Legal Institutions Research Articles

Conspiracy! Or, when bad things happen to good litigants in person

AbstractThis paper considers the relationship between litigants in person (LiPs) and conspiracy theories and seeks to answer two questions: how, and why, do some LiPs come to be conspiracy theorists? The majority of LiPs, of course, do not become conspiracy-minded. There is also no evidence that LiPs are more likely than anyone else in legal proceedings to be conspiracists, only, perhaps, that it is more obvious when they are. But there continue to be individuals who have conspiracist explanations for difficulties or failures they experience throughout legal proceedings. And while it is widely held that some LiPs hold eccentric beliefs about the law, there has been little attempt to understand how and why LiPs may come to acquire or articulate these beliefs. This is presumably because it has not been considered important to interrogate the views of people already often assumed to be ‘difficult’ or eccentric. This paper contends, however, that trying to understand how and why these conspiracist beliefs are acquired matters very much. This is because conspiracy theories can give us a critical insight into how negative experiences of litigation can result in a loss of faith or trust in legal institutions.

The role of legal and agricultural institutions in sustaining the adoption of new improved paddy varieties in West Kalimantan

The role of legal and agricultural institutions in sustaining the adoption of new improved paddy varieties in West Kalimantan

The Nomos of the Water: Indigenous Narrative Identity Claims to Justify Granting Legal Personhood to a River

Abstract This article, anchored in Indigenous narratives, identifies the core arguments for granting juridical personhood to rivers and appointing Indigenous citizens as their legal guardians. The core arguments are as follows: for Indigenous peoples, dwelling on riverbanks is a matter of identity. This identity manifests itself through various interpersonal practices, including language – thus, narratives – and caring. The analysis of sampled narratives has uncovered valid rationales for granting legal personhood to rivers due to identities common for rivers and their dwellers, rivers’ specific capabilities, and their actantial features (rivers can act). Both legal personhood for rivers and Indigenous dwellers being in the role of their legal guardians are unique legal institutions to fulfil the critical interests and capabilities of rivers at a time when these fragile ecosystems are under threat. We illustrate this by using the Amazon and Oder rivers as examples and referring to the Yanomami’s and Olga Tokarczuk’s narrative accounts.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FOREIGN EXPERIENCE ON INVALIDITY OF CORRUPT DEAL

There is no distinction between legal capacity and legal capacity. Instead, the single concept of legal entity (legal capacity) applies. True, in practice there is passive and active ability to deal. In other words, it is interpreted as the ability to independently perform legal actions. Legal subjectivity is considered formally equal and, according to the general rule, begins with the birth of a person and ends with his death. In the Anglo-American legal system, finding a person missing and declaring him dead do not exist as independent legal institutions.

Правовий статус страховика як учасника договірних страхових відносин

Despite the regulation of insurance relations by Ukrainian legislation, due attention from both scientists and legislators requires the issue of improving the legal status of participants in insurance relations, determining their place in such relations in order to effectively protect their rights and interests. The purpose of the article is to study the legal status of the insurer as a participant in insurance contractual relations, analyze existing approaches to its determination, establish the features of the insurer's legal personality and provide proposals for further improvement of legislation in this area. A characteristic feature of an insurance contract as an independent type of civil legal obligations within the group of contracts for the provision of services is that the conclusion of insurance contracts is directly the subject of activity of specially authorized participants in civil relations – insurance organizations (insurers). It has been established that the insurer, as a participant in insurance contractual relations, is a legal entity that, being specially created to provide insurance services and having received a license for this in the prescribed manner, undertakes the obligation, in accordance with the terms of the contract or an indication of the law, to provide insurance to the insured for a certain fee, to carry out an insurance payment (insurance compensation) to the insured or beneficiary as a result of the occurrence of a certain event (insured event). In insurance contractual relations, the insurer can only have a legal entity on its side, which is empowered to carry out insurance activities only after receiving a special permit (license), which indicates that legal entities - insurers have special legal personality. An insurance organization is endowed with the general legal capacity of a legal entity with a special scope of legal capacity as a financial institution. Attention is drawn to the fact that a significant factor in the modernization of the civil legislation of Ukraine today is the global trend towards unification and harmonization of private law regulation, the formation of optimal legal norms for many areas of private law relations, including insurance. In this regard, the need is justified to determine at the legislative level the requirements for the insurer when it carries out certain types of compulsory insurance, which have their own specifics and provide for the creation of increased guarantees of protection for those persons who, due to objective circumstances, are exposed to increased risk and the extension of insurance protection to cases possible violation of public interests by the method of guaranteeing receipt of insurance payment (insurance compensation). It is concluded that the recodification of the civil legislation of Ukraine opens up prospects for a qualitative update of the legal regulation of insurance contractual relations and will contribute to the development of the provision of insurance services, strengthening of legal institutions in the field of insurance, raising the standards of providing insurance services and ensuring adequate protection of the rights of participants in insurance relations

