STATE POLICING AND INVISIBLE FORCES IN MOZAMBIQUE

Africa ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 424-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helene Maria Kyed
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
War Zone ◽  
Police Authority ◽  
State Police ◽  
State Authority ◽  
Post War ◽  
Spiritual Problems

ABSTRACTThis article explores how the state police in Mozambique tried to (re)encroach upon a former war zone and what their methods implied for state authority more generally. Post-war reform efforts to professionalize the police in accordance with the rule of law and human rights have had apparently paradoxical results. This is in part because efforts to constitute state authority have relied on both embracing and taming ‘tradition’ as an alternative domain of authority, order and law. Ethnographic fieldwork at police stations shows that the police increasingly handle witchcraft cases and spiritual problems. This, the article argues, does not only reflect a tension between local/customary and state/legal notions of order and justice. Equally significant is the existence of partial sovereignties. A spiritual idiom of power and evildoing constitutes an alternative articulation of sovereignty due to the capacity of invisible forces to give and take life. This is an idiom mastered by chiefs and healers. Police officers engage with invisible forces to gain popular legitimacy and manifest state power, and yet they never manage to fully master those forces. Consequently, state police authority remains uncertain, and must be continually reinforced by enacting hierarchies and jurisdictional boundaries and by using force.

Provisional police authority in Maputo’s inner-city periphery

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 528-545
Author(s):  
Helene Maria Kyed
Keyword(s):  
Inner City ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Conflicting Demands ◽  
Popular Justice ◽  
Police Authority ◽  
Maputo City ◽  
Post War ◽  
The City

In Maputo city, post-war liberalisation implied new police reforms based on the rule of law, but it also led to rising crime and an unequal distribution of public security provision that favours the inner-city over the poorer peripheries. This article explores how this spatial bordering of the city affected the configuration of police authority in an underprioritised inner-city periphery. Based on ethnography, I show how police officers struggle to perform their duty and assert authority through what I refer to as institutional–jurisdictional ‘bordering practices’. Central here is the borders that separate law from popular justice and civilians from the police as a state authority with the de jure monopoly on violence and law enforcement. The officers themselves continuously deborder their own distinct authority by resolving crimes informally and by relying on civilians. Yet, this co-exists with efforts to re-border their authority through displays of state power and threats of legal processes. These (de/re)bordering practices, I argue, reflect the provisional authority of the police. The officers constantly face conflicting demands: between the new rule of law restrictions and popular preferences for immediate justice, which are both informed by historical legacies of popular justice and by the spatial bordering of the city that produces the inner-city periphery as unsafe and uncertain spaces.

Establishing the Rule of Law in Weak and War-torn States: Evidence from a Field Experiment with the Liberian National Police

2019 ◽  
Vol 113 (3) ◽  
pp. 641-657 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT A. BLAIR ◽  
SABRINA M. KARIM ◽  
BENJAMIN S. MORSE
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Field Experiment ◽  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Experimental Evaluation ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
National Police

How to restore citizens’ trust and cooperation with the police in the wake of civil war? We report results from an experimental evaluation of the Liberian National Police’s (LNP) “Confidence Patrols” program, which deployed teams of newly retrained, better-equipped police officers on recurring patrols to rural communities across three Liberian counties over a period of 14 months. We find that the program increased knowledge of the police and Liberian law, enhanced security of property rights, and reduced the incidence of some types of crime, notably simple assault and domestic violence. The program did not, however, improve trust in the police, courts, or government more generally. We also observe higher rates of crime reporting in treatment communities, concentrated almost entirely among those who were disadvantaged under prevailing customary mechanisms of dispute resolution. We consider implications of these findings for post-conflict policing in Liberia and weak and war-torn states more generally.

