Hasil untuk "Social legislation"

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The article examines the challenge of ensuring the political resilience of democratic systems in the information age. The author analyzes the transformation of electoral processes driven by pervasive digitalization, framing electronic voting (e-voting) not merely as a technical instrument but as a strategic mechanism for fostering political cohesion and inclusivity. It is emphasized that the virtualization of the political sphere necessitates a clear understanding of new interaction algorithms among all stakeholders.  The study elucidates the dualistic nature of e-voting, contrasting its potential to enhance civic engagement and the risks of social polarization and vulnerability to digital threats, particularly disinformation. Specific attention is devoted to safeguarding democratic integrity against the erosion of social cohesion amidst global turbulence. The relevance of the research is further amplified by the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine which creates an urgent need to modernize electoral legislation and establish inclusive conditions for political participation across all population strata. Applying a case study method (referring to the experiences of Estonia, France, Sweden, and Switzerland) and the elements of SWOT analysis, the author integrates European digital transformation practices with the challenges the Ukrainian state institutions are facing. The findings substantiate the necessity of a comprehensive approach to implementing e-voting in Ukraine, encompassing legislative reform, the development of secure technological infrastructure (leveraging the Diia ecosystem), and the implementation of strategies to advance digital literacy and public trust.

Allison D. Francis, Samantha Glasgow

Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) has regional influence in the Caribbean, with a diversified economy focused on energy, manufacturing, and finance compared to the tourism-related economies of most of the other Caribbean islands. Notwithstanding, this has not translated into equitable opportunities for all, specifically for people with disabilities. A lack of disaggregated employment data thwarts effective policy planning for people with disabilities. This research sought to examine the barriers to their employment in T&T. Underpinned by the social model of disability, a concurrent mixed-methods approach was employed. Emanating from interviews with people with disabilities and key informants, challenges to employment access, employer perceptions, and apathy emerged as key themes, together with the underlying issues of a lack of legislation and inequitable access to mainstream education. The survey findings indicated that 64% of employers had never employed people with disabilities, 57% expressed neutrality regarding future employment of such individuals, and 69% had not introduced workplace accommodations. A key recommendation of the study is the establishment of an employer resource centre that assists employers in creating and maintaining inclusive workplace accommodations for people with disabilities. This study is the first in Trinidad and Tobago to examine these research objectives from multiple perspectives.

Sukataman, Idlofi, Agung Nugroho Reformis Santono et al.

The phenomenon of incestuous marriage in Indonesia continues to occur despite being strictly prohibited by Islamic law and national positive law. This paper discusses the issue of incest from the perspective of maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah, highlighting how the principles of ḥifẓ al-nasab (protection of lineage) and ḥifẓ al-‘irḍ (protection of morality and honour) serve as the normative and ethical basis for the prohibition of incestuous marriage. This study uses a qualitative approach based on normative and comparative legal analysis of classical Islamic legal sources, national legislation such as the Marriage Law, KHI, and KUHP, and developing social phenomena. The results of the study show that the maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah approach uses ṣalah al-uṣūl al-khamsah, ḥifẓ al-nasl, to formulate the prohibition of incest. Ḥifẓ al-nasl consists of two elements: wujūd (productive) and 'adam (protective). The prohibition of incest is a form of protective behaviour, similar to the prohibitions of adultery and qażf. The application of maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah to positive law can offer new possibilities for Indonesian law, which is expected to encompass legal, social, and moral aspects.

Stanescu Ionut, Manolescu Anca, Croitoru Cristiana

In recent years, a rapid increase in the adoption of renewable energy sources and in the transition from a centralized electricity generation system to an increasingly distributed one has occurred. Within this scenario, in line with the European directives for achieving the objectives in the field of energy transition and climate change, energy communities are seen as potential contributors. [1] The article is analyzing the role of energy communities in combating climate change and transitioning to a low-carbon economy. These communities significantly contribute to reducing carbon emissions by replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources. Community-managed projects reduce energy consumption and promote sustainable practices through awareness programs and investments in energy savings. Technical, financial, and social innovations are essential for an efficient transition to sustainable energy. Rising energy costs highlight the instability of the current system and the need to transition to renewable sources. EU legislation adopted in 2019 supports these initiatives, facilitating the co-production and distribution of renewable energy.

John McGuire

This article undertakes a case study of social justice feminism through four criteria that influence the psyches of social movement participants: grievance, ideology, efficacy, and social embeddedness. The grievance lay with the Second Industrial Revolution. Social justice feminists used an “entering wedge” strategy to promote and pass women’s labor legislation to eventually secure state protection of all workers in the United States. The ideology of social justice feminism came from a combination of socialist-influenced thought and the promotion of social justice. The most important element of social justice feminism lay in its efficacy, involving social embeddedness.

Gesmar Rosa dos Santos, Adrielli Santana

This article aims to present data and indicators that improve the understanding of the central difficulties and challenges at the municipal and regional level in water management and sanitation promotion in the Brazilian Amazon, in compliance with national legislation and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Official databases and semi-structured interviews are used to gather the perception of scholars, managers, technicians and other key local actors. Central elements that contribute to the large déficit of water and sewage services in two municipalities in the state of Amazonas (Manaus and Manacapuru) are highlighted, including social, economic and municipal management indicators. The results show, in addition to the déficit, social vulnerabilities, structural, economic and management gaps as obstacles to the universalization of sanitation. To overcome this reality, it is necessary to strengthen governance based on local knowledge, opportunities and capacities.

