Academic literature on the topic 'International public law'

In May 2003 the United Nations General Assembly approved an agreement between the United Nations and the Cambodian government (UN Agreement) providing for United Nations assistance in the establishment and operation of ‘Extraordinary Chambers’ within the domestic court structure of Cambodia.1The UN Agreement is the result of a lengthy process of negotiation between the United Nations and the Cambodian government, with the intervention of several interested states.2The final agreement reflects a compromise between the need to address impunity and the need to preserve Cambodian sovereignty.

Arbitration tribunals rely on public policy principles to exclude or determine the applicable law. At times, the notion of public policy will contain fundamental yardsticks recognised by the world community at large. In such cases public policy may be called transnational or truly international. The thesis expounds the notion and content of transnational public policy as applied by international tribunals. This objective is met by exploring the method, functions and purpose of transnational public policy in international arbitration. The opening chapter sheds light on the origins and concept of public policy and the different levels it has been applied by international tribunals and national courts. It suggests a criteria for the distinction between domestic, domestic-international, regional and transnational public policy. The thesis then gives an in depth analysis of the origins and notion of transnational public policy. It suggests that international tribunals have relied on transnational public policy in their awards and proposes a method to determine its content and sources. Such method is then applied to deduct the content of transnational public policy from decided arbitration awards. The thesis shows that transnational public policy can be relevant at three different stages in international arbitration. At the outset of the proceeding, where the arbitrators determine their jurisdiction; during the arbitration, where it controls the procedure applicable in the arbitration; or at the stage of drafting the final award, where it determines fundamental substantive rules relied upon by the tribunal.

Enforcement of international judicial decisions of the International Court of Justice has suffered serious negligence in public international law. Thus, the first significance of this thesis lies in dearth of the authoritative legal literature on this topic. Bearing in mind the unprecedented increase interest in international dispute settlement which can be explained by the phenomenon of proliferation of international judicial bodies and in the qualitative and quantitative nature· of contentious disputes brought before the ICJ, non-compliance with the judicial decisions of the Court is definitely to increase. This study has explored the problem of non-compliance with and enforcement of the judicial decisions of the ICJ; a problem that now exists beyond any doubt as Chapter 1 of this study exposes. However, enforcement cannot be directly made without some initial and critical scrutiny into the legal foundations of the bindingness and enforceability of these judicial decisions normally the rules of pacta sunt servanda and of res judicata, to which Chapters 2 and 3 are devoted. Similarly, the problem of non-compliance with and enforcement of judicial decisions should not usefully be considered in the abstract. Thus, Chapter 4 elucidates the legal nature and the scope of judicial decisions that are subject to enforcement. Article 94 (2) of the UN. Charter provides no exclusive authority for the Security Council to be the ultimate and sole enforcer of the judicial decisions of the I CJ decisions nor is there a straightforward and independent enforcement means of international obligations especially those derived from international judicial decisions. Hence, this study explores and involves various players and invests various means to establish a network of enforcement mechanisms available to all States regardless of their position in the international community. In so doing, the rest of the thesis is devoted to judicial enforcement and institutional enforcement respectively. Chapter 5 examines judicial enforcement through the ICJ itself, while Chapter 6 examines the role of domestic courts of States in this process. Injured State could also seek institutional enforcement. Chapter 7 examines the role of the United Nations, while Chapters 8 and 9 deal with the role of regional organisations and specialised agencies in this process respectively. Notwithstanding the indispensability of judicial and institutional enforcement, they are not always successful or predictable or independently adequate. They may fail to be effective or incapable of inducing a defaulting State to comply with its international legal obligations under the judgment of the ICl So, proposals have been advanced to mitigate or to contain this problem. These proposals, however, have suffered from a lack of support in law and practice, and thus other alternative recommendations and suggestions are provided in Chapter 10, which presents also the final conclusions of this study.

This thesis is concerned with the ways in which international law regulates state and individual complicity. Complicity is a derivative form of responsibility that links an accomplice to wrongdoing by a principal actor. Whenever complicity is prohibited, certain questions arise about the scope and structure of the complicity rule. To answer these questions, this thesis proposes an analytical framework in which complicity rules may be assessed, and defends a normative claim as to their optimal structure. This framework and normative claim anchor the thesis’ analysis of complicity in international law. The thesis shows that international criminal law regulates individual complicity in a comprehensive way, using the doctrines of instigation and aiding and abetting to inculpate complicit participants in international crimes. These doctrines are marked by the breadth of the complicit conduct prohibited, a standard of knowledge in the fault required of the accomplice, and an underused nexus requirement between the accomplice’s acts and the principal’s wrong. In contrast, international law’s regulation of state complicity was historically marked by an absence of complicity rules. In respect of state complicity in the wrongdoing of another state, international law now imposes both specific and general complicity obligations, the latter prohibiting states from aiding or assisting another state in the commission of any internationally wrongful act. In respect of the ways that states participate in harms caused by non-state actors, the traditional normative structure of international law, which imposed obligations only on states, foreclosed the possibility of regulating the state’s participation as a form of complicity. As that traditional normative structure has evolved, so the possibility of holding states responsible for complicity in the wrongdoing of non-state actors has emerged. More and more, both the wrongs that international actors commit, and the wrongs they help or encourage others to commit, matter.

