Rights In Countries Research Articles

Globalisation and Pattern of Violence: Why Many Parts of the World Boil Simultaneously

This paper analysed the link between globalization and the current pattern of violence in the world. It set out with the aim to show that the upward trend in violent conflicts is caused and facilitated by the global system of flows and cooperation. Information was obtained from secondary sources and analysed with the use of tables. The results showed that between 2012 and 2017, 25 major violent conflicts perpetrated by groups happened around the world; most of these conflicts were internal. Overall, 15 of the group conflicts occurred in Asia, 9 in Africa and 1 in South America. Within the same period, 5 deadly incidents of criminal violence committed by individuals occurred in Western Europe and North America. Political and religious reasons accounted for group violent conflicts. Violence perpetrated by individuals was motivated by sheer criminality, especially in Western Europe and North America. Losses from the conflicts were huge as group violence led to 565,485 deaths and displacement of 15,547,000 people; while criminal violence killed 272 people. The deaths and displacement are traceable to globalization which elevates local crisis to global involvement. The paper recommends observance of rights of individuals and groups, respect for sovereign rights of countries and liberalization of rights to nuclear arms capability to reintroduce the tested principle of balance of power in world geopolitics in order to stem the tide of violence around the world.

The EU’s dual-use export control and human rights risks: the case of cyber surveillance technology

Export of cyber technology can undermine human rights in countries of destination. In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, political controversies have arisen around EU-exported cyber surveillance technology, which allegedly helped autocratic states monitor and arrest dissidents. While cyber technology is indispensable to our lives, it can be used to suppress the right to privacy, the freedom of expression and the freedom of association, not only in the EU, but also in the countries it trades with. The EU has taken a proactive role in reforming the export of human rights-sensitive cyber technology. In September 2016 the European Commission proposed the integration of human rights due diligence in the process of export control. The Commission’s proposal, however, invited strong contestations both from industry and Member States. Essentially, dual-use export control has developed in order to mitigate military risks. Attempts to integrate human rights risks in export control have thus invited discomfort among stakeholders. This paper unpacks normative tensions arising from the EU’s attempts to integrate human rights risks in its export control regimes. By so doing, the paper highlights fundamental tensions embedded in the EU’s value-based Common Commercial Policy, of which dual-use export control forms an integral part.

Http://lawjournal.ub.ac.id/index.php/law/article/view/126

There has been a concern over the adverse influence of globalisation on local culture. Trade and investment agreements have included cultural concern in their provisions. Employing these provisions, countries initiated trade and investment-related measures to secure what they have presumed as cultural traditions and values. This article seeks to examine if the incorporation of cultural concern under trade and investment agreement is effective to reconcile the need for securing culture and the spirit of free trade and free flows of investment. This article is normative research, examining the existing cultural concern under trade and investment agreements, cultural-related measures of particular countries, and how the judicial bodies have responded these measures in their decisions. This article argues that the incorporation of cultural concern has triggered a wide range of cultural-related measures. Nevertheless, the decision of judicial bodies, to some extent, has been effective to shield the purpose of cultural concern, especially to avoid disguise or inefficient protectionism, and to admit the right of countries to protect or promote their cultural traditions and values.

The impact of patent protection and financial development on industrial R&D

Stronger protection of patent rights is thought to spur innovation through securing returns to R&D investments. Those investments must be financed, however, suggesting that the responsiveness of R&D to patent reforms varies with financial development levels. We examine the joint impact of domestic and international financial-market development and patent protection on R&D intensities in 22 manufacturing industries in 20 OECD countries for the period 1990-2009. We show that stronger patent rights increase R&D intensities in patent-intensive industries, accounting for the need for external financing and the amount of tangible assets. The primary impact varies across types of financial development: patent protection raises R&D in high-patent industries where countries have more limited equity and credit markets. In contrast, in countries with more developed bond markets industry R&D is more sensitive to patent rights. Interestingly, patent rights in countries that are more exposed to foreign direct investment increase R&D intensities at all levels of financial development.