Vuslat Salalı, Şaban İnam, Mehmet Topçu

In addition to the economic and social problems experienced due to migration from rural to urban areas in developing communities, there are also problems of 'physical settlement and use of property' in urban areas. After determining the needs for the solution of urban problems, it is necessary to "manage urban settlements and existing resources" in a fast, effective, accurate and sustainable approach. In this regard, the approaches implemented by central and local governments within the scope of the ‘11th Development Plan of the Republic of Turkey’, titled "Free Individual, Strong Society, More Democratic Turkey" published by the Ministry of Justice in 2021 are based on the perspective of 'individual rights and social reconciliation'. In addition, the importance of real estate property right, its strengthening and the need to use it without any problems were mentioned. In the process of ensuring the development of the 'zoning plan implementation in the Land Readjustment method' model including the sustainable, innovative and applicable qualifications for Turkey; Institutional level projects are produced by practitioners, users and academics. In this method/model development process, in the Land Readjustment (LR) method, it is important to 'pre-regulation and post-regulation equality of land value and protection of property rights' in the process of allocating zoning parcels to the property owner. In the phenomenon of sustainable urbanization, real estate is also the determinant of the social life of living in urban sociology in terms of 'problem-free use of property'. For this reason, innovative solution proposals are needed in cities where 'zoning planning and plan implementation processes will be carried out in a sustainable land management approach and interactively'. In this study, the deficiencies and negativities encountered both in the legislation and during the implementation of the LR method currently applied in Turkey will be revealed; in this regard, the methods applied in the world and the 'appliance based on value equality' models will be examined. Taking into account the social habits regarding the use of property, an answer will be sought to the question of why it is necessary to switch from the area-based application (equiproportion) principle to the value-based application (equivalence) model in the LR method in Turkey.

S. I. Koryts, I. B. Bokova

Some problems of modern administrative-tort law are considered. Attention is focused on a number of key problems of the current legislation on administrative offenses and on some specific proposals for its amendment. The possible consequences of the adoption of these proposals are analyzed. The need for a systematic approach to reforming existing legislation on administrative offenses is noted. It is proposed to develop a truly workable mechanism for determining the size of the fine imposed, which would make it possible to objectively take into account the social harmfulness of the misconduct, the real property situation of the offender, and other relevant circumstances that will serve the preventive purpose of sentencing to the maximum effect. It is concluded that it is necessary to systematize and thoroughly analyze the currently existing law enforcement problems and develop ways to solve them, taking into account the concept of the new Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses.

Iker Barbero Gonzalez

The procedures for arrest, detention and expulsion of foreigners that take place in the Basque Country within the framework of the Spanish legislation on immigration constitute a unexplored phenomenon. There is a social and academic perception that this territory, lacking its own legal competences in terms of immigration, is located aside from to the State and global dynamics of control of irregular immigration and borders. On the contrary, the data and the empirical work developed in this administrative and judicial area demonstrate precisely that the police-administrative activity in this matter is quite relevant, and also presents singular particularities such as the existence of a border with a Member State. Precisely, there are practices related to the managerial logics such as the so-called express expulsions, which require specific reflections from a legal guarantees’ perspective.

Aistis Žalnora

Objective: During the interwar period, the healthcare system in Europe experienced a dramatic transformation. It was perceived that preventive medicine was no less important than curative medicine. Moreover, without proper prevention of the so-called social diseases, all later therapeutic measures were expensive and ineffective. The former battle against the consequences was replaced by measures targeting the causes. The fight against social diseases involved a state-owned strategy and a broad arsenal of measures. The University’s scholars also took part in this process. Our study revealed that the significance of the disease prevention in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Stephen Bathory was well understood. Moreover, the treatment was not segregated from hygiene as strictly as it is today. Many hygienists as well as clinicians contributed to the development of preventive mechanisms. The broad specialization of doctors enabled them to see not only biomedical, but also social and economic aspects of a disease. Hygienists and doctors encouraged cooperation and coordination of their activities with the central and local authorities as well as education of the local population. The progress of medical science in Europe and the World, as well as the Soviet ideology in Eastern Europe distracted doctors from the search for the etiology of social illness. Biomedical treatment had become much more effective, and the development of social hygiene research in Eastern Europe had experienced stagnation. For ideological reasons the disease etiology in the Soviet bloc could not be associated with social factors. Social hygiene in the Soviet Union was highly politicized; it could only be interpreted in a frame of Soviet models. The healthcare system that had been created in the Soviet Union was named as the best in the world. The actual medical statistics were concealed from the public, since their logical interpretation could reveal the social causes of illnesses and the disadvantages of the soviet system. Sometimes we must return to basic ideas to improve current public health mechanisms. It is worth reconsidering fundamental questions, i.e. what public health is and how to achieve it. The breadth of the approach of the interwar Vilnius hygienists and doctors, the sensitivity to the social origins of diseases and persistence in combating them by all possible means could serve as an example for today’s doctors. At that time, hygienists approached the idea that the highest goal of prevention was to create a healthy environment, healthy living and working conditions. Although today we live in a much safer environment than those individuals did, new threats are emerging because of changing technology and lifestyle. The broad approach of physicians remains equally important in order not only to combat individual precedents, but also to overcome the preconditions for emerging precedents. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to reveal the theoretical patterns of hygiene and public health established by the hygienists of the Vilnius Hygiene Department as well as the attempts to apply them in practice. Methods: The study was conducted by analyzing the primary and secondary historical sources using the comparative method. A lot of data from the Lietuvos Centrinis Valstybės Archyvas (Lithuanian Central State Archives) that had been used in this research were published for the first time. According to the original archival data, an analysis of the scientific publications of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Stephen Bathory was made to find out the priorities of the research carried out at that time. Conclusions: The complicated economic conditions, the lack of support from the local and central government as well as the imperfections in health legislation of that time hindered the full implementation of the hygienist strategies of the University of Stephen Bathory. However, the activities of the Department of Hygiene of Stephen Bathory University had a significant impact on the development of hygiene science as well as medical practice in the Vilnius region during the Interwar period (1919–1939).