Every state may face a bid for protection in embassies or consulates from persons looking for a shelter in dangerous situations to their lives and safety. Even though diplomatic asylum is more peculiar to Latin America region, no State is prevented from such seekers. Practical examples show that diplomatic asylum helped to safe thousands of people in countries where instability of governments exist, during wars or in situations where no other alternative of protection was available. Grant of diplomatic asylum is a problematic issue because it raises question which value should prevail: inviolability of premises or non interference into internal affairs, protection of human rights or sovereignty of State. This master thesis attempts to find out what is the current position of diplomatic asylum in the context of public international law and on what grounds it could be granted in embassies and consulates. For this aim, the thesis is focused on the evolution and main features of diplomatic asylum, on its relation with regional and universal international law instruments, on dominating positions to diplomatic asylum in the case law. International treaties, state practice and various positions of legal writers were analyzed in order to reveal grounds for granting diplomatic asylum. In the States where diplomatic asylum is recognized, it is granted according to the existing legal regulation. In the States where diplomatic asylum is not considered as legal institute, it is granted on... [to full text]
Kiekviena valstybė savo ambasadose ar konsulatuose gali sulaukti asmenų prašančių prieglobsčio dėl gresiančio pavojaus gyvybei ar saugumui. Nors diplomatinis prieglobstis yra būdingesnis Lotynų Amerikos regionui, nė viena valstybė nėra apsaugota nuo tokio prašymo. Praktiniai pavyzdžiai rodo, kad diplomatinis prieglobstis padėjo išgelbėti tūkstančius gyvybių ten, kur vykdavo dažna politinės valdžios kaita, per karus, ar tokiose situacijose, kur nebuvo galima rasti jokios kitos apsaugos. Diplomatinio prieglobsčio suteikimas yra problematiškas klausimas, kadangi nėra aišku, kam turėtų būti teikiama pirmenybė: atstovybės patalpų neliečiamybei ar nesikišimo į valstybės vidaus reikalus principui, žmogaus teisių apsaugai ar valstybės suverenitetui. Šiuo magistro darbu siekiama išsiaiškinti diplomatinio prieglobsčio svarbą tarptautines teisės kontekste, kokie yra galimi pagrindai šiam prieglobsčiui suteikti. Šiam tikslui pasiekti, didelis dėmesys skiriamas diplomatinio prieglobsčio vystymuisi ir pagrindiniams bruožams, jo santykiui su regioniniais ir visuotiniais tarptautines teises dokumentais, dominuojančia pozicija teismų praktikoje. Pagrindams diplomatiniui prieglobsčiui rasti buvo analizuojamos tarptautinės sutartys, šalių praktika ir skirtingos autorių nuomonės. Tose šalyse, kur diplomatinis prieglobstis yra pripažįstamas, jis yra suteikiamas pagal esamą teisinį reguliavimą. Kitose šalyse, nepripažįstančiose diplomatinio prieglobsčio kaip teisinio instituto, jis yra suteikiamas... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Thesis (LLD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
Includes bibliography
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The existential crisis of the international regime of criminal law is arguably a thing of the past. This is confirmed through a growing body of positive law and the existence of various international criminal courts, notably the permanent International Criminal Court which has been in operation since 2002. Moreover, it is significant that international criminal law (“ICL”) is developing towards increased domestic enforcement, in particular as a result of the complementarity regime envisioned by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. States have generally been receptive and cooperative towards international criminal norms as well as the structures of international criminal justice. As a result international criminal laws are increasingly being transformed into national law and enforced by states on the domestic level. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the abovementioned developments, the characteristics of ICL and certain key concepts. In lieu of the upward trajectory of ICL’s development, the thesis aims to determine whether ICL exerts an influence which holds ‘transformative value’. Chapter 3 unpacks this concept by delineating the different meanings afforded to transformation and identifying the reticent characteristics of transformative change, especially the underlying importance of values during processes of transformation. Transformative value is conceptualised broadly as the product and potential of the type of change that holds some utility for the civitas maxima (or the community of mankind). In Part II, ICL’s transformative value is investigated from a historical and global perspective with emphasis on the purposes, values and politics of international criminal justice. Chapter 4 focuses on the Nuremberg IMT and the trial of Adolf Eichmann. It is submitted that these trials produced a paradigm shift that represents the transformative foundation of modern ICL. Chapter 5 investigates the purposes and aspirations of modern ICL with reference to its underlying assumptions as well as its objectives, the latter which may be found in positive law and the jurisprudence of international criminal courts. The research suggests that ICL is disposed towards objectives which are unique in comparison to those of domestic criminal law. While it cannot be denied that punishment under ICL