Common Heritage Research Articles

Delegation and Directors' Reliance on the Performance of Others – A Companies Act 2008 Analysis in the Light of International Best Practices

South Africa has included in the Companies Act 71 of 2008 (the Act), provisions dealing with directors' delegation and reliance on the performance of others for their (the directors') own performance. In keeping with their role of managing the affairs of the company in terms of section 66(1) of the Act, directors must make decisions in the best interests of the company. Given the company board's strategic role in the company governance, as opposed to the day-to-day management done by the executive management, directors must rely on the performance of others to fulfil their role. These "others" include professional experts and company employees who can either provide guidance/specialist advice or to whom the board may delegate certain powers and authority to perform certain functions geared towards providing the board with a basis for decision-making. This article in the main interrogates the question whether South Africa has now established globally competitive legal standards of directors' delegation and reliance on the performance of others in line with company law reform objectives prior to 2008. One such objective is ensuring compatibility and harmonisation of the new company law with the best practice jurisdictions internationally as a way of promoting the global competitiveness of the South African economy. In this respect this article examines relevant laws in two foreign jurisdictions to provide a comparative aspect to the relevant South African company law aspects. First the article very briefly examines English law, which provides South Africa with its common law heritage of the duty of care, and it is argued that reliance and delegation relate to the irreducible minimum standard of care and the standard to exercise independent judgment. An examination of Australian statutory provisions on reliance and delegation is followed by a critical evaluation of reliance and delegation in section 76(4)(b)-(5) of the Companies Act 2008. It is concluded that South Africa has established globally competitive principles of reliance and delegation. Nonetheless, there are gaps in statutory reliance and delegation provisions under the Act, and lessons can be drawn from the best practices in Australian statutory and case law. Firm suggestions are made on how the gaps can be plugged and how the legal standards can be further tightened to enhance the global competitiveness of South African company law.

Na marginesie traktatów. Dziedzictwo kulturowe zachodniej Polski w perspektywie ostatnich 30 lat – wybrane zagadnienia

The paper attempts to address contemporary selected phenomena that form the context of cultural heritage in western Poland. The statement refers to some social, legal and economic aspects that affect changes in the perception of cultural heritage in western Poland. Although the problems of cultural heritage in western Poland have been of interest to researchers for many years, new issues are emerging. According to the author, phenomena that can be observed in recent years are particularly interesting. These include the pronounced generational transformation in Poland and Germany, which is redefining the social perception of these problems. References to the significance of the German-Polish treaties in the perspective of the last several years are also interesting. The article poses the question of the real meaning of common heritage in the dimension of Polish-German relations.

ENHANCING ACCULTURATION VIA PHRASEOLOGY

The article deals with the topic of the common European heritage in the English phraseology. When speaking about the European heritage, we speak about culture, history, traditions, ceremonies shared in the European continent. Subject to analysis in phraseology are quotations of well-known persons, books, works, myths and traditions of international origin that we share in Europe. Acculturation of people is related with the concept of native culture of each person. To know the culture of the homeland is enevitable for understanding the culture of other nations. Moreover, the article deals with connections between culture and the language because they influence each other. After analysing proverbs and sayings of the Slovak and English language, it can be postulated that in most cases their target language for the Slovak as well as the English was Latin language. The existence of cross-linguistic absolute equivalents can result from the fact that idioms or in general, phraseologisms, including paremiological units, come from the same source and are cross-linguistically or even internationally shared, usually as translation loans or calques, which is also a case of some English and Slovak phraseologisms. Absolute equivalents are based on the identical imagery, symbolisms, and literally or almost literally corresponding lexical components of their basic forms.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AITYS GENRE AMONG KAZAKH AND TURKISH PEOPLE

