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To interpret is to seek understanding. This formulation hides as much as it reveals and I propose to unpack it. I argue that interpreting is only a part of what legal theorists and practitioners do. In Part I, I attempt an ‘in vitro’ analysis and present the bare concept of interpretation: interpretation is an activity that needs an object; interpreting is reasoning about meaning when there is a possibility of mistake about that meaning. Part II focuses on two domains of interpretation: musical performance and adjudication. I rely on Joseph Raz’s account of interpretation as explanation or display and identify the former domain as a paradigm of display and the latter as a paradigm of explanation. Both are examples of interpretation for others and involve a claim to theoretical authority on the part of interpreters. But, unlike musicians- who interpret only works of music- judges interpret a great variety of objects. Musical interpretation is identified by its object, whereas legal interpretation is not. Legal interpretation is explanation of legal meaning. I then discuss the tenets of the minimalist view of legal interpretation: (i) legal rules are not interpretable and legal texts are not primary objects of legal interpretation; (ii) there is a difference between interpretative authority (a form of theoretical authority) and legal authority (a form of practical authority) and interpretative conclusions can be theoretically authoritative without being exclusionary reasons for action; (iii) Interpreting and adjudicating are different activities. Interpretation explains, adjudication resolves. Legal interpreters do not produce legal rules: they are required to be guided by them.

Thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy (Political Management) at Stellenbosch University / Thesis (MPhil (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Inflicting a financial loss of over $US16 billion to international shipping, the occurrence of maritime piracy in areas such as the Strait of Malacca and the west coast of Africa, has significantly affected the long-term stability of global maritime trade. Since the collapse of the Somali state in the early 1990’s, international watch groups have expressed their concern as to the rise of piracy off the Somali coast and the waterways of the Gulf of Aden. However, 2008 marked an unprecedented increase in pirate attacks in Somali waters. These attacks did not only increase in number but also became more sophisticated. As more than 85% of world trade relies on maritime transport, the world was forced to take notice of the magnitude of Somali piracy. Considering the relative novel nature of Somali piracy, this field presents a vast potential for further and in-depth academic inquiry. This descriptive and explanatory study set out to explore the evasive nature of the what and why (and who) of Somali piracy and relied on inductive reasoning in order (a) to explore and define the contributing causes to the Somali conflict; (b) to indicate how the conflict and the resulting consequences in particularly the Puntland region contributed to the rise of maritime piracy; (c) to determine whether the pirate groups are fishermen protecting their resources by acting like vigilantes and self-defence units, or if they were bandits, warlords, Islamists or a combination of aforementioned; and to (d) establish the role which resource scarcity and state collapse played in rendering Somalia vulnerable to maritime piracy. In pursuing the above mentioned goals, this study relied on an analysis of authoritative and contemporary sources. Media reporting was used for updating the fast moving information. This study attributed the Somali conflict to historic and ethnic clan rivalries and the legacy of colonial rule that led to the arbitrary partitioning of Somalia by colonial superpowers. Military rule, oppression, wars with neighbours (Ethiopia), superpower intervention, famine and the rise of warlords made for state failure in Somalia. In Puntland, such factors were further aggravated by severe environmental hardship and natural disasters. Food became one of the scarcest resources in Somalia. People migrated to cities and to the coast where foreign fishing vessels also exploited the absence of coast guards in plundering fish. Some Somali fishermen reacted and in retrieving fish, apprehended ships, resulting in armed robbery at sea. But many went further, hijacking merchant vessels, and demanding huge ransoms. Initially prompted by grievance towards the exploitation of the Somali coastal resources, the vast financial rewards of piracy rapidly transformed this impetus to personal gain and greed. In doing so, these groups assumed characteristic similar to criminal bandits and warlords. Or were they Islamists fundraising for al-Qaeda? But unlike warlords, pirates normally never kill. The links with either Islamists or terrorism have also not been established either. The alleged link with criminal networks is much more plausible. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Maritieme seerowery in areas soos die Straat van Malacca en aan die weskus van Afrika, het tot op datum, na raming, finansiële verliese van meer as $US16 biljoen aan internasionale skeepshandel berokken en het ‘n beduidende negatiewe effek op die langtermyn stabiliteit van globale maritieme handel. Sedert die verval van die Somaliese staat in 1991, het internasionale waarnemingsgroepe hul besorgdheid uitgespreek oor die toename van seerowery aan die Somaliese kus en die aangrensende Golf van Aden. Vanaf 2008 was daar egter ‘n ongekende toename in seerower aanvalle in Somaliese kuswaters. Nie alleen was daar ‘n toename in die aantal insidente nie, maar die aanvalle is gekenmerk deur meer gesofistikeerde metodes. Aangesien meer as 85% van wêreldhandel afhanklik is van seevervoer, was die wêreld genoodsaak om kennis te neem van die omvang van die verskynsel. Gegewe die feit dat Somaliese seerowery ‘n relatiewe onlangse verwikkeling is, bied hierdie veld groot potensiaal vir verdere en diepgaande studie. Die beskrywende en verduidelikende studie het ten doel om die ontwykende vraagstuk oor die wat, hoekom en wie van Somaliese seerowery te verken en by wyse van induktiewe beredenering die volgende vas te stel: (a) om die bydraende oorsake tot die Somaliese konflik te ondersoek en te definieer, (b) om aan te dui hoe die konflik en die gevolge daarvan, spesifiek in die Puntland streek, bygedra het tot die ontstaan van plaaslike seerowery (c) om vas te stel of die seerower-groepe vissers is wat hul bronne beskerm deur vigilante of selfverdedigings-eenhede te stig en of hulle oorlogsbaronne, radikale Islamiste of ‘n kombinasie van voorafgenoemde is, en (d) om die rol te beskryf wat hulpbron-skaarste en staatkundige verval gespeel het om die risiko van seerowery in Somalie te verhoog. In navolging van voorafgenoemde doelwitte het die ondersoek staatgemaak op ‘n deeglike ontleding van gesaghebbende en kontemporêre bronne. Hierdie teoretiese grondslag is verder aangevul deur media-verslaggewing oor die onderwerp. Die studie het bevind dat die Somaliese konflik toegeskryf kan word aan historiese en klanverskille en die nalatenskap van koloniale heerskappy wat mettertyd gelei het tot die arbitrere verdeling van Somalië deur koloniale moondhede, militêre onderdrukking, geskille met buurstate (Ethiopië), inmenging van supermoonthede, hongersnood en die opkoms van oorlogsbaronne. Hierdie faktore het bygedra tot die staatkundige verval van Somalië. In Puntland in besonder, is hierdie bydraende faktore vererger deur omgewingsontbering en natuurlike rampe. Gevolglik het voedsel een van die skaarste hulpbronne geword in Somalië. Hierdie omstandighede het die bevolking na die kus gedryf, waar buitelandse visserbote onwettig die mariene-bronne geplunder het. In reaksie hierop het die bevolking self die wapen opgeneem om sulke skepe te konfronteer wat gelei het tot gewapende roof ter see. Sekere vissermanne het egter verder oortree en bote gekaap en aangehou in ruil vir omkoopgeld. Dit was egter lank nie meer gekaapte vissersbote nie, maar handelsskepe met ander duursame vragte. Terwyl hul optrede aanvanklik gemotiveer is deur ontevredenheid met die onwettige ontginning van mariene bronne, het die aansienlike finansiele voordele van seerowery hierdie dryfveer mettertyd gewysig tot een van persoonlike gewin en hebsug. In hierdie proses het die groeperinge eienskappe ontwikkel soortgelyk aan kriminele rowers en oorlogsbaronne van die oopsee en radikale Islamiste. Anders as oorlogsbaronne het hierdie groepe egter nie die lewe van hul slagoffers geneem nie. Die verband tussen hierdie seerowergroepe en radikale Islamiste of terroriste groepe kan ook nie verseker vasgestel word nie. Daar is dus ‘n meer geloofwaardige verband tussen sulke groepe en georganiseerde kriminele netwerke.