Józef Nowacki as a Theoretician of Normativism in Poland

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 248-267
Author(s):  
Sławomir Tkacz
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Third ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Post War ◽  
Legal Theorist ◽  
Historical Sketch

The present paper aims to present an outline of the views of the Polish legal theorist Józef Nowacki (1923–2005). The claim put forward is that Nowacki was the chief representative of Hans Kelsen’s normativism in Polish legal theory. The paper begins with a short historical sketch presenting the reception of Hans Kelsen’s views in Polish jurisprudence, noting that in the post-war period the communist authorities believed that normativism was at odds with the then prevailing system of actually existing socialism. Drawing inspiration from German-speaking authors, Nowacki rejected the ideology prevailing in Poland at that time and became a staunch advocate of the normativist stance, in particular with regard to the theory of the legal system. The second part of the paper discusses Nowacki’s views regarding the concept of the rule of law, and the third and last part presents Nowacki’s critique of the case-law of the Polish Constitutional Court.

The Council of Europe: 50 years of European cooperation

1999 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 497-505
Author(s):  
Daniel Tarschys
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
European Identity ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
European Cooperation ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Fundamental Values

The post-war European credo – never again a Europe given over to totalitarian terror and war, but a Europe of peace and freedom – led to the creation in May 1949 of the Council of Europe with the clear political and ideological alignment to build a Europe of common values (democracy, human rights and the Rule of Law), to which the practice of market economy was added. The promotion of those fundamental values constituted the Council's specific mandate and raison d'être together with ever-increasing cooperation patterns. After the end of the Cold War, the organization became the pre-eminent European political institution welcoming, on an equal footing and in permanent structures, the democracies of Europe freed from communist oppression. The Kosovo conflict calls for a hardening of the European resolve to base its future on the defence of human dignity, respect for the individual, the Rule of Law and pluralist democracy, indispensable in fostering a common European identity. Setting-up of regional and European cooperation and integration structures has been an important step forward, but must be complemented by the conviction and determination to forge a common European destiny.

Sovereignty, RIP

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Herzog
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Social Order ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Classic Theory ◽  
Political Struggles ◽  
State Authority ◽  
Historical Detail

Social order requires a sovereign: an actor with unlimited, undivided, and unaccountable authority. Or so the classic theory says. But without noticing, we've gutted the theory. Constitutionalism limits state authority. Federalism divides it. The rule of law holds it accountable. In vivid historical detail—with millions tortured and slaughtered in Europe, a king put on trial for his life, journalists groaning at complaints about the League of Nations, and much more—this book charts both the political struggles that forged sovereignty and the ones that undid it. The book argues that it's no longer a helpful guide to our legal and political problems, but a pernicious bit of confusion. It's time to retire sovereignty.

scholarly journals RULE OF LAW AND LEGALITY AS PRINCIPLES OF NATIONAL POLICE ACTIVITY

2021 ◽  
pp. 45-53
Author(s):  
А. Т. Комзюк ◽  
Salmanova O. Yu.
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
General Idea ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Law ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
National Police ◽  
The Relationship

The article defines the relationship between the principles of the rule of law and legality and their importance in the activities of the National Police of Ukraine. Indicated, that the principle of the rule of law is enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine, and in relation to the National Police – also in the Law on it. Attention is drawn to the fact that the definition of the rule of law in the Constitution and the Law of Ukraine «On the National Police» is interpreted differently. Therefore, in a generalized form, the principle of the rule of law is proposed to be interpreted as the idea of the rule of law, which is embodied in the creation of appropriate laws, their proper implementation, prohibition of arbitrariness, human rights, non-discrimination and equality before the law. It was emphasized that it was expedient to define this principle as a general idea in the Law “On the National Police”, as its other components cannot always be fulfilled in the activity of the police. In particular, the authorities and police officers cannot question the compliance of the law with the ideas of social justice, freedom, equality, etc. Nor can they, in the performance of their tasks and functions, be guided by norms of morality, traditions, customs, etc., and not by formally defined norms of law (ie laws). It is in the light of such reservations that it is proposed to define this principle. The police must implement it through certain requirements – legality, prohibition of arbitrariness, respect for human rights, non-discrimination and equality before the law. Therefore, legality is of paramount importance in the activity of the police – the police act exclusively on the basis, within the powers and in the manner determined by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine. In this regard, the proposals to improve the legal regulation of the rule of law and legality as principles of the National Police of Ukraine are substantiated.

scholarly journals The ‘pure apples’: Moral bordering within the Kenyan police

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 490-509
Author(s):  
Tessa Diphoorn
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
The State ◽  
Reform Initiatives ◽  
Urban Centre ◽  
Police Reform ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
State Police