Aitys is a special genre that occupies a special place in our national literature. All types of aitys require eloquence, mobility, and ingenuity. In Kazakh and Turkish literature this genre is in accord with social, socio-political issues. Using jokes, humor and satire in their improvised verses two poets compose dialogue on significant changes and various social phenomena within the country. At the same time by giving a clear, rational reply to the opponent, one can be on an advantageous position. Poets also use this aitys genre of verses competition to convey their inner feelings of mood. At all times, aitys genre can be called a mirror of its era. Therefore, the study of such diverse characteristics and specific features of the aitys genre, its generality as a harbinger of social situations is considered one of the main tasks of the science of Kazakh literary studies.
 Improvisational talent is the natural talent of the poet. Aitys genre requires great responsibility and deep knowledge in different spheres. Accepting the advantages of other poets in his/her environment and advancing his/her knowledge should be considered as the stage of the poet's ascension.
 Kazakh aitys genre works have more improvisational feature, have a large and artistic content, descriptive of a long chronicle about the country’s and people’s life, while the assonant rhymes of Turkish atyshma are subject to a special condition and certain rules of artistic schedule. It can be said that the basis of both theatrical and dramatic art is connected here. A characteristic feature of Kazakh and Turkish traditions is their formation in ancient times, when both nations had a common spiritual heritage and even a common stat.
 Aitys is a common heritage of the Turkic people. Aytys genre is a phenomenon of the Turkic-speaking peoples culture that spread orally.
 As the object of the study was selected and considered the artifacts of the ancient Turkic era, the first versions of aitys, as well as the works by folk poets of the XIX-XX centuries and the Kazakh and Turkish aitys types, which are main subjects for the research relevance.
 The article analyzed deeply the division of the aitys genre into subtypes, its methods, features and similarities among the Turkic peoples based on the opinions and conclusions of Kazakh and Turkish scientists.

The compromised international legal regime for deep seabed mining and a possible solution from China’s legislative perspective

The principle of the common heritage of mankind (CHM principle), as enshrined in Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is the fundamental principle of sharing the resources of the international seabed area. The International Seabed Authority (the Authority) is the international institution that implements Part XI of the Convention and has the dual task of managing the exploration and exploitation of resources in the international seabed area and protecting the marine environment. This article dives into a deep analysis of the problems that have arisen in the course of the development of the sharing mechanism for resources in the international seabed area by the Authority, and further engages in the discussion on China’s domestic legislative strategies for the mechanism for sharing of resources in the international seabed area. It is argued in this article that China’s domestic deep-sea legal regime is an important part of global deep-sea governance, and has the potential to apply a ‘corrective’ function to the ‘institutional misalignment’ that occurs in the operation of the international seabed regime with the aim of promoting the sharing of resources in the international seabed area.

The right to peace in the paradigm of collective and individual subjects: dualism of approaches

The article analyzes the evolution of the right to peace from its individual status (individual rights) to collective (community rights). It is argued that it is the mass violation of human rights in the conditions of military operations against a large number of people that causes the appearance of their collective right to peace as a derivative of the individual right to life. It is noted that with the development of civilization, the individual right to life was transformed into a collective right to peace. Only at a certain stage of human development did the individual right to life undergo its transformation into the right to peace. It is about recent history, when the abstract ideas of the right to peace acquired their realizationin the respective ones international agreements and underwent their institutionalization in the activities of structures that had an international character. Attention is drawn to the fact that the right to peace as a scientific problem was problematized in the context of collective law in the 70s of the 20th century. Specifically, this period is associated with numerous scientific discussions regarding third-generation human rights, which include collective rights, in particular, the right to peace. There are six types of collective rights. This is the right to political, economic, social and cultural selfdetermination; the right to participate in and receive profits from the «common heritage of mankind»; the right to peace; the right to a healthy and balanced environment and the right to humanitarian assistance in the event of various disasters. In the context of the above, existing approaches in the scientific literature regarding the subject structure of this right are analyzed. According to the author, the right to peace belongs to both collective and individual rights. It is emphasized that the right to peace in the 21st century is a general means of ensuring the realization of all other human rights. Key words: the right to peace, individual rights, collective rights.

Heritable genome editing: ethical aspects of a developing domain.