Academic Filmmaking in the New Humanities. Articles. Introduction to the special issue.

The article provides an introduction to the first of a pair of special issues devoted to academic filmmaking, which, apart from this introduction, contains eleven prose articles. The article describes the variety of filmmaking practice in the academy, and some of the venues where examples of the practice are published or exhibited. It gestures at the multiple origins of academic filmmaking with special reference to the tradition of the essay film, and finds a key reflexive moment in Eric S. Faden’s (prose) “Manifesto for Critical Media” (2008), which articulated the challenge of using “image, voice, pacing, text, sound, music, montage, rhythm” to create scholarly audiovisual work. The introduction goes on to set out the aims for the special issues, and to describe the contents of the eleven articles in the first issue and some of the features, concerns or approaches shared between and across those contents. The eleven articles deal with themes raging from academic filmmaking as activism, to vulnerability and embodiment, to the challenges of production and publishing and of institutional legitimization.

Отечественная доктрина правовой природы института морской перевозки груза (конец XIX — начало XX в.)

The article is devoted to understanding the legal nature of the institution of maritime transportation of goods in the domestic legal doctrine, characteristic of the legal thought of the period under review. The institution under study, having the specifics of public international law, private international law, civil law, administrative law, as well as due to its close connection with other related institutions of maritime law, has emerged as an institution that cannot be regulated within the framework of one branch of law without taking into account all the features its historical and legal specificity. The presence of multifaceted reflections on the legal aspects of the contract for the carriage of goods by sea reveals the main contours of what constitutes its nature as a legal institution, and indicates its significance for the state system and economy of that era. In conclusion, the author comes to the conclusion that during the period under review, an independent concept of the international public legal nature of the institution of maritime transportation of goods was formed in different interpretations, which did not receive final confirmation, and maritime trade law remained a structural part of trade law.

Особенности оценки прокурором законности оснований для возбуждения уголовного дела о незаконном обороте наркотиков

Purpose: identifying problems that arise during the implementation of prosecutorial supervision at the stage of initiating criminal proceedings in cases of drug trafficking, and developing proposals for solving them. Research methods: in the research process, both universal and general scientific methods of cognition were used, as well as special legal techniques, including comparative legal methods for studying individual legal institutions in Russia and Tajikistan. Conclusions: 1) Initiation of a criminal case (refusal to initiate a criminal case) based on the results of an operational investigative activity should be the basis for checking the operational accounting case; 2) It is necessary to expand the powers of the prosecutor: a) the prosecutor must be given the right to approve requests to conduct operational investigative activities before the court; b) when carrying out operational investigative activities that are carried out before the initiation of a criminal case in order to identify signs of crimes in the field of drug trafficking, their implementation must be coordinated with the prosecutor's office. Scientific and practical significance: the study can help improve the legal regulation of prosecutorial supervision over criminal procedural and operational investigative activities.

Building a Law-Abiding Culture in Indonesia: Challenges and Implementation Strategies in the Reform Era

This article explores the challenges and implementation strategies involved in building a law-abiding culture in Indonesia, particularly in the context of the Reform Era. The study utilizes qualitative methods, including an extensive literature review and library research, to examine the complexities of establishing a strong legal culture in a country that has undergone significant political and social transformations. The research identifies key challenges such as the historical legacy of legal pluralism, corruption within legal institutions, and varying levels of legal awareness among the population. Additionally, the article discusses the strategies employed by the Indonesian government to promote legal compliance, including legal education, reforms in law enforcement, and public awareness campaigns. The findings highlight the importance of a multifaceted approach that includes both top-down reforms and bottom-up initiatives to foster a culture of lawfulness. The article concludes by emphasizing the need for continued efforts to address systemic issues within the legal framework and to ensure the effective implementation of laws that reflect the principles of justice and equality. The study provides valuable insights for policymakers, legal scholars, and practitioners who are engaged in the ongoing process of legal reform in Indonesia.