Julianne McGuire, Danielle Gallegos, Susan Irvine

Abstract Early infant feeding practices are a critical part of education and care programs within Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) settings. With an increasing number of children attending ECEC services from a young age, adherence to best practice infant feeding will improve long-term health outcomes. This paper uses inductive and deductive thematic analysis informed by Social Cognitive Theory and inductive content analysis, to describe Australian infant feeding nutrition ECEC policy environments. Key Australian ECEC policy documents were analysed, revealing the invisibility of infants generally, and infant feeding specifically, in current quality standards. This was followed by analysis of 28 nutrition or infant feeding policies from 19 centre- and home-based ECEC services impacting over 1500 children in Queensland Australia. Five key themes characterising the content of service policies impacting infant feeding emerged: documentation, values, curriculum and pedagogy, supportive environments, and working in partnerships with parents. Service policies are required by legislation and set the foundation for a safe, supportive environment for infant feeding. The lack of infant feeding practice examples and invisibility of infants in legislation increase ambiguity, and health and safety risks. Opportunities exist to adopt separate infant feeding policies which will assist the provision of quality practice for the short-term and long-term optimal health of infants in ECEC settings.

Silvia Rodríguez-López

<p>In recent years, the engagement of corporations in child trafficking has become a matter of growing importance. Many corporations have adopted global subcontracting systems and complex structures that boost their productivity and profits, but might also create more opportunities for trafficking and exploitation of both adults and children. Taking this context into account, the ways in which corporations can commit child trafficking will be explored and exemplified to highlight their diversity. This paper also offers a brief overview of the response given by international and European anti-trafficking instruments concerning corporate criminal liability for child trafficking. Moreover, the mechanisms adopted by some companies to prevent trafficking and promote transparency within their supply chains will also be addressed. Overall, this paper aims to illustrate the pivotal role of corporations from two perspectives: as potential perpetrators of this serious crime, and as necessary actors to prevent it.</p><p>&nbsp;</p> El compromiso empresarial sobre el tr&aacute;fico infantil es un asunto de creciente importancia. Muchas corporaciones han adoptado sistemas globales de subcontrataciones y complejas estructuras que incrementan su productividad y sus beneficios, pero que tambi&eacute;n podr&iacute;an crear m&aacute;s oportunidades para la trata y la explotaci&oacute;n de adultos y ni&ntilde;os. Partiendo de este contexto, se exploran y ejemplifican las diversas formas en que las corporaciones pueden cometer tr&aacute;fico infantil. El art&iacute;culo repasa brevemente la respuesta de los instrumentos internacionales y europeos en lo tocante a la responsabilidad penal de las corporaciones por la trata infantil, y aborda los mecanismos adoptados por algunas empresas para prevenir la trata y promover la transparencia en sus cadenas de suministro. En suma, se pretende ilustrar el rol crucial de las corporaciones desde dos puntos de vista: como potenciales perpetradores de este grave crimen y como actores necesarios para prevenirlo.<br /><br /><strong>DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: </strong><a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=3098015" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract=3098015</a>

А. П. Гетьман, Віталій Анатолійович Зуєв

Problem setting. Social and environmental issues of waste management facing society relatively recently, but showed a tendency to expand and deepen, which in turn caused the necessity of formation of effective policy in this area. Recent research and publications analysis. Some aspects of the present stage of the formation of environmental law and its relationship to nature and resources law, structural and systemic connections was studied by various researchers in the context of environmental policy and legislation analysis, regulation of wildlife relationships, expanding the scope of regulation of resource. In particular, they can mark out V. Andreytsev, A. Getman, M. Krasnova, N. Malisheva and others. However, comprehensive studies of this policy is currently not available. Paper objective. The purpose of the article is a theoretical analysis of the current state of environmental law, the formation of the next stage of development of natural resource relationships, their expansion and transformation into a resource (ecologic and resource) in order to adequately respond to the differentiation and complexity of structural and systemic linkages. Paper main body. The development and dynamics of the environmental, natural resources legislation is largely driven by global and European processes and requires constant updating in order to overcome gaps, timely and adequate response to contemporary challenges, changes in value paradigms and so forth. One of these problems is the development of traditional branches of law and directions research that, in turn, raises the question of substantive content, structural and systemic links of these areas of law. Any delay in the establishment of the theoretical and methodological and scientific and legal framework for a new legal phenomena in the framework of ecological and legal science creates the preconditions for the expansion of research not only to them but also in relation to the already well-established system of law and the separation of the industry. A promising seems the further transformation of natural resource rights in the resource, whose task will be to not only relations concerning those or other natural objects, but also the products of their use, and natural phenomena, the establishment of resource-saving requirements, the introduction of specific indicators of resource costs and the like. Such a situation we are seeing now in soil legislation, which regulates the use of man-made mineral deposits, which, in fact, lost the status of a natural object, but are important for their conservation. A similar situation arises in the field of waste management, which are increasingly seen it as a potential source of resources and nature conservation. It is proved that with the current approach, when the subject and its activity are taken as a basis for regulation in isolation from the goals of legal regulation, the values and ideological component of the legal regulation, which had a negative impact on its quality are lost. It should be pointed out that in many cases such restrictions are connected with artificial internal limits of innovations of eco-legal science, caused by the use of the traditional concepts of “nature”, “natural resources”, “natural objects”. This causes an urgent need to review the use of these terms, the expansion of concepts. One way to become more active use of the terms “resource use, “eco use”, “resources”, “environmental resources”, “environmental objects” and so forth. Conclusions of the research. Stage of relatively independent existence of natural resource law, its autonomy outside the complex ecological and legal science has already passed and now destructively affects both its development in general and on the development of its constituent elements, slows its methodological development, creates the prerequisites for scientific expansion of specialists in other sectors of law that use internal scientific debate and controversy as a confirmation of their own conclusions about the artificial synthesized nature of environmental law, artificiality of scientific problems and so on. One of the ways to integrate and harmonize the natural resource component within the environmental law is to change its focus from solely having binding traditional natural objects in favor of a more progressive and promising theory of the resource or the ecological and resource rights that can harmoniously incorporate both traditional (established), and innovative approaches to the maintenance of ecological and legal relations, their expansion and diffusion within a single methodological approach and legal doctrine, which is the fundamental goal of ecological and legal science, defined as the environment, the use of environmental resources and ecological security of humanity.