In the past decade, scientific developments in human germline genome editing (GGE) have reinvigorated questions about research ethics, responsible innovation, and what it means to do good in the field of reproductive biology and medicine. In recent years, it has become part of the ethical debate on GGE whether categorical objections about (un)naturalness, dignity, respect for the gene pool as common heritage, are and should be supplemented by more pragmatic questions about safety, utility, efficacy, and potential 'misuse', which seem to become more dominant in the moral discussion. This mini-review summarizes the morally relevant aspects of the rapidly developing domain of GGE, focusing on reproductive applications and with special attention to the ethical questions pertaining to how this technology may affect the interests of those that come to be by means of it. While vital, this encompasses more than safety considerations. Taking this perspective, it will be crucial to engage with normative questions about how GGE maps on the importance of accommodating future parents' preference to have genetically related children, and how far we should go to facilitate this. Similarly, a comprehensive ethical debate about 'appropriate application' of GGE cannot shake off the more fundamental question about how notions like 'normalcy', 'quality of life', and 'disability' can be conceptualized. This is crucial in view of respecting persons whichever traits they have and in view of acceptable boundaries to parental responsibilities.

Ossolineum as a common historical heritage of Ukrainians and Poles

Historically, it happened that Ukrainians and Poles, during long historical periods, lived within the same states, such as theAustro-Hungarian or Russian empires, the First and Second Years of Partition, and therefore, in fact, both peoples are involved in the formation of cultural heritage such as, for example, the Osolinski library. Being a gift to the city of Lviv at the beginning of the 19th century, the library grew over the following years, and by the beginning of the 20th century it became one of the richest in Central Europe. Due to the change of borders and the state affiliation of Lviv, as a result of two world wars and the criminal negligence of the Soviet authorities regarding the Ukrainian cultural heritage, a significant part of the Ossolineum's funds ended up on the territory of the Republic of Poland. The transfer of Ossolineum funds by the Soviet side of Poland was carried out in several stages between 1945 and 1987. At the beginning of the 90s of the 20th century, the negotiation process began between Ukraine and the Republic of Poland on the return of Ossolineum to its country of origin. In fact, throughout the 1990s and two decades of the 21st century, discussions between Ukraine and Poland about the ownership of Ossolineum and its restitution to Ukraine continued. Unfortunately, all these negotiations, as of today, have not yielded any results.

Intangible Cultural Practices as Part of the Common Heritage of Nature and Culture

Intangible Cultural Practices as Part of the Common Heritage of Nature and Culture

Constitutionalism “of” the Global South? Epistemological reflections on emerging constitutional trends

Taking into consideration the recent studies on the “constitutionalism of the global south”, the aim of this article is to critically analyze the applicability of the mentioned concept, highlighting the potentialities and inadequacies of its theoretical construction. The hypothesis states that notwithstanding the relative frailties on the concept of “global south”, it is possible to conceive the emergency of a “constitutionalism of the global south”, grounded on singular innovative experiences of several “southern” countries, which are relevant contributions for the common heritage of democratic constitutionalism. The article, an outcome of researches carried out between Brazil and Italy, with the use of hypothetical-deductive method, is methodologically grounded in the field of constitutional theory, with some elements of comparative constitutional law, and is divided in three topics: I. Defining constitutionalism: concept and evolutions; II. Constitutionalism, the global north and the south; III. Constitutionalism of the global south: a critical analysis. As results, the hypothesis has been partially confirmed, as it has been evidenced the inadequacy of the concept “constitutionalism of the global south”, for its vagueness and ambiguous delimitation. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to comprehend the constitutionalism of the global south as a “constitutionalism from the global south”, as an attempt to emphasize the diversity on global south constitutionalisms and, through this, increase the analytical perspective of contemporary constitutionalism complexity. Thus, in a “multicentered approach”, constitutional theory fits a more adequate position to analyze constitutional innovations, considering that center and periphery are conditional concepts, especially when referring to contemporary constitutionalism.

Factors affecting tourists’ emotional reactions during a visit to a dark attraction: a conceptual model

ABSTRACT This study proposes a novel conceptual model for exploring how the interaction between first, the severity of the dark event(s) related to dark attractions, secondly, the recency of the event(s) related to the attraction, and third, the sharing of a common heritage with the event(s) related to the attraction, can affect tourists’ emotional reactions while visiting dark attractions. This study reviews the literature on the generalisability of dark attractions, as well as the current state of the art on tourists’ emotional reactions during visits to dark attractions, focusing on the effects of severity (i.e. number of deaths) and recency (i.e. number of years ago) of the dark event, as well as the sharing of a common heritage with the dark event. The proposed conceptual model differs from previous ones by focusing on a 2 × 2×2 framework, thus enabling measuring each variable’s effect on tourists’ emotional reactions. Implications for adopting and testing the proposed conceptual model are discussed.

