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Purpose– In the past hundred years, the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has seen a remarkable development with various notions of "what is the right thing to do" for the corporations in that era. This paper aims to highlight the journey of CSR staring from an "abstract concept" in the early twentieth century to a well-recognised and "expected business practice" in the present.Design/methodology/approach– This paper presents a meta-analysis of the relevant CSR literature and finds 12 common themes emerging in different periods. This is presented in a chronological order starting from early 1920 to the present day for ease of understanding. The literature chosen is intentionally broad as not to miss a clear view of the times and the themes in CSR discourse.Findings– The concept of CSR was viewed as a "social obligation" in the earlier literature (1920s-1960s), as the businesses were thought to operate for the well-being of a community and not for the prosperity of the sole owner(s). A little later, in the 1960s and 1970s, only adoption of socially responsible activities and practices, which were voluntary and beyond legal obligation, were deemed CSR. The 1980s saw businesses trying to find a rational and financially quantifiable justification for adopting activities that were socially responsible, thus the emphasis of "corporate social performance". The 1990s shifted the impetus on "reporting, transparency and accountability" with numerous reporting requirements. The 2000s sought a win-win situation through the development of "creating shared value" as a result of adopting CSR initiatives. The concept of CSR became an "accepted and expected business practice" in the decade of 2000, with various governments, global entities and organisations issuing their own understanding and definitions of CSR.Originality/value– This research paper provides an account of the evolution in the concept of CSR in the past century which has seen numerous changes in the manner businesses conduct their operations. The identified themes are reflective of the journey of CSR. This is an informative paper which is very topical in today's climate of stakeholder scrutiny of business' working.

The software market is very dynamic and constantly evolving. This is due to the widespread introduction of computer technology into all in commercial and industrial activities of legal entities of the country and in daily life. Distinguish the system software (in particular, operating system, compilers, editors, graphical user interface) and application software used to perform specific tasks, such as statistical software. Commercially reasonable software development and its marketing in the market is possible if the program is a product for this market. Replication software products on the market are made with virtually no material costs-as opposed to creating new products. Cost of the recording of the program to a CD quite low, and cost distribution ofcopies of the product via the Internet. According to modern legislation of most countries, software product and its source code is protected by copyright, which gives the author and copyright holder (usually the copyright holder is the employer of the author of the software) power over the change, dissemination, usage and behaviorprogram, including when the output code published. ; Ринок програмного забезпечення безперервно і дуже динамічне розвивається. Це пов'язано з широким впровадженням комп'ютерної техніки в усі види торгово-промислової діяльності юридичних осіб країни і в повсякденне життя населення. Розрізняють системне програмне забезпечення ( зокрема, операційна система, транслятори, редактори, графічний інтерфейс користувача) та прикладне програмне забезпечення, що використовується для виконання конкретних завдань, наприклад, статистичне програмне забезпечення. Комерційно обґрунтована розробка програмного забезпечення і його маркетинг на ринку можливий у тому випадку, якщо програми є товаром для даного ринку. Тиражування продукції на ринку програмного забезпечення проводиться практично без матеріальних витрат - на відміну від створення нових продуктів. Собівартість запису програми на компакт-диск досить низька, а собівартість поширення копії продукту через інтернет ще нижче. Відповідно до сучасного законодавства більшості країн, програмний продукт і його вихідний код охороняється авторським правом, яке дає авторам і правовласнику (найчастіше правовласником є організація-наймач автора програмного забезпечення) владу над зміною, розповсюдженням, способом використання і поведінкою програми, включаючи випадки, коли вихідний код опублікований.