JURIDICAL AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL HERMENEUTICS OF HUMAN RIGHTS FUNDAMENTS / HERMENEUTICA JURÍDICA E FENOMENOLÓGICA DOS FUNDAMENTOS DE DIREITOS HUMANOS

This article explores the issue of international Human Rights proclamations and their vague application concerning the rights disposed. It also elaborates on the phenomenological philosophy in Edmund Husserl and its application as a scientific research method, emphasizing in applications in juridical research. It proposes the implementation of the phenomenological method as a solution to fulfill the need of understanding the essence of Human Rights as proclaimed in legal documents. Phenomenology, in Edmund Husserl is understood as a philosophy that allows an intuitive comprehension of the essence of things. That being, the phenomenological method of scientific research would be able to find the essence of phenomena and their fundamentals. It is a descriptive, phenomenological research, having as methodology the investigation of international legal documents that talk about ratified Human Rights in countries in all five continents, as well as the Brazilian juridical ordering and the existing lack of fundament concerning Human Rights such as freedom, equality and dignity.

The Impact of Patent Protection and Financial Development on Industrial R&D

Stronger protection of patent rights is thought to spur innovation through securing returns to R&D investments. Those investments must be financed, however, suggesting that the responsiveness of R&D to patent reforms varies with financial development levels. We examine the joint impact of domestic and international financial-market development and patent protection on R&D intensities in 22 manufacturing industries in 20 OECD countries for the period 1990-2009. We show that stronger patent rights increase R&D intensities in patent-intensive industries, accounting for the need for external financing and the amount of tangible assets. The primary impact varies across types of financial development: patent protection raises R&D in high-patent industries where countries have more limited equity and credit markets. In contrast, in countries with more developed bond markets industry R&D is more sensitive to patent rights. Interestingly, patent rights in countries that are more exposed to foreign direct investment increase R&D intensities at all levels of financial development.

"The Most Valiant in Defense of His Country": Andrew Jackson's Bequest and the Politics of Courage, 1819–1857

Andrew Jackson's 1845 bequest of a gold box to the New Yorker "most valiant in defense of his country ad our country's rights excited and troubled New Yorkers and indeed many other Americans. Who was the bravest New Yorker? That question proved difficult, if not impossible, to answer, and neither New York City nor the eventual recipient escaped with reputations intact. Indeed, the 1857 campaign to award the box roiled editors, politicos, soldiers, and civilians, underscoring valor's multi-faceted character. Politics ultimately trumped character to highlight the contested (and elusive) definition of what precisely constituted valor.

Report of France/Japan Joint Session Part 2

This paper urges negotiators at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP21) to develop an achievable agreement for the reduction of greenhouse gases that ensures the right of countries to choose nuclear energy in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while meeting their energy and development objectives. This choice should not be prejudiced against in any way by the new UNFCCC protocols, specifically with regards to access to climate funding mechanisms such as Green Climate Funds. “We strongly believe the world must use all available low-carbon energy sources, including nuclear energy, if it is to mitigate the effects of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while meeting development goals and not impeding on economic growth.” The Nuclear for Climate campaign, in what we believe was the first ever COP discussion panel on nuclear and climate. The discussion was held inside the Generation Climate public arena, and attended by more than 200 people. Today, hydroelectricity and nuclear make up 90％ of the electricity mix of the country, thus allowing the CO2 emissions to remain at very low levels. The French nuclear fleet was built over a very short period of time, some 15 years. The replacement of some major components of the various reactors will therefore also take place over a very short period of time, almost at the same time for all reactors. Following the Fukushima accident. safety improvements, will need to be added the safety steps, required in order to extend the lifetime of plants beyond 40 years by “Grand Carénage program”.

The Hybrid Nature of Hybrid Financial Instruments and EU Steps Towards a Solution

For the last few years, aggressive tax planning, tax avoidance, tax fraud and their various manifestations have been dominating the public and private sector. Issues raised by numerous forms of base erosion and profit shifting are listed as top priorities for EU and non-EU countries. Logically, states want to optimize the levy of taxes and obtain the corresponding revenues attributable to their jurisdiction. At the same time, companies want to increase the profit margins through the optimization of all the costs concerned, including optimal taxation. The opposing interests involved might seem irreconcilable having in mind the stakes at hand. In the quest to achieve at least a certain level of balance, the parties engaged are required to adopt solutions that take into account the long-term objectives, the legal certainty behind the rules and potential ramifications of the latter. This article focuses on a particular set of arrangements through which companies attempt to obtain the most favourable taxation and increase the yield on their investments. The aforesaid are carried out by means of exploitation of complex hybrid financial instrument schemes. The significant impact of these sophisticated instruments on the taxing rights of countries has raised various questions but still no concrete answers. The inner logic behind a hybrid instrument is to utilize the differences between the divergent tax systems. The EU, along with the OECD’s work on base erosion and profit shifting and in the context of combating the negative effects of hybrid mismatches, decided to propose an amendment to the Parent-Subsidiary Directive by conditioning the tax relief provided by a home Member State to the deductibility at the level of a host Member State. This approach addresses only one possible solution to the problem and leaves aside other significant ones.

