Behind their common struggle against GMOs

Focaal ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 2006 (48) ◽  
pp. 49-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Pagis
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
Comparative Investigation ◽  
Court Case ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Do So

This article presents a comparative investigation of anti-GMO activism in two regions in France. It shows how activists’ participation in acts of ‘civil disobedience’ was not necessarily motivated by the same reasons or directed toward the same goals. During my ethnographic fieldwork at two trials against activists who destroyed GMO test plots in France I found that although protagonists were in agreement on rejecting GMOs, their deeper motives differed significantly. I draw five socio-biographical portraits of anti-GMO activists and highlight their divergent opinions on their role in the court case, which illustrate how in their utilization of the court activists relate differently to the legal system and society at large. The anti-globalization organization Attac and the farmers’ trade union Con- fédération Paysanne clearly had different relations to politics but I also analyze why in Ariège these differences could be harmonized whereas in Droˆme differences between activists lead to serious divisions. I do so by considering how different local activist cultures are shaped within a competitive organizational arena.

The Role of the Judiciary and Its Relationship to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Waddington
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Amicus Curiae ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Legal Duty ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Do So

This chapter examines the role of the judiciary with regard to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). It considers the relationship which the judiciary have or appear to perceive themselves as having with the CRPD and explores some of the factors seemingly prompting courts to refer to it. The first section reflects on: whether judges are able to choose to refer to the Convention or have a legal duty to do so; the significance of the fact that the CRPD is international law; and whether judges appear to see themselves merely as domestic actors, or as agents or trustees of the CRPD. The second section explores whether judges are referring to the CRPD in response to arguments raised before the court or doing so of their own volition. Also considered are the relevance of amicus curiae interventions; reasons for referral related to the domestic legal system; and the role of particularly engaged individuals.

scholarly journals Civil Disobedience in Times of Pandemic: Clarifying Rights and Duties

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoann Della Croce ◽  
Ophelia Nicole-Berva
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
Duty Of Care ◽  
Normative Evaluation ◽  
The Law ◽  
Descriptive Sense ◽  
Public Demonstration ◽  
Do So

AbstractThis paper seeks to investigate and assess a particular form of relationship between the State and its citizens in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, namely that of obedience to the law and its related right of protest through civil disobedience. We do so by conducting an analysis and normative evaluation of two cases of disobedience to the law: (1) healthcare professionals refusing to attend work as a protest against unsafe working conditions, and (2) citizens who use public demonstration and deliberately ignore measures of social distancing as a way of protesting against lockdown. While different in many aspects, both are substantially similar with respect to one element: their respective protesters both rely on unlawful actions in order to bring change to a policy they consider unjust. We question the extent to which healthcare professionals may participate in civil disobedience with respect to the duty of care intrinsic to the medical profession, and the extent to which opponents of lockdown and confinement measures may reasonably engage in protests without endangering the lives and basic rights of non-dissenting citizens. Drawing on a contractualist normative framework, our analysis leads us to conclude that while both cases qualify as civil disobedience in the descriptive sense, only the case of healthcare professionals qualifies as morally justified civil disobedience.

scholarly journals Judges as Legislators: Not Whether But How

1969 ◽  
pp. 249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Functional Constraints ◽  
Law Making ◽  
Do So ◽  
Legal Writers

Although judicial legislation has always been an important feature of the legal system, it is not often acknowledged publicly. This has meant that the proper limits of the process, and the means by which it can be carried out most effectively, have not received due attention from legal writers. This article addresses those questions. It examines the reasons judges make laws, the reasons for their reluctance to admit publicly that they do so, the formal and functional constraints that should govern their law-making, and some procedures by which the process may be assisted and improved.

Dumbledore’s army: civil disobedience in “Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix”

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-198
Author(s):  
Arthur Emanuel Leal Abreu ◽  
Alexandre de Castro Coura
Keyword(s):  
Real Life ◽  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
School Community ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
Law And Literature ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Persuasive Strategies ◽  
Law In Literature ◽  
The Phoenix ◽  
Do So

This paper explores the connection between law and literature, considering the concept of civil disobedience as developed in the plot of the novel “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”. To do so, this research uses the approach of law in literature, by linking the actions of Dumbledore’s Army to the theory of civil disobedience by Dworkin. Also, the narrative is compared to the conception of civil disobedience as a fundamental right, based on the conflict between facticity and validity, as described by Habermas. Thus, the analysis identifies, in the novel, two categories of civil disobedience proposed by Dworkin, and discusses, in real life, the overlapping of disobedience based on justice and on politics, in order to identify the conditions that justify actions of civil disobedience. Besides that, this paper analyzes the tension between legality and legitimacy, considering the decisions of the Ministry of Magic and its educational decrees, which sets the school community apart from the official political power. In conclusion, the research examines the use of persuasive and non-persuasive strategies and the reach of civil disobedience’s purposes based on the actions of Harry Potter and of Dumbledore’s Army.