William McCabe

Cross border reproductive care, like medical tourism, is where potential parents travel from their home country to a country which will provide them with access to medical care, in this instance, gestational surrogacy. India has developed into a veritable Mecca for cross border reproductive care, particularly gestational surrogacy. This paper will limit its discussion of cross border reproductive care to gestational surrogacy addressing the complex ethical issues it presents. In the first part of the paper I will provide background information regarding gestational surrogacy in India. The information covered will provide the reader with context for the argument that follows. The second part of the paper will discuss whether there is a positive right to procreative assistance for the commissioning mother. In the third part of the paper I will discuss the ethical issues confronting the potential surrogate mother. Lastly, in the fourth part of the paper I will discuss the ethics of gestational surrogacy as they relate to the best interests of the child, and how the child’s interests may serve as a limiting step in going forward with gestational surrogacy. I will discuss how the ethical principles associated with each participant in the gestational surrogacy relationship will conflict and a balancing test is needed to determine whether gestational surrogacy is ethically supportable. Surrogacy occurs when a woman agrees to gestate a baby for another couple or individual. Gestational surrogacy occurs when a gestational carrier agrees to have an embryo implanted in her uterus conceived via in vitro fertilization, carries it to term, and delivers the baby.  Gestational surrogacy can be altruistic or commercial. Where the commissioning party lacks ova, a third party may provide ova. The gestational carrier may not provide ova to prevent a claim to the child by the gestational carrier at the time of delivery. Gestational surrogacy became popular in India due to advances in reproductive medicine, a large pool of impoverished women, and low cost compared to countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia. Reproductive tourism in India alone is "valued at more than $450 million a year" and was forecast by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to be a $ 6 billion a year market in 2008. According to KPMG's life sciences wing, the fertility industry in India is today worth Rs 750 crores. Surrogacy, which forms roughly seven per cent of that, stands at around Rs 54 crores. As estimated by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) India generates around $2.3 billion a year from fertility tourism. CII also reveals that nearly 10,000 foreign couples visit India for reproductive services and nearly 30 per cent are either single or homosexual.[i] Reproductive medicine in general and surrogacy in particular raise the question whether there is a fundamental right to procreate. Procreative rights have been defined as the right to initiate a pregnancy and bring children into the world, as distinguished from reproductive rights which concern the timing and manner in which one reproduces.[ii] The right to procreate involves a dual set of rights inquiries. These rights have been identified as negative (liberty) and positive (entitlement) rights claims.[iii] A negative right is a right of forbearance, such as the right to privacy which derives from the right to be let alone.[iv] Negative rights include the right to bodily integrity, the right to not be touched in any manner without permission, and the right to choose one’s own beliefs and have been extended to preclude government interference as long as the scope of the exercise of one’s liberty does not infringe upon the liberty of others. Positive rights have been defined as rights to assistance, resources and entitlement.[v] Positive rights claims in gestational surrogacy are complicated because they implicate negative rights claims as a condition precedent. In order to exercise ones right to procreate people need to be free from interference described above in order to exercise their right to entitlement, in this discussion the right to travel to India to engage a gestational surrogate. The right to procreate has been deemed a fundamental right within the conception of the negative right or liberty to choose to bring a child into the world free of interference. The exercise of a liberty right is distinct from exercising a perceived right to assistance or entitlement. It is one issue to be free from encumbrances to reproduce via coitus, and another to seek the need of the medical profession, and surrogate to bring a child into the world. I argue procreative rights include the right to be left alone and maintain bodily integrity in choosing in a consensual manner to conceive a child but there is no fundamental right to seek out infertility treatment and gestational surrogacy. While there is a general right to receive assistance to in vitro fertilization there is no specific right held by anyone. This is consistent with the reasoning that the right of procreation is necessary for maintenance of the species, but does not apply to anyone specifically. In other words, the species will continue provided some but not all people reproduce. It may be argued that achieving parenthood via surrogacy respects the autonomy of the person seeking to become a parent, and helping them achieve that goal is beneficent. Further, it may be argued as a matter of social justice people, because of their lack of access to the contents of conception, either due to medical infertility, sexuality, or being single should not be precluded from having a child. This is not a one sided analysis, however, because the rights of the surrogate and child require consideration. In India, gestational surrogacy is legal as it is in California, Ukraine and Czech Republic. It is illegal in much of the United States, England, and Australia, which recognizes only altruistic surrogacy. Italy, France, Sweden, Norway, and Germany do not recognize any manner of surrogacy agreements.[vi] The gestational surrogate pool in India is comprised of uneducated women from poor rural backgrounds.