Does counterterrorist legislation hurt human rights practices? A longitudinal cross-national analysis

In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many countries have passed new counterterrorist legislation. One of the common assumptions about such legislation is that it comes with a price: a compromise to practices of human rights. Previous research, looking at a wide range of case studies, suggested that this is indeed the case and that counterterrorist legislation often leads to subsequent repression. However, no large-scale cross-national study has yet assessed this relationship. Relying on a newly assembled database on nation-level counterterrorist legislation for the years 1981–2009, we conduct a cross-national time series analysis of legislation and repression. Our analyses find little evidence for a significant relationships between national counterterrorist legislation and various measures of core human rights in most countries. However, while legislation does not affect repression of physical integrity rights in countries with low and high levels of repression, it is associated with greater state repression in countries with intermediate scores of repression.

A South African reflection on the nature of human rights

This article argues that continued structural inequality in South Africa should give us pause to reflect on the efficacy of the country's rights discourse. It is not so much concerned with the ineffective application of rights (particularly socio-economic rights) as with the actual nature of the rights. My argument is pursued as follows: The notion of 'right' as we have it today is rooted in the same paradigm that fosters commodification; this lends rights an inherent indeterminacy and they are deployed not only to challenge hegemonic interests, but to defend them as well. This indeterminacy is also tied to the fact that rights are really preferences that cultivate particular types of subjectivity. Such recognition of the nature of rights will generate, I believe, a more sober view of its potential to correct society's iniquities.

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This research paper aims to address the expression of opportunistic or abusive conduct in corporations and relate them to three representative tendencies in corporate governance: the tendency to use state courts, the tendency to use business judgment and the tendency of self-execution. These tendencies, as will be seen, have a certain element of state intervention, market dynamics or private self-regulatory mechanisms. The methodology used is that of interpretation, systematization and characterization of the information contained in legislation, jurisprudence and comparative doctrines on the matter. Once having examined the abuse of rights in countries of the Roman-Germanic tradition, such as Spain, and those of the Anglo-Saxon tradition, such as the United States, the piece will study what happens in the Colombian corporate context. As a result, this piece will demonstrate that the particular forms of abuse or opportunism depend on and, in turn, determine the formulas of corporate governance adopted, which, in turn, have different challenges according to the existing culture in the region, the system of incentives, the degree of capital market development, the predominance of dispersed or concentrated capital corporations, among others

WHO, PAHO and the alcohol industry.