Why the “Haves” Come Out Ahead: Speculations on the Limits of Legal Change

2021 ◽  
pp. 297-302
Author(s):  
Marc Galanter
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
The State ◽  
Legal Change ◽  
System P ◽  
The Law ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Do So ◽  
The Way

This article proposes some conjectures about the way in which the basic architecture of the legal system creates and limits the possibilities of using the system as a means of redistributive change. Specifically, the question is under what conditions litigation can be redistributive, taking litigation in the broadest sense of the presentation of claims to be decided by courts. Because of differences in their size, differences in the state of the law, and differences in their resources, some of the actors in society have many occasions to utilize the courts; others do so only rarely. One can divide these actors into those claimants who have only occasional recourse to the courts (one-shotters) and repeat players who are engaged in many similar litigations over time. The article then looks at alternatives to the official litigation system.

scholarly journals Alternative Spaces & Artist Agency in the Art Market

Arts ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 116
Author(s):  
Olga Kanzaki Sooudi
Keyword(s):  
Social Bonds ◽  
Art Market ◽  
Future Market ◽  
Art Practice ◽  
Creative Activity ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Alternative Spaces ◽  
Do So ◽  
As If ◽  
Market Success

This article explores what alternative, or artist-led, spaces are in Mumbai today and their role within the city’s artworld. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in two alternative spaces, it argues that these are artist attempts to exercise agency in their work for an uncertain market context. In other words, these spaces are a strategy for artists to exercise control over their work in an uncertain art market, and a means to counterbalance their dependence on galleries in their careers. Furthermore, artists do so through collectivist practices. These spaces, I argue, challenge models of artistic and neoliberal work that privilege autonomy, independence, and isolation, as if artists were self-contained silos of productive creative activity and will. Artists instead, in these spaces, insist on the importance of social bonds and connection as a challenge to the instrumentalization and divisive nature of market-led demands on art practice and the model of the solo genius artist-producer. At the same time, their collective activities are oriented towards supporting artists’ individual future market success, suggesting that artist-led spaces are not separate from the art market, and should be considered within the same analytical frame.

14. Review of Legality:

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Craig ◽  
Gráinne de Búrca
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Judicial Review ◽  
Time Limit ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Treaty Provision ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Academic Debate ◽  
Do So

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. The EU develops policy through regulations, directives, and decisions. Any developed legal system must have a mechanism for testing the legality of such measures. This chapter focuses on access to justice and review of legality by the EU Courts. There are a number of ways in which EU norms can be challenged, but the principal Treaty provision is Article 263 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (ex Article 230 EC). Five conditions must be satisfied before an act can successfully be challenged: (i) the relevant body must be amenable to judicial review; (ii) the act has to be of a kind that is open to challenge; (iii) the institution or person making the challenge must have standing to do so; (iv) there must be illegality of a type mentioned in Article 263(2); and (v) the challenge must be brought within the time limit indicated in Article 263(6).

Legal Rationales Relating to School Segregation and Diversity

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger J.R. Levesque
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Differential Treatment ◽  
School Segregation ◽  
School Diversity ◽  
The Government ◽  
Do So

This chapter details how the legal system applies the legal developments to racial classifications, with a focus on school diversity and segregation. That analysis centers on the extent to which the government retains a compelling interest to assert a need for differential treatment and the extent to which the government’s actions reach the intended goals of furthering that compelling interest. To do so, the analysis proceeds in two directions, which reveal how the legal system raises questions that readily lend themselves to empirical formulations. The chapter concludes by presenting some of the key challenges raised by empirical evaluations of legal rationales, which sets the stage for the remainder of the book.

Civil disobedience and constituent power

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 462-480
Author(s):  
Richard Nobles ◽  
David Schiff
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Political System ◽  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
The Political ◽  
Constituent Power ◽  
Structural Coupling ◽  
Current Configuration ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
Discretionary Powers ◽  
Legal Right

AbstractThis paper uses the example of civil disobedience to explore Luhmann's description of the constitution as structural coupling between law and politics. Civil disobedience highlights the paradox of constituent and constituted power. The claims made for constituent power provide a basis for challenging the current configuration and expression of constituted power. This paradox is first avoided in the legal system through that system's inability to recognise a legal right to disobey law. In turn, a political system that has, under conditions of modernity, increasingly second coded power as legality, has an ever decreasing capacity to include communications that acknowledge a right to disobey law. Civil disobedience is only able to operate within the political system in the form of protest, and is accommodated through the exercise of discretionary powers. However, juridification of those powers has the capacity to threaten this accommodation.

scholarly journals Divided Infringement Claims

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Lemley
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Patent Law ◽  
Patent Claim ◽  
The Subject ◽  
National Boundaries ◽  
Modern Technologies ◽  
Do So

Patent law is territorial. It is also designed to deal with thecircumstance of unified infringement by a single actor. But modern commerceis not limited by national boundaries or by corporate forms. Patentswritten to cover modern technologies, particularly network computingtechnologies, are attempting to bring the distributed acts of differentusers around the globe into the ambit of a territorial legal system thatlooks for a single infringer. Not surprisingly, the effort to do so hascreated significant problems for patent cases.Two of those problems are the subject of our article. They involve what wecall divided or distributed patent claims - claims that are infringed onlyby aggregating the conduct of more than one actor, or aggregating conductthat occurs in more than one country. Patent law doesn't deal well witheither class of divided patent claim. Prosecutors and litigators need to beaware of these problems in order to most effectively represent theirclients.

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