This thesis concerns the various concepts of rights and philosophical accounts of them. Chapter 1 addresses some methodological issues affecting analytic legal philosophy and the philosophy of rights. Chapter 2 distinguishes between two kinds of philosophical accounts of rights: models and theories. Models outline the 'conceptually basic' types of rights, their differences, and their relationships with other kinds of 'normative positions' (e.g., duties, liabilities, etc.). Theories of rights serve two roles: first, to posit a supposed ultimate purpose for all rights; second, to provide criteria for determining what counts as 'a right' in the first place. The chapter also criticises both monistic models (ones positing only a single basic kind) for being under-inclusive and a subset of pluralistic ones (those positing several basic kinds) as over-inclusive. Chapter 3 clarifies the concepts of rights exercise, enforcement, remedying, and vindication. Chapter 4 explains the Interest-Will Theories of rights debate, while Chapter 5 argues that its constituents are irredeemably flawed, unnecessary, and under-inclusive. Chapter 6 further analyses the concept of rights enforceability, showing why legal rights are not invariably enforceable by legal powers. It then explains why wholly unenforceable legal rights nonetheless constitute 'imperfect' or defective cases. Chapter 7 argues there are more ways to enforce legal rights than just via powers, elucidating two such modes: legal rights can generally be claimed or invoked using legal liberties in private and social circumstances. While Chapter 8 shows why it might not always be possible to make liberty-based claims or invocations of right, it also provides reasons for thinking that legal rights that cannot be enforced in these ways are also imperfect.

The paper assesses the widespread use of the test of proportionality in fundamental rights adjudication. While constitutional and human rights courts all over the world appear to be consistently engaged in deploying the test of proportionality in order to assess the permissibility of a given rights limitation, this approach is under severe criticism insofar as it is considered an attack to the very idea of fundamental rights. The paper will discuss this criticism of the use of proportionality, and will provide a defense of its use by courts in light of some basic features of the contemporary discourse of fundamental rights. / El artículo evalúa el uso generalizado de la prueba de proporcionalidad en la adjudicación de derechos fundamentales. Mientras que los tribunales constitucionales y de derechos humanos de todo el mundo parecen estar constantemente involucrados en el despliegue de la prueba de proporcionalidad para evaluar la permisibilidad de una determinada limitación de derechos, este enfoque está sometido a severas críticas en tanto que se considera un ataque a la idea misma de Derechos fundamentales. El artículo discutirá esta crítica al uso del principio de proporcionalidad y ofrecerá una defensa de su uso por los tribunales a la luz de algunas características básicas del discurso contemporáneo de los derechos fundamentales.

This dissertation focuses on the concept of human rights, and in particular on how we should understand the interests protected by human rights and human rights' correlative duties. The work consists of three papers. Human rights and interests In the first paper I consider which conditions interests have to satisfy in order to be protected by human rights. I call these the Interest Conditions. I argue that we need to distinguish between two kinds of Interest Conditions: qualitative and quantitative ones. This means that we need to consider both which type of interests, and how much of these interests, human rights protect. I then consider the content of these conditions. Political accounts and fidelity to human rights practice In recent years, considerable attention has been received by so called "political accounts" of the analysis of human rights. According to these theories, one of the distinctive features of human rights is that they play a certain political function. In particular, a large number of political accounts hold that human rights have political correlative duties. I call this thesis 'Political Duties'. Political Duties has been defended on the grounds of the desideratum of fidelity, according to which the analysis of human rights ought to be faithful to human rights practice. I consider two ways of interpreting this desideratum and the corresponding versions of the argument in support of Political Duties. I argue that neither version successfully supports the thesis. The universal scope of positive duties correlative to human rights In the third paper I focus on duties correlative to human rights. We can distinguish between two different kinds of duties: negative and positive ones. Negative duties are duties not to perform an action, while positive duties are duties to perform an action. I focus on the latter and, in particular, I concentrate on the question of their scope - that is, on understanding who holds them. I defend a refinement of the thesis that all individuals hold positive duties correlative to human rights, which I call the Universal Scope Thesis.

