Suchergebnisse

African States have contributed to the development of modern international law in various ways. This contribution can be assessed through an examination of the actual practice of these States in their interactions with each other, and with other States in the wider international community, on various matters which have a bearing on the creation of legal rules for the international community. Taken together, the case studies presented in this book demonstrate that, despite its apparent marginalization in the international system, Africa can stake a valid claim to being part of the on-going process of shaping new rules and principles of international law while strengthening existing ones. Some of the more important examples are: the broadening of the refugee definition and the principle of non-refoulement in the area of refugee law; the rights of access and transit to the sea and the concept of the exclusive economic zone in the law of the sea; the principle of uti possidetis ; the concept of `peoples' rights', as distinguished from that of `human rights'; the very expansion of the traditional categorization of human rights to embrace the so-called third generation rights, such as the right to development; the Nyerere doctrine of State succession; and, in general, certain principles in the area of international fluvial law concerning the common management and utilization of shared watercourses. The discussions in this book are informed by the belief that post-colonial African States have tended to view the creation and application of international law as a historically engaged activity through which they can now empower themselves as part of the modern international community

The regulation of social processes is part of a state's sovereignty. States apply their law to shape and control social and economic conditions within their territory. Law as an instrument for coordinating human behaviour and for balancing colliding interests within the society is linked to human behaviour, either individually or within human organisations. The basic prerequisite for the existence of law is human interaction based on emotions, desires, and the pursuit of interests. Law and trust (interpersonal trust or system trust) are connected to each other. This leads to the assumption that law loses its relevance with a decrease of the relevance of trust. This article explores the question of which factors of current and future digitalisation could lead to a loss of the relevance of trust and of the relevance of the aspect of human behaviour as a connecting factor for legal norms. The article concludes that technological globalisation and ubiquity of the internet have already led to a loss of state territorial sovereignty. This has resulted in the diminution of system trust in law. The article further shows how digitalisation is pushing back the relevance of human behaviour and emotionality and, therefore, technicity is increasingly displacing law. The article describes the connection between deterritorialization and the development of new disruptive digital technologies and asks about the future role of ethics in the legal system of an advanced digitalised society. The development of concrete solutions and legislative proposals is subject to further studies.

"Homeless people want to be treated with dignity and respect: by the law, by the community, by government systems and by individuals. The reality is that they instead face constant discrimination, rejection and exclusion. The law perpetuates this sense of exclusion. Terms such as 'public nuisance', 'offensive', 'anti-social', 'causing anxiety', 'causing an obstruction', 'move-on' are all found in criminal laws that the homeless are disproportionately prosecuted under. This book explores the many ways in which laws in Australia, at federal, State and Territory level, operate to cause or perpetuate homelessness, as well as how the law might be used to address the causes and consequences of homelessness. Dr Tamara Walsh examines legal conceptions of home and 'homelessness' and legal responses to them; law and order approaches to homelessness including offences and defences; social welfare law; impairment, disability and capacity in relation to decision making; discrimination and access to justice, and homelessness and human rights"--Provided by publisher

A recent book by Anthony S. Mathews bears the sort of impressive title which will no doubt attract a much wider readership than the limited audience of legal and constitutional law specialists which the author in his preface appoints for the work. Law, Order and Liberty in South Africa (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1972) will excite the interest of many people both in and outside South Africa who have come to associate law and order in that country not with liberty and freedom but with the very processes and mechanisms of its denial. The reader's hope will be for insight into how law and order in South Africa—up to now an implement of repression and an aid to the securing of privilege for a racial minority—might be employed for the reversal of present conditions. Those less optimistic would be content with an analysis of the place and role of law in a society characterized by racial discrimination. The expectations of most readers will remain unfulfilled.

"The impression of an inward principle," asserted Thomas Aquinas, "is to natural things what the promulgation of law is to men; because law, by being promulgated, impresses on man a directive principle of human actions." Promulgation is of the very essence of law, and a sine qua non of legal obligation. This is true both logically and historically.The very idea of obedience presupposes knowledge of that which is to be obeyed, without which knowledge there could be only the coincidence, never the obligation, of obedience. If human relationships are to be calculable, the people of a community must know, and know in advance, the rules by which they are to act and by which they may expect other men to act. Here is a proposition of such obvious force that any conception of legal obligation is almost bound to deal with it as an ethical obstruction to law enforcement which must be obviated by promulgation and a supplemental overall presumption that "everyone knows the law."

"Examining the interplay between law and society from imperial to present-day China, this synoptic book traces the developments of law in Chinese societies. Vai Io Lo investigates the role of law in social governance, discussing China's ongoing reforms towards the rule of law with Chinese characteristics. Offering a comprehensive overview of the interaction between law and society in China, this book simultaneously provides a glimpse of China in terms of history, polity, society, economy and philosophy. Opening with a discussion on what 'law' and 'society' are, Lo frames the discussion within the contexts of imperial China the transitional period, the pre-reform era, and finally contemporary China. This book succinctly pinpoints the interaction and reciprocal influence between law and society in China, identifying the similarities and differences between various historical periods, and discussing the historical continuities with comparable features of Western legal systems. Utilising up-to-date analyses and Chinese characters alongside key concepts explained in English, this book will be beneficial to Chinese studies and Chinese law scholars looking for a more integrated insight into the background behind contemporary Chinese law. Legal practitioners working in the field will also find this book an important reference"--

International audience This article positions itself beyond the tension between copyright enforcement to preserve business models vs users' rights to access knowledge which are required to enjoy the opportunities provided by the disruptive technology. Instead of only applying law to peer-to-peer in order to control networks, and without implying that because a law is currently unenforceable, it should not exist, I propose to consider another angle of the relationship between law and technology, by applying peer-to-peer to the law, to introduce the argument of the distribution of law itself. Peer-to-peer technologies disrupting established economic models and legal categories could also inspire an evolution of the law as a regulatory system in order to integrate some of their technical features. This will lead to another kind of relationship between law and technology: after the control of technology by the law, which absorbs the new technology by expanding its scope of application, and in addition to the scholarship on regulation by code or of code (Lessig 2006; Brown & Marsden 2013) the law itself can try to integrate the technology. It might do so by reconfiguring its internal 'operating system' and shuffling the categories a bit more, instead of simply inflating them by adding an exception to the existing system.

This is the second book in the series Shared Responsibility in International Law, which examines the problem of distribution of responsibilities among multiple states and other actors. In its work on the responsibility of states and international organisations, the International Law Commission recognised that attribution of acts to one actor does not exclude possible attribution of the same act to another state or organisation. However, it provided limited guidance for the often complex question of how responsibility is to be distributed among wrongdoing actors. This study fills that gap by shedding light on principles of distribution from extra-legal perspectives. Drawing on disciplines such as political theory, moral philosophy, and economics, this volume enquires into the bases and justifications for apportionment of responsibilities that can support a critique of current international law, offers insight into the justification of alternative interpretations, and provides inspiration for reform and further development of international law