The provision of assurance services, most notably the audit function, is an activity of public protection that requires a high degree of independence between the auditor and the audit client to ensure audit quality is achieved. Internationally, especially in the European Union, there is a legislated move towards mandatory audit firm rotation (MAFR) to ensure auditor independence. South Africa is currently faced with the decision of whether to change legislation and follow suit. Using a qualitative and descriptive methodology, through the use of semi-structured and open interviews with experienced South African audit partners, the direct and indirect effects of mandatory firm rotation on the audit profession was explored. This study will therefore present the opinions of the regulator and a small group of experienced audit partners, most being regional or national managing partners, from audit firms that perform public interest entity audits. Of particular interest will be the opinions of the respondents around (1) the state of independence in South Africa, (2) whether mandatory audit firm rotation will increase audit quality, (3) whether there are better alternatives to mandatory audit firm rotation, and (4) what the perceived direct and indirect effects of mandatory rotation will be within the South African legal and regulatory context. A particular emphasis is also placed on the argument from the national audit regulator that mandatory audit firm rotation, in addition to strengthening independence, will also reduce market concentration (promote competition) in the South African audit industry, as well as promote black economic transformation. The results show significant disagreement by the audit practitioners against the arguments in favour of mandatory audit firm rotation, with most claiming that it will not achieve an increase in audit quality and will produce many unintended consequences that will in their opinion actually reduce audit quality. There is a significant amount of agreement amongst the audit partners on the key issues and no partner interviewed is fully in favour of changing legislation to require MAFR. A number of alternative means for improving audit quality are suggested, which in the opinion of many of the partners, will be less damaging to audit quality and the audit profession.

In preparation for a legal implementation of EU-regulation 1829/2003, the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety (VKM) has been requested by the Norwegian Environment Agency and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA) to conduct final food/feed and environmental risk assessments for all genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and products containing or consisting of GMOs that are authorized in the European Union under Directive 2001/18/EC or Regulation 1829/2003/EC. The request covers scope(s) relevant to the Gene Technology Act. The request does not cover GMOs that VKM already has conducted its final risk assessments on. However, the Agency and NFSA requests VKM to consider whether updates or other changes to earlier submitted assessments are necessary. The insect-resistant and glyphosate-tolerant genetically modified maize MON 88017 x MON 810 from Monsanto (Unique Identifier DAS-MON 88017-3 x MON-ØØ81Ø-6) was approved under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 in the EU for food and feed uses, import and processing on 28th of July 2010 (Commission Decision 2010/429/EC). Genetically modified maize MON 88017 x MON 810 has previously been risk assessed by the VKM Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), commissioned by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority related to the EFSA public hearing of the application in 2007 (VKM 2007a). In addition, MON 88017 and MON 810 has been evaluated by the VKM GMO Panel as single events and as a component of several stacked GM maize events and Regulation (EC) 1829/2003 and Directive 2001/18/EC (VKM 2005a,b,c, VKM 2007b,c,d, VKM 2008, VKM 2009, VKM 2010 a,b,c, VKM 2012, VKM 2013, VKM 2016). The food/feed and environmental risk assessment of the maize MON 88017 x MON 810 is based on information provided by the applicant in the application EFSA/GMO/CZ/2006/33 and scientific comments from EFSA and other member states made available on the EFSA website GMO Extranet. The risk assessment also considered other peer-reviewed scientific literature as relevant. The VKM GMO Panel has ...

Which rules should be established in order that the human rights of intersex persons be respected in France. This is the question this article is trying to answer to, by focusing on the current majors violations of intersex persons' human rights, i.e. the right to privacy and the right to physical integrityRegarding the right to privacy, this article aims to show that the respect of this right for intersex persons implies first to adopt a non binary conception of sex. Considering current political and legal constraints it is likely that this adoption will be the work of a jurispruential custom, by which French judges will conform to the article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as it is interpreted by the European court of human rights. Second, the right to privacy of intersex persons, combined with the prohibition of discriminations implies that sex becomes an optionnal marker on identity documents for which this marker is not necessary. Regarding intersex persons' right to physical integrity, this article intends to show, that article 3 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms establishes an obligation for French public authorities to change French law on several points. First, these authorities shall improve the protection mecanisms for intersex persons' right to physical integrity. To achieve this, these authorities shall stop to encourage medical acts of sexual conformation and shall better supervize medical acts on intersex persons. Second, these authorities should facilitate compensation to intersex persons because of the constraints they are facing right now when they use the traditional mecanism of liability. To do this, it seems necessary to allow intersex persons to get compensation from a compensation fund, on the basis of national solidarity and under more favorable conditions than the ones needed to get compensation through liability. ; Quelles règles doivent être mises en place pour que soit respectés en France les ...

