National Law Research Articles

The challenges in the utilization of marine genetic resources in national and international jurisdictions from a legal perspective

This article examines the legal challenges associated with the utilization of marine genetic resources (MGR) at both the national level and beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). The legal challenges addressed are as follows: 1) MGR are located across various jurisdictions, encompassing both national and international domains. The analysis starts with an overview of the international regulations that govern the utilization of genetic resources (GR) and their influence on national legislation. It emphasizes the principle of state sovereignty over natural resources while defining MGR and determining ownership; 2) It further highlights the intersection of national and international laws, particularly in transboundary contexts and within Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples (IADP) territories, analyzing how these regulations are interpreted and applied in such scenarios; 3) The legal challenges related to the use of MGR in international waters are examined. Special emphasis is placed on the recent United Nations (UN) Agreement concerning this issue. This includes an analysis of its impact and specific provisions related to the utilization of MGR, such as the quantity to be collected, the methodology employed, collection sites, among others. The article concludes by asserting that the equitable distribution of benefits from the use of GR should begin at the earliest stages of access to these resources, including project planning and sample collection, rather than being delayed until the patenting and commercialization phases. Early benefit-sharing is essential for promoting fairness and equity in the use of MGR.

ANALOGY AND HARMONY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF ADOPTED CHILDREN IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF INHERITANCE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY

This study examines an important comparative legal and religious issue regarding the rights of adopted children in inheritance distribution from Islamic and Christian perspectives. While the abstract summarises key findings, there is a risk of oversimplifying the complexities of religious doctrines and national legal systems governing inheritance laws. Although adopted children's rights are limited in Islamic law, the possibility of making a will can mitigate these restrictions; however, additional nuances arise from various schools of thought and interpretations that influence the scope of inheritance. Conversely, the Christian perspective is often generalised as uniformly granting equal rights to adopted children, which may only hold across some Christian denominations or legal systems influenced by Christian principles. The abstract would benefit from a more detailed analysis of internal variations within each religion and consideration of how different national laws operationalise religious principles. Furthermore, the notion of "harmony" between these two religious traditions in addressing justice for adopted children may be overstated, as the theological foundations guiding inheritance distribution differ fundamentally. A more critical engagement with potential conflicts or limitations in achieving harmonious legal frameworks would add depth to the analysis.

Empowering Persons with Disabilities in Saudi Arabia: Strengthen Compliance with the International Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities in Employment Opportunities from the Perspective of SDGS

Objective: This study is investigating the alignment of Saudi Arabia Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (SLRPD) with international Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on empowering persons with disabilities in employment opportunities. Method: The study employs a comparative analysis approach, reviewing legal literature and international convention related to person with disability rights, and analyzing article10 from SLRPD with the article 27 from CRPD, and their effectiveness in achieving the SDGs, particularly on empowering persons with disabilities in employment opportunities. Results and Discussion: The research demonstrates that the integration of Article 10 of SLRPD with Article 27 of CRPD significantly improves Saudi Arabia's compliance with CRPD, particularly in employment. However, continuous evaluation of these frameworks is necessary to ensure their effectiveness and inclusivity. Research Implications: The findings inform dissension makers on the importance of aligning national laws with international standards to promote employment equality for persons with disabilities. The study also supports ongoing legal reforms to advance the goals of Saudi Arabian Vision 2030 and the SDGs. Originality/Value: This research provides original insights into the impact of the latest Saudi Arabia's legal frameworks on empowering persons with disabilities in employment, highlighting the Kingdom’s leadership in disability rights and its commitment to international standards.

