Commission Of Inquiry Research Articles

A Critical Analysis of the Illegal Coal Mining Activities Inside Dihing Patkai National Park

The Dihing Patkai National Park, commonly referred to as the “Amazon of the East”, is a hub of rich and diverse biodiversity located in the Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts of Assam. The coal mining operations in this region have a historical origin that can be traced back to the colonial era. During this period, the fuel resources extracted from this region were primarily utilized to power local enterprises. However, lately, it has been alleged that certain illegal coal mining activities carried out in this region have greatly affected the region surrounding the National Park and have sparked protests among the local population against such activities. This paper discusses the impact of illegal coal mining activities inside Dihing Patkai National Park. At the same time, it will also discuss the reasons why stopping all the coal mining operations near the region will also affect the development and employment in the region. The research also highlights the historical background of the mining of coal in the region surrounding Dihing Patkai National Park. And the various environmental impacts on the region due to coal mining activities as well as its effects on the local population. This research also discusses the doctrine of public trust along with some important Supreme Court decisions and the One- Man Enquiry Commission Report under retired Justice B. P. Katakey. Moreover, this research aims to maintain a balance between ecology and economy

Queensland Commission of Inquiry into DNA testing: the impact on forensic testing in South Australia

Queensland Commission of Inquiry into DNA testing: the impact on forensic testing in South Australia

Why Do Key Decision-Makers Fail to Foresee Extreme ‘Black Swan’ Events? A Case Study of the Pike River Mine Disaster, New Zealand

This research addresses the strategic issue of why key decision-makers fail to foresee potential extreme ‘black swan’ events. Following a review of the literature, a conceptual framework is developed that identifies two types of organisational blindness that are reflected in Tetlock’s hedgehog cognitive thinking style, being the oversimplification of uncertainty (e.g., inductive biases) and an unquestioned, top-down, reference narrative. This framework is tested using a case study approach and qualitative analysis of secondary data sources available from the Royal Commission of Inquiry and other published reports following the 2010 methane explosion at the Pike River Coal Ltd.’s mine (Pike) in New Zealand, that killed 29 miners and caused the loss of all funds invested. The results indicate that the combined effect of both blindnesses meant that Pike’s collective intelligence was limited, and for the three key decision-makers at the Pike River mine, some type of extreme ‘black swan’ event was apparently inevitable. This research provides theoretical and practical contributions to the analysis of business and public policy decision-making under uncertainty.

From lived experience to lived expertise: How donor-conceived witnesses claim and sustain epistemic authority

Scholars in pragmatics have long been interested in how knowledge is construed, contested and legitimised. Much recent work in pragmatics has focused on developing more detailed theoretical understandings of epistemic positioning and epistemic authority, including in institutional contexts which are typically characterised by knowledge asymmetries and power inequalities. Yet the relational consequences of epistemic positioning have received little attention, therefore, this article aimed to investigate how authority and community are simultaneously negotiated in interaction, turn by turn. Taking a social semiotic approach, combining analysis using exchange structure, evidence and epistemic stance frameworks, this article examines a public hearing of the 2010 Senate Committee Inquiry into Donor Conception in Australia. Findings reveal four cumulative discursive patterns: donor-conceived witnesses positioned their lived experience as non-negotiable, cast doubt on fertility practitioners' expertise, layered opinions upon experience and employed recognised knowledges to bolster authority. This article introduces the concept of ‘lived expertise’; that is, authority grounded in experience and sustained through awareness of additional forms of experiential and institutional knowledges. Empirically, this study sheds light on how donor-conceived people – as people with lived experience – expand the subject positions afforded to them in institutional contexts, inviting legitimacy and belonging.

Parliamentary inquiries as minority rights: are legal transplants possible?