is predominantly a backward-looking exercise in the tradition of domestic criminal law retributivism, ICL is somewhat removed from this paradigm due to its purpose- and value-driven nature. ICL is also expressive, normative and forward-looking in various respects. Individual criminal liability is however not universally accepted as an appropriate response to collective violence. This is partly a result of ICL’s endemic political dependency. Chapter 6 addresses the impact of politics on ICL’s transformative value. ICL is closely associated with liberal-legalist ideals which essentially promote the interests of individuals. Although it constitutes an important element of ICL’s transformative value, this political influence exposes ICL to criticism and may exert a disruptive influence on its transformative mandate. In this latter respect it is noted that ICL remains somewhat controversial and subject to the general limitations of the decentralised and state-dominated international legal system. In Part III, ICL’s transformative value is investigated using South Africa as a case study, with particular reference to its transitional- and post-transitional periods. Chapter 7 provides a domestic perspective of ICL’s transformative value by investigating the interactions of ICL and the South African legal system, particularly the value of the transformation of ICL into national law. In this regard the impact of Constitutional provisions and national legislation pertaining to ICL are considered, as well as a number of cases related to matters of international criminal justice. It is argued that international criminal norms may promote human values over state authority and political interests in the domestic context. Domestic courts may serve as ‘engine rooms’ for transformative change through more effective enforcement of those international criminal norms that have been ‘transformed’ into national law through implementation legislation. The permeation of international criminal norms into the domestic sphere represents a foray of universal values into an area traditionally dominated by sovereign might and holds potential for promoting the interests of individuals as well as for the institutionalisation of human rights. Yet, as illustrated by the current rift between the ICC and the African Union, international and regional political affiliations may influence the ability of a state to meet its obligations towards international criminal justice. In Part IV (Chapter 8), it is submitted that ICL is historically and ontologically aimed at change that is both backward-looking (repressive) and forward-looking (normative) as well as beneficial in a communitarian sense. ICL’s transformative value derives from the value-and purpose-driven nature of international criminal norms, the political nature of international criminal justice and also from the interaction between international law and domestic legal systems. ICL may be viewed as an authoritative expression of the norms and values of the international community. As such, ICL and its institutions may be viewed not only as a means of punishing the perpetrators of international crime, but also as part of the spearhead towards a desired alternative to the historical and present reality characterised by injustices which have gone unabated under the system of traditional Westphalian sovereignty. As egregious forms of the aforementioned injustices, macro criminality and impunity undermine the protection of internationally recognised individual rights. ICL seeks to remedy this through impacting on those individuals that have not yet acceded to the emergent universal consciousness of the majority in the international community. It is further argued that ICL’s transformative impact is not confined to the “hard” impact of the application of substantive ICL in international and domestic courts. The international criminal justice system as a whole also produces a normative impact through a purpose-driven association with international values and certain political preferences. This thesis offers a new way of thinking about the value, potential and limitations of the ICL regime, as well as the role of politics in international criminal justice.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die eksistensiële krisis van die internasionale strafregbestel is stellig iets van die verlede. Dít word bevestig deur die toenemende hoeveelheid positieweregsmateriaal en die bestaan van verskeie internasionale strafhowe, in die besonder die permanente Internasionale Strafhof wat sedert 2002 in werking is. Daarbenewens is dit beduidend dat internasionale strafreg (hierna ‘ISR’) na binnelandse toepassing begin verskuif, bepaald as gevolg van die komplementariteitsregime wat die Rome Statuut van die Internasionale Strafhof beoog. State is oor die algemeen ontvanklik vir, en tegemoetkomend jeens, internasionale strafnorme sowel as die strukture van internasionale strafregspleging. Gevolglik word internasionale strafwette al hoe meer tot in nasionale wette getransformeer en binnelands deur state toegepas. Hoofstuk 2 bied ’n oorsig van bogenoemde ontwikkelings, die kenmerke van ISR en bepaalde kernbegrippe. In die lig van die opwaartse ontwikkelingstrajek van ISR, het dié tesis ten doel om te bepaal of die invloed wat ISR uitoefen, oor ‘transformasiewaarde’ beskik. Hoofstuk 3 ondersoek hierdie begrip deur die verskillende betekenisse van transformasie uiteen te sit en die versweë kenmerke van transformerende verandering, veral die onderliggende belang van