International audience ; One of the reforms of the Government that has received more criticism in recent years has been done by Royal Legislative Decree 16/2012 of 20 April on urgent measures to guarantee the sustainability of the national health system and to improve the quality and security of care.It performs several amendments, focusing on the study that it is presented regarding the requirements to have the status of insured person and beneficiary for publicly funded health care through the national health system.The Government proceed to change the requirements the status of insured demanding since the entry into force, as an indispensable element to have the right to access to the health care of the national health system, the legal residenceexcluding, as a result, of his area of applicability by foreigners irregularly present in the country.Several organizations turn to the Ombudsmen to bring an appeal at the Constitutional Court, request that was not handled. That position was widely criticized because it violates International Treaties, so Spain was sentenced for violation of Article 11 of the European Social Charter in January 2014 by the European Committee of Social Rights (Conclusions XX-2 (2013)), calling into question the figure of the Ombudsmen for not taking any action in presence of a human right violation. ; Una de las reformas del Gobierno que más críticas ha recibido en los últimos años ha sido la realizada por el RDL 16/2012, de 20 de abril, de medidas urgentes para garantizar la sostenibilidad del Sistema Nacional de Salud y mejorar la calidad y seguridad de sus prestaciones. Realiza una serie de modificaciones, centrándome en el estudio que se presenta en la efectuada en cuanto a los requisitos necesarios para tener la condición de asegurado y, en consecuencia, tener el derecho a la asistencia sanitaria con cargo a fondos públicos.El Gobierno procedió a modificar los requisitos de la condición de asegurado, exigiendo a partir de su entrada en vigor como elemento imprescindible para tener ...

Summary: In the late twentieth century, most European states have adopted legislation on unfair contract terms. The Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts has effectively made the European Court of Justice (ECJ) the final arbiter in interpreting much of this legislation. The present paper explores the impact which the ECJ case law and foreign legal writing has had in an individual Member State, that is, the Netherlands. Seven issues are highlighted. (i) First, especially in the United States, information requirements as to contract terms have been investigated and found wanting. Although it must be conceded that not every consumer will read the small print even when enticed by the legislature to do so, this paper submits that such requirements do have some value. (ii) Contra proferentem interpretation is one of three age-old weapons against unfair contract terms; but, unlike the common law, Dutch law has not made much use of it. (iii) Dutch law has used the overt control over the introduction into the contract and the content of standard contract terms, but the result is of little use to guide parties, attorneys, and judges. Dutch case law, unlike that in Germany, is so much attuned to the circumstances of the case that it hardly establishes useful precedents. (iv) One of the first cases on unfair contract terms decided by the ECJ, the Océano case, caused a major discussion in the Netherlands. Should the Dutch legislature step in and change the sanction of avoidance or nullification into that of considering an unfair term not binding, or should the consequences of ex officio avoidance or nullification be left to the existing statutory provisions? The Hoge Raad eventually came to terms with Océano and the following ECJ case law in Heesakkers v. Voet. (v) An issue with regard to which Dutch courts have not yet had the opportunity to tie in with the case law of the ECJ is the problem of geltungserhaltende Reduktion, rejected in the Banesto case, which is in line with German case law. Until ...