BODY LANGUAGE VOCABULARY IN ALBANIAN AS A PROOF OF AN ABUNDANT AND ANCIENT LANGUAGE!

The richness of language vocabulary is directly related to the personal culture of reading and educational background of the person belonging to a specific ethnic community, altogether with the tradition, customs and folklore, as factors of its historic cultural development. The historical development of an ethnicity plays a decisive role in the richness of words and the abundance of vocabulary for specific types and fields of cultures, such as the musical culture, the culture of fine arts, legal and institutional culture, culture of housing buildings, culture of healthy living, etc. The national conscience is related to the common language speaking and the cultivation of tradition, folklore and clothing by the people living in a common geographic territory. Their fights for survival and freedom, as well as the wars for defense of the territory has produced an abundant vocabulary up to details and stylistic varieties and a detailed description of the fighting tools and processes, such as struggle, fight, wars, call for freedom, on the other hand, but also is a lack of words and poorness of vocabulary related to the technical description of the manufactured products and merchandises coming from abroad. Depending on the cultural development of the institutions, the law enforcement and written rules regulating the rights and the responsibility for obeying the legal restrictions and prohibitions has produced a better legal and institutional culture in one country, rather than in an old fashioned organization of social life in countries of a specific stage of national development, where the legal institutions were perceived as strange and hostile originating by an occupying country or nation. These institutions were only accepted as temporary and people obeyed them only by coercion, unwillingly and due to the threat of use of force, in case of lack of obedience. The culture of reading newspapers and watching TV has influenced the richness of vocabulary by meeting new words of the literary, official and the international language, except for the vocabulary of the dialects in their native language.

Revisiting research on the governance of interorganizational relationships

This essay re-examines the literature on the governance of interorganizational relationships, focusing on the insights of alliance research using transaction cost economics. Despite substantial progress, challenges arise because research has not devoted attention to some mechanisms of governance (i.e., administrative controls and supporting legal institutions) compared with others (i.e., incentives). Parties can develop bespoke collaborative agreements that mix and match various mechanisms of governance along these dimensions, rather than accessing a typical bundle commonly associated with a discrete organizational form. This conclusion challenges the iconic governance continuum and surfaces new methodological opportunities for this research stream. The essay also challenges what we think we know by identifying a variety of omitted variable problems that often crop up in governance research (e.g., focusing on the cooperative context of collaboration while not attending to the competitive context, excluding critical administrative structures when studying the interplay between contracts and trust, assuming transactional attributes are exogenous rather than endogenous to a search process, failing to account for shifting institutional supports for collaboration, etc.). By clarifying what we know and do not know about alliance governance, the essay identifies some pathways for developing more reliable, cumulative knowledge on interorganizational relationships.

Трансформация государственно-правовых явлений как вид социальных изменений

Purpose. The study of the process of transformation of state-legal phenomena, as phenomena that exist and develop in accordance with the patterns inherent in the entire system of public relations. The task was to identify the reasons for the need to transform some state-legal phenomena, as well as the forms in which this process can take place. Methodology: as a system of methods, the application of which was justified by the provisions and conclusions contained in the article, formal legal; logical methods and the method of systematic analysis of legal phenomena were used. Conclusions. The authors, on the one hand, highlight stability and sustainability as integral characteristics of the state and law, and on the other hand, emphasize the fact that in this area of public relations there is a constant development, transformation of its substantial part. The characteristic of transformation is given in relation to the peculiarities of a number of state-legal relations. The place of transformation in the system of social changes is shown, the peculiarities of the transformation of definitions, legal structures and the content of state legal institutions are highlighted. Scientific and practical relevance. The interrelation of the process of development of state-legal phenomena with the processes taking place in public life in general is shown.