Homeschooling families in the state of Texas face challenges when developing their children's learning curriculum as they attempt to address state mandates with only limited guidelines for developing effective curricula and evaluation strategies to measure student learning. The resulting problem is that homeschooling parents are left to develop their curricula with little guidance. The absence of such guidance may create undue pressure for both the homeschooling parent and their child, while simultaneously creating the possibility of limiting student achievement. The purpose of the project study was to explore the challenges parents face in developing their homeschool curriculum in the state of Texas. Using the theoretical framework provided by Bronfenbrenner's process-person-context-time model, 10 homeschooling parents from 10 different families shared their experiences to address the guiding research question, which explored motivational factors in the design of homeschool curricula, including the use and sharing of resources. Through the use of a qualitative case study that employed semistructured interviews and field notes as sources of data, 5 themes emerged following a narrative analysis process to code the data: (a) time with family, (b) safe learning environment, (c) practical and meaningful lessons, (d) socialization, and (e) biblical training. The findings were developed into a white paper to provide parents with strategies to embed these 5 themes into a useful, quality homeschool curriculum. This project study has implications for positive social change by providing homeschooling parents in the state of Texas with curriculum design guidance from fellow homeschooling parents that can provide a basis for developing quality curricula that reflects common core values within their community.

Notice of termination of employment in selected EU member states The diploma thesis analyses the legal regulation of notice of termination from employer's side in the Czech Republic and its comparison with Austrian and German legal regulation of the same institute. Thanks to the comparison it will be possible to reach the aim of the thesis which is to find out how social is the Czech attitude regarding this topic and to discover all the possible differences and similarities among all the three legal regulations. The first chapter serves as an introduction to the particular national labour legal provisions including the development and describes the main sources of law concerning the labour law. The pivotal chapter concentrates on individual reasons for dismissal under section 52 of the Czech Labour Code to which the thesis searches for the same or similar legal regulation within the other two legal systems. This chapter is divided into the subchapters as every of them focuses on one group of reasons for dismissal. At the end of each subchapter examples from Austria and Germany are given which prove differences and similarities among the three legal systems. This logic of subchapter arrangement enables easier understanding of individual reasons for dismissal and their examples in all the three...

Notice of termination of employment in selected EU member states The aim of this thesis is comparison of legal regulation of the notice of termination of employment in three legal systems within the EU: Slovak, English and Swedish. The thesis deals with the notices of employers and in the conclusion it contains comparison and evaluation of the legal systems. The thesis comprises four chapters. The first chapter deals with international and european legal regulation of employment termination, in particular regulation of notice of termination. The chapter contains description of international treaties and conventions concluded mainly within International Labour Organisation as well as european legal regulations and directives dealing with this matter. The second chapter deals with the Slovak regulation. At the beginning, it starts with general description of employment termination, it continues with the general requirements on notice and notice period. In the next part, the chapter describes specific notice reasons, special duties of the employer during the termination of employment and ban on the dismissal for protected groups of employees. The final part of the chapter focuses on the remedies of an employee in the case the notice of termination is declared invalid. The third chapter contains the...

The American older adult population is rapidly growing and projected to double by 2030. There is high proportion of completed suicides in later life subsequent to several biopsychosocial variables. Medical populations, particularly Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Heart Failure (HF), have greater risk of depression, suicidality, and lower quality of life. Current geropsychology suicide research tends to focus on risk factors, a deficit approach. In contrast, the present study utilized a strength-based approach to study late life suicide by predicting life sustaining cognitions, reasons for living (RFL). This study explored the influence of physical health related quality of life (HRQOL) and depression on RFL in a sample of 75 depressed and chronically ill middle aged and older adults enrolled in a randomized clinical trial. The results indicate insignificant relationships between demographic variables (e.g. age, gender, and illness type) and reasons for living. Despite the statistically significant negative correlations between depression and physical and mental HRQOL at baseline and week five, only week five depression significantly predicted RFL (Β = -1.369, ΔR2 = .063, p= .034), after the effects of age and baseline depression were held constant. In conclusion, the present study supports integrative primary care modalities of treatment for late life depression and highlights the importance of incorporating protective factors in suicide risk assessments. Future research should consider utilizing population specific instruments and alternative medical and social variables.

<p>The purpose of this study is, on the basis of institutional theory, to contribute with more</p><p>understanding about resistance to management accounting change and also to survey reasons</p><p>for the resistance and how to cope with the resistance.</p><p>The study is a qualitative case study and semi-structured interviews have been used to</p><p>complement the study’s theoretical area, consisting of scientific articles.</p><p>The conclusion from the study is that resistance to management accounting change can be</p><p>understood and explained by the institutions of each organisation and its underlying structures. A</p><p>further conclusion is, with the structures in mind there are many reasons for resistance and also</p><p>many ways to cope with the resistance. A model has been produced in purpose to create</p><p>understanding and to survey the resistance to management accounting change.</p>

The following piece will highlight the correlations found between foreign market exits and reentries. The developed tables, figures and conceptual model will graphically display in details the stages a Multinational Corporation (MNC) would go through during the course of a market exit up until the reentry. Moreover, the paper will elaborate how many firms have failed to understand the magnitude of a well-executed market withdrawal. Furthermore, the paper will indicate the correlations found between underlying reason &amp; quality of exit; quality of exit &amp; ease of reentry, and “time out” &amp; reentry.

In the context of a growing social complexification, projects have evolved in the pastdecades from simple endeavours to complex and uncertain undertakings. Consequently,project complexity has emerged as an important research direction, and recently severalproject complexity frameworks have been suggested. However, little research has beendone in this area and there has been no study on the relationship of project complexity,in its holistic sense, and the risk of delay. Therefore, the study investigates the intricaterelationship between project complexity and project delay. The research is conducted inthe context of Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP) implementation projects,which are inherently complex and often record delays. The study has a qualitative nature and adopts an inductive approach. Nine ERPimplementationprojects have been studied in order to answer the research question.Several sources of evidence (semi-structured interviews and questionnaires) have beenutilized to ensure the credibility of the research findings through triangulation. The study contributes to the research field by verifying and augmenting the existingframeworks on reasons for project delay, complexity categories and their interplay. Itwas identified that complexity in a holistic sense represents a necessary condition forproject delay. Moreover, the study showed that although ERP projects are oftenconsidered to be technically complex, their complexity stems mainly from ‘subjective’(or perceived) and ‘uncertainty’ complexity dimensions. Finally, the conceptual modelof Eden et al. (2005) was modified to reflect the findings of the study.