1,720,971 research outputs found
TRIPS flexibilities: Implementation gaps between theory and practice
No full textThe article discusses the implementation gaps of flexibilities provided by World Trade Organization (WTO) Waiver Decision 2003 under the agreement of Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) in third world countries. The author concludes that the WTO is trying to facilitate the low in come countries by creating flexibilities under TRIPS but implementation gaps between theory and practice restricts third world countries to avail the flexibilities
Rationale of compulsory licensing of pharmaceutical patents in the light of human rights perspective
No full textPatents render prices of patented products unaffordable for general masses because of the 20 years monopoly granted to the owner of the patent to manufacture, sell, and import the patented product. Overpricing caused by monopoly rights has serious human rights implications in case of pharmaceutical patents especially in situations of public health crisis. Compulsory licensing of patents has been provided under TRIPS Agreement as a legitimate safeguard to check abuse of monopoly and to deal with special situations of public health crisis. The first part of this paper discusses the relationship of TRIPS and the human right to health as TRIPS Agreement for the first time made it mandatory to protect all innovations including pharmaceuticals. The second part of this paper discusses the rationale of compulsory licensing of pharmaceutical patents in the light of Indian case Bayer Corporation v. Natco Pharma Limited. Last part of this paper concludes the discussion
Peculiar nature of the global war on terror and the dilemma of unlawful enemy combatants
No full textGlobal War on Terror (GWOT) has opened a new door to torture and also new frontiers of transnational judicial contestation of international criminal law and strategies for the fight against terrorism. Moreover, GWOT dilemma related to Prisoners of War (POWs) opened new challenges for humanitarian protection. Many suspected persons are rendered to secret detention sites to get intelligence against other States. Many legal provisions are violated in GWOT. This article seeks to examine some of these issues by focusing on the global war against terrorism especially in ' the context of strategies against terrorism that the US has applied against Afghanistan and Pakistan since 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington DC. The focus of this article would be on how rendition is different from extradition? How the people suspected of terrorism are rendered? What are the consequences of detention of prisoners at secret prisons? What kind of treatment they are facing? Whether the interrogation techniques are legal and appropriate for the hearing of terror suspects? Further, it attempts to explain status of POWs, Civilians and Non-combatants under international humanitarian law and Islamic international law. Moreover, this article anaiyzes many loopholes in the Geneva Conventions which are a hurdle in providing protection to detained persons. It will further draw attention to the new situations which are ignored in previous legislation or left silent intentionally
Sports anti-siphoning laws and the controversy of sports broadcasting: A case study of Pakistan
No full textControversies between private and public broadcasters over the broadcasting of live sports, especially cricket, during important sports events have emerged as a serious legal issue in Pakistan. Controversy between Geo Super and Pakistan Television over live telecast of the ICC Cricket World Cup is a typical example of such controversies. An aggressive legal battle, during a most important cricketing event, not only hampered the enjoyment of cricket viewers across the country but also gave Pakistan a bad name across the globe.\ud
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This article discusses in detail this controversy and highlights lacunas in the existing sports broadcasting regime of Pakistan. There are no clear and well defined sports broadcasting laws in Pakistan. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) rules are of general nature. Secondly, PEMRA rules are not comprehensive and explicit enough to provide clear guidelines about sports broadcasting. This may be a possible reason why sports broadcasting controversies reach the highest court in Pakistan, the Supreme Court of Pakistan.\ud
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Despite these ugly battles between broadcasters, the government of Pakistan has never given due importance to this issue and no efforts have been made at any level to come up with legislation on sports broadcasting to avoid such controversies or to resolve them amicably in the light of well-defined laws on this subject. The purpose of this article is to draw the attention of the concerned authorities towards this important issue because in future more such controversies may be expected in the absence of a sports broadcasting regime in the country
Investor-state dispute settlement mechanism: The Trojan horse of the Trans-Pacific partnership and its practical implications
No full textThe Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is an ambitious free trade agreement that the United States initially negotiated with 11 other countries (New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, and Vietnam). The Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism provided in the TPP is being criticised by public health activists as a pro-investor mechanism which empowers foreign corporations to sue governments for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages in a wide range of cases if they adopt any new law or regulation that negatively affects the profit rates of these corporations. This article seeks to answer the following questions related to the ISDS mechanism in the TPP
Legal protections provided under Pakistani law against anti-women practices: Implementation gaps between theory and practice
No full textThe new millennium is considered as the millennium of upholding the Human Rights throughout the world. Women are considered as the most vulnerable part of the society due to a violation of their basic and fundamental rights. Women rights have gained so much importance and many organizations are working to provide them equal status in the society and to stop violence against them. Moreover, in every society gender equality is considered a powerful tool for empowering women, but in some states, this powerful tool is challenged by cultural and traditional norms; Pakistan is among those states. These norms sometimes become a hurdle to provide women’s basic rights. Female marriage for settling a dispute is traditionally acceptable in Pakistani society. Pakistani legislation has played a vital role in granting and protecting women rights in contemporary society but women rights are still being violated by anti-women practices. This study is initiated to highlight the existing anti-women practices in the contemporary Pakistani society which violate fundamental rights of women. Further, it will examine the contemporary issues of Pakistani women by analyzing the surrounding debates, the legal reforms, and the related media and social behaviour on these anti-women practices. It will also critically evaluate the existing legislation by discussing some individual cases decided in the last decade. Further, it will highlight the new legislation to prevent anti-women practices
Diversity of interpretations regarding Qawwam in Islamic thought with special reference to Surah An-Nisa
No full textIslam has granted fundamental rights to women, however, they are not interpreted accurately in our society due to the existence of a patriarchal social setup. The root cause of denying women rights is lack of command of Islamic teachings. There are many misconceptions regarding the stance of Islam on women rights especially on men and women equal social, legal and moral status as human beings. Islam differentiates between their status, roles and responsibilities in the family system, based on equity and justice. However, the true spirit of role differentiation is misunderstood by non Muslims as well as by less educated Muslims as establishing the patriarchal system endorsing gender inequality and discrimination against women. This article will highlight social concerns about women rights and responsibilities. Moreover, it will highlight the areas of tension among four schools of thought regarding superiority of men. The thrust of the article is that the intention of the Quran is to raise the status of women in society, not to relegate them to subordination as is commonly believed and practiced in much of the Muslim world today
Evolution of the concept of compulsory licensing: A critical analysis of key developments before and after TRIPS
No full textPatents provide monopoly rights to patent holders. There are safeguards in patent regime to ensure that exclusive right of the patent holder is not misused. Compulsory licensing is one of the safeguards provided under TRIPS using which patent granting state may allow a third party to exploit the invention without patent holder’s consent upon terms and conditions decided by the government. This concept existed since 1623 and was not introduced by TRIPS for the first time. But this mechanism has undergone significant changes especially in post-TRIPS era. History of evolution of compulsory licensing is one of the least explored areas of intellectual property law. This paper undertakes an analysis of different phases in the evolution of the compulsory licensing mechanism and sheds light on reasons behind developments especially after TRIPS
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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