waardes in die transformasieproses, te bepaal. Transformasiewaarde word in die breë verstaan as die produk en potensiaal van die soort verandering wat een of ander nut het vir die civitas maxima (of die gemeenskap van die mensdom). In deel II word die transformasiewaarde van ISR uit ’n historiese en internasionale hoek ondersoek, met die klem op die doel, waardes en politiek van internasionale strafregspleging. Hoofstuk 4 konsentreer op die Neurenberg- internasionale militêre tribunaal en die verhoor van Adolf Eichmann. Daar word aangevoer dat hierdie verhore ’n paradigmaverskuiwing teweeggebring het wat die transformerende grondslag van moderne ISR gelê het. Hoofstuk 5 verken die doelwitte en aspirasies van moderne ISR aan die hand van die onderliggende aannames en oogmerke daarvan. Laasgenoemde is te vinde in die positiewe reg en regsleer van internasionale strafhowe. Die navorsing doen aan die hand dat die oogmerke van ISR uniek is in vergelyking met dié van binnelandse strafreg. Hoewel straf ingevolge ISR onteenseglik ’n hoofsaaklik terugblikkende oefening in die vergeldingstradisie van nasionale strafreg is, is ISR tog ietwat verwyderd van hierdie paradigma vanweë die doel- en waardegedrewe aard daarvan. ISR is in baie opsigte ook ekspressief, normatief en toekomsgerig. Individuele strafregtelike aanspreeklikheid word egter nie allerweë as ’n toepaslike reaksie op kollektiewe geweld aanvaar nie. Dít is deels ’n gevolg van die endemiese politieke afhanklikheid van ISR. Hoofstuk 6 handel derhalwe oor die impak van politiek op die transformasiewaarde van ISR. ISR hou ten nouste verband met liberaal-legalistiese ideale wat in wese individue se belange bevorder. Hoewel dit ’n belangrike element van die ISR-transformasiewaarde uitmaak, stel hierdie politieke invloed ISR ook bloot aan kritiek, en kan dit ’n ontwrigtende uitwerking op die transformasiemandaat daarvan hê. In dié verband word daarop gelet dat ISR ietwat omstrede bly, sowel as onderworpe aan die algemene beperkinge van die gedesentraliseerde en staatsoorheerste internasionale regstelsel. In deel III word die transformasiewaarde van ISR aan die hand van Suid-Afrika as gevallestudie ondersoek, met bepaalde verwysing na die oorgangs- en na-oorgangstydperke van die land. Hoofstuk 7 bied ’n binnelandse beskouing van die transformasiewaarde van ISR deur ondersoek in te stel na die wisselwerking tussen ISR en die Suid-Afrikaanse regstelsel, veral die waarde van die transformasie van ISR tot in die nasionale reg. In hierdie verband word daar besin oor die impak van grondwetlike bepalings en nasionale wetgewing met betrekking tot ISR, sowel as ’n aantal hofsake in verband met aangeleenthede van internasionale strafregspleging. Daar word aangevoer dat internasionale strafnorme in binnelandse verband straks mensewaardes bo staatsgesag en politieke belange bevorder. Binnelandse howe dien moontlik as ‘enjinkamers’ vir transformerende verandering, deur daardie internasionale strafnorme wat deur inwerkingstellingswetgewing tot in die nasionale reg ‘getransformeer’ is, doeltreffender toe te pas. Die deurdringing van internasionale strafnorme tot in die binnelandse sfeer stel ’n verskeidenheid universele waardes bekend op ’n gebied wat tradisioneel deur soewereine mag oorheers is, en hou potensiaal in vir die bevordering van individuele belange sowel as vir die institusionalisering van menseregte. Soos die huidige skeuring tussen die Internasionale Strafhof en die Afrika-unie egter toon, kan internasionale en streek- politieke bande ’n invloed hê op ’n staat se vermoë om sy verpligtinge teenoor internasionale strafregspleging na te kom. In deel IV (hoofstuk 8) word aangevoer dat ISR histories en ontologies afgestem is op terugblikkende (onderdrukkende) én toekomsgerigte (normatiewe) verandering, sowel as verandering wat een of ander gemeenskapsvoordeel inhou. Die transformasiewaarde van ISR spruit uit die waarde- en doelgedrewe aard van internasionale strafnorme, die politieke aard van internasionale strafregspleging, sowel as die wisselwerking tussen internasionale reg en binnelandse regstelsels. ISR kan as ’n gesaghebbende openbaring van die internasionale gemeenskap se norme en waardes beskou word. As sodanig, is ISR en die instellings daarvan nie net ’n middel om die plegers van internasionale misdaad te straf nie, maar ook deel van die strewe na ’n wenslike alternatief vir die historiese én huidige realiteit, wat gekenmerk word deur onregte wat ongebreideld onder die stelsel van tradisionele Wesfaalse soewereiniteit voortduur. Makrokriminaliteit en strafloosheid, synde uiterste vorme van voormelde onregte, ondermyn die beskerming van internasionaal erkende individuele regte. ISR beoog om dít reg te stel deur ’n invloed uit te oefen op daardie individue wat nóg nie die ontluikende universele bewustheid van die meerderheid in die internasionale gemeenskap openbaar nie. Daar word voorts betoog dat die transformerende impak van ISR nie tot die ‘harde’ impak van die toepassing van substantiewe ISR in internasionale en binnelandse howe beperk is nie. Die stelsel van internasionale strafregspleging in die geheel het ook ’n normatiewe impak deur middel van ’n doelgedrewe verbondenheid aan internasionale waardes en bepaalde politieke voorkeure. Hierdie tesis bied ’n nuwe denkwyse oor die waarde, potensiaal en beperkings van die ISR-bestel, sowel as die rol van politiek in internasionale strafregspleging.
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin for financial support
Stellenbosch University for financial support