ABSTRACT Committees of inquiry, in related literature, are often called as ‘sharpest sword’ of the opposition. However, this sharpness is highly dependent on how much rights the opposition is effectively provided by the fine details of the procedural rules, and whether these rights are justiciable. According to the German model, the inquiry must be launched if a quarter of the MPs require it, and the opposition enjoys minority rights also during the inquiry. Many countries implemented the first, but not the second element in their parliamentary procedures (Hungary, Kosovo, Albania, Lithuania), which led to ineffective inquiries. The only positive example for a successful transplant of the mandatory minority initiative for launching an inquiry is the neighbouring country, Austria. In most of the other countries, the majority is more effective in conducting inquiries, and, lacking judicial remedies, the opposition cannot put its right to inquiry in practice effectively. It seems that the mandatory minority initiative hardly works properly outside its original home country, Germany, and the only successful transplant country, Austria. Another evidence that legal transplants cannot survive if the legal environment and culture is not fertile and developed enough.

The art of effective oversight: unravelling the success of Israel's Cabel Inquiry Committee

ABSTRACT Legislative oversight of the executive branch is a fundamental mechanism for ensuring government accountability, good governance, and enhancing democracy. However, formal oversight powers alone are insufficient, and the practical application eventually determines effectiveness. In contemporary times, a distinct set of political phenomena exists, notably the emergence of populism and polarisation, a deep-seated crisis of representation, and a systematic decline in public trust regarding diverse branches of government, coupled with the personalisation of politics and the weakening of political parties. In light of these developments, it is essential to engage in a meticulous examination of the means by which legislatures can enhance their capacity to effectively oversee governments. This article examines the parliamentary committee of inquiry led by Knesset Member Eitan Cabel in Israel from 2017 to 2019, which focused on credit arrangements for large business borrowers. This committee's rigorous investigation into financial system failures makes it an exemplary case of robust oversight in action. The article analyses the Committee establishment, composition, mandate, systematic meeting-planning and questioning process, unique physical setting, report publishing, and other details. The analysis of the Committee's work reveals important insights regarding effective oversight, and isolates the practices which made its work such an augmented performance of legislative oversight. Factors such as the committee's activeness, cooperation, independence, preparation, respectful yet critical approach, transparency, accurate use of media, and precise procedure, created an exceptional performance of legislative oversight. The article concludes that while legislative oversight relies partly on formal mechanisms, it is primarily driven by how political actors apply them, and reveals the importance and centrality of the human factor. This single case analysis, focusing on the committee's oversight practices can inform comparative learning on delivering robust oversight beyond Israel's context, and derive widely applicable insights into key practices for effective legislative supervision of the executive branch.

Between Commissions of Enquiry and Direct Prosecution: Quo Vadis, South Africa?

South Africa has had its fair share of allegations of corrupt activities within the public sector. Consequently, numerous commissions of enquiries have been established to investigate matters of public interest. The most recent is the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State (hereinafter the “Zondo Commission”) established in 2018 with investigative powers. R1 billion later, the Commission completed and compiled its findings in 2022/23 which contained a plethora of evidence. Despite the enormous evidence gathered by the Commission as with other Commissions before it, prosecution and conviction have been minimal. However, some of the Commission’s findings have been challenged or subjected to judicial review. The huge costs of these commissions, the sluggish nature of prosecution and convictions, and the high ratio of challenges to their findings invite the question of their effectiveness and necessity. Against this backdrop, the article argues that the government needs to redirect the resources it invests in these commissions of enquiry into strengthening the existing investigating institutions and the prosecuting authority. It is argued that the ultimate effect of any investigation into any wrongdoing should be the vindication of those who have been wronged and the restoration of what has been lost. This can be best achieved when the country has a capacitated prosecuting authority, that can thoroughly investigate and an independent judiciary which is the ultimate guardian of South Africa’s constitutional democracy. It is hoped that this paper will contribute to the advocacy for the strengthening of institutions that are designed to uphold the rule of law in South Africa.