Resumen: Este ensayo es una reflexión sobre el terrorismo, mostrando su evolución a través de la historia y su exacerbación actual, señalando además que el terrorismo de Estado, a pesar de ser la forma más mortífera, tiende a ser públicamente aceptada. De igual forma, enfatiza que el ataque a las Torres Gemelas se ha utilizado para justificar ataques preventivos, torturas y hasta la suspensión de la protección legal a prisioneros, y se pregunta cuál debe ser la política pública para combatir el terrorismo de una manera ética, mostrando por qué la solución del mal menor propuesta por Michael Ignatieff es sólo un viejo truco argumentativo y no conduce a cambios reales. Por ello, se insiste en el diálogo como forma de garantizar el reconocimiento de la diversidad, la defensa de los derechos civiles y el fortalecimiento de la democracia. Finalmente, se analizan diversos aspectos del militarismo, mostrando las relaciones de esta tendencia con el género y especí- ficamente con la masculinidad. Palabras clave: ética, terrorismo, militarismo, masculinidad, género Abstract: This essay reflects on terrorism, showing its evolution throughout history and its present-day exacerbation, also pointing out that terrorism on the part of the State, in spite of being the most deadly form, tends to be accepted by the public. Likewise, it stresses the way the 9/11 attack has been used to justify preemptive attacks, torture and even the suspension of political protection to prisoners, and asks what type of public policy must be used to fight terrorism in an ethical manner, showing why Michael Ignatieff's proposal of the lesser evil is only an old argumentative trick and leads to no real changes. Therefore, there is an insistence on dialogue as the way to guarantee the recognition of diversity, the defense of civil rights and the strengthening of democracy. Finally, diverse aspects of militarism are analyzed, showing the relations between this tendency and gender, specifically with masculinity.Key words: ethics, terrorism, militarism, masculinity, gender

Blockchain is a new technology for the verification of data transactions. It is a type of distributed data storage and processing that enables many features of centrally organized information systems to be decentralized. The Blockchain can be used everywhere where information is to be stored and verified and where usually an intermediate agent is engaged. A Blockchain is a shared, trusted, public record of transactions, that everyone can inspect, but which no single user controls. It is an encrypted, secure, tamper resistant, distributed database. It solves a complex mathematical problem and allows us to build anything from simple Smart Contracts, to whole dApps (Decentralized Applications) or complex DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) on top of it. It is considered by many to be a game changer that allows us to decentralize trust, creating the basis for a peer-to-peer economy, powered by auto enforceable smart contracts. Transactions on the Blockchain through these smart contracts are in many cases faster and cheaper and more secure than transactions that classically run through neutral central authorities. Blockchain can be seen as one of the most important building blocks of the next generation Internet. If the WWW revolutionized information, and the Web2 introduced the programmable Web through Social Media and the Sharing Economy, Blockchain can be seen as the most important building block in the Web3, the decentral web, allowing for real P2P transactions without a middle man.This report explains Blockchain as a technology, analyses potential use cases, lines out relevant players in Berlin, and defines an action plan to strengthen the local ecosystem. The first part will give an introduction to Blockchain as a technology without going into too many technical details. The second part will showcase selected applications and discuss industry sectors where Blockchain could be relevant: Banking and Finance, Creative Industries, Sharing Economy, Energy Sector, eGovernment, Legal Tech, Health, and IT Consulting. The last part of this report will focus on Berlin as an Innovation Hub, analyzing the current ecosystem and players active in the field.

