Law-Making by and for the People: A Case for Pre-legislative Processes in India

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-206
Author(s):  
Dipika Jain
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Court Case ◽  
Marginalized Communities ◽  
Deliberation Process ◽  
Societal Needs ◽  
The People ◽  
Transgender Persons ◽  
Law Making

Abstract Recent legislative trends in India reflect the need for a mandatory pre-legislative process. Pre-legislative consultation affords the benefit of legitimacy to laws arrived at through citizen participation. Furthermore, it informs decision-makers of the lived experiences of those most likely impacted by the legislation. Laws that receive pre-legislative consultation are attuned to realities, which increases the likelihood of their effectiveness. This article explores how several of India’s recent laws that received pre-legislative consultation have been rendered more robust and effective than others. As exemplified by current protests by transgender, intersex and gender non-conforming people in India, the Government’s most recent Transgender Bill, which neglected pre-legislative deliberation process, fails the people it purports to protect. As explored in this article, the Bill fails to uphold constitutionally protected principles, as recognized in the recent Supreme Court case that upheld transgender persons’ fundamental rights. As such, the Transgender Bill reflects a need to engage with the intrinsic and instrumental value of pre-legislative consultation and deliberation in India. In locating transnational trends towards employing such a process, this article argues that India would greatly benefit from mandatory pre-legislative consultation and deliberation. By creating a process that allows for citizen participation in law-making, particularly when such laws impact marginalized communities, legislation would reflect societal needs and eschew a top-down, majoritarian approach.

Human rights referendum: Dissonance between ‘the will of the people’ and fundamental rights?

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-133
Author(s):  
Ignatius Yordan Nugraha
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
The People ◽  
The Will

Referendums and popular initiatives have proliferated in many parts of the world as part of the effort to improve the quality of democracy and enhance citizen participation in policy making. However, even before the surge of populist nationalism in the 2010s, referendums have become a sort of weapon to restrict various rights. Furthermore, the juxtaposition between ‘the will of the people’ and human rights has once again brought back the classical criticism against direct democracy that it constitutes ‘a tyranny of the majority’ that could erode minority rights. With these concerns in mind, this paper is written to analyse the dissonance between human rights referendums and international human rights law through a positivist lens. The overall goal is to determine whether States have an ex ante obligation to prevent a referendum on a subject matter that is contrary to human rights.

scholarly journals Legislative power as a legitimate basis for legislative activity

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 19-26
Author(s):  
Z.O. Pogorelova
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Legislative Power ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
The People ◽  
Legislative Activity ◽  
The Government ◽  
Law Making

The article is devoted to the study of the nature of the legislative pover and the disclosure of its role to serve as a legitimate basis for legislative activity. The provision is substantiated that the parliament, as a representative body of the whole people, has the highest level of legitimacy and on this basis exercises the right to legislate public relations according to the principle of separation of powers, including the exclusive right to regulate the most important issues of organization and exercise of power (article 92 of the Constitution of Ukraine). The relationship between the concepts of legislative power and legislative activity of the parliament is revealed and the recognition of the legislative activity of the parliament as the main, key function of the parliament and the organizational way of implementing the legislative power of the state is substantiated. The conditions, scope, limits, advantages and disadvantages of the practice of delegated legislation, which is widespread in democratic countries, as well as the legally sanctioned government rule-making on the basis of the instructions of the government provided by separate laws are investigated. The powers of the parliament in the field of law-making  activity are analyzed, the source of which is the legislative power delegated by the people to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, due to which the parliament receives from the people the primary right to carry out its law-making activity. The essence of legislative activity carried out within the legislative process is revealed, as activity on revealing of need for legal regulation of public relations, estimation of draft laws, their completion, carrying out professional examination, discussion and completion in committees, i.e. all actions directed on proper elaboration of laws’ projects. It is noted that the legislative process is not only and not so much limited by parliament, but also includes pre-parliamentary stages of work on the draft law (initiation, drafting, public discussion, examination, coordination with interested bodies and organizations). The general characteristic of subjects of law-making activity is given, the nature of powers of parliament on the organization and implementation of control over law-making activity is analyzed.  

scholarly journals EFFICIENT PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN THE LOCAL LAW-MAKING PROCESS

Yuridika ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 389
Author(s):  
Ekawestri Prajwalita Widiati
Keyword(s):  
Public Participation ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
The Public ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
Discovery Education ◽  
Education Measurement ◽  
Local Law ◽  
Law Making ◽  
The Ideal

Getting the public to participate in the government’s policy reflects a sense of control in democracy. However, constructing a mechanism of participation in legal provisions could be dilemma. It is important to realize that involving citizen in local government decision making particularly in law-making process has a fundamental difficulties; the essence of participation itself (openness and transparency) and the need to be efficient. This essay formulated an effective mechanism of public participation by juxtaposing steps in the local legislative process with the criteria of efficiency. This discussion is trying to encompass citizen participation from the initiation of a policy until it is enacted as a local legislation. Then in the next step, it will assess the elements that constitute an efficient drafting process. This article will consider such factors that are; financial cost; human resources or effort; wasted time; risk of failure; progress. The hypothesis is that not all of the means of public participation are efficient. The ideal notion of public participation put weighs on Local Authorities. What is needed to be underlined in this discussion is, to maximize the advantage of citizen involvement, it is important to look at the sequence where it should be held and what is the content. Moreover, the process of public participation should reflects principles namely: discovery, education, measurement, persuasion and legitimization.