Violent Communal Conflicts as a Form of Terrorism in Taraba State, Nigeria

This study is a socio-legal investigation of the violent communal conflicts in Taraba State, North East Nigeria. Applying a legal research method through doctrinal analysis of literature, anchored on the concept of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism (Prohibition and Prevention) Act 2022, and framed on the human security theory, the study collected data from a sample of 12,663 respondents selected from the seventeen Local Government Areas in the State. The main instrument used to collect the data was structured questionnaire and the data was analyzed using descriptive statistical tools. Data was also sourced through field surveys, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. Findings revealed that violent conflicts are often complex and deeply rooted in historical, social, economic, and political factors. The study finds that this situation results from differences between ethnic or religious groups within the society, fueled by grievances, perceived injustices, competition over resources, and political manipulations. The study further finds that the conflicts usually escalate to widespread loss of lives, destruction of properties, disruption of economic activities, displacement of communities, and long-term societal disaggregation. The study establishes that efforts towards mitigating the conflicts have yielded little results due to several challenges including lack of implementation of the reports of various committees of inquiry into the conflicts, lack of adherence to peace agreements by warring parties, and political interests of elites. Consequently, the study recommends that the government should be proactive and responsive towards security intelligence reports on perceived outbreaks of violent conflicts, should show greater commitment to guaranteeing the security of the people by implementing recommendations from commissions of inquiry, while civil society organizations and traditional institutions working with the government, should continually employ dialogue mechanisms to foster understanding between the belligerents. The paper concludes with the position that addressing these issues is crucial for effective conflict prevention, peacebuilding efforts, and promoting reconciliation in the State.

Grundmandat, Bewertung des Gleichheitsgebots, Verzerrung – Fallstricke bei der Einsetzung von Untersuchungsausschüssen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

The 8th state parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has 79 members in six parlia- mentary party groups, which are represented with the following numbers of seats: SPD 34, AfD 14, CDU 12, Left Party 9, Greens and FDP with 5 each . A dispute arose over the appointment of two committees of inquiry . A majority of the state parliament approved two committees with nine members – four SPD MPs and one from each of the five other parliamentary party groups – at the suggestion of the governing coalition of the SPD and the Left Party . The proposal of the CDU, Greens and FDP to set up the committees with 13 members and a 6:2:2:1:1:1 distribution of seats was rejected . The disputes brought before the State Constitutional Court by the CDU as the applicant (LVerfG 3/22 and 4/22), were unsuccessful in the ruling of February 23, 2023 . The problem areas that arose can be outlined as follows: basic mandate, assessment of the principle of equality, and dis- tortion . This is shown in the article in the form of comments on the ruling of the State Constitutional Court . At the same time, solutions for avoiding such disputes and also for their adequate assessment are presented . First and foremost, there is a quality measure for the fulfillment of the mirror image principle, which provides a quality number for every conceivable distribution of seats, regardless of the chosen allocation procedure . This allows both the fulfillment of the principle of equality to be assessed and questions of distortion of a distribution to be quantified and thus objectively considered .

Медийно-публицистический контекст очерка А.А. Блока «Последние дни императорской власти»

The article examines the media background on which A. Blok’s essay “The Last Days of Imperial Power” was created, which was the result of his work as part of the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry. Structural and meaningful similarity with the book by S.Ya. Streich “The Last Days of Nicholas II. Official Documents. Eyewitness accounts”, written in 1917, remained out of sight of the researchers. An analysis of the concepts of chronotope, beginning, architectonics is given. The documents presented in both essays are considered. The style differences between Streich and Blok’s essays are described. Streich is a publicist. Blok’s essay has the perspective of an art-documentary genre that will spread widely in the 20th century. Excerpts from Blok’s diary are given, in which what he saw while working in the Peter and Paul Fortress develops into sketches, and artistic images are outlined. A source is being established that A. Blok used when publishing a letter from Grand Prince Alexander Mikhailovich is being established. The origins of the original title of Block’s essay and the reason for its change are considered. A hypothesis has been proposed about the origin of phraseologism ‘old mode’. It is concluded that Blok’s essay was formed in an active information environment saturated with journalism, genuine documents and testimonies of contemporaries. Many works of this time echo meaningfully. There was a mutual influence — both materials and methods of their submission were used. But regardless of the direct influence of specific works on each other, the authors lived in a significant turning point, generating typological forms of reflection of what is happening.