International audience ; Problems and Perspectives State of Research This volume is the first to address the modern Armenian presence in the countries of post-socialist Europe. The spatial focus of the fifteen following chapters is delineated by political and geographical borders, within which the countries of the former Central and Eastern European socialist camp, as well as the European part of the former Soviet Union, are located. While these borders are rather easy to trace on a map, they embrace a vast and enormously diverse territory in political, economic, linguistic, ethnic, and religious terms, divided into more than twenty states, but at the same time 'united' by a shared communist past. As this last caveat suggests, in its temporal aspect the volume focuses on the period that followed the socio-political changes of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which led to the fall of the Iron Curtain and the Soviet Union. 1 The discussion of the modern Armenian diaspora in the region is, nevertheless, preceded in most chapters by an overview of the historical presence of Armenians in a given territory. One can speak about 'residual' (as in Albania or Romania), 'emergent' (as in the Baltic States) or 'dominant' (as in Russia) Armenian diasporic populations in the region (Tölölyan 2000: 112-113); those more 'rooted' and those more 'en route' (Clifford 1994). They differ according to the time and reasons of their settlement, their history and heritage, their current size, organisational structures, legal and social position, and other aspects. While in some countries the Armenian presence stretches back to the Middle Ages, in others it only goes back to the early 20th century or to Soviet times. Regarding population size, Serbia and Macedonia are each home to around 300 Armenians, while, in contrast, the number of Armenian citizens in Russia totals 1,200,000, most of them concentrated in its European part (the number of immigrants without citizenship is estimated to be at least equally high). In some countries (e. g. ...

Przedmiotem artykułu są pokomunistyczne przemiany ustrojowe rozpatrywane w perspektywie politologii i ekonomii politycznej konstytucjonalizmu. Pierwsza część dotyczy występujących w literaturze założeń teoretycznych oraz hipotez empirycznych. Nacisk położono na wybór typu rządów, rodzaju ordynacji wyborczej i organizacji pionowej państwa. Część druga proponuje model teoretyczny służący wyjaśnieniu dróg przemian ustrojowych i ich skutków. Zawiera on czynniki wewnętrzne i zewnętrzne. Wśród pierwszych główną rolę odgrywa stopień zdominowania społeczeństwa przez komunistyczne monopaństwo: im jest większy, tym wyższe prawdopodobieństwo ustroju autorytarnego. Czynnik zewnętrzny to położenie kraju w stosunku do Zachodu (Bruksela) lub Wschodu (Moskwa): bliskość Moskwy podnosi prawdopodobieństwo opcji autorytarnej. Analiza strategii przemian ustrojowych skupia się na wyborze typu rządów oraz ordynacji wyborczej. Efekty transformacji mierzone są za pomocą zagregowanego indeksu ustroju politycznego. Uzyskane rezultaty odbiegają od przewidywanych na podstawie teorii przedstawionej w pierwszej części artykułu.JEL: A10; A12; B25; P10; P20; P21; P30 ; While there is a wealth of studies on selected aspects of economic and political transitions from communism, there are few, if any, analyses of the emergence of new political orders in terms of constitutional engineering, i.e. the adoption of the meta-rules governing the rules defining both the political structure and determining underpinnings of the ordinary law-making process. The paper begins with the review of menu of institutional choices related to type of government, electoral system and vertical organisation of the state and their impact on performance as reported in political science and constitutional political economy literature. It is posited that the binary outcome: democracy vs. autocracy is a function of two variables assuming two values: society (weak vs. autonomous sovereign citizen) and communist establishment (strong vs. weak). A strong communist state at the initial state of transition produces autocratic outcomes although proximity to Brussels may change political trajectory whereas a strong autonomous society generates trajectory leading to democracy. Surprisingly, the choice of the rules of political game bore little resemblance to what literature might suggest: ordinary political struggle has determinedthe choice of institutions with constitutions as a legal act being the result rather than a product of conscientious intellectual design.JEL: A10; A12; B25; P10; P20; P21; P30

Which rules should be established in order that the human rights of intersex persons be respected in France. This is the question this article is trying to answer to, by focusing on the current majors violations of intersex persons' human rights, i.e. the right to privacy and the right to physical integrityRegarding the right to privacy, this article aims to show that the respect of this right for intersex persons implies first to adopt a non binary conception of sex. Considering current political and legal constraints it is likely that this adoption will be the work of a jurispruential custom, by which French judges will conform to the article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as it is interpreted by the European court of human rights. Second, the right to privacy of intersex persons, combined with the prohibition of discriminations implies that sex becomes an optionnal marker on identity documents for which this marker is not necessary. Regarding intersex persons' right to physical integrity, this article intends to show, that article 3 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms establishes an obligation for French public authorities to change French law on several points. First, these authorities shall improve the protection mecanisms for intersex persons' right to physical integrity. To achieve this, these authorities shall stop to encourage medical acts of sexual conformation and shall better supervize medical acts on intersex persons. Second, these authorities should facilitate compensation to intersex persons because of the constraints they are facing right now when they use the traditional mecanism of liability. To do this, it seems necessary to allow intersex persons to get compensation from a compensation fund, on the basis of national solidarity and under more favorable conditions than the ones needed to get compensation through liability. ; Quelles règles doivent être mises en place pour que soit respectés en France les ...

