Teses / dissertações sobre o tema "Public welfare – law and legislation – australia"

In this thesis I outline a view of primary legislation from a systems perspective. I suggest that systems theory and, in particular, autopoietic theory, as modified by field theory, is a mechanism for understanding how society operates. The description of primary legislation that I outline differs markedly from any conventional definition in that I argue that primary legislation is not, and indeed cannot be, either a law or any of the euphemisms that are usually accorded to an enactment by a parliament. I cite two reasons for such a conclusion. The primary reason for my conclusion is that I see primary legislation as being an output of a particular subsystem of society, while the law is the output of another subsystem of society. I argue that these outputs are the discrete products of separate subsystems of society. I argue that primary legislation should be viewed as a trinity. The first state of this trinity is that, upon enactment, primary legislation is a brute fact in that it is but a thing and the only property of this thing is that of being a text. The second state of this trinity is that following the act of enactment, the thing enacted will be reproduced and this reproduction is a separate thing that will sit in some repository until used. The third state of this trinity is that, upon use, this thing that is primary legislation will be transformed into an object and the user will attribute such functions and attributes to that object as are appropriate to the context within which the object is used. The thing has therefore become an object and an institutional fact. The second reason for my conclusion that primary legislation is not a law relates to the fact that the thing that is primary legislation is a text and the only function of a text is that it is available to be read. That is to say, of itself, a text is incapable of doing anything: it is the reader who defines the status of the text and attributes functions and attributes. Upon use, primary legislation thus becomes a censored input for future action and one of these actions may be some statement by a court of law. I assert that the view of primary legislation that has been accepted within the body politic is the product of the discourse of a particular subsystem of society that I have designated ?the legal practice?, and I outline why and how this has occurred. Outlining a view about primary legislation also necessitates outlining a view as to the nature of the law. I assert that the law is a myth and I see this myth as a product of the discourse of the legal practice. I have asserted that although it is the judges that state the law, such statements flow from the discourse of those who practise the law.

Whistleblower protection legislation in Australia has three objectives: (i) to facilitate the making of disclosures about public interest wrongdoing in government departments, (ii) to ensure such disclosures are properly dealt with, and (iii) to ensure the protection of whistleblowers. These objectives align with the three core purposes of accountability: reporting information, justification and debate, and the rectification of any wrongdoing. Using empirical data collected by a national research project, ‘Whistling While They Work’, this thesis analyses the experiences of whistleblowers who make their disclosures to external accountability agencies - auditors-general, ombudsmen, corruption and crime commissions and public sector standards. The whistleblowers in this study reported wrongdoing to their own departments, out of loyalty to their organisation and trusting that their managers shared their ethical values and commitment to integrity. Only when this trust was breached, did they make their disclosures to external accountability agencies in the hopes of achieving rectification of the wrongdoing and protection from reprisals. The focus of the analysis is on the extent to which accountability agencies are achieving the objectives of the legislation. The fundamental conclusion is that they are not. Resource constraints and problems with the legislation itself, particularly the ‘public interest’ threshold test, clearly contribute to agencies’ limited achievements. In large part, however, accountability agencies have failed to develop approaches to whistleblowing that take into account the needs and vulnerabilities of whistleblowers. Accountability agencies trust the ‘distributed integrity’ in government departments in the same way as they do for other areas of their work, for example, complaints from the general public. In doing so, they fail to use the many-faceted experience of whistleblowing to improve accountability. All too often, they simply confirm whistleblowers’ disappointment in the standards of ethics and accountability within the public sector.

The Australian justice system is based in a conventional model of justice with the aim of uniformity in sentencing. It is important to ascertain public opinion on the relevance of different factors to be taken into account at sentencing as accurately as possible, in order to provide informed public opinion which may assist policy makers in making legislation or educating the public on these matters. The current study examined the impact of varying levels of victim harm (high or low) and offender remorse (high or low) for both person and property crimes on sentencing decisions made by both male (n = 99) and female (n = 94) members of the Western Australian public. The design was a 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 between subjects factorial, with dependent variables of length of sentence assigned (0-10 years jail), rated influence of four sentencing goals (retribution, rehabilitation, incapacitation and deterrence) on sentence choice, and responses to an open-ended question about the reasons for the sentence chosen. The main findings were that demonstrations of offender remorse and the level of harm caused to the victim appeared to be factors in public participants' sentencing. There was no difference in sentences assigned by male and female participants. Although the majority of participants believed they sentenced for rehabilitative reasons. Retribution appeared to be the major factor in the sentences assigned an outcome which reflects the focus of the Western Australian sentencing legislation. Implications arising from the results include the need for more public education in the areas of the functions or the courts, legal principles and theories, and options for victims of crime. Overall, the current study added to the body of research examining public opinions about the potential relevance of various victim and offender factors at the sentencing phase in the search for uniformity in sentencing.

In the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) Annual Report of 2011/2012 it is stated that there were more than 15 million social grants paid out to needy beneficiaries of which 10 927 731 were Child Support Grants. A major challenge that is continually being addressed is the management and administration of these grants. In particular, the focus is on service delivery and zero tolerance to fraud and corruption. SASSA has made various attempts to address these issues, such as the rollout of biometric smart cards in 2012. This research endeavour attempts to discover whether a framework can be designed where necessary factors are taken into consideration to provide for an efficient social grant application and delivery process that uses biometrics. The framework aims to suggest improvements in the use of biometrics for the social grants. Seeing that biometrics in this case is used as a technology to improve a system involving humans, this study followed a Design Science approach and made use of a case study to collect the data required for the study. Literature studies reviewed the fields of social grants and biometrics. The challenges and lessons learnt from current implementations of social grants and biometrics within the South African context and further abroad were also relevant for the study. The framework that resulted from the above was evaluated for validity and applicability after which a modified framework is presented. The research concludes with specific implementation guidelines as well as areas for future research.

Thesis (LLD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Substantive equality is a constitutional imperative, hence the need for strategies that attempt to realise it for the sake of genuine social reconstruction. The principle of equality runs through all other rights in the South African Constitution. Be that as it may, equality is an elusive concept, which makes its achievement an ambitious task. Nonetheless, there are strategies that attempt to bring to the fore the ‘substance’ of the concept in order to ensure the actual realisation of socio-economic benefits. Such strategies include, among others: social security, education, economic empowerment, skills development and affirmative action. This study will focus on the latter of these strategies, namely affirmative action. Although affirmative action is practised around the world, one of the (many) criticisms of the policy is that it fails to bring about substantive or structural change. In other words, it may change the racial and gender composition of the classroom or the workplace, but does not address the challenges that cause the disadvantages of marginalised groups in the first place. It is arguable that affirmative action has increased inequality in South Africa by benefiting the apex of the class structure and not the majority of the population living in abject poverty. This study develops a theoretical analysis of the link between status (race, sex and ethnicity) and socio-economic disadvantage, and the central question that the study addresses is the following: How can the policy of affirmative action be redesigned to ensure that it benefits the socio-economically disadvantaged? A secondary question that is investigated is whether affirmative action can contribute to the development of human capacities in the context of poverty alleviation. It is arguable that substantive equality facilitates the adoption of strategies (such as affirmative action) to address socio-economic inequality, poverty and social exclusion. The research suggests that a paradigm shift is necessary in order to reconceive of affirmative action as a policy that does not only focus on ensuring ‘equitable representation’ of disadvantaged groups in the workforce or the classroom, but also provides for the development of human capacities. This can be achieved if one adopts an expansive view of affirmative action and if one utilises class as one of the numerous criteria for determining the beneficiaries of the policy.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Substantiewe gelykheid is ′n grondwetlike vereiste, vandaar die behoefte om strategieë te ontwikkel wat poog om dit te realiser in die belang van daadwerklike sosiale rekonstruksie. Die beginsel van gelykheid is vervleg met alle ander regte in die Suid-Afrikaanse Grondwet. Gelykheid is nietemin ′n ontwykende konsep, en dit maak die bereiking daarvan ′n ambisieuse taak. Daar is egter strategieë wat gemik is daarop om sosio-ekonomiese voordele te bereik. Voorbeelde van sodanige strategieë sluit in sosiale sekuriteit, opvoeding, ekonomiese bemagtiging, die ontwikkeling van vaardighede, en regstellende aksie. Hierdie studie fokus op laasgenoemde strategie, naamlik regstellende aksie. Ten spyte van die feit dat regstellende aksie regoor die wêreld toegepas word, word die beleid nietmin gekritiseer as sou dit nie werklik wesenlike of strukturele verandering teweeg bring nie. Met ander woorde, dit bring moontlik ‘n verandering teweeg in die rasse-en geslagsamestelling van die klaskamer of die werkplek, maar spreek nie die uitdagings aan wat in die eerste plek lei tot die posisie van relatiewe benadeling waarin gemarginaliseerde groepe hulself bevind nie. Sommige argumenteer dat regstellende aksie bydra tot ongelykheid in Suid-Afrika deur voordele te beperk tot diegene wat hulself aan die toppunt van die klasstruktuur bevind terwyl dit die meerderheid van die bevolking wat in armoede leef ignoreer. Hierdie studie ontwikkel ′n teoretiese ontleding van die verband tussen status (ras, geslag en etnisiteit) en sosio-ekonomiese benadeling. Die sentrale vraag van die studie is die volgende: Hoe kan die beleid van regstellende aksie herontwerp word om te verseker dat dit lei tot die bevoordeling van die sosio-ekonomiese benadeeldes? ’n Sekondêre vraag wat in die studie onder die loep kom is of regstellende aksie ’n bydrae kan maak tot die ontwikkeling van menslike vermoë in die konteks van armoedeverligting. Daar kan geragumenteer word dat die strewe na substantiewe gelykheid strategieë (soos regstellende aksie) na vore bring om sosio-ekonomiese ongelykheid, armoede en sosiale uitsluiting aan te spreek. Die navorsing dui daarop dat ′n paradigmaskuif nodig is om regstellende aksie te herkonseptualiseer as ′n beleid wat nie net fokus op die bereiking van ‘billike verteenwoordiging’ van benadeelde groepe in die werkplek of klaskamer nie, maar ook voorsiening maak vir die ontwikkeling van menslike vermoë. Dit kan bereik word deur die aanvaarding van ’n uitgebreide siening van regstellende aksie en deur die benutting van klas as een van menige faktore wat in ag geneem word om die bevoordeeldes van die beleid te identifiseer.
Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Law
National Research Fund

This study was conducted in the context of the regulation of professional nursing and midwifery practice in the Australian health care system. In this environment, professional regulatory authorities established by State and Territory legislation in all jurisdictions, regulate and control the work of health professionals. In Queensland, registered nurses, enrolled nurses and midwives are regulated by the Queensland Nursing Council, the statutory body created by the Nursing Act 1992 (Qld). Part of the regulatory role of this and other authorities is to discipline professionals whose conduct or behaviour falls short of appropriate and acceptable standards of practice. All regulated health professionals, including nurses and midwives, are potentially subject to professional disciplinary action if a complaint is lodged in relation to their conduct. This being an important issue in the management and delivery of health care, and an increased trend among health care consumers, the dearth of existing research into the disciplinary process is a major concern. This exploratory study examined the disciplinary role of the Queensland Nursing Council in adhering to its legislative mandate to ensure safe and competent nursing practice. The study focused on the extent to which structural (legislation and policy), professional, and process factors impacted on the outcomes of disciplinary Tribunals and Committees in cases of incompetent or unsafe practice and sexual misconduct. The study was situated within the interpretive paradigm using a case study approach. Specifically, it investigated cases of sexual misconduct by nurses and unsafe or incompetent practice by midwives. The study was guided by Donabedian's conceptual framework of structure-process-outcome. This framework was seen to be most suited to the aims of the study and provided a template for in-depth analysis of the data emerging from the two cases. The findings of this study provided insight into the factors underpinning the decisions of the disciplinary bodies in making determinations and formulating outcomes. There was found to be a lack of consistency and predictability in both the legislative frameworks and the interpretation of terms and concepts used to identify conduct warranting a disciplinary response from regulatory authorities. Although the processes of disciplinary proceedings are prescribed by both legislation and policy, their practical application was characterised by considerable challenges, which resulted in varying outcomes. The thesis reports this information so that it can be used as an initial basis to build a body of knowledge from practical experience with disciplinary proceedings that will inform future processes. Subsequent case studies in other contexts and systems will increase the level of knowledge available to nurses, other health care providers, health care institutions and regulatory authorities. The initial base of evidence suggests implications for practice, education and further research which are outlined in the final chapter of the thesis.

The homeless have been subject to considerable scrutiny, historically and within current social, political and public discourse. The aetiology of homelessness has been the focus of a large body of economic, sociological, historical and political investigation. Importantly, efforts to conceptualise, explain and measure, the phenomenon of homelessness and homeless people has occurred largely within the context of defining “the problem of the homeless” and the generation of solutions to the ‘problem’. There has been little consideration of how and why homelessness has come to be seen, or understood, as a problem, or how this can change across time and/or place. This alternative stream of research has focused on tracing and analysing the relationship between how people experiencing homeless have become a matter of government concern and the manner in which homelessness itself has been problematised. With this in mind this study has analysed the discourses - political, social and economic rationalities and knowledges - which have provided the conditions of possibility for the identification of the homeless and homelessness as a problem needing to be governed and the means for translating these discourses into the applied domain. The aim of this thesis has been to contribute to current knowledge by developing a genealogy of the conditions and rationalities that have underpinned the problematisation of homelessness and the homeless. The outcome of this analysis has been to open up the opportunity to consider alternative governmental possibilities arising from the exposure of the way in which contemporary problematisation and responses have been influenced by the past. An understanding of this process creates an ability to appreciate the intended and unintended consequences for the future direction of public policy and contemporary research.

O presente trabalho inicia-se com a pesquisa bibliográfica que permitiu a apresentação das disposições normativas acerca da proteção jurídica do meio ambiente, nela incluída os animais domésticos. O conjunto normativo pátrio e estrangeiro evoluiu quanto ao amparo ambiental, vislumbrando-se nova postura do Poder Público em decorrência dos atuais paradigmas da sociedade, que vem cada vez mais se preocupando com a preservação dos recursos ambientais e dos demais elementos ecológicos. Percebe-se que atualmente a garantia dos direitos dos animais não se restringe apenas aos silvestres e exóticos, mas resta consagrada a dos domésticos (como cães e gatos), principalmente pelas disposições constitucionais. No que diz respeito ao tema políticas públicas, é conceituado como o plano de ações governamentais para concretizar os direitos coletivos da sociedade, tendo sido discorrido especificamente acerca das políticas voltadas ao bem-estar dos animais domésticos, com a descrição de exemplos de ações implementadas em diversos locais. Por conseguinte, apresenta-se o programa Rede de Defesa e Proteção Animal do Município de Curitiba (RDPA), referenciando-se seu histórico, objetivos, ações e resultados por meio da pesquisa qualitativa. Diante desses dados, constata-se a efetividade do programa estudado à luz das disposições legais e principiológicas a ele aplicáveis, pois vem executando ações de cunho educacional como a propagação da Guarda Responsável e do Projeto Veterinário Mirim. Ainda, disponibiliza castração para famílias de baixa renda, consideradas vulneráveis pela FAS e em situação de risco para a COHAB, bem como para protetores independentes, medida que se mostra efetiva para diminuir a natalidade e não ocasiona sofrimento aos animais. Os maus-tratos têm sido combatidos principalmente por ações de fiscalização nos estabelecimentos que comercializam os animais, em que se averigua se há o atendimento à legislação. Por fim, o Município tem divulgado o evento Feira Amigo Bicho e cedido espaço no Parque Barigui para ONG’s e protetores levarem animais para serem doados. Foram apresentadas propostas para o aperfeiçoamento do programa ora estudado, como a averiguação de implantar a isenção fiscal para estimular comportamentos ecologicamente corretos e o custeio de ações do programa. Outra sugestão indicada, por exemplo, foi a análise da viabilidade de instaurar chamamento público por parte do ente municipal responsável pela RDPA para obtenção de patrocínio, em que as patrocinadoras divulgam suas logomarcas e em contrapartida custeiam castrações, vacinações e microchipagens.
This dissertation begins with a bibliographic research that allowed the presentation of the legislative provisions concerning the legal protection of the environment, included domestic animals. The national and foreign laws evolved as environmental protection, with a new position of the Government due the current paradigms of the society, which increasingly is concerned with the preservation of environmental resources and other environmental elements. Currently it is noticed that the rights of animals are not only restricted to wild and exotic, but also to the domestics (dogs and cats), mainly by constitutional provisions. In relation to public policy subject, it is conceptualized as the governmental action plan to achieve the collective rights of society, having been specifically discoursed on policies focused at domestic animals welfare, with some examples of actions in several locations. Therefore, it is presented the DNAP Program of Curitiba (RDPA), referencing its history, objectives, actions and results through qualitative research. Given these data, it is noted the effectiveness of the studied program under the law and set of principles applicable to it, because it is implementing educational actions as the Responsible Guard and Veterinary Project Mirim (Young Officers). It also offers castration for families considered vulnerable by FAS and in situation of risk to COHAB and low income families, as well for independent protectors, effective measure to reduce the birth rate and does not cause suffering to animals. The maltreatments are being tackled mainly by enforcement actions in the establishments that sell animals, where it is examined if there is compliance with the law. Finally, Curitiba has divulged the event Feira Amigo Bicho (Animal Friend Fair) and ceded space in the Barigüi Park for NGOs and protectors take animals to be donated. Proposals for improving the program were presented, as the possibility of implementation of tax exemption to encourage environmentally friendly behaviors and the costing of program actions. Another suggestion indicated, for example, was the feasibility analysis of establish a public invitation by the municipal entity responsible for DNAP to obtain sponsorship, where the sponsors disclose their logos, but paying for castrations, vaccinations and microchips implants.

This dissertation analyses the idea that parliament controls public money in parliamentary constitutional systems of government. That analysis proceeds through an historical and contemporary examination of the way legal practices distribute authority over public money between different institutions of government. The legislative and judicial practices concerning taxation, public expenditure, sovereign borrowing, and the government financing activities of central banks are selected for close attention. The contemporary analysis focuses on the design and operation of those legal practices in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Australia, in the context of the boom-bust-recovery economic conditions experienced between 2005 and 2016. The dissertation's ultimate claims are explanatory: that "parliamentary control" is a poor explanation of the distribution of financial authority in parliamentary systems of government and should be jettisoned in favour of an idea of "parliamentary ratification". An empirically engaged methodology is adopted throughout the dissertation and (historical and contemporary) public sector financial data enrich the legal analysis. The dissertation acknowledges the impact of, but remains agnostic between, different economic and political perspectives on fiscal discipline and public financial administration. The dissertation makes a number of original contributions. It provides a detailed examination of the historical development, legal operation and constitutional significance of annual appropriation legislation, and the legal regimes governing sovereign borrowing and monetary finance. It also analyses the way that law interacts with government behaviour in situations of economic emergencies (focusing on the Bank of England's public financing activities since 2008), and the institutional and doctrinal obstacles facing judicial involvement in disputes concerning public finance (focusing on the Australian judiciary's recent engagements with public expenditure legislation).

This thesis employed a Historical-Critical method using rhetoric and framing theory to examine the 2008 Proposition 2: Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act campaigns. The Californians for Humane Farms (HSUS) and Californians for SAFE Food (CSF) were the respective proponent and opponent coalitions analyzed in this thesis. The analysis examined sixteen campaign artifacts that were examples of how the proposition was communicated to California's voting populous. In Conjunction with the appeals and frames, the message strategies were analyzed as to how they allowed the HSUS and CSF to effectively communicate with voters. By using rhetoric and framing 4 theory this analysis was able to distinguish which rhetorical appeals effectively supported the campaigns. The analysis showed that the HSUS was successful with their campaign because of well-executed rhetorical appeals that created a concise message about animal confinement and animal cruelty issues.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 280-305). Argues that despite the liberal use of social control theory in the literature on the social history of venereal diseases, rationale discourses do not necessarily lead to government intervention. Comparative analysis reveals that culturally similar locations can experience similar impulses and constraints to the development of social policy under differing constitutional arrangements.

This thesis explores whether and to what extent the theoretical and legal foundations of competition and consumer law can advance food animal welfare initiatives and address welfare issues associated with the religious slaughter of animals. By 'food animals' I mean the millions of chickens, cows and pigs processed and slaughtered in Australia each day for human consumption. This exploration proceeds, as an example, through an evaluation of the prohibition against misleading or deceptive conduct in section 18 of the new Australian Consumer Law ('the ACL').{u2091} Since mid-2011, the welfare of food animals has assumed a level of urgency in Australia. Disturbing evidence of Australian export cattle being abused by Indonesian abattoir workers as the cattle were slaughtered according to Islamic ritual ignited a national outcry, resulting in the Commonwealth government suspending the entire live export trade for a period of time. Similar abuses were filmed at two Australian abattoirs in 2012. Although the question posed by this thesis is narrow in its focus, the answers it anticipates, and that are explored throughout, have much wider significance for the universal task of improving the welfare of animals generally and food animals particularly. This is because in answering the central question, the thesis interrogates the normative assumptions, both philosophical and religious, that for millennia have informed the Western characterisation of animals as exploitable property. It explores the most promising contemporary philosophical challenges to this characterisation, discusses their limitations and identifies theoretical gaps that might be exploited by future scholarship for the benefit of animals. The thesis questions the protection of freedom of religious practice in democratic societies when those practices involve the slaughter of other sentient beings. It explores the difficulties experienced by governments in increasingly multicultural United Kingdom, European Union and New Zealand, in navigating this highly controversial issue. With neo-classical economic principles driving contemporary Western markets, the thesis demonstrates the incoherency experienced by governments as they pursue regulatory agendas that bring into conflict the efficient and profitable development of primary industries on the one hand and the welfare of food animals on the other. However, if an underlying cause of food animal suffering lies in market dynamics informed by neo-classical principles of efficiency and profit{u00AD} maximisation, then perhaps one indirect solution may also emerge from those same principles. Accordingly, the thesis investigates the theoretical and legal potential for consumer protection and competition policy to empower consumers in ways that will advance food animal welfare. And, it evaluates the outer limits of consumer protection jurisprudence, in the form of the prohibition against misleading or deceptive conduct in ACL s 18 in doing so. In fact, this is precisely the intention of the Commonwealth government. In its 2011 Labelling Logic Report^2 into national food labelling, the Commonwealth government has stated its intention to indirectly regulate these food animal welfare issues through market forces underpinned by competition and consumer policy. Food animal welfare concerns and religious slaughter practices are characterised by the Labelling Logic Report as 'consumer values issues' best regulated by preventing suppliers from making misleading or deceptive claims, such as 'free range', in marketing their food animal products.^3 In an increasingly competitive food product market, it is anticipated that demand for ethically produced food animal products will signal producers of consumer preferences for food animal welfare practices. In safeguarding this consumer demand, the Commonwealth government intends the ACL to play a key role in preventing suppliers from exploiting consumer demand for welfare-friendly food animal products by preventing misleading or deceptive marketing claims. Through the analytical device of hypothetical litigation commenced by the ACCC against a large national retailer of food animal products alleging misleading or deceptive conduct in food animal welfare representations associated with those products, the thesis demonstrates how case law enables the ACL to prevent 'positive' but misleading claims. However, it also explores legal difficulties associated with conceptualising silence as misleading or deceptive conduct potentially compromising the ability of the ACL to address welfare issues associated with the religious slaughter of animals. In these circumstances, if it is seriously intending to support consumer values issues associated with food animal welfare, the Commonwealth government will need to supplement the general provisions of the ACL with more specific legislative reforms empowering consumers to make accurate and informed purchasing decisions in expressing their demonstrated concern for food animal welfare. Of course, reliance upon the ACL or labelling specific consumer legislation does not absolve Western societies of the larger imperative to develop a coherent philosophy of animal welfare that commands general acceptance. With that imperative in mind, and although this is a legal and not a philosophical thesis it nevertheless proposes a re-definition of the social contract to include all sentient beings based on an 'ethic of bioinclusiveness'; a philosophical framework created by this thesis in describing a new animal welfare ethic grounded in sentience and the fundamental interdependence of human, animals and the environment. However, until an adequate philosophy of animal welfare has been created and gen.erally accepted, the thesis concludes that consumer demand, protected by the ACL and underwritten by strategic enforcement through the ACCC, has the potential to permit at least partial advances in food animal welfare. 1 Effective from 1January 2011and found in Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). Section 18 relevantly prohibits a person, in trade or commerce, engaging in conduct that is misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead or deceive. 2 Food Labelling Law and Policy Review Panel, Labelling Logic: Review of Food Labelling Law and Policy, 27 January 2011, Commonwealth of Australia. 3 Ibid 97 [6.3].

Divorce and the Politics of the American Social Welfare Regime, 1969-2001 asks how rising divorce rates shaped the laws governing the American social welfare regime between 1969, when California passed the nation’s first no-fault divorce law, and 2001. Scholars have shown that in the early 20th century the American social welfare regime developed to distribute economic resources, such as Social Security, to women through their husbands. Between 1967 and 1979, however, the United States’ divorce rate doubled. This dissertation investigates how this sudden challenge to the breadwinner-homemaker family structure affected the gendered welfare regime. Divorce and the Politics of the American Social Welfare Regime examines how women organized to gain access to lost economic resources after divorce and how policymakers responded to their demands. It reveals important and forgotten components of the histories of welfare state development, the feminist movement of the 1970s, and marriage law. It argues that, ironically, rising divorce rates led to a series of federal laws that actually strengthened the social welfare system’s use of marriage to determine eligiblity for benefits. These new laws specifically rewarded intact marriages by providing more robust benefits to women in longer marriages. In a political world increasingly concerned with the impermenance of marriage, Congress created a legal system that signaled that marriage was about length of commitment above all else.

Defence date: 19 November 2010
Examining Board: Rainer Baubock (EUI); Gerard-René De Groot (Universiteit Maastricht); Marie-Ange Moreau (Supervisor, EUI); Bruno Nascimbene (Università degli Studi di Milano)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
The main objective of this study is to examine the phenomenon of dual nationality in the European Union (EU), particularly against the background of the status of European citizenship - a status that is linked to the nationality of each EU Member State (Article 20(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides that ‘citizenship of the Union shall be additional to and not replace national citizenship’). The study consists of two parts. The first part (Chapters 1 and 2) sets out the approach towards (dual) nationality in Private International Law and EU Law, in particular by analyzing the case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The second part (Chapters 3- 6) consists of an overview of the dual nationality regimes in four EU Member States - France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain -, and their possible effects on the EU as a whole. Chapter 2 of the thesis is entitled the ‘intra-EU context’, since it primarily deals with the ECJ’s approach towards a dual nationality consisting of two Member State nationalities. The country reports, on the other hand, deal with the ‘extra-EU context’ because the dual nationality policies of the countries under consideration predominantly affect non-Member State nationals. Thus, France and the Netherlands have for some time already faced the question how to integrate the (Muslim) immigrant population; Italy and Spain have long since adopted a system of preferential treatment for (Latin American) former emigrants and their descendants. The country reports demonstrate how dual nationality is used (or rejected) in these four countries. Finally, the question whether the EU should in time acquire (limited) competence in the field of European nationality law is one of the major themes of this study. Regardless of one’s stance on this question, it must be readily admitted that the subject of Member State autonomy in nationality law is becoming ever more salient with the enlargement of the Union and the growing relevance of European citizenship in the case law of the ECJ. In the opinion of this author, the study shows that the almost absolute autonomy of Member States in the field of nationality law is becoming increasingly problematic for the EU as a whole. Based inter alia on the findings from the country reports, this thesis takes the position that there is arguably a need for the (minimum) harmonization of European nationality laws.

A large portion of the population of South Africa is made up of people who, due to poverty, disability, old age and/or lack of education, rely solely on social assistance provided by the government for their survival. The issue of the welfare state in terms of responding to these issues has been subject to increasingly heated debates especially with regard to long-term socio-economic improvements, moral obligations and economic sustainability. This dissertation generally explores the status of social welfare in South Africa, and more specifically, South Africa’s socio-economic status as a welfare state against the backdrop of selected philosophical arguments used to justify and criticize existing social welfare laws in South Africa, whilst keeping South Africa’s unique history in mind. Although South Africa already has a detailed set of social welfare laws and policies, the social and economic needs of the country are ever evolving and therefore it is important that these laws and policies be constantly re-evaluated in order to ensure that they are effective in addressing and meeting the changing socio-economic and other demands.
Jurisprudence
LL. M. (Jurisprudence)

This thesis explores the doctrine of judicial notice, particularly as it applies in the context of anti-poverty litigation. I invoke a theory of judgment which centres valid judgment on the practice of an "enlarged mentality." I argue for an interpretation of judicial notice that can assist judges to approach their task in this way. First, judicial notice should be animated by the fundamental principles of the legal system. including equality. Second, judicial notice must be attentive to the different kinds of "facts" that could be subject to notice, and the criteria for notice that are appropriate in each case. Third. judicial notice requires an active posture on behalf of judges, which finds support in legal norms about impartiality and the duty to give reasons. Finally, judicial notice requires judges to be actively attentive to the content of their own common sense.

Thesis (LLM. (Development and Management Law)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019
This mini-dissertation articulates the socio-economic challenges faced by South Africans, such as poverty, unemployment and lack of infrastructural development. The mini- dissertation establishes that tourism is an engine that drives socioeconomic transformation thus elimination poverty, creating employment and bringing about infrastructural development. It highlights tourism law, policies and international instruments that ensure that factors such as environmental protection, travelling, skills development, and so on ensure that tourism is promoted and thrives to transform the lives of historically disadvantaged South Africans. It identifies tourism impediments that stand as obstacles hindering tourism to provide socio-economic transformation and makes a moderate attempt to offer sustainable solutions. It recommends that the Department of Tourism through co-operative governance with other organs of state should strengthen implementation of legislation, institutions and policies vested within its power to ensure that tourism is developed to create employment and alleviate poverty. As a comparative analysis the approaches of Australia and Canada were utilised and useful lessons were drawn from them.

M.A.
Social Work is a multifaceted profession. One of the many tasks that a social worker must perform is to give evidence in a court of law as an expert witness. The Criminal Procedure Act, Act 51 of 1977, has been amended in respect of the child as witness. This Act now also makes provision for a social worker to act as intermediary to facilitate in criminal procedures where children, being exposed to substantial trauma and stress, are witnesses. The courts have started to implement this amendment and social workers are being requested to act as intermediaries in criminal proceedings. The social workers at the Child and Family Welfare Society Kempton Park, amongst others, were requested on several occasions to act as intermediaries without knowledge of the task to be performed. Due to a lack of knowledge and resources only the necessary report was submitted to the court requesting the appointment of an intermediary. Probation officers from the Department of Welfare were then requested to appear in court as intermediaries as they had the necessary knowledge and training. This research attempts to highlight what a social worker as intermediary, in criminal proceedings where children are witnesses, should do. The researcher had a preference to the qualitative methodology, as it appeals to the researcher's practical nature and the nature of the issue to be investigated as it is basic-explorative in nature. The legal position of the sexually abused child as witness in criminal proceedings is assessed in order to determine the consequences from several points of view. Criticism and obstacles in this regard and the procedures of operation, as included in the Report from the Law Commission with specific reference to the social worker as intermediary, are highlighted.

The South African Constitution in section 27(1)(c) obligates the state to develop a comprehensive social security system. It affirms the universal right to access to social security, including appropriate social assistance for those unable to support themselves and their dependants. It orders the state to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of these rights. The underlying normative commitment of social security is the improvement of the quality of life of the population by promoting economic or material equality. Social security ensures that all citizens have a stake in society and that each individual has an incentive to contribute to the development of the commonwealth. It plays a crucial role in the lives of communities and families viewed in the context of social transfers which provide broader development objectives and tackles income poverty transfers. The objectives of this study are threefold. Firstly, it examines the extension of social assistance coverage to the indigents in South Africa. Secondly, it looks at the legal mechanisms employed by courts and government in order to improve the social security rights of the poor in South Africa. Thirdly, the research investigates the possible reform and trends in India and Brazil with the aim of improving South Africa’s system of social security. For the avoidance of doubt, the law evaluated in this work is at 15 September 2015.
Jurisprudence
LL. D.

This thesis examines the social, political and legal basis for the establishment of a national regime for the oversight of risks posed by gene technology in Australia. It provides an overview of the public debate about gene technology and considers how that debate served to motivate and shift the focus of regulatory reform which led to the Gene Technology Act 2000 (Cth) (GTA). The debate about gene technology belies a much deeper social preoccupation with novel risk generally - something described by risk theorists as the 'risk society'. This risk society has placed pressure on legislatures to manage the perceived risks posed by novel technologies or to use novel technologies to manage man-made or natural risks. Yet the traditionally prescriptive and cumbersome process of regulatory reform is ill-suited to the pace and transient nature of scientific innovation. Consequently, legislatures have developed a new legislative form, risk governance, designed to provide a more flexible scientifically based response to novel technologies. This form of legislation is exemplified by the GTA. Yet risk governance has proved to create problems of its own. Maintaining regulatory flexibility necessitates that rule making is virtually, if not officially, undertaken outside of the parliamentary process. Furthermore, because risk governance adopts a scientifically based assessment and management process (risk analysis) it must co-opt technical specialists (the subjects of regulation) into the decision making process. These factors have contributed to risk governance being perceived as anti-democratic in some quarters. Such perceptions are agitated by a growing distrust of technocrat's ability to serve the public interest in the risk society. Lack of trust was a major theme throughout the Australian gene technology debate. The response to public distrust in technocratic oversight of novel technology has been the inception of risk communication, a process that encourages public involvement in risk analysis. Unfortunately, best practice risk communication has tended to be promulgated in policy but avoided in practice - something revealed with the commercialisation of gene technology. This has resulted in increased pressure to put promise into practice by institutionalising participatory risk communication principles within risk governance. I have referred to this more democratic regulatory form as 'deliberative risk governance'. The GTA was enacted with the promise that it would involve the public in all aspects of regulating risks posed by gene technology. I consider how we arrived at such a system, if it matters and whether the promise of deliberative risk governance is real, efficacious and genuine within this act.

In recent times, the incidence of single-parent families has increased rapidly with the principle cause being the rising divorce rate. The vast majority of these single-parent families are headed by women and a predominantly common factor in these households is the extent to which they are financially impoverished after divorce. This situation has given rise to the phenomenon known as the feminisation of poverty, where women are seen to make up the majority of the poor. This study examines the many varied factors contributing to this phenomenon and discusses some of the general solutions offered world-wide to address these poverty-stricken households. An assessment is then made of those legal solutions most appropriate for South Africa
Law
LL.M.