Based on ethnographic research in Bhutan and among Bhutanese living in Nepal, this thesis examines the reach of law in everyday life in contemporary Bhutan. Drawing on inter-linked themes of social values drawn from Buddhist teachings and the importance of morality, power and legitimacy, I examine popular discourse of and about law. It contributes to current arguments in socio-legal studies and anthropology concerning the reach of law in contemporary societies and its significance in everyday life. Furthermore, my thesis represents the first ethnographic account of law and society in Bhutan. It makes a valuable contribution not only to our understanding of Bhutan, but also provides an ideal opportunity to examine everyday conceptions of law as the Bhutanese State promotes legal change that draw on non-indigenous models. The thesis considers the impact of the creation of a modem, independent judiciary and recent changes in legal education and the increasing amount of legislation and secondary regulations. However, the everyday construction of law, as well as the meanings and uses to which law are put, raises problems. Therefore, I turn to examine how ordinary people create and develop a sense of the law by focussing on the development of legal consciousness. To do this, I look less at the formal legal processes of the law than at the narratives about law from a number of Bhutanese. These narratives focus on the importance of community values and notions of morality and legitimacy, which simultaneously draw on a prevalent authoritative public discourse concerning social behaviour and individual re-interpretations and resistance within the broad framework of the discourse. I examine the interrelationship between these various features, which evoke, on an individual level, a sense of "legal consciousness" and I develop how this informs daily life. This interrelationship highlights the dynamism of the process and the fluidity of ideas and adaptability to changing needs and relationships of power. This approach allows for an examination of law situated within, rather than separate from, everyday life in order to analyse the fragmentary and often inconsistent use made by individuals of the legal orders and forums available to them.

This paper analyzes the socio-legal challenges relating to the return and reintegration of refugees. Using Rwanda as a case-study, it focuses on the conditions or factors necessary for a sustainable return and reintegration and the positive impact of the implementation of Rwanda’s post-conflict socio-legal framework. Also suggests practical solutions to addressing the challenges so as to achieve a durable return and re-integration of Rwandan refugees. / A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Kwadwo Appiagye-Atua, Faculty of Law, University of Ghana. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

No / Cyberbullying is the act of bullying or causing harassment or intimidation on another person by using technological means, such as devices, social media or networks. Despite the numerous efforts being carried out by both government and non-government organizations, cyberbullying continues to be on the rise and has become a national concern. This study highlights the motivating factors of cyberbullying in Malaysia. First, the study aims to investigate the factors motivating persons becoming cyberbullying perpetrators. Second, the study aims to examine the factors enhancing the susceptibility of persons becoming victims of cyberbullying. Engaging in both qualitative and quantitative approaches, this study adopts socio-legal approach in understanding and enquiring 19 interview experts and 120 survey respondents. The study found various factors that motivates perpetrators of cyberbullying, which could be divided into internal and external factors. Similarly, the factors that enhance the susceptibility of victims of cyberbullying could also be internal and external. The implication of the study is deeper understanding of the various factors motivating cyberbullying in Malaysia. Inherently, risk management strategies could be proposed could be developed to minimize the factors hence reducing the likelihood of cyberbullying occurrences in Malaysia. Hopefully, the findings of the study would contribute to the body of knowledge on the area of cybercrimes in general, and cyberbullying in particular. It is also hoped that this study would assist the general public to better manage the risk of cyberbullying, within the wider agenda of safe nation in Malaysia. / This study is funded by the Digital Society Research Grant Fund (DSRG) by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Malaysia.

This thesis explores the experiences that birth mothers face in adoption proceedings within a socio-legal context. With analysis of data from interviews with 32 birth mothers synthesised with the relevant provisions of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, it is argued that ingrained unfairness and a lack of accountability exists in the legal and administrative system where birth mothers' rights are concerned. The requirement for fairness in adoption practice is an underlying principle of jurisprudence from the European Court of Human Rights, with emphasis on the right to family life under Article 8 of the Convention. Analysis extends to the social problems of blame and stigmatizing of birth mothers which originates from those agencies involved in the adoptions. It highlights the perspectives and voices of birth mothers, who are seldom the focus in leading discourses of professional practice in this area. This research moves some way towards equalising this disparity by acknowledging their experiences and arguing that what they have to say should be noted by professionals involved in adoption practice. The findings demonstrate the interrelationship between birth mothers and the law, with critical examination of the results in relation to previous research and jurisprudence from the family courts. This is work by a researcher with 'insider status' of one who shares the 'birth mother' identity with the participants. In order to validate the study, the research methodology is underpinned with reflexivity which demands that the researcher examines her own feelings, reactions, and motives and how this influences the analysis and the findings. This approach lessens the risk of bias and authenticates research by ensuring transparency. The original contribution to knowledge required for a doctoral thesis is the socio-legal approach to the methodology, the primary data generated from interviews with birth mothers and the subsequent findings which demonstrate the inconsistency between the law and their experiences of adoption practice.