As the name suggests, the methodology of private international law relates to substantive private law only. A parallel methodological system regarding public law does not exist. The paper argues that this methodological rift lacks any doctrinal justification. It concludes that there are no obstacles to all-sided conflict of laws rules in the public law domain. Since the paper finds that foreign public law is already applicable in private party cases (albeit heavily obscured), it focuses on public law relationships where a foreign state appears as a plaintiff. In this respect, it is shown why the application of foreign public law embodies an attractive compromise between legal assistance and recognition.

A question of great legal importance, both in national and international legislation, is how and in what way interpersonal relations were regulated within ancient and primitive human com- munities before the emergence of modern law and legal regulations. There has always been a need to regulate interpersonal relations and to set certain rules that would have a binding character in relation to community members. For this purpose, customs played a role, cre- ated under the great influence of morality and tradition, religion and religious dogmas, certain superstitious and primitive principles and principles, but with one clear goal, namely the protection of order and the creation of rules of conduct. The paper deals with the issue of the existence of international customs, their relationship with international public and international private law, as well as international criminal law. Also, the question of the relationship of international customs in the context of the source of international law, as well as the influence of customary law on the modern international legal order, is raised.

Depending on the justification of the domination promulgates Law principles which is related with the multi-areas of the social life and assures implementation of Law rules due to its judicial power. However, nowadays implementation of State’s Law principles has been gradually damaged. In fact, not only markets transformed into the world bazaar with the globalization but also the participants of the markets acts global. As a result of the findings of the economic facts, one State’s cross-border trade and beside the national law which regulates the economic actions, normative arrangements increase which adjust identical subjects and receive the sources from different fields and in order for the operation of the current adjustment they create novice establishments with the view point of showing action in different types of areas. As a parallel of these improvements “international economy law” which arranges the international economical actions in the western countries and examines the law principles as a whole which is usually founded dispersedly is developed. Cross border economical actions constitute the subject of a lots of diversified law arrangement. While some of them are the characters of public law and private law, the others originate from international law. Fractionally, nonbinding rules are also inclusive here. At this point the whole law regulations which are about the international rules, determines the scope of international law relations. So in this research, in accordance with the globalization, our purpose is to examine the source and term of the international economy law.

This document is a compilation of materials that at least appear to be reflective of one or more states’ views on international legal issues pertaining to the actual or possible use of algorithmic and data-reliant socio-technical systems in armed conflict. In September of 2018, the Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict (HLS PILAC) commenced a project titled “International Legal and Policy Dimensions of War Algorithms: Enduring and Emerging Concerns.”[1] The project builds on the program’s earlier research and policy initiative on war-algorithm accountability. A goal of the current project is to help strengthen international debate and inform policymaking on the ways that artificial intelligence and complex computer algorithms are transforming war, as well as how international legal and policy frameworks already govern, and might further regulate, the design, development, and use of those technologies. The project is financially supported by the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund. In creating this compilation, HLS PILAC seeks in part to provide a resource through which the positions of states with divergent positions on certain matters potentially of international public concern can be identified. Legal aspects of war technologies are more complex than some governments, scholars, and advocates allow. In the view of HLS PILAC, knowledge of the legal issues requires awareness of the multiple standpoints from which these arguments are fashioned. An assumption underlying how we approach these inquiries is that an assessment concerning international law in this area ought to take into account the perspectives of as many states (in addition to other relevant actors) as possible.