Legal Implications of Incest Marriage in Balinese Customary Law

This study aims to discuss incest marriage in terms of marriage law, the legal implications of incest marriage, as well as the problems of customary law and national law governing incest marriage. This study uses empirical juridical research methods with a factual and sociological approach. Incest marriage has violated the provisions contained in Article 8 of Law Number 1 of 1974, Article 30 of the Civil Code, and Article 39 of the Compilation of Islamic Law which prohibits marriage between brothers and sisters who are still related by blood. The legal implications of incest marriage as stipulated in Article 22, Article 24, Article 26, and Article 27 of Law Number 1 of 1974 can be declared null and void. Incest marriage as a tradition that developed in Bonyoh traditional village is not in accordance with national law, but on the other hand customary law in force in the region does not prohibit incest marriage. The indigenous Bonyoh villagers consider incest marriages as an effort to preserve local traditions that have been passed down by ancestors over time

From national park to cultural park an Algerian experience

The status of National park was adopted in Algeria in 1921, during French colonisation, within the framework of the forestry law in force. It was renewed as is, after 1962 by independent Algeria and placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture, in its general forestry directorate. In 1983, it was redefined in the first national law on the environment, then, from 2011, in that of protected areas, within the framework of sustainable development. All Algerian national parks are created under the forestry regime and agricultural administration, with the exception of a single case where they are attached to the cultural sector: that of Tassili and Ahaggar, both located in the extreme south of the Sahara, including the Tuareg customary domain of Kel Ajjer and Kel Ahaggar. A particular case, linked to the process of administrative construction of the Saharan space. It is following the adoption of paradigm of sustainable development and a new law on the protection of cultural heritage , that this particularism has disappeared, with the introduction of a new legal category of protection, called “parc culturel”, based on the principle of “indissociability” between culture and nature, an innovative notion which has not yet acquired the conceptual force necessary to achieve the required stabilization and social appropriation, hence the difficulty of its translation into operational tools.

From International Mandate to National Legislation: Pakistan’s Response to Erga Omnes Obligations on Child Sexual Abuse

Abstract This article critically assesses Pakistan’s compliance with erga omnes obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) concerning sexual abuse of children. It discusses the discrepancies between the international and national levels of legal provision and scrutinizes Pakistani measures to safeguard children against sexual exploitation from the perspective of the CRC. However, there are shortcomings in implementing such laws and, therefore, such protections are not effectively implemented. In the current article, some of the major fields of Pakistan’s legislation that do not conform to international standards are described, and the importance of legal reforms is stressed. Pakistan can better work to eradicate child sexual abuse and meet the requirements of the CRC through the synchronization of national laws with international norms and standards.

Migrant Rights Protections and Their Implementation in 45 Countries

To what extent do national governments protect the human rights of migrants, and what are the political and economic circumstances associated with more robust protection? To address these questions, we leverage a rigorous, novel database of migrant rights derived from international laws and standards. We evaluate the extent to which 64 indicators—divided into 17 different categories of migrant rights—appear in national statute and case law in 45 of the world's principal destination states. We find that 61% of the indicators of migrant rights in the Migrant Rights Database, derived from the international human rights baseline, are reflected in the letter of national law—nearly two out of every three. However, we also find that national authorities implement these de jure protections 71% of the time. Taken together, about 44% of migrant rights are both protected and implemented in the countries examined. In a correlational analysis, we find that governments tend to protect more rights when their countries are more democratic, maintain more independent judiciaries, protect more rights in their constitutions, ratify more human rights treaties, permit stronger civil society, and are characterized by more political stability. There is also a weak trade-off between de jure migrant rights protections and the number of migrants a country admits.

The right to education in the mother tongue for Ukrainian refugees in Romania according to international and national law

Since the outbreak of the Russian invasion in February 2022, millions of Ukrainian citizens have sought refuge in Romania, with a significant number of people still remaining in the country as of the latest reports. Romanian government data indicate that by April 2024, approximately 154,617 Ukrainian refugees, including 50,000 school-aged children, were residing in the country. Before this crisis, Romania had established robust educational language rights for its Ukrainian minority of around 40,000 citizens. This study rigorously examines these pre-existing language rights within Romania’s legal framework, focusing on public education provisions. Central to the inquiry is whether the comprehensive language rights afforded to Romania’s Ukrainian minority could be extended to the Ukrainian-speaking refugees. The study begins with an introduction contextualizing the refugee crisis and outlining the existing legal framework for minority language rights in Romania. The legal analysis covers constitutional and sub-constitutional provisions, alongside with an examination of international agreements such as the bilateral treaty between Romania and Ukraine, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Special emphasis is placed on education provisions, including curriculum design, textbooks, language of instruction, and decision-making. By addressing these pivotal questions, this study contributes to the theoretical discourse around the personal scope of minority language rights in Europe and offers a nuanced insight into Romania’s legal framework on minority language education. It also seeks to elucidate how Romania’s legal commitments accommodate both established minority communities and newly arrived refugees with similar linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Further sociological research is needed to explore the implementation of Ukrainian-language education to the benefit of the Ukrainian refugees, which was beyond the scope of this study. Nevertheless, Romania possesses all the necessary legal elements to serve as a truly best practice model in Europe for organizing and ensuring good quality education in the mother tongue for Ukrainian refugees.