The primary aim of this thesis is to consider whether the social work complaints procedure in Scotland is an appropriate means of dealing with dissatisfaction experienced by users of community care services. Debate in the socio-legal literature has focused on different models of justice in grievance and appeal mechanisms for users of public services. Set in the context of this wider debate, this study looks at the operation of the social work complaints procedure in Scotland, focusing on the experiences of complainants in two local authorities. Setting the research in context, the thesis looks at recent policy developments in community care in Scotland, at recent changes to the health complaints procedure and at proposals to change the social work complaints procedure in Scotland, England and Wales. The main source of data is interviews with people who had made complaints in the two local authorities. As well as looking at complainants’ views, the study also considers the views of people responsible for running the complaints procedure in both local authorities. Focus groups with community care service users were used to explore the views of those who may not have used the complaints procedure. A key concern is whether it is possible to distinguish different types of complaints: those which are primarily ‘appeals’ against refusal of services; and those which are about the way that people are treated. Using the experiences of people who had made complaints in both local authorities and a database of all complaints to one local authority, it is shown that it is not easy to make this distinction although some complaints fall more clearly into one category or the other. The classification of complaints relates closely to what people want from a complaints procedure. The purpose of a grievance procedure can be considered in terms of ‘models of justice’. The motivations of complainants and the views of those who operate the procedure are considered in the context of literature on models of justice. The thesis looks at how the complaints procedure operates in each of the two local authorities and considers the relative value of ‘informal’ and ‘formal’ processes. It goes on to look at what happens when people make formal complaints, whether complaints are resolved and what people think about this. Barriers to complaining are also considered. Finally the thesis looks at complaints which reach the end of the complaints procedure - the complaints review committee - and those which reach the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. The thesis concludes that there is considerable ambiguity as to the purpose of the community care complaints procedure. Some complainants use the procedure as an ‘appeal’ against decisions made by the local authority, while others just want to get their problems ‘sorted out’. Some complainants are, at least in part, attempting to get the local authority to improve services for others. The emphasis of local authority staff in this study is primarily on ensuring that complainants have an opportunity to have their ‘voice’ heard. The word ‘complaining’ itself carries connotations which some service users see as negative, although others are more assertive in their use of the word. In procedural terms there is much that can go wrong between the initial ‘informal’ complaint and the more independent level of the procedure: the complaints review committee. There are considerable problems in defining ‘complaints’ and ensuring that they are handled within the guidelines. This means that it is difficult for justice to be seen to be done.

This thesis critically assesses the scope and method of criminalisation of the concept of fraud under the Fraud Act 2006 through the discussion of an apparent ‘duality’ between (co-existing) criminal and non-criminal resolution mechanisms. The reader will find social sciences theory and mixed-methods research techniques being used to identify and characterise a dysfunction between legislation and the social function of fraud control and its resolution. The 2006 Act appears to present a categorical and monolithic headline offence of fraud qualified by dishonesty, yet it is not clear that the Act clearly identifies the scope of effective criminalisation with respect to fraud. The dishonesty-based conduct offence provided in the Fraud Act 2006 is examined in the context of contemporary theory and practical considerations that relate to the discipline of law-enforcement. This work investigates pre-industrial modes of fraud resolution and identifies industrial-era points of divergence between the concepts of fraud and theft (a similar headline offence defined and criminalised under the Theft Act 1968). The work also offers an empirical study of survey-based data collection involving one-hundred-and-forty participants (N=140). It measured the practical extent of criminalisation of fraud in terms of participant indications of the (typically) most likely official outcome in response to sixteen hypothetical examples of fraud offences. The survey results appear to support practical, contextual, and theoretical considerations from the literature on the inhibitors to the consistent application of a conduct-based general fraud offence. The data and findings highlight the advantages of detailed actus reus-based criminalisation of types of fraud that require additional control through effective criminalisation.

Medical guidelines on the same medical condition differ between England and the Netherlands. These guidelines are referred to as evidence-based because they are supposedly based on a systematic searching for and appraisal of medical studies to drive recommendations for appropriate care for specific clinical circumstances. This comparative study interrogates what causes these differences and similarities between guidelines and tries to uncover the mechanisms behind the development of medical practice guidelines. Four case studies, on lower back pain and on type 2 diabetes in both countries, are used to provide a detailed empirical account of the development of medical guidelines. Interviews with guideline developers are combined with a detailed analysis of available guideline documents. The overarching finding of this thesis is that medical evidence plays a more limited and nuanced role in guideline construction than might be expected and that guidelines are manifestations of professional (self-) regulation. Importantly, the research also finds that institutions shape guidelines in a multitude of ways. This study has endeavoured to add to a more nuanced understanding of evidence within the literature: conceptualising evidence as part of a process of a social and institutional construction. This construction is used within a collaborative and communicative process aimed at creating 'objective facts'. Contrary to existing scholarship, this thesis argues that evidence merely informs the understanding of members of guideline groups while a range of economic, cultural, institutional, and political factors, that together form cognitive frames, provide the driving force behind the development of guidelines. Institutional factors have shown to be essential elements in guideline development, influencing all aspects of development through institutional cultures of practice. This study concludes that calling guidelines evidence-based is an important rhetorical instrument, which helps to conceal and legitimize some of the normative choices that are inherent in guideline making.