3D modeling of historical measurement instruments using photogrammetric and laser scanning techniques

Historical artifacts are the common heritage of all humanity. Therefore, preserving historical artifacts is very important in keeping the cultural heritage alive and passing it on to generations. One of the most effective methods used in documentation studies is the photogrammetric method. Although these methods are widely used, they are changing and developing day by day by gaining momentum with technology development. Laser scanners, which have entered our lives with the development of technology, have provided new opportunities to three-dimensional (3D) modeling and have become a frequently used method because they can model even objects with complex geometry in a short time and in a practical way. In this study, Theodolite (18th century), Sextant (18th century) and Graphometer (18th century) instruments on display at the Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Geomatics Engineering Department Historic Measurement Instruments Museum were modeled using photogrammetric and laser scanning methods. To compare the accuracy of the models, caliper measurements were taken from specific points of the instruments used in the modeling. Measurements were made on the models using the same points, and a comparison was made on the findings.

Conceptualizing Successful School Leadership in Norway: Political and Cultural Practices

Throughout the last two decades, successful school leadership has been subject to extensive research in Norway and comparisons across countries as part of the International Successful School Principals Project (ISSPP). This paper identifies and discusses how and why Norwegian research on the relationship between school leadership positions and governance regimes comes into play when defining terms such as “success” and “effectiveness”. A critical literature review establishes analysis and discussion as the basis for an improved understanding of the notion of success in ISSPP research in the Norwegian education policy context. The findings show that success is consistently attached to a collaborative, political, and democratic perspective, as well as trust, power, and the definition of quality in education. Furthermore, ISSPP studies of cases in the Norwegian context have contributed to the educational leadership field by positioning school leadership within a combination of local, national, and global political and cultural environments. The differences and similarities between countries that do not share a common cultural heritage or language must be considered. In particular, there is a need to discuss the relationship between national history and policy and the conceptualization of successful school leadership.

Wild Blue: The Post-World War Two Ocean Frontier and its Legacy for Law of the Sea

Abstract The post-1945 ocean came to be viewed through the cultural prism of 'frontier', denoting both a bonanza of resources and also lawlessness that impeded secure investment in their exploitation. After Arvid Pardo inserted the cultural representation of ocean frontier into law of the sea discussions with his 1967 proposal of the ocean as the Common Heritage of (Hu)Mankind, the prospect of using hitherto unexploited ocean resources to equalise an unequal world was widely, if not universally, embraced. While many commentators deny the power of the ocean frontier representation, this paper argues that, even as environmental concerns about pollution and declining resources aligned with worries about global overpopulation, the ocean continued, during the protracted negotiations of the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea beginning in 1973, to be viewed as full of resources. The historical context of decolonisation and Garrett Hardin's 1968 Tragedy of the Commons argument reframed the ocean into a site for competition over resources.

Making the most of what we already have: Activating UNCLOS to combat marine plastic pollution

Adequately responding to the crisis of marine plastic pollution will require parallel actions, by a variety of actors, on multiple fronts. The ocean governance regime, which has generally failed at shaping state behavior around land-based pollution, offers important legal and conceptual resources that can and should be utilized in these efforts. This article reviews three areas where the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) could be activated or applied to the problem of marine plastic pollution: the common heritage of mankind principle, the dispute settlement system, and reform through implementing agreements. Utilizing these elements of the ocean governance regime would be complementary to on-going efforts to negotiate a new plastics treaty. Working through UNCLOS offers several advantages, including important in-roads for non-state actors, norm-strengthening through an already well-subscribed regime, and expanding the avenues and obligations for scientific data collection on the patterns and impacts of marine plastics.