The paper by Knai et al. relates to several facets of public–private partnerships (PPP) which are often not discussed in the literature: accountability, transparency and ethics 1. By developing and applying a research methodology to assess the potential impact and relevance of such PPPs as related to alcohol, the authors provide more support to the body of evidence that these partnerships do not have a clear benefit for public health at the same time that they question how to reliably measure the impact of such actions, how to monitor implementation and how to assess the added value of such initiatives. Since the discussions over the development of a global strategy for reducing harmful use of alcohol started in the World Health Assembly, and in particular after its adoption, the alcohol industry has stepped up its activities globally, expeditiously promoting the notion that they are a ‘stakeholder’ and part of the solution. This has included direct meetings with policymakers in several countries, proposing the development of policies and interventions, funding for education and research, among other activities. Policymakers are faced with the difficult challenge of assessing whether proposals are evidence-based, have a likelihood of impact, pose a significant conflict with public health goals and can be evaluated independently. Currently, there is no accountability over actions proposed by the alcohol industry and very little on public–private partnerships with them. They are often unpublicized and nor are they ethically reviewed. Many may rely on the text of the World Health Organization (WHO) global alcohol strategy for what to do 2. In paragraph 6-d, on ‘balancing different interests’, the text is clear about the ‘right of countries to take measures to protect human health’, such as taxation, reduction of availability and banning or controlling alcohol marketing. None of these policies, however, are included in any public private partnership, for obvious reasons: they would decrease profits. Economic operators are acknowledged as ‘an important player in their role as developers, producers, distributors, marketers and sellers of alcoholic beverages (paragraph 45-d)’ and ‘encouraged to consider effective ways to prevent and reduce harmful use of alcohol within their core roles’, including ‘self-regulatory actions or making available data on sales and consumption of alcoholic beverages’. However, the wording was crafted carefully to separate them as a player that is not a ‘collaborator’ or a ‘partner’. Their role is clearly limited, and it is never linked to policymaking, education or research. The strategy recommends continuing a ‘dialogue’ with them on how they can reduce the harms from the consumption of alcoholic beverages; it is the role of governments and other stakeholders to assess whether the ways they propose have any chance of reducing the harm which, in turn, depends upon determining ways of monitoring their actions and their proposed contributions. Under ‘public health advocacy and partnership’ (paragraph 48), the WHO strategy mentions the need to ensure that the WHO Secretariat has processes in place to work with non-governmental organizations and other civil society groups, taking in consideration any conflicts of interest [italics added] that some non-governmental organizations may have; and in continuing its dialogue [italics added] with the private sector on how they can best contribute to the reduction of alcohol-related harm. Dr Margaret Chan has been clear on a few occasions about the position of WHO: in the 8th Global Conference of Health Promotion in Helsinki 3, in the Global Conference on Alcohol Policy in Turkey 4 and in a letter in reply to the British Medical Journal feature on the alcohol industry 5. In all, Dr Chan indicated that ‘the development of alcohol policies is the sole prerogative of national authorities, and the alcohol industry has no role in the formulation of alcohol policies, which must be protected from distortion by commercial or vested interests’. Finally, years ago the Pan American Health Organization adopted guidelines on collaboration with private enterprises 6 that textually exclude any collaboration with the alcohol industry, along with tobacco and weapons. The study by Knai et al. shows a very narrow range of activities in areas not clearly proven to lead to alcohol harm reduction and, if this is most of what can be done, it questions the need and value of a public–private partnership with the alcohol industry. Policymakers interested in reducing the harm from alcohol consumption can rely on a solid and growing body of documented evidence on what works to reduce alcohol problems at population level. None.

Realising Rights in Low Quality Democracies: Instructive Asian Cases

Do justiciable legal frameworks for the protection of human rights (JLFPHR) promote the realisation of human rights in countries with low quality democracies? If so, under what conditions? And what do answers to these questions imply for activists’ strategies for promoting human rights? This essay considers these questions drawing on the papers published here on Indonesia, Nepal, Malaysia and Timor Leste. It suggests that while rights agendas encounter serious political, social and institutional obstacles in low quality democracies, JLFPHR make a positive contribution to rights realisation by: (i) aiding political mobilisation by poor and marginalised groups and their supporters in the NGO movement and (ii) providing a legal basis for these groups to challenge rights breaches through the courts, at least where viable legal pathways for such efforts exist and these groups can muster the financial, organisational and technical resources required to launch and sustain court cases. In terms of strategy, the paper thus suggests that, in addition to constructing JLFPHR, rights activists should focus on facilitating political mobilisation around rights issues, constructing legal pathways that are likely to be receptive to rights causes, and creating support structures to enable citizens to exploit these pathways.

Building Capacity, Building Rights? State Capacity and Labor Rights in Developing Countries

Building state capacity has often been hailed as a cure-all for the ailments of the developing world and has been linked to human rights improvements, economic development, and the enforcement of property rights. Low state capacity, on the other hand, has been viewed as one of the primary impediments to improvements of labor rights and other social justice issues. We examine the relationship between state capacity and the protection of labor rights in panels of 85 developing countries, and 34 “supply-chain-relevant” countries. We find that changes in state capacity are only associated with changes in labor rights in countries where workers’ interests are better represented in the political system – measured alternately as left party power, democracy, union density, and potential labor power. Our findings highlight the importance of combinations of state capacity and political will in leading to improved rights of workers in global supply chains.