The purpose of this deliverable is to provide detailed information on the informed consent procedures that will be implemented for the participation of humans, including the information about the management of informed consent forms. This pertains to work conducted in WP 2 Governance, policy, and international law, WP 3 Public perception, WP 6 Ocean alkalinization case studies, and WP 7 Stakeholder Dialogue and the Provision of Knowledge, which involves the collection of information from laypersons and stakeholders.

Corruption risks in post-conflict reconstruction are high, notably due to the typically large influx of international aid coupled with weak/illegitimate governments and low state capacity. Combatting corruption in post-conflict settings is vital in the short- and medium-term to promote development and growth, and in the long-term to prevent renewed conflict. Anti-corruption efforts can focus on strengthening the rule of law; public financial management; civil service reform to promote meritocratic hiring, proper training and proper remuneration; promoting transparency and accountability – on the part of both donors as well as recipient governments; and promoting external accountability mechanisms of the media and civil society.

This review examines evidence on criminal deforestation activity in Latin America (particularly, but not exclusively the Amazon) and draws from the literature on the lessons learned in combatting criminal deforestation activity. This review focuses on Brazil as representative of the overwhelming majority of literature on criminal activity in relation to deforestation in the Amazon. The literature notes that Illegal deforestation occurs largely through criminal networks as they have the capacity for coordination, processing, selling, and the deployment of armed men to protect operations. Bribery, corruption, and fraud are deeply ingrained in deforestation. Networks may bribe geoprocessing experts, police, and public officials. Members of the criminal groups may become council members, mayors, and state representatives. Land titles are fabricated and trading documentation fraudulent. The literature also notes some interventions to combat this criminal deforestation activity: monitoring and law enforcement; national systems for registry and monitoring; legal enforcement for compliance of environmental law; International agreements and action; and Involving indigenous communities in combatting deforestation.

During 2004-06 Bolivia experienced a five-fold increase in oil revenues due to tax/ contractual innovations, higher prices and larger volumes at the same time that a multi-lateral debt reduction initiative trimmed roughly one third of the public external debt. The political economy setting of this environment entails a new hydrocarbons law that automatically decentralize expenditure to local governments and nationalization of the oil industry. This paper presents a model of fiscal dynamics in Bolivia in a stochastic framework and finds that the new status-quo will generate double reversions of primary surplus and a public debt path that may fall short of being pleasant in the presence of unfettered fiscal spending and/or decline in international energy prices and gas demand from its neighbors. The authors conclude that governance of the process of allocations and distribution of the oil rent is essential to the short to medium term sustainability of the new Bolivian model.

In September 2015, Ghana along all UN member states endorsed the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the cardinal agenda towards achieving a prosperous global future. The SDGs are strongly interdependent, making progress in all goals essential for a country’s achievement of sustainable development. While Ghana and other West African nations have exhibited significant economic and democratic development post-independence. The judiciary system and related legal frameworks, as well as the lack of rule law and political will for safeguarding the human rights of its citizens, falls short of considering violations against minorities. Will Ghana be able to localize human rights related SDGs, given that West African governments historically tended to promote internal security and stability at the expense of universal human rights? This paper focuses on evaluating the commitments made by Ghana towards achieving Agenda 2030, with a particular focus on the SDGs 10 and 16 relating to the promotion of reduced inequalities, peace, justice and accountable institutions. Moreover, this paper also analyzes legal instruments and state laws put in place post Ghana’s democratization in 1992 for the purpose of preventing discrimination and human rights violations in the nation. The article aims to highlight how Ghana’s post-independence political experience, the lack of rule of law, flaws in the judiciary system, and the weak public access to justice are obstacles to its effective localization of human rights SGDs. Those obstacles to Ghana’s compliance with SDGs 10 and 16 are outlined in this paper through a consideration of human rights violations faced by the Ghanaian Muslim and HIV minorities, poor prison conditions, limited public access to justice and the country’s failure to commit to international treaties on human rights. Keywords: Ghana, human rights, rule of law, security, Agenda 2030