A study on how environmental issues are discussed in social studies textbooks

Environmental education should be sustainable. For a peaceful and happy world, each country is expected to see the environment as common heritage and to bring this sensitivity to the students in the education processes. Social Studies course is a course that aims to educate students to be effective, sensitive to living together, and have a perception of common heritage within the framework of global citizenship. For the environmental sensitivity to be more effective, the education process is bound to carry out very important tasks. Students can be supported to gain awareness of environment through educational programs, textbooks, teaching strategies, methods, and techniques from an early age on and throughout their education. The aim of this study is to investigate what kind of educational process the students in Turkey, which has an important geopolitical position in the world, go through in the social studies course, which bears the responsibility of conveying universal principles. In our study, the mixed method was used and it was investigated whether the environmental issues are discussed in social studies textbooks in accordance with the developmental levels of the students. In the research process, teachers' opinions as well as the textbooks were examined. As a result of the research, it has been understood that social studies textbooks do not primarily handle the environmental issues efficiently and that children are not trained well enough to gain environmental sensitivity.

Building a common political heritage between the two main communities in Cyprus: the troubled years of the 1950s

Building a common political heritage between the two main communities in Cyprus: the troubled years of the 1950s

On the common heritage of mankind principle in space

The Common Heritage of Mankind (CHM) Principle is a political outcome from the interest game between spacefaring countries and non-spacefaring countries. The space CHM principle per se is an existence of international law and is a historical, dynamic, open and developing one. The CHM principle in the Moon Agreement should be interpreted with a strictly semantic interpretation standard (“no more, no less”) in lex lata. The legal character of the celestial bodies, its natural resources in place and resources abstracted should be defined. The basic elements and connotation of the CHM principle in the Moon Agreement could be drawn from the analysis of the articles about non-appropriation, non-property and international regime for space resources exploitation. In respect of the prospects of the development of space resources exploitation, the paper comparatively analyzed res communes, res publicae, common property and condominium and subsequently propose the due common recognition of the legal concepts and principles of the CHM in space domain.

Scandinavia in Research on Slavic Wooden Architecture: Inspiration, Point of Reference and Part of Imagined Pasts

ABSTRACT Based on texts from art history and ethnology, this paper examines three aspects of Scandinavia’s role in studying the wooden architecture of the Slavs up to 1945. First, it is pointed out that Dahl’s book, published in 1837, gave the decisive impetus to this research tradition. Second, the article shows how the early works on Norwegian stave churches established them as a paradigm of wooden construction and thus as the primary reference for other monuments of this type. Third, attempts to use wooden architecture in incorporating Scandinavia and Slavs into the shared, imagined pasts are presented. These were undertaken mainly by German scholars trying to demonstrate the Germanic roots of Slavic building. Scandinavia played a role in these narratives as the source of the forms taken over by the Slavs or the residuum of the East Germanic artistic traditions influencing the Slavic peoples. In this way, Scandinavian culture, incorporated into the common Germanic heritage, was instrumentalised to legitimise German domination in Central Europe. 1 1 Publication co-financed by the funds granted under the Research Excellence Initiative of the University of Silesia in Katowice.

Linguistic Diversity in Self-Access Learning Spaces in Japan: A Growing Role for Languages Other than English?

In line with foreign language instruction in general, foreign language provision in self-access learning centres (SALCs) has been dominated by English language learning. This is largely due to the nature of the internationalisation agenda in Japan, termed kokusaika, which emphasises English as the most important international language, the learning of which can facilitate Japanese economic advancement (Hashimoto, 2017; Kubota & Takeda, 2021). Largely missing from this narrative is a promotion of multiculturalism within Japan between different migrant populations, for many of whom English is as much a foreign language as it is for Japanese nationals (Tsuneyoshi, 2018). In order to truly internationalise, Japan must understand and embrace the linguistic and cultural diversity within its borders. Therefore, international education should focus on more than simply English education. This is as true for self-access facilities as it is for the mainstream curriculum. While there is some provision in some facilities for languages other than English (LOTE), as yet, no systematic investigation into the degree and nature of this provision has been conducted. Using data from a survey administered with coordinators of SALCs across Japan, this study investigated the degree to which SALCs in Japan are focusing on LOTE and the different ways in which they support these languages. The results revealed increasing focus on LOTE in some SALCs, in terms of materials and services offered, and significant linguistic diversity among SALC staff. However, common heritage and indigenous languages in Japan are largely absent, and a tendency to see language provision primarily as the appropriate balance between English and Japanese still persists in some SALCs.