Public International Law / LL.M. (Public International Law)

The professorial inaugural lecture is for the university an occasion to celebrate - celebrate in the full meaning of the word, i.e. to perform publicly and duly, to observe and honour with rites and festivities, to publish abroad, praise and extol. Through the custom of the inaugural lecture the university celebrates and affirms its basic function, that of creating, preserving, transmitting and applying knowledge, particularly scientifically-based knowledge. The university appoints to the position of professor one who has attained excellence in the handling of knowledge in her or his discipline, and through a jealous watchfulness over the dignity and esteem of this time-honoured position of excellence amongst scholars, defends the capacity of the university to advance human knowledge and human progress. The University of the Western Cape is particularly honoured to celebrate by way of this address the inauguration of its first ever Professor of Human Rights Law. We take pride from both the position and the incumbent: the post demonstrates our commitment to scholarly relevance, the incumbent to the pursuit of excellence. This university has distinguished itself amongst South African educational institutions for the way that it has grappled with questions of appropriate intellectual and educational responses to the demands of the social and political environment. That search involved debates and contests over what constitutes knowledge or valuable knowledge, over the nature of the process of knowledge production, over the relationship between theory and practice, about autonomy and accountability, about the meaning of "community" and about how the activities of a university are informed by the definition and conception of "community". The decision to establish a chair in Human Rights Law was arrived at as part of that process of searching for the appropriate forms of curricular transformation. South African society with its history of colonial conquest and latterly apartheid rule is one bereft of a rights culture; and where the discussion of a bill of rights and the general establishment of an awareness of human rights had been started in recent times, it has often been motivated by a concern with the protection of traditionally advantaged sectors of society. A university like ours has an obligation to contribute to the debate about and the promotion of human rights in ways which will also be concerned with healing, reparation and reconstruction in this severely brutalised nation. In this address marking his formal assumption of the University of the Western Cape’s Chair in Human Rights Law, Kader Asmal gives testimony of the depth of scholarly rigour and the breadth of humane concern brought to and emanating from this position. The integral coming together of Asmal the international scholar, the anti-apartheid activist of long standing, the seasoned international solidarity worker, the spirited publicist is evidenced in this address which is sure to stand as a signal point of reference in our national debate about this complex subject. The University had been privileged to attract to its staff some of the finest scholars from the ranks of the formerly exiled South Africans; this inaugural ceremony provides the institution with the opportunity to welcome into its midst one of those in the person of Kader Asmal. / Publications of the University of the Western Cape ; series A, no. 64

This thesis is a socio-legal study of the employment conditions of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in the Saudi Arabian labour market in general and the construction sector in particular, with emphasis on low-skilled TFWs. This thesis adopts a socio-legal approach to the human rights situation of low-skilled TFWs working in the Saudi construction sector. By using migration theories, a human rights-based approach and Islamic perspectives on labour rights, the study questions the efficacy of Saudi domestic law in providing protection to low-skilled foreign workers in the construction sector. This is done by examining the current labour admission policies and the structure of the regulatory framework, including the ‘kafala’ system, recruitment procedures, employment law, working conditions, occupational safety and health hazards and access to the justice system. Grounded theory methodology is followed, with empirical data collection using semi-structured interviewing techniques in two major Saudi cities, Riyadh and Makkah. The data collected from the fieldwork provides the basis for understanding the current situation of low-skilled TFWs, by listening to their experiences. The thesis finds a link between the legal status of temporary foreign workers and the work visa system, which leads to a continuation of exploitation, mistreatment, discrimination, forced labour and the servitude of foreign labour in Saudi Arabia.