Characteristics and social significance of the civil service

The article is devoted to the problems of the categorical apparatus of the civil service in Ukraine. The civil service in our country is recognized as one of the most important institutions in the formation and development of Ukrainian statehood. It is from this institute that the quality of functioning of the social and political system as a whole and the solution of multifaceted tasks and functions of the modern state depend. Civil service has the greatest influence on the development of constitutional and legal formations and is the basis of state construction. It is argued that the civil service is a complex and multifunctional, legal and political institution, the essence of which is the performance by officials who are endowed with high professionalism, act in a complex relationship and in close interaction both among themselves and with other systemic entities, political forces, by public organizations and citizens, tasks and functions of the state within the legal field and in accordance with the authority granted to them to create social benefits, further development of social well-being and stability in the state. The most important features of the civil service are highlighted: the content of the civil service is an activity aimed at the practical implementation of tasks and functions of the state (analysis, development and implementation of state policy, ensuring the provision of affordable and high-quality administrative services, etc.); the public nature of this activity; professionalism; politically impartial character. It has been established that the priority of human rights and interests over the interests of the state should be the main feature of modern civil service. The goal of the civil service is disclosed, which consists in streamlining and increasing the efficiency of the processes of formation and implementation of state power and state administration, provided that responsibility for the performance of the powers of the position and social and economic guarantees of the civil service are combined. The main goals and tasks of the civil service have been defined in terms of ensuring the fair, effective and stable activity of state authorities in accordance with their powers and competence, aimed at protecting the rights and freedoms of people and citizens, as well as creating conditions for the development of civil society.

Tourism law, labor supply and corporate performance in tourism listed firms

Enhancing the regulatory environment and enhancing the level of provision is a crucial approach to achieving sustainable growth in the tourism economy. This paper employs a DID model to analyze the effects of legal institution development on the performance of tourism firms. Specifically, it focuses on the Tourism Law of the People's Republic of China as a quasi-natural experiment. The study utilizes listed tourism firms from 2011-2021 as the research sample. The finding reveals that implementing tourism law can promote firms' financial and non-financial performance, especially non-financial performance. This impact operates mainly through the positive effect of labor supply.

Journal Implications for the Decision of Sharia Economic Case Number 5K/Ag/2023

Islamic economics is experiencing a rapid expansion, which may lead to inevitable conflicts. In Indonesia, the religious court is the authorized legal institution designated to resolve financial disputes related to Sharia law. Religious courts are authorized to settle financial disputes related to sharia in accordance with Law No. 7 of 1989 regarding Religious Courts and Law No. 3 as of 2006. The aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the resolution of default disputes through the Supreme Court's decision titled "Implications for Arguments and Considerations in the Decision on Sharia Economic Disputes Number 5K/Ag/2023". A descriptive qualitative method was employed to conduct this research. This methodology focuses on collecting data and conducting in-depth analyses to comprehend the studied phenomenon. The findings of this study indicate that the decision of the judex facti/mahkamah sha'riyah Aceh is in accordance with the law, and therefore the cassation petition filed by the appellant must be denied. Objective analysis shows that the case was handled lawfully, without any violation of legal regulations or principles.Keywords: Sharia Economic Law, Religious Courts, Case Law

Principled Justice for Indigenous Peoples? An Empirical Analysis of the Application of Gladue Factors in Canadian Lower Courts

This article examines section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code, which is aimed at reducing the imprisonment of Indigenous offenders and the application of the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in R. v. Gladue. Using court observation of docket court sentencing, this article demonstrates that the restrictive context of the lower court sentencing environment, along with the complexity of the sentencing task, influences and reduces the number and kinds of Gladue sentencing factors considered and restricts a judge’s ability to appropriately weigh the factors that ought to play a meaningful role in Indigenous sentencing. Drawing from research literature from the fields of behavioural economics and psychology about cognitive bias, heuristics, and the use of stereotypes, the findings of this study suggest that, faced with these circumstances, judges may rely on heuristics and form judgments about a defendant’s character and their potential future behaviour. In this way, stereotypes relating to offenders’ race permeate their sentencing decisions. The findings that Indigenous sentencing principles are not being employed in a principled way have important implications for the legitimacy of our legal institutions.