This article analyses various police reform initiatives in Kenya as a form of ‘moral bordering’. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Nairobi between 2017 and 2018, I analyse how police officers differentiate themselves from other police officers along (moral) ideas of reform and how this occurs in two divergent, yet interconnected, directions. The first is a process of bordering in: moral bordering occurs internally within the police and reform efforts aim to break down borders among police officers. The second is a process of bordering out: reform initiatives are designed in the urban centre and are aimed at spatially pushing the border externally, away from Nairobi. My approach to reform as moral bordering shows how borders can simultaneously take on disparate dimensions: with bordering in, borders are primarily social and symbolic, and with bordering out, borders take on a more spatial nature. This duality encapsulates the inherent friction that results from reform initiatives simultaneously moving in distinctive directions and differs from much of the (anthropological) work on the state police that analyses how the police themselves either enact borders or act as borders.

International Legal Cooperation between Kosovo and Other States and Organizations

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-330
Author(s):  
Hajredin Kuçi
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Union Member ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Post War ◽  
European Union Member States

Building a rule-of-law-based democracy is a challenge for post-communist and post-war societies. Rule of law is a priority for these societies and also one of the membership criteria required by international organizations, in particular the European Union. As such, an aspiring country like Kosovo has to face the challenge of building a legal system that is compatible with that of the European Union member states while also developing its legal cooperation with other countries. Through international legal cooperation, countries strengthen the fight against criminal actions that are punishable in all modern states and also exchange experience in combating cross-border crime, trafficking, corruption, terrorism, and other violations of criminal law. In this regard, Kosovo faces many challenges in the field of international legal cooperation, not only with regard to those missions operating in Kosovo itself (such as EULEX, UNMIK, etc.), but also with other international organizations, especially due to Kosovo’s lack of membership in them. Another challenge is cooperation with countries that have not yet recognized Kosovo as a state. This article emphasizes the efforts made by Kosovo’s institutions to engage in international legal cooperation as one of the prerequisites for building the rule of law at home. The main issues tackled in the article are how these problems are addressed in practice, which obstacles arise, what the ad hoc means are of engaging in international legal cooperation, and what the specificities and prospects are for Kosovo’s international legal cooperation. As such, the aim of the article is to examine some of the legal peculiarities and uncertainties that have been created over the years as the result of limitations on Kosovo’s international personality and to consider innovative means to ensure Kosovo’s legal cooperation with other countries.

scholarly journals Illiberal peacebuilding in Angola

2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Soares de Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Liberal Peace ◽  
Post War ◽  
Liberal Peacebuilding

ABSTRACTAngola's oil-fuelled reconstruction since the end of the civil war in 2002 is a world away from the mainstream liberal peacebuilding approach that Western donors have promoted and run since the end of cold war. The Angolan case is a pivotal example of what can be termed ‘illiberal peacebuilding’, a process of post-war reconstruction managed by local elites in defiance of liberal peace precepts on civil liberties, the rule of law, the expansion of economic freedoms and poverty alleviation, with a view to constructing a hegemonic order and an elite stranglehold over the political economy. Making sense of the Angolan case is a starting point for a broader comparative look at other cases of illiberal peacebuilding such as Rwanda, Lebanon and Sri Lanka.

THE FUNCTION OF LITIGATION IN INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY

2012 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vaughan Lowe
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Customs Union ◽  
World War ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
International Court ◽  
Peace Settlement ◽  
The Hague ◽  
Post War

The title of this article1 is drawn from Sir Hersch Lauterpacht's famous monograph, published in 1933, entitled The Function of Law in the International Community.2 Writing in a decade when the shattering effects of the physical destruction wrought by World War I were giving way to the debilitating effects of the Great Depression, and when the invasions of Manchuria and Abyssinia would sit side-by-side with the rise of Fascism in Germany and the great Stalinist terror in Russia, Lauterpacht was, not unnaturally, seeking a better way to a peaceful future under the Rule of Law. At that time, the recently established International Court in The Hague was dealing with acutely political cases, such as the question of the compatibility of the Austro-German Customs Union with the post-war peace settlement;3 and the cool rationality of debate in the Peace Palace seemed to offer a better way.

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