[vii] The decision to be a gestational surrogate is borne from the need to provide financial assistance to their families primarily, and secondarily as an act of altruism. Surrogates are warehoused in communities created solely for surrogate mothers during their pregnancy. There is a social stigma associated with surrogacy in India so maintaining surrogates in a distinct community separate from Indian society serves to protect the surrogate pool from public backlash. It has been reported these women bond and feel supported by each other during their time in these facilities. This is an incidental finding that can be expected when people share similar circumstances of physical and emotional isolation. Often women agree to become surrogates because of coercion from middlemen who operate on the internet working in conjunction with infertility clinics. Also, they may be compelled to become a surrogate by their husbands by their husbands or other male relatives. Women’s independence in India is suspect in a large portion of the country. Women are still subject to following the directives of their husbands. Since surrogacy arrangements are either not recognized or illegal in several countries around the globe it is necessary to consider the country of origins laws regarding surrogacy. Normally, a sovereign nation does not have to consider the laws of other nations regarding commerce within its borders. However, where the country is putting products into the stream of commerce, and in this case the product is a human infant, it is necessary to consider the laws of the country of origin for the commissioning party. The laws of the country of origin require consideration because the child may bear the burden of an illegal or unrecognized act which would leave them in limbo. The child produced as a result of the surrogacy agreement may be required to stay in India, either with the gestational carrier if she agrees, or be placed in an orphanage in India. The same may occur in the country of origin where children have been removed from their parents when it is believed their existence is the result of a gestational surrogacy. India does not want to bear the burden of increasing numbers of children, conceived via surrogacy, and not granted visas to return to their parents’ country of origin. The country of origin does not wish to bear the burden of raising a child whose existence is offensive to their laws, and may deny these children citizenship which occurred in France. France has banned surrogacy since 1991.[viii] The Mennesson case arose in California when French consular officials in Los Angeles became suspicious the Mennessons engaged a gestational surrogate while in the United States.[ix] The children conceived as a result of a gestational carrier in California were denied French citizenship, and the parent’s were unable to adopt their children under French Law. Surrogacy is legal in California, as it is in India, so the case provides notice to policy makers in India too. If the children were not granted visas to return to France, then California may have borne the burden of rasing these children in the social welfare system. The same would be true for India, where it would be unlikely for a child conceived via surrogacy to remain with the gestational carrier. As discussed above gestational surrogacy bears substantial social stigma, and the child would not look like the gestational carrier. Rather than deal with the social stigma the gestational carrier would leave the child in an orphanage. India and other countries may find laws similar to Frances repugnant as violating human rights. Unfortunately, they are laws promulgated by the legislature of a sovereign nation, and therefore require recognition. Failure to draft policy in India considering the laws of the commissioning party’s country of origin theoretically could create a human rights crisis when infants are conceived, borne, and left to live in dire poverty because their parent(s) cannot return home with them. Some may see the commissioning party’s circumvention of such laws worthy of praise as civil disobedience, but this view cannot be supported when a child may be banished to poverty because of their actions. Does a right to procreate exist?  Yes, but only in its negative right, that is, a person’s right to be left alone. Advances in science, such as assistive reproductive technology, may result in overall benefit to society, but do not confer a right to benefit from those advances on any individual. Therefore, a party may seek to engage in assistive reproductive technology, such as in gestational surrogacy, but there is no right to it. This is consistent with the reasoning behind the right to an abortion in the United States. In the United States, a woman has a right to an abortion in accord with her right to privacy. The right to an abortion is a right of forbearance by the government in preventing her from seeking medical care. Further, while a woman’s right to an abortion exists, there is no right of positive assistance by the government for the woman to obtain an abortion. When a party seeks to engage in assistive reproductive technology such as in vitro fertilization and gestational surrogacy we are confronted by a conflict in ethical principles. As I have argued, a party may seek out a gestational carrier, but has no fundamental right to one. Since there is no fundamental right to gestational surrogacy, the autonomy of the commissioning party and the potential surrogate are in conflict. We respect the autonomy of the commissioning party to seek out a gestational surrogate to bear them a child. We do not respect their autonomous decision to engage a surrogate when their autonomy infringes upon the autonomy of the surrogate. The surrogate has a fundamental right to be left alone. When a fundamental right is infringed upon by another’s actions those actions must yield to the fundamental right. Regarding surrogacy in India we need to determine whether surrogacy contracts respect the autonomy of the potential surrogate. When women agree to enter into surrogacy contracts they do so in order to benefit their families.[x]  Additionally, the informed consent process is limited or non-existent. Potential surrogates are not informed of the potential risks related to the hormones they are required to take in connection with preparing their womb to receive the fertilized embryo. Nor are they informed of the potential risks associated with pregnancy itself. While the financial windfall to the potential surrogate and her family may be seen as respecting her autonomy, I believe it is an undue inducement at best, and coercive at worst. Further, it has been reported clinics in India pay the surrogate by trimester, and even withhold the funds after the child has been delivered. The clinics justify this stating they are safeguarding the surrogate’s money from her husband who may go on a drinking binge or other men in her family who simply may take the money. Another likely reason is the clinics keep the money for themselves.[xi] Many women in India are still considered subordinate to men. The social context of a woman’s agreement to become a surrogate in India is also very important in assessing whether a women’s decision to become a surrogate in India is a true exercise of her autonomy or a result of her subordinate position as a woman in Indian society. If all the factors discussed above are true woman entering into a surrogacy agreement are likely the result of  undue influence of coercion.          