Assessing plasmatic transport inhibitors of thyroid hormone in mammals in the Xenopus Eleutheroembryonic Thyroid Assay (XETA).

The Xenopus Eleutheroembryonic Thyroid Assay (XETA, OECD TG 248) was established as an alternative to the Amphibian Metamorphosis Assay (AMA, OECD TG 231) for the analysis of (anti-)thyroid activity of chemicals. The XETA is a New Approach Method (NAM) since the embryonic life stages used in the assay are not yet feeding independently, which renders the assay to be considered a non-animal test under many national laws. Physiologically, the used embryos are not fully developed yet, and thus there are limitations to the XETA for detecting certain mechanisms along the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis. However, the plasmatic transport inhibition of thyroid hormone should physiologically be detectable in the XETA but has not yet been sufficiently investigated. Here, we tested three substances that are known, amongst others, to inhibit thyroid hormone transport by competitive binding to transthyretin in mammalian studies, namely pentachlorophenol (PCP), tetrabromo bisphenol A (TBBPA), and mefenamic acid. Following the test guideline, X. laevis eleutheroembryos of Nieuwkoop-Faber stage 45 were exposed for 72h at 21°C in 6-well plates to different concentrations of the test substances. For PCP and TBBPA, the XETA showed a decrease in fluorescence intensity, which would be expected for thyroid hormone transport inhibition amongst other, similar modes of action, while for the lower potency substance mefenamic acid, a trend was visible, but no statistically significant inhibition was detected. Overall, the results indicate that in the XETA, the plasmatic transport inhibition of thyroid hormone should be detectable alongside other inhibitory modes of action on the HPT axis.

The future of midwifery care and education in Belgium: A discussion paper

BackgroundAdvanced education of midwives acting during the first 1000 days in life is key in optimum care provision for intergenerational health and wellbeing. AimThis paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the current context of midwifery care and (inter)national trends in midwifery education. Gaps for optimizing midwifery education in Belgium are defined. ResultsSocietal, medical, and technological changes including medicalization of birth impact the midwife's profession and competency requirements. The World Health Organization demands adapted midwifery competency frameworks to meet these changes and achieve universal health coverage by 2030. While the European Union's directives address the recognition of professional qualifications of midwives, basic midwifery programs in Europe range from vocational to master's programs. In Belgium, basic midwifery programs are direct-entry bachelor programs; however, the program length varies according to the region. A horizon scanning by the Belgian Health Care Knowledge Center concluded that an extension and advancement of the current midwifery program are urgently needed to enable midwives to fulfil an autonomous role in accordance with national laws and international directives. DiscussionBasic midwifery education anno 2023 does not fit (1) the changes in women's health towards 2030; (2) the future demands regarding midwifery competence, and (3) the current and future demands for autonomy according to the legal frameworks. ConclusionAn extension and advancement of the basic midwifery programs are needed to sufficiently arm midwives to meet changes they are confronted with. Therefore, a debate involving all stakeholders concerned with the future of midwifery care and education is recommended.