For at least a decade, States, humanitarian bodies, and civil-society actors have raised concerns about how certain counterterrorism measures can prevent or impede humanitarian and medical activities in armed conflicts. In 2019, the issue drew the attention of the world’s preeminent body charged with maintaining or restoring international peace and security: the United Nations Security Council. In two resolutions — Resolution 2462 (2019) and Resolution 2482 (2019) — adopted that year, the Security Council urged States to take into account the potential effects of certain counterterrorism measures on exclusively humanitarian activities, including medical activities, that are carried out by impartial humanitarian actors in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law (IHL). By implicitly recognizing that measures adopted to achieve one policy objective (countering terrorism) can impair or prevent another policy objective (safeguarding humanitarian and medical activities), the Security Council elevated taking into account the potential effects of certain counterterrorism measures on exclusively humanitarian activities to an issue implicating international peace and security. In this legal briefing, we aim to support the development of an analytical framework through which a State may seek to devise and administer a system to take into account the potential effects of counterterrorism measures on humanitarian and medical activities. Our primary intended audience includes the people involved in creating or administering a “take into account” system and in developing relevant laws and policies. Our analysis zooms in on Resolution 2462 (2019) and Resolution 2482 (2019) and focuses on grounding the framework in respect for international law, notably the U.N. Charter and IHL. In section 1, we introduce the impetus, objectives, and structure of the briefing. In our view, a thorough legal analysis of the relevant resolutions in their wider context is a crucial element to laying the conditions conducive to the development and administration of an effective “take into account” system. Further, the stakes and timeliness of the issue, the Security Council’s implicit recognition of a potential tension between measures adopted to achieve different policy objectives, and the relatively scant salient direct practice and scholarship on elements pertinent to “take into account” systems also compelled us to engage in original legal analysis, with a focus on public international law and IHL. In section 2, as a primer for readers unfamiliar with the core issues, we briefly outline humanitarian and medical activities and counterterrorism measures. Then we highlight a range of possible effects of the latter on the former. Concerning armed conflict, humanitarian activities aim primarily to provide relief to and protection for people affected by the conflict whose needs are unmet, whereas medical activities aim primarily to provide care for wounded and sick persons, including the enemy. Meanwhile, for at least several decades, States have sought to prevent and suppress acts of terrorism and punish those who commit, attempt to commit, or otherwise support acts of terrorism. Under the rubric of countering terrorism, States have taken an increasingly broad and diverse array of actions at the global, regional, and national levels. A growing body of qualitative and quantitative evidence documents how certain measures designed and applied to counter terrorism can impede or prevent humanitarian and medical activities in armed conflicts. In a nutshell, counterterrorism measures may lead to diminished or complete lack of access by humanitarian and medical actors to the persons affected by an armed conflict that is also characterized as a counterterrorism context, or those measures may adversely affect the scope, amount, or quality of humanitarian and medical services provided to such persons. The diverse array of detrimental effects of certain counterterrorism measures on humanitarian and medical activities may be grouped into several cross-cutting categories, including operational, financial, security, legal, and reputational effects. In section 3, we explain some of the key legal aspects of humanitarian and medical activities and counterterrorism measures. States have developed IHL as the primary body of international law applicable to acts and omissions connected with an armed conflict. IHL lays down several rights and obligations relating to a broad spectrum of humanitarian and medical activities pertaining to armed conflicts. A violation of an applicable IHL provision related to humanitarian or medical activities may engage the international legal responsibility of a State or an individual. Meanwhile, at the international level, there is no single, comprehensive body of counterterrorism laws. However, States have developed a collection of treaties to pursue specific anti-terrorism objectives. Further, for its part, the Security Council has assumed an increasingly prominent role in countering terrorism, including by adopting decisions that U.N. Member States must accept and carry out under the U.N. Charter. Some counterterrorism measures are designed and applied in a manner that implicitly or expressly “carves out” particular safeguards — typically in the form of limited exceptions or exemptions — for certain humanitarian or medical activities or actors. Yet most counterterrorism measures do not include such safeguards. In section 4, which constitutes the bulk of our original legal analysis, we closely evaluate the two resolutions in which the Security Council urged States to take into account the effects of (certain) counterterrorism measures on humanitarian and medical activities. We set the stage by summarizing some aspects of the legal relations between Security Council acts and IHL provisions pertaining to humanitarian and medical activities. We then analyze the status, consequences, and content of several substantive elements of the resolutions and what they may entail for States seeking to counter terrorism and safeguard humanitarian and medical activities. Among the elements that we evaluate are: the Security Council’s new notion of a prohibited financial “benefit” for terrorists as it may relate to humanitarian and medical activities; the Council’s demand that States comply with IHL obligations while countering terrorism; and the constituent parts of the Council’s notion of a “take into account” system. In section 5, we set out some potential elements of an analytical framework through which a State may seek to develop and administer its “take into account” system in line with Resolution 2462 (2019) and Resolution 2482 (2019). In terms of its object and purpose, a “take into account” system may aim to secure respect for international law, notably the U.N. Charter and IHL pertaining to humanitarian and medical activities. In addition, the system may seek to safeguard humanitarian and medical activities in armed conflicts that also qualify as counterterrorism contexts. We also identify two sets of preconditions arguably necessary for a State to anticipate and address relevant potential effects through the development and execution of its “take into account” system. Finally, we suggest three sets of attributes that a “take into account” system may need to embody to achieve its aims: utilizing a State-wide approach, focusing on potential effects, and including default principles and rules to help guide implementation. In section 6, we briefly conclude. In our view, jointly pursuing the policy objectives of countering terrorism and safeguarding humanitarian and medical activities presents several opportunities, challenges, and complexities. International law does not necessarily provide ready-made answers to all of the difficult questions in this area. Yet devising and executing a “take into account” system provides a State significant opportunities to safeguard humanitarian and medical activities and counter terrorism while securing greater respect for international law.

