Local Legal Framework Research Articles

Protecting the rights of people displaced by dams: an assessment of the development of Ghana's Bui Dam

For over a half century now, large-scale dams and other large infrastructure projects have been pursued to advance the socioeconomic transformation of various countries and regions. However, adverse effects sometimes arise through the execution of the projects including the violations of the rights of affected communities and persons as a result of development-induced displacement and resettlement activities. One of the theoretical approaches that advocate for processes that lead to positive outcomes in the implementation of such development projects is the rights-based approach. Using primary data from Ghana's Bui Dam Project, the perceptions and views of the displaced people, their leaders, the dam managers and other relevant stakeholders are analysed with the view to unmasking the extent to which the rights of the displaced people were safeguarded and promoted throughout the project cycle. While the paper reveals that some positive outcomes have been attained in the Bui Dam Project, more favourable outcomes would have been realised if international covenants relating to the rights of infrastructure-affected-people were mainstreamed into local legal frameworks instead of heavily relying on best practice standards which are only hortatory and prescriptive.

The Melting Pot of Copyright Law: Urheberrecht in Jerusalem

This article tells the story of the first copyright case litigated in Israel, in 1950-54. At stake were the writings of no less than Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), commonly referred to as the Visionary of the Jewish State. The dispute, which thus far has not been discussed in the literature, was about ownership: who controlled the writings of the Zionist leader, fifty years after his death? The case forced the court to investigate publishing contracts that were made under German law and fit them into the local (Israeli-British) law. The commercial dispute between two publishers encapsulated and reflected multiple tensions, between an individual whose life work was at stake and a powerful institution; between private ownership of writings of substantial importance and public ownership; between the image of the European Jew and the new, Hebrew Jewish person; between German and Hebrew. All tensions were transformed into a legal discourse, where a foreign law found its way into a local legal framework. The case was dramatic, but ended up in an anti-climax. This unusual litigation provides us with a window to trace the meeting of two different legal cultures, at a highly sensitive time.

‘There is no law that justifies the existence of the board of elders’. Community service and legal pluralism in Santa María, Guatemala

ABSTRACTThis article analyzes how indigenous peoples actively engage in the negotiation of international, national and local legal frameworks in Guatemala. The aim of the article is to explain paradoxical outcomes of global legal pluralism through an actor-oriented approach to the construction of legal frameworks and the meaning of rights. It does so by means of a case study of the dissolution of an indigenous social institution: the cargo system. The case study involves a multiplicity of power relations. It is argued that these power relations enable an understanding of the different ways in which local actors engage in processes of constructing legal frameworks ‘on the ground’. This article will provide insight into how new legal frameworks constitute social realities. In addition, it will show how personal identifications and experiences are translated into legal practices. Finally, the case study reveals how the struggle for rights both reflects and produces tensions among ethnic, national, social economic and religious identities.

Connecting Gender and Trade: Gender Framing in the Anti-Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement Movement

This paper examines the dynamics of the "gender framing" process in the women’s Anti-Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreements (CSSTA) movement in Taiwan. The anti-CSSTA movement established a gender frame for its action against the CSSTA, including the diagnostic frame of dubbing CSSTA as "gender blind", and the prognostic frame of demanding a Gender Impact Assessment (GIA) as a solution. By proposing a parallel gender frame, in addition to the major claims decided on by the core caucus of the Sunflower Movement, the women’s anti-CSSTA movement maintained its alliances with both feminist allies and the caucus. During this framing process, law played a significant role both as a resource and as a constraint. The developing proposals and practices under international trade and human rights provide rich resources for the gender frame. Nevertheless, Taiwan’s local legal framework limits the options available for possible solution.

Re-contextualization of the Bologna process in Lithuania

The paper explores the implementation of selected Bologna action lines in Lithuanian higher education institutions (HEIs). The study is carried out from an organizational perspective on national re-contextualization, drawing upon sociological institutionalism. The Bologna process is likely to be normatively accepted by institutions in the context of high uncertainty and change, but due to the local legal framework and organizational decoupling national re-contextualization takes place. We observe that the type of HEIs and the competitive horizons of disciplines found in these institutions may be strong mediating factors for the implementation of the Bologna action lines by HEIs.

