Magister Legum - LLM

Magister Legum - LLM

The East African Community (EAC) suffers from a critical lack of cross-border railway networks that, if remedied, could improve regional connectivity and boost intraregional trade. The region would also become more investor friendly. Cross-border railway connectivity is particularly important owing to the challenging geographical location and small, uncompetitive and inefficient Partner States. The EAC Partner States have embarked on an ambitious programme to jointly revamp the region’s railways to address the transport deficits. Joint implementation of transport infrastructure projects offers economies of scale. However, joint efforts are constrained by inefficiencies of the region’s legal and institutional frameworks. The region is characterised by inefficient legal and institutional frameworks. This research argues that it is critical to first address the legal and institutional bottlenecks which will in turn constitute the backbone to support EAC’s efforts towards development and sustainable management of cross-border railways in the EAC. The research reviews effectiveness of the existing legal and institutional frameworks, identifies gaps and, using Southern African Development Community (SADC) as a benchmark proposes solutions for improvement. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2015 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM / Unrestricted

The establishment of the East African Community (EAC) in 1999 brought with it new expectations for the citizens of the East African region. The main objective of the EAC is to bolster development in various fields such as economic, social, cultural, research, technology and legal affairs. In order to reach such an objective, the EAC member states have pledged to adhere to human rights, as one of the founding principles of the EAC. Member states are also required to respect accepted universal human rights standards when carrying out Community activities. In order to ensure that EAC values, as provided in the EAC Treaty, are preserved, member states voluntarily decided to put in place a judicial organ for the Community − the East African Court of Justice (EACJ). The Court is the main judicial organ of the EAC, with the primary responsibility for interpreting and applying EAC law. Despite the fact that human rights constitute one of the EAC norms, the EACJ has yet to be granted an explicit human rights jurisdiction. It has thus fallen on the Court to engage in judicial activism to indirectly protect human rights within the Community. Thus, this study examines the role of the EACJ in protecting human rights within the EAC, as well as the challenges it is facing at present and its prospects. This study, therefore, demonstrates that the current limitation on the human rights jurisdiction of the EACJ has rendered the Court unable to protect human rights effectively within the EAC. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Centre for Human Rights / LLD / Unrestricted

This thesis investigates the impact of financial intermediation on economic growth in two regions: the East African Community (EAC) countries (Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda) and North African countries (Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia). The study analyzes the regions employing a Granger causality test and explores if financial intermediation influences economic growth. An index that measures financial intermediation is created using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and is used to capture the effect it has on economic growth in the two regions. The data used in the study is from 1990 to 2018. The results show that there is a short-run unidirectional relationship between financial intermediation and economic growth in EAC countries while financial intermediation does not Granger cause economic growth in North African countries. The result also shows that inflation has a short-run impact on growth in the North African countries.

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Magister Legum - LLM

After years of intense negotiations between member states of the East African Community (EAC) and the European Union, an interim Economic Partnership Agreement was finally initialled on the 27 November 2007. This interim agreement is intended to be an instrument for development by furthering poverty reduction, sustainable development, regional integration and integration of EAC countries into the world economy. However provisions contained in the interim agreement have raised legitimate concerns as to their ability to address these development issues. The African ministers of trade identified nine contentious provisions which are regarded as both legally and developmentally problematic. One of these issues is the most favoured nation (MFN) clause under which parties are required to extend to each other any better or more favourable treatment granted to other countries, which are either developed countries or major trading economies. The urgency behind the negotiation of Economic partnership agreements between the EU and the African Caribbean and Pacific Countries (within which category fall the EAC member states) was the requirement for a WTO compliant legal regime to govern the relationship between both parties. Previous trade regimes were challenged by other WTO members for being discriminatory. However provisions in the interim agreement such as the contentious MFN clause are more than what is required for WTO compatible regional trade agreements. The inclusion of the MFN clause poses major challenges to the trade and development needs of the EAC countries especially the least developed among them. This dissertation will attempt to critically analyze the potential implications of the MFN clause to the East African countries particularly Uganda as one of the least developed member states in the region. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

All life on Earth is based on and is constantly dependent on flows of water through every plant, every animal and every human body. This makes water Earth's most important natural resource. Lack of water can cause enormous suffering to faculty of agriculture, industry and local ecosystem. Although models, research and pure common sense shows the rational and positive in cooperating on shared water resources, it takes time to build up a stable cooperation between the different political states. Although a generalization is not possible, it is possible to find patterns that despite prevailing political situation, there is a willingness and desire to override political differences and seek a sustainable development in the region. Today there is a consensus among scientists that shared water combined with water shortages, often causes political conflicts. These disputes rather get the parties to realize that they are dependent on each other to get the water they need, and that they find ways to cooperate.

The relatively understudied intermediate waters of the world have been implicated as an important part of the global ocean circulation. This thesis discusses the intermediate waters of the Pacific over space and time. Initially, by using geochemical tracers to look at the present distribution, sources and mixing of the water masses. Secondly, by using oxygen and carbon isotopes from sediment cores to study changes in Antarctic Intermediate Waters (AAIW) over the late Quaternary in the north Tasman Sea. The sediment cores also provide sedimentological data on the hemipelagic sedimentation in the Capricorn Channel in the southern Great Barrier Reef as well information on changes in the East Australian surface current (EAC) over the last glacial-interglacial transition. [A more extended Abstract can be found in the files]