Drawing on a case study of recent reforms in the Dominican Republic, this technical note derives lessons about strategies to professionalize the civil service. As in other countries with less professionalized civil services, the Dominican Republic's political economy is biased against reform: promises of public employment tend to be important to successful electoral mobilization. Nonetheless, passage of a new public service law and its partial implementation were achieved. The case study finds that the construction of a broad societal coalition demanding reform may account for this puzzle. For legislative approval, alliance formation extended to not only traditional reform allies, such as the international community, NGOs, business associations, the media, progressive governing legislators and a politically influential minister, but also novel allies, including opposition parties. Reform implementation was fostered by the periodic and well-publicized societal monitoring of an achievable set of reform objectives aligned with the strategic priorities of the Ministry of Public Administration. As a result, political incentives were tilted towards legal reform passage and incremental compliance in civil service subsystems such as organizational structures, information systems and training not perceived as threatening to core electoral mobilization interests, yet not in more politically contentious subsystems, such as recruitment and selection. The case study underscores the desirability of constructing broad societal coalitions to enable civil service professionalization particularly in contexts where potential societal veto actors with vested interests, such as public sector unions, are largely absent. It also underscores the continued weight of political economy constraints in conditioning the subsystems in which civil service reform implementation may be achieved.

From January 22 to 25, 2018, RTI International, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCoE) held the 2018 Impression, Pattern and Trace Evidence Symposium (IPTES) in Arlington, VA, to promote collaboration, enhance knowledge transfer, and share best practices and policies for the impression, pattern, and trace evidence forensic science communities. NIJ and FTCoE are committed to improving the practice of forensic science and strengthening its impact through support of research and development, rigorous technology evaluation and adoption, effective knowledge transfer and education, and comprehensive dissemination of best practices and guidelines to agencies dedicated to combating crime. The future of forensic sciences and its contribution to the public and criminal justice community is a motivating topic to gather expertise in a forum to discuss, learn, and share ideas. It’s about becoming part of an essential and historic movement as the forensic sciences continue to advance. The IPTES was specifically designed to bring together practitioners and researchers to enhance information-sharing and promote collaboration among the impression, pattern, and trace evidence analysts, law enforcement, and legal communities. The IPTES was designed to bring together practitioners and researchers to enhance information sharing and promote collaboration among impression, pattern, and trace evidence analysts, law enforcement, and legal communities. This set of proceedings comprises abstracts from workshops, general sessions, breakout sessions, and poster presentations.

This rapid review examines evidence on the transparency in the tax system and its benefits; e.g. rising revenue, strengthen citizen/state relationship, and rule of law. Improvements in tax transparency can help in strengthening public finances in developing countries that are adversely affected by COVID-19. The current context (i.e. a global pandemic, widespread economic slowdown/recessions, and declining tax revenues) engenders the urgency of improving domestic resource mobilisation (DRM) and the fight against illicit financial flows (IFFs). Even before the advent of COVID-19, developing countries’ tax systems were facing several challenges, including weak tax administrations, low taxpayer morale and “hard-to-tax” sectors. The presence of informational asymmetry (i.e. low tax transparency) between taxpayers and tax authorities generates loopholes for abuse of the tax system. It allows the hiding of wealth abroad with a limited risk of being caught. Cases of such behaviour that are exposed without proper penalty may result in a decline in the morale of citizens and a lower level of voluntary compliance with tax legislation. A number of high-profile tax leaks and scandals have undermined public confidence in the fairness of tax systems and generated a strong demand for effective counteraction and tax transparency. One of the key contributing factors to lower tax revenues in developing countries (that is linked to low tax transparency) is a high level of IFFs. These flows, including international tax evasion and the laundering of corruption proceeds, build a major obstacle to successful DRM efforts. Research has also identified an association between organisational transparency (e.g. transparency by businesses and tax authorities) and stakeholder trust (e.g. between citizens and the state). However, the evidence is mixed as to how transparency in particular influences trust and perceptions of trustworthiness.