(P1-109) Violence, Health and Human Rights: Analysis of the Right to Health for Conflict Displaced Persons Living In IDP Camps in Northern Sri Lanka

This presentation explores the nexus between collective violence (in the form of violent civil conflict) and health and human rights in Sri Lanka, focusing specifically on persons displaced during the most recent conflict in Northern Sri Lanka beginning in November 2008. After exploring the normative framework in relation to the right to health, the local legal framework governing internal displacement, and the related component on healthcare access, service provision, and standards will be described. By examining health cluster reports, health surveys, and case-studies, this presentation describes how the health sector responded in providing healthcare services to those war displaced living in internally displaced people (IDP) camps in Vavuniya District. The “rights based approach to health” is examined in relation to the health sector response, and key issues and challenges in meeting health protection needs are highlighted. A conceptual framework on the right to health for IDPs in Northern Sri Lanka is presented. This presentation also explores how some health interventions in the post-conflict Sri Lankan context may have acted as a bridge for peace building and reconciliation.

Alpine ethnobotany in Italy: traditional knowledge of gastronomic and medicinal plants among the Occitans of the upper Varaita valley, Piedmont

A gastronomic and medical ethnobotanical study was conducted among the Occitan communities living in Blins/Bellino and Chianale, in the upper Val Varaita, in the Piedmontese Alps, North-Western Italy, and the traditional uses of 88 botanical taxa were recorded. Comparisons with and analysis of other ethnobotanical studies previously carried out in other Piemontese and surrounding areas, show that approximately one fourth of the botanical taxa quoted in this survey are also known in other surrounding Occitan valleys. It is also evident that traditional knowledge in the Varaita valley has been heavily eroded. This study also examined the local legal framework for the gathering of botanical taxa, and the potential utilization of the most quoted medicinal and food wild herbs in the local market, and suggests that the continuing widespread local collection from the wild of the aerial parts of Alpine wormwood for preparing liqueurs (Artemisia genipi, A. glacialis, and A. umbelliformis) should be seriously reconsidered in terms of sustainability, given the limited availability of these species, even though their collection is culturally salient in the entire study area.

The Chinese in Spain

AbstractDuring the past 15 years, the Chinese migrant community in Spain has grown significantly. Originally a small and dispersed population, it now ranks fourth among the migrant groups from non‐European Union (EU) countries. Its increasing presence in daily urban life is evident everywhere. Even though the Chinese community has a long history of settlement in Spain, the Spanish population still considers the Chinese as a closed and somewhat mysterious community. References to exaggerated stereotypes and prejudices regarding their activities and social organization can often be overheard in daily conversations. However, China, usually considered exotic and remote, has recently assumed greater importance in Spain's foreign policy. Thus, the Spanish Government has drawn up the Asia‐Pacific Framework Plan for 2000–2002 as part of its international policy considerations, thereby extending its interests to include areas well beyond its traditional foreign policy focus on Latin America. The Government's objectives are to expand its economic relations with Asia, to enhance trade and tourism with the area, expand the development cooperation with China, the Philippines, and Viet Nam — countries defined as top priorities for the Spanish Government — and to reinforce linguistic and cultural ties with these countries (Bejarano, 2002). In support of the Asia‐Pacific Framework Plan, the Casa Asia (House of Asia) was established in Barcelona in 2002, an institution created to organize academic and artistic activities in order to promote the knowledge of the region among Spaniards, and to foster political, economic, and cultural relations with Asia.The Government intends to pursue two important objectives related to the increasing commitments it is seeking to establish with China, and which are also of relevance to the overseas Chinese as the principal social actors involved. First, the strengthening of commercial exchanges with the People's Republic of China (PRC) are likely to benefit import‐export activities among the Chinese migrants, and be supported by their knowledge and practical experience of the respective social environments. Second, the dissemination of information on Spain is expected to establish and maintain stronger links in both directions. In the near future, these initiatives may also be instrumental in increasing the movement of people between China and Spain. Besides these primary objectives, the initiative pursues another important aim — the promotion of the social integration of the Chinese migrant community in the country.This paper addresses these issues, including data sources and their availability on Chinese migrants in Spain, the relevant local legal framework and how it influences the development of the Chinese migrant group, its sociodemographic composition, and migratory patterns. Finally, it addresses the changes in their economic activities.