«Я выбрал для пробы главу о Протопопове... » (из истории очерка А. Блока «Последние дни императорской власти»)

This work is devoted to the fate of the chapter on A.D. Protopopov, chosen by A. Blok as a work, as part of his official activities in the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry, for reporting to the Constituent Assembly. A wide range of source material (notebooks, diary, letters to his mother) demonstrates Blok’s attitude towards the last Minister of Internal Affairs. The research concerns the poet’s particular focus on the personality of the disgraced official. The article analyzes documents from Blok’s archive related to his work on the chapter and traces Blok’s parallel work on the chapters “The Last Days of the Tsarist Regime” and “Protopopov.” The article presents, among other things, unknown archival materials from the Manuscript Department of the Pushkin House.

Documentación II. Gaza: Hamas and Israel war crimes- Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel

Documentación II. Gaza: Hamas and Israel war crimes- Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel

The Art of Effective Oversight: Unravelling the Success of Israel's Cabel Inquiry Committee

The Art of Effective Oversight: Unravelling the Success of Israel's Cabel Inquiry Committee

מאבק הממסד נגד הפעלת כוח משטרתי פסול בעשור הראשון למדינת ישראל

The use of unlawful force by British Mandate police was embedded into the Jewish consciousness as a symbol for the entire regime's inherent faults. In contrast, the desired image of the Israeli police force was shaped as the complete opposite: A police force whose actions are justified, enacts law and order, and applies force with restraint. Thus, as opposed to the Mandate's model of colonial policing founded on oppressive military components, the Israeli police, upon its inception, espoused – in theory, at least – the metropolitan model, based on the public's consent to its actions. In practice, however, this was not enough to uproot the phenomenon entirely: since the Israeli police's very first years, members of the Knesset, government and media have voiced their complaints about an unlawful use of force by police officers. Although it is difficult to gauge the true scope of the problem, the state had worked to fight it due to both its practical and symbolic severity. This study will focus on the measures taken by the police, Knesset and government – sometimes with the influence of public and media discussions and sometimes without it – to eradicate it, on three levels: educational – through training courses for new police officers that included laws, regulations and content defining proper use of force; legal – which involved disciplinary and criminal action against policemen who used unlawful force; and structural – which comprised of inquiry committees that examined the use of force by the police and its officers systemically. The failure of these efforts is often explained on a universal level using Brodeur's stance, that the use of force is tantamount to fighting fire with fire: fighting an inherently wrong action by employing an equally wrong means of doing so. Our research will focus on the limited success of these efforts using a local analysis that focuses on Israeli police and society during the state's first decade: on the micro level, we will examine the characteristics of police officers, while the macro level will follow the broad political and social contexts of that time, which led to a reproduction of mandatory-military practices even within a police force that raised the banner of civic policing.

The land question in Botswana A commentary on the report of the presidential commission of inquiry into the Review of the constitution of Botswana

The land question in Botswana A commentary on the report of the presidential commission of inquiry into the Review of the constitution of Botswana

India’s Hostility to Internationalize Criminal Justice- A Prejudiced Reluctance?

On May 31, 2013 United Nations urged India to institute a commission of inquiry serving as a transnational justice mechanism, into extra-judicial killings in its north-eastern states. Urging India to repeal the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958, United Nations also asked India to ensure that the legislation regarding the use of force by the armed forces provides for the respect of the principles of proportionality and necessity. Various reports have shown that the state violence in Kashmir and North Eastern States of India was institutionalized through a culture of institutional impunity to the state forces which perpetuate the state of human rights violations. India has not acceded to the Rome Statute. It abstained in the vote adopting the statute in 1998, saying it objected to the broad definition adopted of crimes against humanity, the right given to the Security Council to refer cases, delay investigations and bind non-state parties, and the use of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction not being explicitly outlawed. Even though India has ratified the Geneva Conventions, it has decided to overlook the Common Article 3. In light of the above, this paper highlights why the emerging power India, abstains from joining the Rome Statute and the possibility of India being brought under the scanner of International Criminal Court.