The above analysis leads me into a discussion into whether contract law can be equitably applied in surrogate contracts in India. Contract law requires that for a contract to be valid there must be a “meeting of the minds.” In other words the parties to the contract must be on equal footing, and understand the terms of the contract in order for it to be valid. For the reasons stated above, generally the surrogate mother lacks the education to understand the complex terms of a contract. Absent legal assistance there can be no meeting of the minds and the contract is void as unconscionable. The most unequal party in the surrogacy contract is the child resulting from it. It will be argued that the unconceived child has no rights to enter or refuse to enter a surrogacy contract. As a matter of social justice their potential existence must be considered when forming the contract. Would a proxy for the child at the time of contract ameliorate this problem? It is unlikely, because the resulting child would be subject to the laws of the country of origin of the commissioning party. Only, if the proxy acts in accord with the laws of the country of origin will these issues be resolved. Namely, where the country of origin does not recognize surrogacy, or where it holds surrogacy illegal, the proxy must argue against conception. This would be an unusual argument to make- against life. Does a potential child have the right to argue against life and remain a non-being? Probably not but it presents us with a question as to whether using a rights approach is correct in this consideration. Perhaps, a social justice approach best serves the needs of a potential child during a contract negotiation where the potential child is represented by a proxy. Social justice demands the contracting parties to reasonably consider the potential outcomes of the contract. From a social justice perspective the contracting parties would have to agree the potential child receive reasonable assurances that he/she will be able to reside in the commissioning party’s country of origin; he/she will be considered the child of the commissioning party upon return home; that surrogacy is either legal or formally recognized in the country of origin; he/she will receive the benefit of reasonable parenting and medical care until the age of majority; should the commissioning party die prematurely monies exist for the support of the child and placement with a family member, preferably, is available; and should the commissioning party die while the potential child is in utero the gestational carrier will receive financial support for raising the child to the age of majority. Therefore, the proxy would have to use a best interest of the child standard to ensure the most reasonable outcome for the potential child. Many would disagree with this position for a couple of reasons. First, potential children typically have not rights. Comparing a potential child’s rights to a commissioning party’s right to contract, the commissioning party’s right to contract carries the analysis. Second, assuming arguendo that potential children have rights, these conditions present an unsurpassable barrier to forming a contract. I argue this is the high barrier that must be set. The parties are not contracting to build widgets but human beings. Laws regulating surrogacy contracts should be drafted using the enumerated social justice concerns as conditions to be met in the formation of a valid contract.. Where states such as India permit parties to seek out assistive reproductive technology and surrogacy, the opportunity to do so is not a fundamental right and should be highly regulated to reflect this distinction. India is currently receiving substantial income from its assistive reproductive technology market, and as a result needs to step in and regulate this emerging market. They cannot equate bringing children into the world with other technology markets in the country. Tight regulatory oversight, it is argued, will reduce profits. This may be true, and it should be supported by the government where the subject of the market is human life. The parties traveling to India are not exercising a fundamental right but seeking to act autonomously for their own end despite the adverse effects their autonomous actions may have on potential surrogates, and potential children. In conclusion, the right to procreate rests in the fundamental right to be left alone to choose whether to bring children into the world. The right to procreate does not consist of positive steps parties may take to have children when confronted by either infertility, or when they lack an aspect of the contents required for conception. The autonomous decision to seek out assistive reproductive technology and gestational surrogacy is unethical when it infringes upon a potential surrogates fundamental procreative right. The right to contract is a separate right distinct from the right to procreate. When a potential surrogate has not received or unable to understand the material information her autonomy is infringed upon. Further, her autonomy is probably infringed upon simply as a result of her gender subordinating her to her male counterparts. The resulting contract is both unethical and void as a matter of law. There cannot be a “meeting of the minds.” The potential child which is the subject of the contract does not have rights as a matter of contract law. Therefore, surrogacy contract negotiations should include a proxy for the potential child. This is consistent with a social justice approach because it seeks to prevent harm to the future child as well as Indian society. It is incumbent upon India to ensure the well-being of the child resulting from the contract. India cannot to afford to bear the burden of raising children conceived by in vitro fertilization, and born as the result of a surrogacy contract. Its profits would diminish if they had to bear the burden of raising children in state run facilities. They would also receive the brunt of international backlash if it is determined the surrogates themselves were manipulated into surrogacy, and the children born as a result were neglected, abused, or died. This is not a market where India should allow profits to drive the market. Gestational surrogacy became popular in India due to advances in reproductive medicine, a large pool of impoverished women, and low cost. It remains largely unregulated, and as a result, large numbers of commissioning parties travel to India to take advantage of the open market. India has contemplated assistive reproduction technology legislation since 2008. Its continued failure to pass legislation regulating the market demeans the sanctity of life by allowing the market to dictate that life may be created for the right price. REFERENCES [i] Pushkar, P.; Surrogacy in India: Shedding its Secrecy, New Pro Healthcare, Nov. 2013 [ii] L. Shanner; The Right to Procreate: When Rights Claims Have Gone Wrong; 40 McGill L.J. 823 1994-1995 [iii] Id [iv] Id at 2 pg 839 [v] Id at 2 pg 840 [vi] Saxena, P.; Mishra, A.; Malik, S.; Surrogacy: Ethical and Legal Issues; Indian Journal of Community Medicine, Vol. 37, Issue 4, October 2012 [vii] Id [viii] I. Glenn Cohen, Editor; The Globalization of Health Care: Legal and Ethical Issues; Oxford University Press, 2013, pps. 133-134 [ix] Id [x] Vora, K.; Potential, Risk, and Return in Transnational Indian Gestational Surrogacy; k,iCurrent Anthropology, Vol. 54, No. S7, Potentiality and Humanness: Revisiting the Anthropological Object in Contemporary Biomedicine (October 2013), pp. S97-S106 [xi] Id

