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Termination of Contracts and Force Majeure Under Qatari Law and Its Islamic Law Influences: Emergence of a Transnational Gulf Private Law
Get PDFThere is a growing interest in the private laws of Gulf states, and particularly Qatar, because of the applicability of such laws in transnational and local contracts that account for a significant volume of global trade, energy and construction. Islamic law has a negligible, if any, impact on the law relating to termination of contracts, including hardship and force majeure. Termination of contracts in Qatar is chiefly regulated by the Qatari Civil Code and other specialist legislation, as well as significantly the country’s Court of Cassation, which has produced a consistent flow of case law that is binding on lower courts. The Civil Code generally follows the rule that the parties may not unilaterally terminate contracts and that in any event sufficient notice is required. As regards unforeseen circumstances, the Civil Code distinguishes between general hardship and circumstances that render performance impossible. The former may be amenable to adaptation by the courts, whereas the latter effectively serves to terminate the parties’ respective obligations. Qatari law allows the parties to waive force majeure claims in their contracts
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English Courts and Transnational Islamic Divorces: What Role for Personal Liberty of Muslim Women?
No full textEnglish courts consider the validity of a talaq obtained abroad on the basis of the lex matrimonii, without examining whether the circumstance of the divorce, both factual and legal, offend English public policy. An anthropological inquiry into talaq obtained in most Muslim nations reveals that androcentric culture – as opposed to religious prescription as such – largely distorts the Quranic vision of this institution. This author suggests that English courts and the scholarly/religious community should entertain the notion of the contractual nature of nikah (marriage) in order to assess the consequences of the talaq. If a nikah is entered into without the wife’s unequivocal consent or under duress from family members then, as a contract, it may be declared voidable by the courts; the wife, however, would retain the right to seek redress from such a voidable contract. Moreover, besides comity and reciprocity, there is no other legal impediment as to why English courts cannot employ the Human Rights Act to counter foreign talaq obtained in violation of the wife’s fundamental human rights. This is particularly so where the wife repudiates the application of her personal law in favour of English family law, provided that this is done in a manner that does not expose her to accusations of apostas
Mental health and international crimes
No full textThis volume is one of the few books to explain in-depth the international crimes behind the scenes of substantive or procedural law. The contributors place a particular focus on what motivates participation in international crime, how perpetrators, witnesses and victims see their predicament and how international crimes should be investigated at local and international level, with an emphasis on context. The book engages these questions with a broad interdisciplinary approach that is accessible to both lawyers and non-lawyers alike. It discusses international crime through the lens of anthropology, neuroscience, psychology, state crime theory and information systems theory and draws upon relevant investigative experience from experts in international and domestic law prosecutions
English Courts and Transnational Islamic Divorces: What Role for Personal Liberty of Muslim Women?
Get PDFEnglish courts consider the validity of a talaq obtained abroad on the basis of the lex matrimonii, without examining whether the circumstance of the divorce, both factual and legal, offend English public policy. An anthropological inquiry into talaq obtained in most Muslim nations reveals that androcentric culture – as opposed to religious prescription as such – largely distorts the Quranic vision of this institution. This author suggests that English courts and the scholarly/religious community should entertain the notion of the contractual nature of nikah (marriage) in order to assess the consequences of the talaq. If a nikah is entered into without the wife’s unequivocal consent or under duress from family members then, as a contract, it may be declared voidable by the courts; the wife, however, would retain the right to seek redress from such a voidable contract. Moreover, besides comity and reciprocity, there is no other legal impediment as to why English courts cannot employ the Human Rights Act to counter foreign talaq obtained in violation of the wife’s fundamental human rights. This is particularly so where the wife repudiates the application of her personal law in favour of English family law, provided that this is done in a manner that does not expose her to accusations of apostas
The Off-Grid Revolution and the Promise of Energy Equality Under the Paris Climate Change Agreement
Get PDFA key thesis of this article is that since renewable energy is quintessentially a public good both in constitutional and macroeconomic terms, its availability without restrictions to all people is a true manifestation of economic self-determination, ultimately entailing what this author calls “energy equality.” Although this equality is dictated by the nature of renewable energy as a public good, it risks being eroded by the rush to implement the Paris Agreement. This is certainly one of the shortcomings of the Paris Agreement. With nation states eager to meet their targets and energy concessionaires given unprecedented financial and other incentives, we are witnessing not only the infiltration of criminal elements in the licensing of renewable projects, but also an absence of appropriate impact assessment. In the process of energy transition, the absence of a robust business and human rights framework is giving rise to irreparable damage to the natural environment and social livelihoods. It is suggested that many states, particularly in the industrialized world, are obsessed with their energy grids because the energy grids allow them to sell energy at monopolistic prices, impose taxes through it, as well as exert control over their citizens. With this in mind, national grids adversely impact the socio-economic and developmental rights of the poor and the middle class and prevent them from living decent lives in many cases. The transition to zero carbon economies and the availability of cheap renewable resource harnessing devices for the first time in history can promise energy equality in a sustainable manner. The poor can enjoy the fruits of energy in the same manner as the rich. The article therefore suggests that whatever investment on national energy grids, this should not be made compulsory by states and concessionaires on individual households and communities