Mechanisms of Legislative Oversight of the Federal Government in Austria. The Role and Functions of Commissions of Inquiry of the National Council

The paper aims to present the legal tools used by the Austrian legislature to exert control over the federal government and its members, particularly the role of the commission of inquiry and its position in the system. The assumed research hypothesis is that the scope and efficiency of legislative oversight of the executive in Austria have increased due to the strengthened position of the parliamentary minority. The key factor was the 2014 Constitutional Amendment allowing the opposition to propose issuing a commission of inquiry at the National Council. The paper consists of four parts. First, it describes the instruments of political control the Austrian parliament has at its disposal. Next, it analyses the application of the individual supervisory tools at the National Council in the years 2006–2021. The third part presents the procedure for issuing a commission of inquiry and its powers. The reflections are concluded by an analysis of the hitherto existing commissions of inquiry in the Second Republic in terms of their frequency, the scope of inquiry, proponents, and the duration and intensity of their work. The paper also seeks to answer the questions of the scrutiny potential of the National Council, the importance of commissions of inquiry in system practice in Austria and the possible political consequences of the changes to how the parliamentary commissions of inquiry are issued and how they function.

ԱԶԳԱՅԻՆ ԺՈՂՈՎԻ ՔՆՆԻՉ ՀԱՆՁՆԱԺՈՂՈՎՆԵՐԻ ՍՏԵՂԾՄԱՆ ԵՎ ԳՈՐԾՈՒՆԵՈՒԹՅԱՆ ԿԱԶՄԱԿԵՐՊՄԱՆ ԽՆԴԻՐՆԵՐԻ ՄԱՍԻՆ/

The Issues related to the formation of the inquiry committees in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia. The work is aimed at studying the experience of local and foreign countries regarding the creation of the inquiry committees and their legal status. The creation of an inquiry commission with the requirement of a quarter of the total number of deputies is theoretically and practically problematic and may limit the use of this control tool by the parliamentary minority. Therefore, it was suggested to revise these regulations. The application of the principle of popular legitimation in the basis of the formation of inquiry committees is considered inappropriate, because in parliamentary system of government, the committee mainly exercises control over the government formed by the majority. In the case of proportional formation of parliamentary forces, the control is of a formal nature and the minority both in the parliament and in the commission is not able to exercise effective conrol. The inquiry committee should have independence from the parliamentary majority, so it was suggested to review the proportional formation of the committee.

Open, critical and constructive ‚debriefing‘

Over 600 researchers from various disciplines, including 40 from the field of health research, have co-signed a two-part open letter (1, 2) written by the recently founded ‚Pandemic Reappraisal Initiative‘ (3). This initiative is the brainchild of astrophysicist Prof Dr Bernhard Müller from Monash University (Australia), who is associated with the group of authors led by Prof Dr Matthias Schrappe (University of Cologne), which has critically examined corona management in Germany since the outbreak of the corona pandemic with eight thesis papers and four ad hoc statements (4) as well as a multi-professional commentary series (5) - all published in ‚Monitor Versorgungsforschung‘. In addition, Müller published a widely acclaimed controversial paper ‚Zur Modellierung der Coronapandemie‘ (6). While these scientific works were intended to show that scientific and diagnostic findings are indispensable in pandemics, but are not sufficient on their own to successfully overcome such a crisis, the Open Letters are now intended to support the call for a review of the corona pandemic and the establishment of a commission of enquiry on the one hand, and to facilitate the start of a necessary review process by means of a prioritisation and structuring catalogue on the other.

Gestão empresarial, trabalho e um mercado urbano em disputa

Abstract This article retraces the conflicts that emerged during the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee (PIC) of Feira da Madrugada to discuss the expansion of the entrepreneurial management of popular trade areas, as well as changes in workers' experiences. Considering the PIC event as an arena in which the management of this commercial area was viewed as a "public problem", it is argued that the center of the conflict was marked by tensions between two distinct perspectives on popular markets and legitimate uses of urban space: a perspective that recognizes a "social function" in these activities, and a market rationale that identifies urban popular trade areas as favorable for investment and to foster entrepreneurship.