Diversi Bagi Anak Pelaku Tindak Pidana Kejahatan yang Jatuhan Pidananya Diatas 7 Tahun

Diversion is a critical mechanism in the juvenile criminal justice system in Indonesia, aimed at protecting the rights of children and preventing the negative impacts of formal criminal proceedings. This normative legal study explores the challenges and potential improvements in implementing diversion for juvenile offenders facing sentences over 7 years. The study utilizes secondary data sources, including the Indonesian Juvenile Criminal Justice System Law (Law No. 11 of 2012), Supreme Court Regulation No. 4 of 2014 on Diversion Guidelines, and relevant literature on restorative justice and child protection. The analysis reveals significant barriers, such as legal limitations, cultural factors, and inconsistencies with international standards like the Beijing Rules. The study concludes with recommendations for revising existing legislation to remove the 7-year sentence limitation, enhancing coordination among legal and rehabilitation institutions, providing restorative justice training for law enforcement, and increasing public awareness of the importance of diversion and child rights protection. These steps are essential for ensuring a more just and effective implementation of diversion in Indonesia.

Gendered Ideologies and Authoritarianism in Nicaragua

Although anti-feminist discourses and practices are often associated with “right-wing” governments, self-proclaimed “leftist” regimes can also be organized around patriarchal ideas. In this article, I analyze how the Ortega-Murillo regime in Nicaragua has employed gendered ideologies to consolidate and legitimate its political power. While the Ortega-Murillo regime initially used elite pact-making to gain control of Nicaragua’s legal institutions, their latter strategies, which included alliances with religious conservatives, threats and intimidation, and legal mechanisms, were mainly focused on restructuring and pacifying civil society. Within this process, targeting feminist ideas and feminist organizations has been a central component of their autocratic toolkit.

Power, Politics, and the Supernatural: Exploring the Role of Witchcraft Beliefs in Governance for Development

Belief in evil and hidden supernatural forces, generally referred to as witchcraft, is widespread in many parts of the African continent. In addition to affecting individual health, perceived security, and social relations, witchcraft allegations may be used as covert political instruments, resulting in governance challenges such as lack of trust, transparency, administrative delegation, and political accountability. Since witchcraft is commonly associated with physiological and psychological violence, some citizens may be less willing to participate in political activities, including seeking elected office or criticizing political elites for fear of falling victim to witchcraft. The focus of our study is Malawi where large groups in the population believe in the power of witchcraft. We aim to unpack how local witchcraft beliefs have a bearing on governance – whether, and the extent to which, witchcraft influences how citizens understand and practice transparency and accountability in everyday life. Particularly, the belief in witchcraft among Malawian elites’ warrants closer scrutiny, especially since existing literature and local discourse on the impact of witchcraft tend to largely focus on rural and less educated groups in the population. As the highly secret and complex dimensions of witchcraft resist clear-cut definitions, representations, and analysis, it is not our intention to describe witchcraft in everyday life. Rather, we explore the potential political implications of not addressing elite discourses of and belief in witchcraft. We find that belief in witchcraft can influence citizens’ perceptions of power and authority and can potentially undermine the legitimacy of democratic institutions and processes.

“To Antipolis, my sisters!”: ETSI as a forum of contestation, collaboration and orchestration

Over the years, ETSI, the prime European standard-setter for ICT standards, has experienced significant critique about its legitimacy, including more recently by the European Commission in the 2022 Standardization Strategy, which focused on the alleged deficiencies of its global participation model. Despite potential missteps in certain instances, ETSI has overall addressed such critique with remarkable success. In this article, we argue that this occurred thanks to various strategies that ETSI used to sustain its organizational resilience over the years. In regard to its interaction with its de facto controller, the European Commission, we argue that ETSI had recourse to three key resilience strategies: one where ETSI took a hard stance resisting to the Commission's desires (contestation), one where ETSI intentionally succumbed to the Commission's desires or preferences (orchestration), and one where ETSI opted for a reconciliatory approach to achieve commonly set objectives serving the mutual interest (collaboration). Interestingly, such strategies were not only resilience-enhancing, but also legitimacy-conducive. This article contributes to two different strings of academic literature relating to organizational resilience, on the one hand, and institutional legitimacy, on the other, by combining them in a manner that, to the best of our knowledge, had not been done before in the relevant literature. In the discussion section, we draw observations that are pertinent to discussions and developments since the 2022 European Union’s Standardization Strategy.