The Lawmaking Process as a Combination of Conditional and Unconditional

2020 ◽  
pp. 72-76
Author(s):  
G. N. Utkin
Keyword(s):  
Legislative Process ◽  
Complex Combination ◽  
Law Making

The article substantiates that lawmaking is a process characterized by a complex combination of conditional and unconditional. In spite of the predominance of the conditional in its characterization, there must always be something in it that is self-conditioned, immutable and irresistible, and is therefore capable of being the source of the unconditionality of the prescriptions that result from law-making. In modern States, the importance of conditional lawmaking is compensated by the unconditionality of procedural and procedural requirements underlying the organization of the legislative process.

scholarly journals “Could You, Would You, Should You?” Regulating Cross-Border Travel Through COVID-19 Soft Law in Finland

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-44
Author(s):  
Emilia KORKEA-AHO ◽  
Martin SCHEININ
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Governmental Policy ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
The World ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
Guidelines And Recommendations ◽  
Law Making

In the coronavirus pandemic that has swept the world, the Finnish Government, like many of its peers, has issued policy measures to combat the virus. Many of these measures have been implemented in law, including measures taken under the Emergency Powers Act, or by ministries and regional and local authorities exercising their legal powers. However, some governmental policy measures have been implemented using non-binding guidelines and recommendations. Using border travel recommendations as a case study, this article critically evaluates governmental soft law-making. The debacle over the use of soft law to fight the pandemic in Finland revealed fundamental misunderstandings about the processes and circumstances under which instruments conceived as soft law can be issued, as well as a lack of attention to their effects from a fundamental rights perspective.

Interešu pārstāvniecība. Vēlētāji apspriež Saeimas darbu Latvijas Televīzijas raidījumā “Tautas panorāma”

Letonica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergejs Kruks
Keyword(s):  
Interest Groups ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
General Will ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
The People ◽  
Individual Strategies ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Law Making

Keywords: discourse analysis, general will, Latvian politics, political representation, Saeima Latvian citizens are characterised by a very low level of political activism. How can this be explained through an understanding of politics? Prior to the 2018 Saeima (Latvian parliament) election, voters were interviewed on Latvian television discussing the pronouncements of various members of parliament. The researcher explores the relationship between the comments of these voters and the way they feel their interests are being represented by the state’s law makers. Throughout the interviews, voters are critical of Saeima, yet they fail to clearly explain their interests. The generally agreed upon duty of MPs is to discover the general will of the people, and attempt to fulfil this will through law making. In Latvia, the concept of forming interest groups representing the desires of various groups of citizens to create public expressions of their opinions is not considered a viable resource for political action. The citizens being interviewed believe that they cannot expect to have their interests represented by Saeima and prefer individual strategies focused on non-political action.

Reflections from the Margins: Complexities, Transitions and Developmental Challenges - The Case of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
The State ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
The People ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Leadership Accountability ◽  
Multiple Challenges ◽  
Colonial Oppression

Since the dawn of colonialism in Southern Africa, the province of the Eastern Cape emerged as the cradle of African resistance against colonial oppression. A closer look at the province reveals opportunities for progress and ultimate resurgence of economic and social development, yet conflated by a myriad of challenges. This book brings together different perspectives and realities of the post-apartheid Eastern Cape to provide an in-depth exploration of the developmental dilemmas that the province faces. This book provides insightful reflections on development and its sustainability some 25 years since democracy, and specifically focuses on sociological and demographic realities in the areas of migration and its impact on families. The book further grapples with the role of the state in developing culture and heritage in the province, pointing to fundamental and multiple challenges of deprivation, unemployment and subsequent community resilience in a variety of sectors including health and education. While it provides a historical analysis of contextual issues facing the province, the book also highlights the agency of the people of the Eastern Cape in confronting challenges in leadership, accountability, citizen participation and service provision. The book will be useful for development scholars and practitioners who are interested in understanding the state of the province, and similar settings, and the degree to which it has emerged from the shadows of its colonial and apartheid legacies.

