Ph.D. Thesis ABSTRACT Mgr. Veronika Kristková, LL.M., 2013 Position of victims of human rights violations in international law with focus on victims of serious violations of human rights and international humantiarian law This work focuses within the broad theme of " Position of the victims of the human rights violations in international law" on victims of serious human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law (hereinafter only serious violations). The author decided to focus on the victims of serious violations because the research revealed that while the rights of victims of human rights violations are in general relatively settled in theory as well in practice of international law, the rights of the victims of serious violations is an area, which raises several doctrinal questions, encountered rapid development in recent years and continues to develop. Analysis of the rights of the victims of serious violations necessary must be based on the rights of the victims of human rights violations in general, which serves as a baseline for the analysis of the rights of the victims of serious violations. Only in comparison with the general rights of the victims of human rights violations the specificities of the rights of the victims of serious violations stand up. First the work...

1 Abstract The public administration itself is bound by applicable legal provisions. Therefore, in case of breach of individual rights stemming from the legal system of the Czech Republic, every person is guaranteed a strict legal procedure with corresponding legal mechanisms, which aim to remedy the status caused by unlawful action or inaction of the public administration. The object of this dissertation focuses, in particular, on analysis of individual means of protection of rights in public administration (i.e. the issue of the protection of public subjective rights) and their mutual relationships between them at level of legal regulation de lege lata. However, certain space had to be dedicated also to the procedures of public administration in matters related to private subjective rights as even the public administration decides on certain matters of private law. As regards the protection of private rights by public administration I mentioned the dualism of the review of decisions of public bodies and certain examples of public administration deciding on matters of private subjective rights. Further I stressed the issue of civil liability related to the conduct of public administration, i.e. liability for damages caused by unlawful decision and unlawful procedure. Pursuant to the act on liability for...

The aim of the thesis was to critically compare termination of contracts in South Africa, England and the CISG. It was found out that South Africa prefers to use the term cancellation because it is a remedy of last resort. The problem with cancellation is that is a drastic step of bringing the transaction to an abrupt and premature end, which is only used when a material breach occurs. English law uses the term discharge as it refers to the ending of the obligations under the contract when a breach occurred and represents the point at which one party is no longer bound by its’ contractual obligations and claims damages. Chapter 3 argued that though discharge goes beyond cancellation it does not cater for diverse domestic rules which need uniform international laws. Chapter 4 discussed and argued that avoidance is a term that was chosen by the CISG to end a contract when a fundamental breach occurs. There were problems on interpretation of terms and use of diverse domestic rules. The advantage of the term avoidance is that it is a technical term adopted and given a uniform meaning in the CISG where interpretation of terms and diverse domestic rules did not apply. Avoidance furthermore comprised concepts of rescission and termination. From the above it was argued that South Africa needs to develop new terms for termination of a contract and create new laws along the lines of the CISG. / Private Law / LL. M.

Établissant une relation entre un État ou l’une de ses émanations, d’une part, et un investisseur d’autre part, le droit des investissements étrangers se meut au-delà de la distinction droit public/droit privé. Compte tenu du fait qu’il se situe à un point de jonction entre le droit international et le droit interne, le droit des investissements pose d’importantes questions relatives à la loi applicable, ainsi qu’aux juridictions compétentes. Conçu comme un ordre juridique spécifique provenant de l’interaction entre les ordres juridiques international et interne, le droit des investissements engendre de multiples répercussions quant à son interférence avec l’ordre juridique interne. Cette interférence, n’étant soumise à aucune hiérarchie de compétence législative ou juridictionnelle, soulève de sérieuses interrogations : quel serait le droit applicable lorsque les droits interne et international ont vocation à s’appliquer dans un même litige ? Dans le même ordre d’idées, quelle serait la juridiction compétente si les institutions juridictionnelles internationales et internes sont toutes les deux compétentes selon leurs propres règles de rattachement pour trancher le litige ? Les réponses à ces interrogations ne sont pas évidentes et continuent de donner lieu à de vifs débats. La question n’ayant pas été tranchée de façon ferme et définitive, la présente étude proposera d’y apporter des éléments de réponse en démontrant la manifeste prééminence du droit international de fond et de l’arbitrage transnational de nature à permettre d’écarter l’application de la loi locale et d’exclure la compétence des juges internes. Cette prééminence fera enfin l’objet d’un examen approprié. / Establishing a relationship between a State or one of its emanations, on the one hand, and an investor, on the other, international investment law moves beyond the distinction between public law and private law. Given the fact that it resides in-between international law and domestic law, international investment law raises important questions about the governing law and jurisdiction. Conceived as a specific legal order arising from the interaction between the international and the national legal orders, international investment law begets controversy with respect to its interference with the national legal order. This interference, which is not submitted to any hierarchy on the legislative or jurisdictional level, raises serious questions: what would be the applicable law when domestic law and international law are both involved in the same dispute? In a similar manner, what would be the competent court if the international and domestic jurisdictional institutions are both competent according to the rules of their own legal order? The answers to these questions are not obvious and continue to give rise to heated debates. As the issue has not been firmly and definitively resolved, the present study aims to provide an answer by demonstrating the pre-eminence of substantive international law and transnational arbitration to the point of clearly excluding the application of the local law and the competence of domestic judges. This pre-eminence will finally be subject to an in-depth examination.

La présente étude a pour objectif de vérifier si le Canada respecte les prescriptions internationales en matière de droits de l’homme et d’entreprises vis-à-vis de l’encadrement qu’il exerce sur les sociétés minières canadiennes évoluant à l’étranger. En 2011, le Conseil des droits de l’homme de l’ONU a adopté des «Principes directeurs» afin de mettre en oeuvre le cadre de référence « Protéger, Respecter, Réparer » du Représentant spécial chargé de la question des droits de l’homme et des sociétés transnationales et autres entreprises. Selon ce cadre de référence, les États ont des obligations de protection et de réparation alors que les entreprises ont seulement la responsabilité de respecter les droits humains. Après six années de travail, le Représentant spécial John Ruggie, a fait le choix de formuler dans ses «Principes directeurs» des directives non contraignantes à l’égard des États et des entreprises afin de les aider à remplir leurs obligations et responsabilités vis-à-vis des droits de l’homme. Selon, l’ONU, cet instrument de portée universelle est le plus élaboré en la matière, si bien qu’il est recommandé aux entreprises et plus particulièrement aux États de s’y conformer lors de l’élaboration de leurs politiques respectives en matière d'activité économique et de droits humains. Il convient donc de vérifier d’une part si l’encadrement exercé par l’appareil législatif et gouvernemental vis-à-vis des sociétés minières canadiennes évoluant à l’étranger est conforme au principe directeur «Protéger». D’autres part, il convient de vérifier si les recours judiciaires et extrajudiciaires disponibles au Canada remplissent les exigences du principe directeur «Réparer». Cette double analyse permettra de conclure que le Canada respecte dans les grandes lignes ces «Principes directeurs» mais qu’il pourrait faire bien plus notamment en terme d’accès à des réparations effectives pour les victimes étrangères de minières canadiennes. / This study propose to assess whether Canada meets the international requirements of business and human rights in relation to the supervision it has on Canadian mining companies operating abroad. In 2011, the Human rights Council adopted the Special Representative’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in order to implement the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework. According to this framework, States have obligations to protect and remedy while companies only have responsibilities to respect human rights. After six years of work, the Special Representative on Business and Human rights, John Ruggie, has chosen to give in its Guiding Principles non- binding recommendations in order to help States and businesses to encounter their obligations and responsibilities towards human rights. According to the UN, this universal instrument is the most developed in the field. Thus, it is strongly recommended that companies and especially States, comply those «guiding principles» when they elaborate their respective policies on economic activity and human rights. It is therefore necessary to check first if the supervision exercised by the legislature and the government on Canadian mining companies operating abroad succeeds to comply with the "Protect" principles. On the other hand, it must be checked whether the judicial and extrajudicial remedies available in Canada meet the requirements of the «Remedy" principles. This dual analysis will led to conclude that Canada meets broadly the "Guiding Principles" but could do much more, especially in terms of access to effective remedies for foreign victims of Canadian mining companies.

1 Summary The public administration itself is bound by applicable laws rules. Therefore, in case of breach of individual rights stemming from the legal system of the Czech Republic, every person is guaranteed a strictly legal procedure with corresponding legal mechanisms, which aim to remedy of status cause by unlawfull action or inaction of the public administration. Moreover, if conditions laid down by European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms are met, an individual has a right to apply to the European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg) for a revision of a challenged act of public administration, which is considered to be as a final and conclusive from the point of view of national law. The object of this Thesis focuses, in particular, on analysis of individual means of protection of rights in public administration and their mutual relationships between them at level of legal regulation de lege ferenda. Also, it cannot be disregarded the assessment of effect of courts' decisions or doctrine, including stating own knowledge based on the practice particularly in the area of administrative law. The Thesis focuses on the issue of the protection of individual public rights. As a consequence, legal means designed to provide protection of law in objective sense (that is...

La présente étude a pour objectif de vérifier si le Canada respecte les prescriptions internationales en matière de droits de l’homme et d’entreprises vis-à-vis de l’encadrement qu’il exerce sur les sociétés minières canadiennes évoluant à l’étranger. En 2011, le Conseil des droits de l’homme de l’ONU a adopté des «Principes directeurs» afin de mettre en oeuvre le cadre de référence « Protéger, Respecter, Réparer » du Représentant spécial chargé de la question des droits de l’homme et des sociétés transnationales et autres entreprises. Selon ce cadre de référence, les États ont des obligations de protection et de réparation alors que les entreprises ont seulement la responsabilité de respecter les droits humains. Après six années de travail, le Représentant spécial John Ruggie, a fait le choix de formuler dans ses «Principes directeurs» des directives non contraignantes à l’égard des États et des entreprises afin de les aider à remplir leurs obligations et responsabilités vis-à-vis des droits de l’homme. Selon, l’ONU, cet instrument de portée universelle est le plus élaboré en la matière, si bien qu’il est recommandé aux entreprises et plus particulièrement aux États de s’y conformer lors de l’élaboration de leurs politiques respectives en matière d'activité économique et de droits humains. Il convient donc de vérifier d’une part si l’encadrement exercé par l’appareil législatif et gouvernemental vis-à-vis des sociétés minières canadiennes évoluant à l’étranger est conforme au principe directeur «Protéger». D’autres part, il convient de vérifier si les recours judiciaires et extrajudiciaires disponibles au Canada remplissent les exigences du principe directeur «Réparer». Cette double analyse permettra de conclure que le Canada respecte dans les grandes lignes ces «Principes directeurs» mais qu’il pourrait faire bien plus notamment en terme d’accès à des réparations effectives pour les victimes étrangères de minières canadiennes. / This study propose to assess whether Canada meets the international requirements of business and human rights in relation to the supervision it has on Canadian mining companies operating abroad. In 2011, the Human rights Council adopted the Special Representative’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in order to implement the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework. According to this framework, States have obligations to protect and remedy while companies only have responsibilities to respect human rights. After six years of work, the Special Representative on Business and Human rights, John Ruggie, has chosen to give in its Guiding Principles non- binding recommendations in order to help States and businesses to encounter their obligations and responsibilities towards human rights. According to the UN, this universal instrument is the most developed in the field. Thus, it is strongly recommended that companies and especially States, comply those «guiding principles» when they elaborate their respective policies on economic activity and human rights. It is therefore necessary to check first if the supervision exercised by the legislature and the government on Canadian mining companies operating abroad succeeds to comply with the "Protect" principles. On the other hand, it must be checked whether the judicial and extrajudicial remedies available in Canada meet the requirements of the «Remedy" principles. This dual analysis will led to conclude that Canada meets broadly the "Guiding Principles" but could do much more, especially in terms of access to effective remedies for foreign victims of Canadian mining companies.

En empruntant une démarche prospective, l’objectif de cette contribution est de mettre en lumière l’existence d’une évolution de la condition juridique des personnes privées de liberté du fait d’une décision administrative. Si pendant longtemps l’obligation de préserver l’ordre public a été présentée comme conférant de nombreuses prérogatives à l’administration, elle doit désormais être décrite comme une mission de service public devant s’accomplir conformément à un modèle de comportement, sans toutefois que l’on puisse aujourd’hui évoquer l’existence de véritables sujétions à la charge de l’administration. Si cette évolution a été rendue possible, c’est en grande partie grâce à de «nouveaux contre-pouvoirs» qui ont contribué au renforcement de leur protection en participant plus ou moins directement à l’identification des obligations que toute administration qui prend en charge une personne privée de liberté devrait respecter et en concourant à leur défense. / By taking a prospective approach, the main of this work is to highlight the existence of an evolution of the legal status of persons deprived of their liberty for an administrative decision. Though the obligation to preserve public order has long been introduced as granting the administration many prerogatives, it must from now on to be equally described as a public-service mission that should be accomplished in accordance with a particular behavior model, without however, always mentioning the presence of actual constraints at the expense of the administration because of the numerous shortcomings currently affecting the protection system. Presumably, if this improvement has been made possible, it is in mainly due to “this new opposing-force concept” that has contributed to strengthening theirs protection especially by participating in the identification of the obligations that should be respected by all administrations which have to take care of a person deprived of liberty.

Workers’ compensation originated internationally because of the need to address the plight of workers and communities left destitute due to occupationally sustained disabilities or death. This study examines how the right to no-fault compensation developed in South Africa in comparison to the comparable law in Canada and Australia. Specific limitations regarding the right to workers' compensation pursuant to the South African compensatory laws were identified. Limitations identified include the persons falling within the ambit of the law, circumstances creating a right to compensation, the right to claims for increased compensation uniquely provided for in South African compensatory law and founded in the negligent conduct of employers as well as common law redress for damages. The background of the administrative remedy in the form of the right to compensation for occupational injuries and diseases ought to be seen in the light of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996. / Mercantile Law / LL. M.

This thesis critically examines the statutory unfair prejudice remedy provided for in section 163 of the Companies Act 71 of 2008 (‘the Act’). Section 163 is evaluated against its equivalents in England, Australia and Canada. Section 163 is considered against its predecessors to determine whether problems associated with the formulation and application of its predecessors have now been eradicated. It is argued that although it is important to ensure that company legislation is able to provide protection of an international standard to shareholders to be able to attract capital investment in a competitive market, one has to be cautious of slavishly following legislative trends in foreign jurisdictions. The South African legislature indiscriminately incorporated only parts of the Canadian unfair prejudice remedy in section 163. This approach also resulted, amongst others, in the introduction of foreign concepts. The legislature further failed to take cognisance of the unique historical developments relating to the unfair prejudice remedy in South Africa. This has led to the reintroduction of problems experienced with previous formulations of the statutory unfair prejudice remedy in South Africa and left certain problems relating to the interpretation and application of the statutory unfair prejudice remedy unresolved. Consideration is also given to the interrelationship between section 163 and some of the statutory remedies in the Act. Section 163 is also assessed in the context of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. In conclusion, recommendations for possible legislative amendments are made and an interpretational framework for the interpretation and application of the statutory unfair prejudice remedy in section 163 is provided. / Mercantile Law / LL. D. (Mercantile Law)