Joxerramon Bengoetxea, Iker Nabaskues

The articles gathered in this issue are the result of papers presented at the workshop held at the Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law on 20-21 May 2013 on Perspectives of Justice in Literature: Perspectives from Justice and Fundamental Rights in Literature: an Approach from Legal Culture in a European context. Literature and literary fiction can act as a thread that helps different disciplines to communicate with each other and can thus help go beyond the strictly legal field opening up to questions of justice and rights. These papers deal with issues of justice - mainly Fundamental Rights, but also procedural aspects of justice and its administration, philosophical perspectives of justice - and of legal culture - local, European, Universal - as reflected through and by literature. Los artículos que conforman este número son el resultado de las ponencias presentadas en el workshop celebrado en el Instituto Internacional de Sociología Jurídica de Oñati el 20 y 21 mayo de 2013 sobre las perspectivas de la justicia en la literatura: Perspectivas desde la Justicia y los Derechos Fundamentales en la Literatura: un Enfoque de Cultura Jurídica en el Contexto Europeo. La literatura y la ficción literaria pueden ser un hilo que favorece que diferentes disciplinas se comuniquen entre sí y pueden de esta forma ayudar a ir más allá del campo jurídico estricto, planteando cuestiones sobre justicia y derechos. Estos artículos tratan sobre aspectos de la justicia (principalmente derechos fundamentales, pero también sobre procedimiento judicial y administración de la justicia, perspectivas filosóficas de la justicia) y de cultura jurídica (local, europea, universal), de la forma en la que se han reflejado en la literatura. DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2543450

LAVINIA MIHAELA VLĂDILĂ

The article continues our last year article, presented in the same conference, on the evolution of the legislation on domestic violence in Spain and in Romania. This new study shall approach only the legislative modifications of the Law No 217/2003 inserted in March 2012 after the shooting at “Perla” Hairdresser in Bucharest, which influenced not only the lives of those involved, but also legislative changes, as an attempt from the Government to offer a better protection for women, who are usually the victims of this type of violence. The present study is dedicated to these new modifications ad their social and legal impact.

María Luisa Jiménez Rodrigo, Raquel Guzmán Ordaz

This paper proposes to articulate an analytical scheme for understanding the use of drugs in advanced societies from the gender perspective and its intersections with other inequality axis such as age, social class, race and ethnicity. These dimensions define not only the access to different substances –in terms of normative and resources- but also the different uses and their social valuation. For this purpose, we expose the main gender dimensions as an analytical category: structural, symbolic and individual. Furthermore, we intend to broaden this view exploring the intra-inter gender differences and inequalities present in the various uses of drugs from an intersectional framework. Our aim is to break with standardised categories in order to project a multidimensional analysis, from which to reflect in how other imbricated differences with gender make possible for women and men to use certain substances, conditioning their social effects. Este trabajo propone articular un esquema analítico para la comprensión de los usos de drogas en las sociedades avanzadas desde la perspectiva de género y su intersección con otros ejes de desigualdad, como la edad, la clase social, la raza y la etnia, que marcan tanto el acceso a las diferentes sustancias –en términos normativos y de recursos– como sus diferentes usos y valoraciones sociales. Para ello, exponemos las principales dimensiones del género como categoría analítica: estructural, simbólica e individual. A continuación, pretendemos ampliar esta mirada indagando, desde un marco interseccional, en las diferencias y desigualdades inter e intragénero presentes en diversos usos de drogas. Buscamos con esto romper con categorizaciones estandarizadas, para proyectar un análisis multidimensional desde donde reflexionar sobre cómo otras diferencias imbricadas con el género posibilitan que mujeres y hombres hagan determinados usos de sustancias y condicionan sus efectos sociales. DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2111917

Virgínio Sá

Ao longo das duas últimas décadas, em contextos sócio-políticos muito diversos, primeiro nos países centrais, depois nos países semi-periféricos e periféricos, a agenda avaliativa, nas suas diferentes configurações e domínios de incidência, tem vindo a assumir uma enorme centralidade. No caso de Portugal, as alterações recentes no quadro legislativo que enquadra as nossas escolas e os seus profissionais, com destaque para o novo estatuto da carreira docente do ensino não superior e para a " indexação" dos muito propalados contratos de autonomia à prévia existência de processos auto-avaliativos e de avaliação externa, catapultaram esta problemática para as primeiras páginas da agenda pública. As razões deste (súbito) interesse pelas questões da avaliação educacional em geral, e da avaliação institucional em particular, organizam-se em torno de uma pluralidade de eixos estruturadores filiados em lógicas e racionalidades em tensão, uns mais vinculados às preocupações com o controlo, outros mais sintonizados com uma agenda emancipatória.Neste texto pretende-se discutir algumas daquelas lógicas e racionalidades em tensão, articulando-as com a diversidade de agentes e de agendas que a avaliação pode servir. De modo mais específico, procura-se pôr em evidência alguns dos " efeitos colaterais" decorrentes de concepções e práticas avaliativas que ignoram, ou desprezam, a assunção da escola como " organização educativa complexa".<br>A través de las dos décadas pasadas, en contextos políticos y sociales diversos, primero en los países centrales, después en los países periféricos y semi-periféricos, la agenda evaluativa, en sus diversos configuraciones y dominios de incidencia, ha venido asumir un interés enorme. En el caso de Portugal, los cambios recientes en el cuadro legislativo que regula nuestras escuelas y a sus profesionales, con prominencia para el nuevo estatuto de la enseñanza y de la educación no superior y para la " indexación" de los contratos de la autonomía a los resultados de la auto-evaluación y de la evaluación externa, proyectaron este tema para las primeras páginas de la agenda pública. Las razones de este interés por las cuestiones de la evaluación educativa en general y de la evaluación institucional en particular, se organizan alrededor de una pluralidad de ejes estructuradores, filiados en lógicas y racionalidades en tensión, unos más articulados con las preocupaciones con el control, otros más en sintonía con una agenda emancipatória. En este texto se piensa discutir algunas de esas lógicas y racionalidades en tensión, las articulando con la diversidad de agentes y agendas que la evaluación pueda servir. En una manera más específica, se mira poner en evidencia algunos de los " efectos colaterales" que se desarrollan en consecuencia de las concepciones y prácticas de evaluación que no hacen caso, o desdeñan, de la escuela como " organización educativa compleja".<br>Throughout the two last decades, in diverse social political contexts, firstly in central countries, later in the peripheral and the semi-peripherals countries, the assessment agenda, in its different configurations and domains of incidence, has come to assume an enormous centrality. In the case of Portugal, the recent alterations in the educational legislation that fits our schools and its professionals, with prominence for the new statute of the teaching career and for the " indexation" of the contracts of autonomy to the previous existence of internal and external evaluation processes, had raised this problematic on the first pages of the public agenda. The reasons of this interest for the questions of the educational evaluation in general, and the institutional evaluation in particular, organize around a plurality of structuring axles originated in logics and rationalities in tension, some more tied with the concerns with the control, others more syntonized with an emancipatory agenda. In this text we intend to discuss some of those logics and rationalities in tension, articulating them with the diversity of agents and agendas that the evaluation can serve. In a more specific way, we essay to put in evidence some of the " collateral effects" emerging from assessment conceptions and practices that ignore, or disdain, the assumption of the school as a " complex educational organization".