Types of law-making powers of the Ukrainian people

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 36-46
Author(s):  
Anatoliy M. Kolodiy ◽  
Olexiy A. Kolodiy
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
National Legislation ◽  
The People ◽  
Special Scientific ◽  
General Scientific ◽  
Legislative Initiative ◽  
Law Making

The relevance of this problem is considered in the fact that in modern conditions of the state's process of developing a sovereign and independent, democratic, social, and legal state, the people's awareness of its place and role is one of vital aspects. The Ukrainian people's awareness of their rights and obligations, in this case law-making ones, will contribute to a real opportunity for the people to take part in the management of state affairs. Despite the fact that the problem of the powers of the Ukrainian people is extremely relevant at this stage of the Ukrainian history, it is understudied by Ukrainian researchers. Therefore, considering the above, this study is investigates such types of law-making powers of the Ukrainian people as the rights to: people's initiative, and within its framework – people's legislative initiative and people's referendum initiative; people's veto; people's survey, including regarding regulations; people's examination of regulations and draft regulations. The purpose of the present study is to consider theoretical material concerning the state of possibility of using the above-mentioned types of law-making powers of the Ukrainian people, as well as foreign practices in their implementation. The methodological framework of this study included an integrated approach, which involves a combination of numerous philosophical, general scientific, and special scientific methods. Based on the obtained conclusions and generalisations, the study aims to develop original proposals and recommendations for improving national legislation on this matter

scholarly journals Fundamental Human Rights and UNO Charter: A Critical Analysis with Islamic Perspectives.

2021 ◽  
pp. 97-117
Author(s):  
Inam Ullah Wattoo ◽  
Yasir Farooq
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
The People ◽  
Peace And Justice ◽  
The World ◽  
Historical Observation ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Short Time

This study presents a critical analysis on the charter of human rights of United Nations, as it was design to promote peace and justice in the world but unfortunately it was not come in true. So the concepts and impacts of human rights presented by UN will be examine in the light of Seerah, and to find out the reasons which caused its failure. It is historical observation that fundamental human rights are very essential for justice and peace in the world. All the peoples have equal rights in all respects. No one is allowed to disregard the rights of others on the basis of race, color and religion. Holy Prophet Muḥammad (PBUH) founded the state of Yathrab and first time in the history declared the fundamental rights of human and vanished the differences based on race, color and gender. Rights for slaves, war prisoners and women were not only defined but were implemented by legal procedure in very short time. In 1948 United Nation declared a charter for human rights which proclaimed that inherent dignity and equal rights are the foundation of freedom, justice and peace of the world. This charter consist on 30 articles regarding individual and common rights of human. This charter of UN guaranteed the security of all fundamental rights of all human being. Although there are number of articles which caused uneasiness among the people of different religions such as article No. 19. Freedom of opinion and express must be observed but it should must be keep in mind that some irresponsible elements of different societies are using this for their criminal purposes as cartoon contest on Prophet Muḥammad (PBUH) by Geert wilders of Holland in recent days caused huge disturbance for world peace. Whereas, the Prophet of Islām ordered the Muslim to respect the clergy of other religions even He (PBUH) halted the Muslims to abuse the idols.

scholarly journals Building collective power in citizen-led initiatives for health accountability in Guatemala: The role of networks

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Hernandez ◽  
Anna-Karin Hurtig ◽  
Isabel Goicolea ◽  
Miguel San Sebastian ◽  
Fernando Jerez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Health System ◽  
System Failures ◽  
Marginalized Communities ◽  
The People ◽  
Network Building ◽  
History Of ◽  
Relational Qualities ◽  
Base Of Support ◽  
Network Mapping

Abstract Background Citizen-led accountability initiatives are a critical strategy for redressing the causes of health inequalities and promoting better health system governance. A growing body of evidence points to the need for putting power relations at the forefront of understanding and operationalizing citizen-led accountability, rather than technical tools and best practices. In this study, we apply a network lens to the question of how initiatives build collective power to redress health system failures affecting marginalized communities in three municipalities in Guatemala. Methods Network mapping and interpretive discussions were used to examine relational qualities of citizen-led initiatives’ networks and explore the resources they offer for mobilizing action and influencing health accountability. Participants in the municipal-level initiatives responded to a social network analysis questionnaire focused on their ties of communication and collaboration with other initiative participants and their interactions with authorities regarding health system problems. Discussions with participants about the maps generated enriched our view of what the ties represented and their history of collective action and also provided space for planning action to strengthen their networks. Results Our findings indicate that network qualities like cohesiveness and centralization reflected the initiative participants’ agency in adapting to their sociopolitical context, and participants’ social positions were a key resource in providing connection to a broad base of support for mobilizing collective action to document health service deficiencies and advocate for solutions. Their legitimacy as “representatives of the people” enabled them to engage with authorities from a bolstered position of power, and their iterative interactions with authorities further contributed to develop their advocacy capabilities and resulted in accountability gains. Conclusions Our study provided evidence to counter the tendency to underestimate the assets and capabilities that marginalized citizens have for building power, and affirmed the idea that best-fit, with-the-grain approaches are well-suited for highly unequal settings characterized by weak governance. Efforts to support and understand change processes in citizen-led initiatives should include focus on adaptive network building to enable contextually-embedded approaches that leverage the collective power of the users of health services and grassroots leaders on the frontlines of accountability.

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