Socioeconomic Rights in South Africa: Symbols or Substance?, Malcom Langford, Ben Cousins, Jackie Dugard and Tshepo Madingozi (Eds.) : book review

The publication of this book comes two decades after South Africa became a democratic state. It could not have come at a better time as it provides authors with a good opportunity to benefits or otherwise of inclusion of socioeconomic rights in Constitution. The chapters of this book are written by academics, experts and civil society organizations. In introductory chapter of book Malcom Langford observes that South Africa presents an interesting paradox with regard to realisation of socioeconomic rights. While on one hand, country has explicitly guaranteed socioeconomic rights in Constitution, enacted pieces of legislation to give bite to these rights, and courts have developed a rich jurisprudence to clarify content of these rights, on other hand, these developments have not in any way transformed into better living conditions for people. Indeed, Langford laments that the failure of South Africa to match narrative with social transformation in practice has generated a counter-narrative (page 1). He explains that main purpose of book is to assess one part of puzzling of contrasting on South Africa: what has been role and impact of socioeconomic rights strategies by civil society actors? (page 1) He observes that one of critiques of South African experience is that landmark cases on socioeconomic rights have not been properly implemented or that rights-culture has impacted negatively on alternative route for social change. Focusing on period 2000-2010, book seeks to unravel how a diverse group of actors, particularly from marginalised and disadvantaged communities and social groups has used linguistic and strategic resource of socioeconomic rights? Equally book seeks to direct and indirect impact of rights-based strategies on realising socioeconomic rights in country.

Martii Koskenniemi on Human Rights: An Empirical Perspective

Martii Koskenniemi argues that human rights law is indeterminate, and that arguments based on human rights unavoidably reflect the policy preferences of the speaker. I connect this argument to empirical evidence of the failure of international human rights treaties to improve human rights in countries that have ratified them. I argue that many features of the human rights regime that are celebrated by lawyers — the large number of treaties, the vast number of rights, the large amount of institutionalization, and the involvement of NGOs — actually reflect the failure of the regime. Governments tolerate these developments because they add to the indeterminacy of the legal regime, freeing them to act in the public interest when they are motivated to do so.

Sustainable Finance for Sustainable Forestry: Is Cooperation Possible among Nations?

Countries in the world might be classified for discussion purposes at international meetings using definitions such as small island developing states, low forest cover countries, rich forest cover countries, forest product exporters, importers, donors, etc. that use their forestry characteristics. While some countries generate income from forests, some have to compensate deficit on revenue to sustain their forests. Nations have rights and responsibilities to cooperate in sustainable forest management at the country level and global scale. Some mechanisms, such as the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), were generated by international institutions to support various countries' needs to solve local problems related to global concerns including sustainable forest management. The suitability of these mechanisms is under discussion at international meetings. Green economy and green accounting terms have also been discussed using mechanisms for payment for ecosystem services (PES). The aim of this study is to develop a method to compute the financial contribution levels for cooperation among countries with different characteristics regarding forestry activities and common forest values. Using general equilibrium models, a balance equation consisting of variables dealing with country rights and responsibilities for sustainable forests is offered as a method to hypothetically classify nations. This equation was tested using random hypothetical data. The results indicate the equation may be used to understand the relative classification of the countries.

Foreign Residency Rights and Corporate Frauds

We examine whether Chinese firms whose controlling persons have foreign residency rights are more likely to engage in corporate frauds. We find a positive association between foreign residency rights and the probability of corporate frauds. However, foreign residency rights are mainly associated with less severe forms of frauds. Additional analyses show that strong corporate governance mitigates the association between foreign residency rights and corporate frauds. Extradition agreements between China and controlling persons’ residency countries do not deter their propensity for fraudulent activities. Finally, controlling persons with residency rights in countries with better institutions are more likely to engage in corporate frauds. Our study can help investors better assess firms based on controlling persons’ residency information. It also suggests that Chinese regulators should pay attention to potential culprits with foreign residency rights and that foreign governments should exercise caution when granting residency status.

Licensee technological potential and exclusive rights in international licensing: A multilevel model

Granting of exclusive rights is an important consideration for firms using licensing as a mode of entry into foreign markets, as exclusive contracts reduce licensors’ flexibility in a given market during the term of the agreement. By granting exclusivity to a licensee with greater technological potential, the exchange partners can increase the potential transactional value of the licensing agreement. At the same time, a licensee with strong technological potential will increase the threat of transactional hazards due to underinvestment and rent appropriation. In this paper, we develop and empirically test a model that evaluates the balancing of transactional value and transaction costs in exclusive licensing. In particular, we identify the conditions under which exclusive contracts are likely to be granted to foreign licensees with strong technological potential. Empirical results from a multilevel model, based on 375 international licensing agreements of US firms in high-technology industries during 1995–2008, show that licensees with a stronger technological potential are more likely to be granted exclusive rights in countries with strong intellectual property rights protection, and in industries with a high rate of technological change; but are less likely to be granted exclusive rights when there is a high degree of overlap between licensor and licensee products.