Navigating Intersectional Complexities: A Narrative Analysis of Syrian Refugee Women With Disabilities in Turkey

Refugee women with disabilities experience a multiplicity of insecurities before, during, and after their displacement, including exposure to violence during conflicts, barriers to their mobility, challenges along their routes to safety, difficulties in accessing rights and services in the host state, and hardships while navigating the means of survival in the host community. Despite the intertwined convergence of gender and ableism in exile affecting refugee women’s experiences, international and national laws and policies fail to address this intersectional reality. This study examines the lived experiences of Syrian refugee women with disabilities in Gaziantep, Turkey. Through an analysis of qualitative data with a narrative approach, the study not only depicts the interactions of gender, disability, and displacement that shape Syrian women’s lives but also contests the traditional discourse on their vulnerabilities. Through specific stories of Syrian women, this study highlights their strategies for survival and their future plans within the context of the intersectionality of the challenges they face.

ECONOMIC AND LEGAL TRENDS OF EUROPEANIZATION OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE LAW OF UKRAINE

Today, it is appropriate to talk about cooperation between Ukraine and EU member states in matters that are functional for their legal systems. The first is the protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens; providing asylum to refugees from other countries; adaptation of legislation on the regulation of relations in the field of migration, both legal and illegal; fight against illegal employment; and others. It was found that the administrative law of Ukraine is developing in complex political-economic and social-legal conditions. Therefore, the use of European experience in the field of administrative and legal regulation of social relations in Ukraine should not imply mindless copying, which can negatively affect society and the state. The topic of the research should be the creation of national methodological recommendations on quality indicators of individual branches of law in accordance with the quality standards of legislation and law of the countries of the European Union. The introduction of European approaches to the regulation of social relations at the administrative and legal level in Ukraine must be balanced and adapted so that there is no negative impact on the development of society and the process of state formation. At the same time, the comparative legal study and rational use of foreign experience in the development of administrative law allows to significantly expand the so-called "legal field", enriching it with the experience of foreign countries. The current conditions for the development of administrative law in Ukraine depend on globalization, which affects all spheres of life, affecting the development of unified legal values and democratic principles of European administrative law, and the national administrative law system of individual European countries. In fact, there are two parties of subjects endowed with the corresponding rights and obligations in the field of administrative-legal relations.

A Study on the Systematic Changes in Vocational High School Beauty Departments Reflected in the National Curriculum

This study was conducted to analyze and examine the general guidelines of the national curriculum presented at the national level and to propose development strategies for enhanced beauty education. For the study, the curriculum documents were collected and analyzed according to the revision periods, from the 1st period to the 2022 revised curriculum, through the National Law Information Center and the National Curriculum Information Center website The analysis revealed that vocational high schools, which are secondary vocational education institutions, underwent a name change from “industrial high schools” to “specialized high schools” and then to “specialized vocational high schools.” In the context of establishing beauty departments within the specialized subjects, the term “specialized subjects” was first used during the 2nd period. Starting from the 7th period, the beauty department was established within the specialized subjects. Before the introduction of specialized subjects, It was part of the home economics curriculum. The period after the 7th revision was identified as the time when the beauty department and beauty subjects became more structured. During the 1st period, vocational high schools had five main fields: agriculture, industry, commerce, fisheries, and home economics. In the 2009 revision, these fields were reorganized into vocational home economics, agricultural and life sciences, commercial information, and fisheries and shipping. By the 2015 and 2022 revisions, the fields were further divided into 17 subject groups. During the 2007 and 2009 revisions, the subjects of hair beauty, skin care, and makeup were established. Starting from the 2015 revision, the subject name changed from skin care to skin beauty, and nail beauty was introduced as a new subject. Additionally, with the distinction of theory and practical courses under the names “common subjects,” “basic subjects,” and “practical subjects,” the curriculum for beauty programs became more systematic and structured. In the sociocultural context, it is important to understand how the role of vocational education is changing and to identify any issues. Feedback on these aspects should be incorporated into the curriculum.