Ariovaldo dos Santos

A partir da promulgação da Lei 9.249/95, foi a criada possibilidade de as empresas remunerarem seus acionistas através do pagamento de "Juros Sobre o Capital Próprio - JSCP". Tal lei permite que os pagamentos efetuados a esse título sejam considerados como despesas dedutíveis no cálculo do imposto de renda e da contribuição social incidentes sobre os lucros das empresas. Essa inovação fiscal veio acompanhada de duas outras importantes novidades: a) redução da alíquota básica e dos adicionais de imposto de renda incidentes sobre os lucros das empresas; b) eliminação dos efeitos da inflação nas demonstrações contábeis. A pesquisa realizada é inédita no Brasil e proporcionou a possibilidade de se conhecer qual foi a atitude das empresas no que se refere à utilização da legislação relativa aos JSCP, além de buscar respostas para as seguintes questões: a) as empresas estão pagando aos seus sócios/acionistas juros sobre o capital próprio? b) quem está pagando mais JSCP: indústria, comércio ou serviços? c) as empresas nacionais pagam mais JSCP do que as estrangeiras? d) e as companhias abertas pagaram mais JSCP do que as fechadas? Foram avaliadas as publicações de aproximadamente 3.000 empresas que atuam em todas as áreas do território nacional e que estejam enquadradas dentro das seguintes características: a) tenham divulgado as demonstrações contábeis através dos meios de comunicação; b) estejam classificadas dentro das atividades de prestação de serviços, excluindo-se o setor financeiro, comercial e industrial; c) adotem como forma de tributação o lucro real, uma vez que, regra geral, aquelas que se utilizam de outras formas de tributação não podem se valer da prerrogativa de considerar como despesas operacionais os valores pagos a título de JSCP. O resultado demonstrou que 40% das empresas pesquisadas têm utilizado a alternativa do pagamento ou crédito aos seus sócios e acionistas na forma de JSCP. Também ficou evidenciado que a distribuição entre as empresas industriais, comerciais e prestadoras de serviços é bastante equilibrada. Outra constatação importante está relacionada ao acréscimo de empresas estatais que passaram a pagar aos seus acionistas os JSCP.<br>The publication of Law 9.249/95 created the possibility for companies to reward their stockholders by paying "Interest on Own Capital - IOC". This Law allows these payments to be considered as deductible expenses when calculating income and social contribution taxes. This fiscal innovation was accompanied by two other important novelties: a) reduction of basic and additional income tax rates charged on company profits; b) elimination of inflation effects from financial statements. This study, unpublished in Brazil, made it possible to know companies’ attitudes about using IOC legislation, and attempted to answer the following questions: a) are companies paying interest on own capital to their partners / stockholders? b) Which sector pays more IOC: industry, trade or services? c) Do Brazilian companies pay more IOC than foreign enterprises? d) Do publicly-traded companies pay more IOC than private companies? We assessed the publications of approximately 3,000 companies from all over Brazil, which attended to the following characteristics: a) published their financial statements in the media; b) are classified as industry, trade or service companies, excluding the financial sector; c) adopt real profit as a taxation base since, in general, companies using other bases of taxation cannot consider IOC payments as operational expenses. The result demonstrated that 40% of the companies have used IOC as a partner and stockholder payment or credit alternative. It was also found the existence of a rather balanced distribution among industrial, trade and service companies. Another important observation regards the increased number of public companies that started paying IOC to their stockholders.

Yohannis Marti, Rosa Lidia Vega-Almeida

Se examina la sociedad de la información como nuevo contexto hacia donde transita el ser social. Se analizan la ética, la política y la legislación en su condición de mecanismos reguladores a nivel social e individual. Se exponen los nuevos imperativos éticos, políticos y legislativos relativos a la información. Se ofrecen consideraciones finales que versan sobre la importancia de la educación ética y moral, la construcción y consolidación de la cultura informacional y la alfabetización informacional como procesos orientados al perfeccionamiento y progreso del individuo y la sociedad.<br>The information society like new context of human relations is examined. The ethics, the policy and the legislation as their regulating mechanisms at social and individual level are analyzed. The new ethical, political and legislative considerations relative to the information are exposed. Final considerations are offered that turn on the importance of the ethical and moral education, the construction and consolidation of the informational culture and the information literacy like processes oriented to the improvement and progress of the individuals and the society.