The objective of the present work is forestry law from the point of view of comparative law between France and Greece. In these two countries, the forestry law is very heterogeneous, both in its structures and in terms of its missions. ln fact, forestry law is a highly centralized law and must reconcile the exploitation of forest resources and at the same time, its protection. As we delve deeper into the challenge of harmonization, several questions are revealed. The definition of the forest, the adapted state ownership, the role of private property, the interventions for the forest are legal issues, to which the forestry law should respond. ln Greece, Constitution of 1975 has expressly registered environmental protection in the article 24 and devoted a paragraph to its protection by establishing the principle of not changing forest destination of public forests and forest areas, unless the change is important to the national economy. In France, a major step for the protection of the environment was the Constitutional Law of 1 March 2005 on the Environmental Charter that gives to environmental principles constitutional status. Following the adoption of the Charter of the environment, the forest as part of the environment enjoys constitutional protection. The foundations of the desired harmonization in forestry will first develop nationally. This lignment requires consideration of the peculiarities of each country, which involves responses to forestry law's questions. Apart from the national level, it is obvious that the European Union is liable to harmonize the objectives of forestry law. But for the moment, there is no European forest policy. That is why it is appropriate to consider the interest that would present its adoption in future. ; L'objet du présent travail est le droit forestier du point de vue comparé: entre la France et la Grèce. Dans ces deux pays, le droit forestier est très hétérogène, tant au niveau de ses structures qu'au niveau de ses missions. En effet, le droit forestier est un droit ...

Augusto Pinochet's regime permanently altered Chilean politics during his seventeen years as dictator of Chile. By the late 1980s, Pinochet's hold on power remained unyielding, political reconciliation with the military was unimaginable, and civil war seemed inevitable. Notwithstanding the lack of substantive political change, on March 11, 1990, Pinochet ceremoniously handed the presidential sash to the leader of his legal opposition, Patricio Aylwin, thus initiating a peaceful transition to civilian rule in Chile.My dissertation examines the context and content of the Franja de Propaganda Electoral of 1988. What loosely translates as "official space for electoral propaganda" - was a nationally televised, largely uncensored, 30-minute political program, representing the two sides of the 1988 Plebiscito; the NO campaign in opposition to the military regime, and the pro-Pinochet SÍ campaign.The Franja Electoral became a mediated space of Chilean politics, just beyond the repressive reach of the Pinochetista regime, within which a seemingly impossible transition was not only articulated, but also, through which, a transformation of Chilean political culture was engendered. To help explain this transformation, I draw from a conceptual framework known as mediatization theory, to examine the Franja Electoral as a sample case for the mediatization of Chilean politics. I propose that this case is best understood as an historical, political, and theoretical process, rooted in the cultural assimilation of an imagined political configuration. The mediatization of Chilean politics was a process that would ultimately help reconcile a contradictory relationship between what was politically viable as a social and historical course of action, with what was represented as acceptable in a mediated, televisual space of political culture.Furthermore, this project helps in the recovery of an exceptionally rare, complete collection of the 1988 Franja Electoral, and includes one of only a handful of content analyses performed on this important audio-visual material. Finally, my use of mediatization theory involves the incorporation of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), to analyze the Franja Electoral as an artifact of Chilean political culture - a mediated representation of an enduring qualitative alteration in the meaning of Democracy in Chile.