‘The Shipwreck of the Turks’: Sovereignty, Barbarism and Civilization in the Legal Order of the Eighteenth-Century Mediterranean

Abstract This article focuses on the consequences of a single major international affair — the shipwreck of a French ship carrying 165 Muslim pilgrims along the southern shores of Sicily in 1716 — to address two pivotal issues in the reordering of eighteenth-­century legal and political systems: the limits of domestic sovereignty in absolutist states and the status of non-Christian polities in the theory and practice of the law of nations. Both the time and place of this episode, which had a vast resonance at the time, have broad implications for how we write about the development of modern international law. While much of the debate on the maritime dimension of the eighteenth-century law of nations focuses on the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans, we spotlight the Mediterranean, where endemic corsairing activities coexisted with age-old diplomatic and day-to-day practices of accommodation and mutual recognition between Christian and Muslim polities. Here we draw attention to shipwrecks that occurred in foreign territorial waters and their heuristic potential for better understanding controversial issues of maritime law, such as the status of shorelines, neutrality and the law of the flag. Even after the Peace of Utrecht (1713–15), which is often regarded as a watershed moment in the history of international law, these rules were far from settled and shipwrecks continued to fuel legal and philosophical battles that extended well beyond the confines of the famous controversy between supporters of mare liberum and advocates of mare clausum. The close examination of the 1716 shipwreck leads us to challenge the land/sea divide as constructed by Carl Schmitt and demonstrate that territorial waters were objects of sovereign disputes in much the same way as land territories. We also show how the emerging Eurocentric discourse about the ‘barbarity’ of non-Christian peoples and nations coexisted with intellectual, economic and diplomatic forces interested in establishing formal agreements between Western European nations, the Ottoman Empire and its North African provinces.

STATE GUARANTEES FOR THE SAFETY OF OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS INSTALLATIONS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND IMMIGRATION LAW - DOI: 10.12818/P.0304-2340.2024v85p201

Offshore oil and gas installations are independent structures that are vulnerable to disturbances and threats. Like ships, offshore oil and gas installations also have national flags and legal instruments that protect them. Under international law, offshore oil and gas installations are protected by the Rome Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Situated on the Continental Shelf 1988. It is noted that there have been several incidents of disturbances and threats that have occurred at offshore oil and gas installations around the world. Some events are well recorded and known to the public, while some events are not public consumption. So far, offshore oil and gas installation operators have received legal guarantees for the security of their installations both on the high seas and in the sea territory of a country based on international law, territorial law and the inherent law according to the citizenship of the offshore oil and gas installation. Through this paper, the author aims to explain the potential threats and disturbances at offshore oil and gas installations and concrete examples of events that have occurred. Another aim is to explain how international legal instruments and immigration law protect offshore oil and gas installations from these threats and disturbances. Through normative legal research, this paper describes a series of threats and disturbances and the international and national laws that have emerged to protect them and their application in the field.

The Triumph of Soft Law in the Financial Sector: Can Non-binding Law Have Binding Domestic Legal Effects?

Examining the seemingly simple question of whether guidelines in the financial sector are mandatory reveals a highly complex landscape for supervision of the financial sector across the European Union, where international and national financial law enter collision and the participants come to the table with differing mandates/expectations. The article addresses the results, with focus on banking regulation, wherein the European Banking Authority and, in Estonia, the Financial Supervision and Resolution Authority are among the main guideline-issuers. The balance achieved is critical because the fines that the supervisory and resolution authorities can impose on banks for non-compliance with mandatory rules can reach 10% of these entities’ total annual net turnover from the preceding business year. An effort to consider all of the relevant factors for understanding which side of the mandatory/advisory line the guidelines stand on, the article constitutes an attempt to initiate vital discussion of the environment created in the financial sector for soft law (i.e., guidelines), which may under certain circumstances take on a larger role than that soft law’s legal nature allows.

“When you provide abortion services, you are looked upon as a bad guy”: experiences of abortion stigma by health providers in Nigeria

