, through the use of a case study - the British Columbia Transit Sky Train Extension Project. The "NIMBY", or "Not In My Backyard" scenario involved has the potential to facilitate negotiation; however, real inroads will be made through improving existing legal avenues of participation such as consultation. In fact, this key concern has been the sore point with respect to the Sky Train Project for many residents of Vancouver. In conclusion, the utility of public participation processes expressed in environmental legislation is reliant not only upon the ability of the law to be flexible enough to serve the various natural resource interests of all stakeholders, but also to be conducted in a manner that is inclusory and substantive. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

Most dispute resolution is between employers and employees, family or friends, neighbors, and other groups who have continued contact after they leave the courtroom, mediator's office, or agree to contract terms. Because of such ongoing relationships, a vital component of any kind of dispute resolution is how conflicting parties feel about each other after the process is over. Although previous conflict resolution research focuses primarily on the perceived fairness of the third-party, process or outcome, my dissertation centers around how the two parties engaged in the process perceive each other and their relations. Specifically, I ask how intermediaries' intervention in a resolution process affects disputing individuals' perceptions of fairness of one another, general positive regard toward one another, and predictions for positive future interactions with one another.I explore the relationship between third party intervention and such relationship outcomes using two experimental methods, vignettes and laboratory research. In each experiment I vary the level of third party intervention (high, low, absent), while holding dispute resolution outcomes constant, and then measure disputants' perceptions of one another. I also test three potential intervening mechanisms for the relationship between intervention and perceptions - procedural fairness, situational attributions, and salience of conflict.Results indicate that third party intervention does affect perceptions disputants' have of one another and that such results vary based on the method used. In the vignettes, the method typical of research in third party intervention, intervention is negatively related to perceptions of the other party. However, the opposite is true in the laboratory experiment. The results from the laboratory suggest that third party intervention is positively related to perceptions of the other party and that both the increased likelihood of situational attributions and decreased salience of conflict with high third party intervention partially explain this relationship.Implications of these results, and potential areas of future research, are discussed.

<p>The main aim of the research was to determine the viability of retaliation as a trade remedy under the Dispute Settlement Understanding. It was to establish whether retaliation as a remedy is beneficial to the entire WTO membership and system. The specific objectives were: to examine the feasibility of damages as an alternative remedy to retaliation / to determine whether there is a need to revise the Dispute Settlement Understanding, for it to adopt a more development friendly approach to dispute resolution / to make recommendations regarding the improvement of the Dispute Settlement Understanding.</p>

<p>Aims of the research paper is to examine the legal framework&nbsp / of implemantation and enforcement of DSB recommendations and rulings and to investigate the trend of non-compliance with BSD recommendations and rulings where complianant&nbsp / &nbsp / is a developing country.</p>

Abstract Peri-urban areas experience many land related problems and disputes because of rural-urban migration and increasing demand in land. The purpose of this thesis is to identify and describe the land problems and their related disputes that exist in two peri-urban areas surrounding the capital of Botswana, Gaborone. Two land boards administering these areas are studied in order to draw conclusions if there are any improvements that can be made to make the administration of land more effective.   The methods used in this thesis include: a literature review on previous made research to gain sufficient background and knowledge in the subject and a multiple case study to identify the most occurring land problems and how these are handled in the villages of Mogoditshane and Tlokweng. The case study included qualitative interviews with land board officers and experts within the studied subject.   The result from the literature review and the case studies shows similar result when it comes to land problems faced in Mogoditshane and Tlokweng. Common problems such as illegal occupations and multiple transfers lead to disputes over the right to land. The administration of handling these problems differ between the studied land boards as well as the approaches to resolving disputes that arises. For instance in Tlokweng they patrol the village in order to reveal illegal occupations. In the same land board they have also adopted the approach with alternative dispute resolution to reduce number of disputes entering the legal process.   It seems that one of the main causes for the land problems that occur in these areas is poor record keeping. Besides the improvements regarding record keeping, that is already in progress, this study has reached the conclusion that there are several measures that can be taken to make the management of land problems and related disputes more effective. The problem with shortage of land, which is another cause for land problems, could be reduced by an effective and unanimous land allocation process. Further we believe that by training both officers and board members in alternative dispute resolution methods and adopting an approach to try to resolve disputes before becoming a legal matter, will reduce costs as well as save time in the land administration.

The author attended Independent Assessment Process (IAP) hearings as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. Her experience in IAP hearings raised questions about our approach, as Canadians, to historical wrongs, especially those, like loss of language and culture, which fall outside of the purview of criminal and tort-law. This thesis explores the legal, social, and political dispute resolution mechanisms available in Canada to address harms as they have been applied to the Indian Residential Schools Legacy. It finds that the approach to date has been limited by the assumptions inherent in those institutions. The author proposes that Canadians, as a society, need to reframe and restart our discussion about harms and reparations using a framework of “responsibility”, and provides some possible mechanisms to begin that discussion. / Graduate / mhough@uvic.ca

<p> In today&rsquo;s world, people from various cultures interact on a daily basis on a number of occasions. During these intercultural encounters, conflicts often arise. Intercessors are needed to help people navigate these types of disagreements. Mediators are considered some of these peacekeepers. This thesis engaged with mediators at a mediation center in the Midwestern United States in order to understand what strategies seemed most effective. </p><p> I examined the research that scholars have conducted regarding building rapport through utilizing respect and face issues, as well as nonverbal behavior. In addition, I explored the connection between the understanding of these factors and intercultural competence and intercultural conflict competence. </p><p> The purpose of this thesis was to see how these mediators understood and valued respect and face issues, including nonverbal behavior, when building rapport with parties in mediations. These mediators were engaged in two manners, via survey and interview questions. The intercultural competence of the mediators in these domains was also explored. </p><p> The results of the research in this thesis showed how the mediators were skilled in some areas, such as in rapport building and respect issues. It further revealed that they were in need of some skills for their toolbox, such as training on face issues and nonverbal behavior, including silence, tone of voice, and eye contact. Detailed recommendations for the mediators are provided. Future research is encouraged: A group of mediators that have exhibited intercultural competence should be selected in order to test their intercultural conflict competence.</p>