The role of information systems in the prevention and detection of transnational and international crime
No full text© Cambridge University Press 2014. All around the world criminal activity remains at the forefront of governmental concerns, not only as a problem that distorts the very fabric of society within the confines of national jurisdictions, but also as a problem that cuts across national borders to exhibit a global dimension. The international dimension of criminal activity remains critical and is generally characterized by a complexity that is unique and requires action on many different levels. Criminals set out to mask their illegal activities and deliberately generate complexity as a means of concealment. In doing so, they exploit new developments in technology that assist them in achieving their ends. This criminality exhibits forms of innovation that stretch far beyond traditional criminal activity (e.g., drug and human trafficking) and manages to attach itself within the broader fabric of society by exploiting the very latest developments. This evolution is necessary as criminals seek not only to escape arrest, prosecution and conviction, but also to enjoy the fruits of their criminality (mostly financial gains). Thus, they seek to develop ways of exploiting the various diffuse norms of social interaction (e.g., trust), financial modes of conduct (e.g., cash-based economies), technological and communication developments (e.g., Internet), and thereby minimize the possibility for detection. By limiting the resources that can be made available for prevention (or making them obsolete when developing new criminal behaviour), they participate in this co-evolution actively; and this they achieve by generating complexity
Understanding collective violence: the communicative and performative qualities of violence in acts of belonging
No full textThis chapter explores the motivations for joining violent groups across arange of circumstances. In particular, the chapter will explore the similarities in the role of violence as a marker of identity within groups as diverseas street gangs and ethnic communities. Frequently, membership inviolent groups is explained in terms of individual material gain or theattainment of individual fame, in very rationalist and individualistic terms.This focus on individual choice and motivation suggests the use or disinclination to use violence is an expression of individual agency. Indeed, many of studies on civil wars or other armed conflicts treat joining these violent groups and the participation in violent acts as being anti-social, as if the choice to engage in violence is one wholly against social norms or social values. However, much can be gained by seeing these groups in completely the opposite light: gangs, communal factions, militias, even terrorist organisations can be seen as highly social environments. This chapter will examine the performative qualities of violence and the role that violence plays in the experience of belonging in large groups and in collective identity formation
The African Union and Universal Jurisdiction
No full textUniversal jurisdiction permits states to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of certain widely condemned offences, irrespective of whether they possess any of the traditional territorial, nationality, or other jurisdictional links to the offence. As a legal principle, African states accept the principle of universal jurisdiction, but in the past decade they have pushed back against it due to the perception that the courts of various European states have unfairly targeted African government officials that they perceive as enemies. Against this background, the chapter examines the status of the universal jurisdiction debate and how it relates to the role of the International Criminal Court and that of the African Union and its member states, in addition to evaluating the proposals made by African states within the framework of the United Nations to address the African government concerns about double standards in the application of universal jurisdiction through a special ad hoc committee of the General Assembly.</p
The Business Sector and the Rights to Work and Just and Favourable Conditions of Work
Get PDFThe goal of this chapter is to elucidate the role and responsibility of the business sector for safeguarding these two rights by clarifying the origins, legal nature, scope and enforcement of obligations placed upon corporate actors. Specifically, the chapter examines whether and how the status of a duty-bearer affects the ambit of the two rights and obligations they give rise to. In other words, what are the differences between the role of businesses and that of states in securing the rights to work and just and favourable conditions of work? While the traditional (positivist) paradigm of human rights protection sees states as ultimately responsible for ensuring that rights are respected by everyone within their respective jurisdictions, certain aspects of the two rights may be fulfilled only by states. In that sense, the scope of duties arising out of the rights to work and just and favourable conditions of work which businesses can in theory be responsible for is materially different
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