ABSTRACT Background Abortion stigma as reported globally has been inadequately documented empirically in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with a restrictive abortion law and a high rate of unsafe abortions. Objective The objectives of this study were to investigate the ways in which abortion stigma is experienced by Nigerian health professionals and how such experiences influence health professionals’ practice of safe abortion and post-abortion care. Methods The study utilized qualitative research consisting of in-depth interviews with 10 abortion providers. We elicited information with an open-ended interview guide that investigated the understanding of participants’ experiences of abortion stigma in Nigeria. The data were analysed qualitatively and thematically using Atlas.ti. Results The themes centred on perceptions and experiences of stigma among the providers interviewed. Participants’ experiences of abortion stigma included the following: being treated differently to other health professionals; experiencing disapproval and disrespect; name-calling and societal judgement; tagging and profiling of clinics by anti-abortionists; and social isolation. Participants attributed stigma to cultural and religious beliefs, the restrictive national abortion law, and pointed to hypocrisy. Some reported effects of stigma on providers included a feeling of insecurity, social exclusion, secrecy, and insincerity in clinical practice, discouragement, and guilt feelings. Despite the negative impacts, many respondents reported a sense of satisfaction stemming from their views that they were saving lives. Conclusion Systematic efforts to address these adverse factors could reduce the level of stigma experienced by providers, with a potential follow-through effect of improving women’s access to safe abortion care in Nigeria.

Role of local governments in EU member states’ climate policy and legislation

This article provides a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges that local governments have in achieving climate objectives, both within EU member states’ national climate policy and national climate law, and how this relates to the literature on multi-level governance. More specifically, the differences and similarities between the national climate plans and national climate legislation of four selected member states (Germany, Ireland, Netherlands and Spain) have been examined. The findings from this can be related to the literature on multi-level governance when it comes to opportunities and challenges regarding the role that local governments fulfill. On the one hand, local governments are often seen as potential key drivers that can successfully work together and whose involvement can lead to more effective climate governance. On the other hand, local governments are legally and financially dependent on higher levels of government in the implementation of their assigned climate-related tasks and responsibilities.

Leaving the Shadows Behind? Effects of Domestic Workers Reform on Mothers’ Formal Employment

Abstract What happens when new labor regulations are implemented and enforced while a welfare cash transfer program is already in place? Argentinean National Law 26.844 of 2013 aimed to increase formalization rates in the domestic work sector by increasing access to benefits for workers and enforcement mechanisms for household employers. Compared to those with older children, a 5 percentage–point lower increase in formalization among domestic workers with children under 18 years of age (a key eligibility criterion for welfare) is found after the introduction of the regulation. Moreover, there is suggestive evidence that this may stem from domestic workers’ concerns about losing welfare payments, although it is unclear whether this fear arises from misunderstanding, lack of information, or distrust in the reform. These findings underscore the importance of policy designs that mitigate potential disincentives and ensure that they do not undermine efforts to increase formal sector participation.

Alcohol policy and alcohol-attributed disease burden in Finland and the Baltic countries 1995-2019

Abstract Introduction Alcohol remains a significant contributor to mortality and morbidity in Finland and the Baltic countries, particularly among men. This study aimed to assess alcohol policy restrictiveness in this region from 1995 to 2019 using a modified version of the Bridging the Gap (BtG-M) policy scale and examine its association with alcohol-related disease burden. Methods The study utilised national statutory laws to score policy restrictiveness (higher BtG-M scores mean stricter policies) and age-standardised rates of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs) and deaths per 100,000 from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD). Spearman correlation tests and panel data regression models were applied to assess the association between policy scores and burden of disease. Results Finland maintained a high BtG-M score, while the Baltic countries experienced recent increases from initially lower scores. Alcohol-related disease burden showed an inverse association with policy changes in these countries. Strongest association was seen between the BtG-M score and DALY rates attributed to injuries. Premature mortality among men constituted the largest proportion of disease burden. Discussion and Conclusions Despite challenges in accessing and comparing policy data over time, we showed a strong association between alcohol policy and alcohol-related harm in Finland and the Baltic countries. This study is one of the first to use the BtG-M scale to monitor changes in alcohol policies over time and their relationship to alcohol-related harm using GBD methodology. The study highlights the effects of national alcohol policies on levels of alcohol-related harm. Key messages • This study stands out due to its longitudinal study design, which quantitatively compares the level of alcohol policy restrictiveness in Finland and the Baltic countries from 1995 to 2019. • Our study suggests that shifts towards more restrictive alcohol policies are linked to reduction in alcohol-related harm in Finland and the Baltic countries.