Recent years have seen a growing scholarly interest in the conditions of emergence of regional trade agreements in Africa. These analyses have advanced our knowledge on a range of technical issues, from specific institutional transformation of regional economic communities such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to broad legal issues relating to the provisions of the regional trade agreements. Most literature on ECOWAS is, however, informed by legal formalism that interprets the text of the treaties strictly and without context, leading to a dominant interpretation of failure. By contrast, this thesis adopts a socio-legal approach and argues that the dominant narrative’s conceptualization of ECOWAS is narrow and under-representative of the broader contexts of the social relations in which ECOWAS Treaties and their implementation are embedded. The failure narratives do not adequately account for the complex social, historical, and political factors that shape the implementation of the ECOWAS Treaties. By combining socio-legal approach with insights from International Relations on new regionalism, the thesis reconceptualizes regionalism in ECOWAS as a social phenomenon. It approaches the ECOWAS Treaties as embedded in the socio-political relations, power struggles, and social structures of the Community. To differentiate the thesis from existing research on ECOWAS, it incorporates national, regional, and international factors in illuminating the complex and multifaceted confluence of circumstances that shape the implementation of the ECOWAS Treaties. Simultaneously, the thesis enriches our understanding of the theories of new regionalism by deepening the analysis in relation to ECOWAS. Seen from this perspective, the thesis concludes that ECOWAS cannot be regarded as a straightforward failure and that its achievements are not to be found primarily in economic integration but in other socio-political factors that it enabled. Finally, the analysis opens new opportunities for future normative analyses that interrogate the effectiveness of ECOWAS by taking into account the socio-political contexts in which it is embedded.

After the Enlargement of the European Union in 2004, around a million Accession State migrants arrived in the United Kingdom, with Polish migrants constituting the largest group. There is a growing body of literature focusing on their migratory patterns, networks, labour market performance, and identity. However, little has been said so far about the Polish migrants' relationship with law in the United Kingdom. This thesis asks: how do the Polish post-2004 EU Enlargement migrants form their relationship with the law, and what are the factors that affect this? It focuses on the intricacies of migrants' choices of `semi-legal' over legal status, subsequent legalization strategies, and the interpretations of legality they result in. Socio-legal integration has so far been viewed solely via state legal frameworks, following the traditional approach of the `law-first' perspective. This thesis argues that it is not the institutional arrangements and legal architecture alone that decide the nature of migrants' semi-legal relationship with law in the host society. A more comprehensive insight into the socio-legal integration of migrants is possible only when we combine in the analysis the interplay between the structural factors of the host country's legal environment, migrants' agency and the culturally derived values, attitudes, behaviour and social expectations towards the law and its enforcement. The thesis therefore makes a case for a `proper' recognition of migrants' legal culture in the study of their socio-legal integration. The thesis concludes that semi-legality, as an initial response to the legal environment is not static, but changing. As a result, migrants' socio-legal integration is extended in time and gradual. Migrants' legality could be discussed at two levels - at the behavioural level and at the level of a value. Changing status between the two poles of legality and illegality brings with it greater appreciation of legality as a value. This research presents a strong argument that the relationship between behaviour and attitudes to law could be meaningfully investigated in an applied domain of the new socio-legal environment.

This study examines the role of law in the constitution and contestation of state power in African history. Using Zimbabwe as a case study, it analyses legal struggles between Africans and the state, and amongst Africans themselves between 1950 and 1990. In doing so it intervenes in a number of scholarly debates on the relationship between law, state power and agency in African history. Firstly, I examine the role of law in constituting state power by exploring the interplay between legitimation and coercion in long term perspective. Secondly, I interrogate legal centralism as an approach to understanding developments in the legal sphere in African history and make the case for legal pluralism as a more appropriate approach. I argue that during the period under study, Zimbabwe witnessed a process of evolving legal pluralism characterised by the mutual appropriation of forms, symbols and concepts between state law and the ‘customary law’. Thirdly, I contribute to the debate on African legal agency by demonstrating that its significance went beyond the utility of the law in specific social, economic and political struggles. I argue that it also gave expression to emergent political imaginaries, shifting ideas of personhood and alternative visions of the social and political order. Lastly, I argue that, by undertaking a historical examination of legal struggles, this study provides a useful foundation from which to analyse contemporary legal struggles in Zimbabwe and in Africa more generally. The findings presented here caution against being drawn in by the apparent novelty of contemporary legal struggles. In addition, they suggest the means by which human rights discourse in Africa might be reinvigorated.