O presente estudo tem por objeto a possibilidade de reconhecimento do vínculo laboral para o trabalho da prostituta, sendo sufragada a tese de que o objeto contratual, na prestação de serviços sexuais, é lícito e, por conseguinte, há a possibilidade, se presentes a onerosidade, permanência, pessoalidade e subordinação, de reconhecimento do vínculo empregatício para o trabalho da prostituta. A tese, portanto, é de que a prostituta faz jus ao pagamento de todas as verbas trabalhistas previstas na legislação laboral, tais como décimo terceiro salário, férias acrescidas de um terço, horas extraordinárias, adicional noturno, Fundo de Garantia por Tempo de Serviço, dentre tantos outros direitos, como qualquer outro trabalhador subordinado. Além disto, será ainda destinatária de políticas públicas que visem assegurar um meio ambiente de trabalho hígido e seguro, devendo ser observadas as Normas Regulamentadoras expedidas pelo Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego, bem como outras normas de medicina, saúde e segurança do trabalho que vierem a ser editadas. Conquanto o presente trabalho se refira em inúmeras oportunidades apenas às prostitutas, utilizando o substantivo no feminino, em verdade são abrangidos os exercentes da atividade de ambos os sexos, sem qualquer distinção, desde que exerçam a profissão voluntariamente e sejam maiores de dezoito anos. As metodologias utilizadas, precipuamente, foram a pesquisa bibliográfica e a pesquisa documental. A pesquisa bibliográfica envolveu a busca de livros, monografias, teses, dissertações, artigos pulicados em revistas especializadas, jornais e revistas, e teve a precaução de incluir os fundamentos das vertentes contrárias, em busca dos alicerces para firmar o novo entendimento sobre o tema, especialmente quanto à possibilidade de reconhecimento do vínculo empregatício para o trabalho da prostituta. / This research is about the possibility of recognizing the employment bond for prostitutes labor, after covering the theory that defends the contractual object, on provision of sexual services, is lawful and if exists burden, permanence, personality and subordination, the employment bond of prostitutes can be recognized. This theory says that prostitute is entitled to be paid for all the payroll amounts provided on labor legislation as extra month salary, holiday plus a third, overtime, additional nightly working time, Time of Service Guarantee Fund (FGTS), between other rights that any other subordinate employee has. Furthermore, public policies aimed at ensuring a working environment healthy and with insurance (Regulatory Standards issued by the Ministry of Labor and Employment should be observed, as well as other rules of medicine, health and safety that may be published) will be addressed to this employment bond. Although this work refers the word prostitute in a female way, in fact it refers both sexes without distinction, as far as they are engaged in that occupation voluntarily and are over 18 (eighteen) years. The methodologies used on this paper are literature and documentary research. The literature review involved a search of books, monographs, theses, dissertations, articles published in professional journals, newspapers and magazines. This work has been made with care and including the fundamentals of contrary theories, looking for the foundations to start a new view of the subject, especially regarding recognition of the mentioned employment bond of prostitutes.

M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. (Sociology of Education) / One of the outstanding characteristics of the present South Africa is an accountable Charter of Human Rights. Rapid changes have taken place on the political, economic and social levels lately. The labour market is influenced by the new dispensation. Most individuals, sometime or another, form part of the labour market and they should be explicitly made aware of their rights and responsibilities. The employer sector requires an education system that will equip people with skills and integrity to take their place in the labour market. The task of the teacher and school cannot be over-estimated. The purpose of this study is to establish to what extent pupils on reaching St 10 have been made aware of their rights in the labour market. In order to achieve this, a questionnaire of six items has been developed based on the literature study in Chapter II of this Script. The variables obtained from this analysis, were applied to test structure and detailed hypothesis concerning the various groups. In this comparison the Hotelling T-test was used to examine the combination of the six facets of labour law and human rights. Where significant multivariate differences were found, they were further investigated by means of the Student's t-test. For three or more groups, the multivariate hypothesis on the six facets of labour relations and human rights were investigated with the use of the one-way Manova. Where significant multivariate differences were found, the univariate differences were investigated further with an Anova and Scheffe.

M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract