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1 – 10 of over 12000Franklin G. Mixon and James B. Wilkinson
The present study provides a comparison of the Confederate Constitution of 1861 and the Japanese Constitution of 1946, with emphasis on the role of constitutional constraints on…
Abstract
The present study provides a comparison of the Confederate Constitution of 1861 and the Japanese Constitution of 1946, with emphasis on the role of constitutional constraints on pork‐barrel legislation and increasing rates of federal spending. Because the Japanese Constitution, by all accounts, was produced by Americans (American General Douglas MacArthur and the SCAP), it provided a second possibility for Americans, who had the benefit of hindsight regarding the shortcomings of the US Constitution, to potentially make an improvement. Unlike the view maintained by the Confederate States of America in the drafting of a constitution, MacArthur’s product actually relaxed constraints on central government spending. The result, the apparent product of the new dealism and progressivism ideologies which were prevalent in 1940s America, has produced an open door to increased levels of special interest spending in Japan.
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The purpose of this study is to investigate Libyan journalists’ perspectives regarding the media laws Articles 37,132, 38 and 46, which address media freedom in the new Libyan…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate Libyan journalists’ perspectives regarding the media laws Articles 37,132, 38 and 46, which address media freedom in the new Libyan Constitution of 2017.
Design/methodology/approach
Focus group discussions were done with 35 Libyan journalists, 12 of them from the Constitution Committee, while 23 of them reported the update of the constitution in the Libyan Parliament.
Findings
The results of the study indicated that there were media laws articles that did not conform to the international laws and United Nations treaties, which the Libyan Parliament committee approved. Another finding from the journalists was the Constitution should provide and guarantee press freedom, while media laws articles approved to put a paragraph about “censorship” in the press and media as a tool to silence government opposition. In addition, journalists indicated future constitution should redraft Article 38 to conform with Article 19 of the “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” to support the “principles of freedom of expression and information” without control. Moreover, Article 46 needs to be changed and linked to the “provisions of international law on the right of information access” to improve the access and dissemination of information in the media.
Practical implications
Redrafting the constitution articles in the future can be summarised as follows: First, the Libyan Constitution should provide and guarantee press freedom without any censorship and include clear articles to protect journalists in conflict zones. Second, Articles 37,132 and 38, about “freedom of information and publication,” need to be redrafted to link with Article 19 of the “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” to support the principles of freedom of expression and information, and the use of this right must not be subject to prior control. Third, Article 46 needs to be changed and linked to the provisions of “International law on the Right of Access to Information” to improve access and dissemination of information in the media to protect confidentiality sources. The most important articles should be implemented (freedom of information and personal information act) because after the Arab Spring revolutions, there was a transitional period in societies and a change in the constitutions of Tunisia and Egypt. They developed legal articles about media freedom so that Libya resembles other Arab countries. From that point, the journalists recommended that all information should be protected from government interference to ensure transparency, combat corruption and protect independent journalists. These articles will open the way to add more development articles to media freedom rules in the Journalists’ Syndicate. Fourth, there are also various types of threats encountered by journalists in their work. In pursuit of their right and freedom of expression, they recommended that Libya must establish an independent self-regulatory media that are free from political and economic influence. Fifth, journalists need licenses for them to work through the syndicate. The new syndicate should play an active role to safeguard the rights of journalists, activists and media entities to carry out their work and end the self-censorship. Sixth, the constitution should also add articles to end the impunity and change the articles in the penal code. Overall, the journalists covering the conflict and war are encountering threats, violence and imprisonment. As a result, Libyan journalists must seek new legislation to defend independent journalism and freedom of expression in their deeply divided country. In addition, they need to have a strong central authority to defend journalists and journalism in wartime, where journalists are regularly threatened, abducted and sometimes killed. Also, the Libyan Journalists Syndicate should stress the importance of the media’s self-regulation to guarantee their rights to freedom of expression, grant their readers’ respect and minimise government’s interference. Finally, they need to develop new laws to grant media freedom from regulations and restrictions, as well as defend and promote democracy, the citizens’ right to be informed, as well as their right to discuss and disseminate information. There is also the need to implement articles in the constitution, articles about the protection of political speech, which would be specific enough to differentiate between what is legally permitted and what may be ethically offensive.
Originality/value
This study will help the new Libyan parliament after the legislative elections on 24 December 2021 to amend the media laws articles in the constitution.
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The object of this research is the reconstruction of the existing legal response by European Union states to the phenomenon of immigration. It seeks to analyse the process of…
Abstract
Purpose
The object of this research is the reconstruction of the existing legal response by European Union states to the phenomenon of immigration. It seeks to analyse the process of conferral of protection.
Design/methodology/approach
One main dimension is selected and discussed: the case law of the national courts. The study focuses on the legal status of immigrants resulting from the intervention of these national courts.
Findings
The research shows that although the courts have conferred an increasing protection on immigrants, this has not challenged the fundamental principle of the sovereignty of the states to decide, according to their discretionary prerogatives, which immigrants are allowed to enter and stay in their territories. Notwithstanding the differences in the general constitutional and legal structures, the research also shows that the courts of the three countries considered – France, Germany and Spain – have progressively moved towards converging solutions in protecting immigrants.
Originality/value
The research contributes to a better understanding of the different legal orders analysed.
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Human resource management in the public sector does not take place in a vacuum. It is carried out within a regulatory framework of laws, rules and regulations. Recent times have…
Abstract
Human resource management in the public sector does not take place in a vacuum. It is carried out within a regulatory framework of laws, rules and regulations. Recent times have witnessed commendable efforts by many African countries to embrace democratic governance with its trappings of constitutionalism, which requires that the behaviour of politicians, public officials, public institutions and citizens should conform to the strictures of the Constitution of the land. This study examines the Fourth Republican Constitution of Ghana and identifies constitutional provisions or prescriptions which have some relevance for human resource management in the Ghanaian public sector. Constitutional provisions identified in this regard deal with the following issues: human resource management policy, laws, rules and regulations, recruitment and selection, equal employment opportunity, employee rights and welfare, compensation and benefits, state of the economy, human resource development, work environment, Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), decentralisation and ethical issues. The paper discusses the relevance and implications of issues raised and concludes that the Fourth Republican Constitution contains important provisions which make for sound human resource management in the Ghanaian public sector.
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This paper aims to examine the legal position and utility of preamble and also to determine what role has been played by Preambles in new trends in Bangladesh and Indian…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the legal position and utility of preamble and also to determine what role has been played by Preambles in new trends in Bangladesh and Indian Constitutional Law.
Design/methodology/approach
The research methodology undertaken in this project is analytical method of research and comparative research.
Findings
In this paper, the first legal and academic dispute and a matter of arguments and discussions that whether preamble should be treated as a part of constitution is discussed. Also, this paper tries to examine the matter of interpretational value of preamble, i.e. role of preamble in interpretation of constitution vis-à-vis of statutes. Finally, this paper examines in particular the details of preambles of two countries that have played a prominent part in the development of Constitutionalism in India and Bangladesh.
Originality/value
This research work is based on both primary and secondary data. The main sources of this study include like textbooks, journal articles, some important daily newspapers, online documents and some publications. The study has also relied on decided cases of Apex Court of Bangladesh and the Subcontinent.
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The purpose of this study is to investigate the position of religion for the three constitutions of Egypt.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the position of religion for the three constitutions of Egypt.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, by tracing religious identity-related studies and seeing whether their existence is attributed to the ruling elites’ attitudes, it examines how factors such as new elites and new in ideology affect change of articles of religion.
Findings
The results demonstrate that the most significant factor was the existence of a new elite having a different ideology, which was obvious in the three constitutions: 1971, 2012 and 2014.
Research implications
The manner in which studies of religion are written is the basis for legislation and the source of public policies that affect the discourse of political systems or results in economic and social rights that affect public policies. Therefore, if people are engaged in the process of drafting identity articles, they would participate in the reformation of their traditions and systems and there would be more integration in the society.
Originality/value
Few studies have attempted to work on the sociology of constitutions and religion in the Egyptian context.
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Alexander Salter and Glenn Furton
The purpose of this paper is to integrate classical elite theory into theories of constitutional bargains.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to integrate classical elite theory into theories of constitutional bargains.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative methods/surveys/case studies.
Findings
Open-ended constitutional entrepreneurship cannot be forestalled. Constitutional entrepreneurs will almost always be social elites.
Research limitations/implications
The research yields a toolkit for analysing constitutional bargains. It needs to be used in historical settings to acquire greater empirical content. Need to be applied to concrete historical cases to do economic history. Right now it is still only institutionally contingent theory.
Practical implications
Formal constitutions do not, and cannot, bind. Informal constitutions can, but they are continually evolving due to elite pressure group behaviors.
Social implications
Liberalism needs another method to institutionalize itself!
Originality/value
Open-ended nature of constitutional bargaining overlooked in orthodox institutional entrepreneurship/constitutional economics literature.
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Aleta Sprague, Amy Raub and Jody Heymann
As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads globally, the economic and health consequences are disproportionately affecting marginalized workers. However, countries' existing…
Abstract
Purpose
As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads globally, the economic and health consequences are disproportionately affecting marginalized workers. However, countries' existing labor and social security laws often exclude the most vulnerable workers from coverage, exacerbating existing inequalities. Guaranteeing the rights to adequate income even when ill, decent working conditions and nondiscrimination in constitutions may provide a foundation for protecting rights universally, safeguarding against counterproductive austerity measures, and providing a normative foundation for equality and inclusion as economies recover. The purpose of this article is to examine the prevalence of these rights globally and assess some of their early impacts amid the pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors created and analyzed a database of constitutional rights for all 193 United Nations member states. All constitutions were double coded by an international multidisciplinary, multilingual team of researchers.
Findings
This study finds that 54% of countries take some approach to guaranteeing income security in their constitutions, including 23% that guarantee income security during illness. Thirty-one percent guarantee the right to safe working conditions. Only 36% of constitutions explicitly guarantee at least some aspect of nondiscrimination at work. With respect to equal rights broadly, constitutional protections are most common on the basis of sex (85%), followed by religion (78%), race/ethnicity (76%), socioeconomic status (59%), disability (27%), citizenship (22%), sexual orientation (5%) and gender identity (3%). Across almost all areas, protections for rights are far more common in constitutions adopted more recently.
Originality/value
This is the first study to systematically examine protections for income security and decent work, together with nondiscrimination, in the constitutions of all 193 UN member states.
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This study analyses and discusses the application and constitutionality of the general onus of proof provision (section 82 of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 [the “Act”]), the…
Abstract
This study analyses and discusses the application and constitutionality of the general onus of proof provision (section 82 of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 [the “Act”]), the presumption in favour of the State when criminal sanctions are applied to an offending taxpayer (section 104(2) of the Act) and the mechanics for imposing administrative sanctions in terms of section 76(1)(b) of the Act. The conclusion reached is that the reverse onus presumption, as provided for in terms of section 104(2) of the Act, is unconstitutional. It is penal in nature and offends against the constitutional right of an accused to a fair trial (sections 35(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act, 108 of 1996 [the “Constitution”]). The section 36 limitation of rights clause of the Constitution does not save it. Section 76(1)(b) of the Act read in conjunction with the deeming provision of section 76(5) of the Act, is inextricably linked to the section 82 general reverse onus provision of the Act. Hence, when these three sections are applied together, they create a reverse onus that, prima facie, violates the right to just administrative action (section 33 of the Constitution). Regarding the general reverse onus burden as provided for in terms of section 82 of the Act, the conclusion reached is that it is reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society and can therefore be regarded as constitutional.
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This study examines the way in which our judiciary approach the interpretation of fiscal legislation. It traces the roots of the historical approach (the strict and literal…
Abstract
This study examines the way in which our judiciary approach the interpretation of fiscal legislation. It traces the roots of the historical approach (the strict and literal approach), its shortcomings and the modifications to such an approach when it leads to an absurdity. It then analyses whether the advent of the Constitution (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 108 of 1996) has been a catalyst for a change from the strict and literal approach. The conclusion reached is that the Constitution has been a catalyst for a change in approach ‐ to a purposive approach. One of the results of the change in approach means that the taxpayer now has a realistic opportunity to question and even have unjust and unfair interpretation decisions of the past reversed in the appropriate circumstances.
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