Changing US attitudes to federalism prioritise states

Significance Once considered the means by which US states could act as ‘laboratories of democracy’ that find new ways to improve governance, the recent construction of federalism as prioritising state autonomy is producing unevenness in democratic practices that is affecting the established rights of individuals. Impacts The erosion of common standards in states’ electoral procedures will further reduce overall trust in the democratic process. Political divisions between state and federal governments will increase during the remainder of the Biden presidency. Emphasising splits with Washington on civil rights issues camouflages state-level economic changes which will also impact voters. Aided by interest groups, states are drafting appeal-proof laws which reduce the ability of courts to enforce national standards.

Effectiveness of Strategies Used by Local Government Leaders in Combating Children’s Rights Violation in Arusha City, Tanzania

This study sought to establish the effectiveness of strategies used by local government leaders in combating violation of children’s rights in Arusha City using the descriptive design. The population involved 168 local government leaders from 24 Wards whereby the sample of 96 was picked through simple random sampling, but the response rate was 71 (73.9%). Validity was assured through expert judgment and the reliability was established through determination of the Cronbach’s Alfa which was above 0.6 for each variable. The study established that strategies used by local government leaders in combating violation of Children’s rights include desks at police stations for children right cases, education to the community, protection committees that coordinate and monitor violation of children’s rights, local government authorities providing legal aid, perpetrators being prosecuted so that legal action can be taken against them and free family events and activities for children’s rights education. The strategies were perceived to be effective except for children’s desk at police stations. Identified challenges included some cases not being reported, poor cooperation from victims, corruption, lack of political will and ineffective policies. It is recommended that appropriate organs should strengthen the use of strategies listed in this study in order to curb violation of children’s rights issues. There is a need for transformations in handling reported cases at the police desks. Finally, the government authorities should find ways to curb the identified challenges that faced initiatives used by local government leaders in combating violation of children’s rights in Arusha city.

Determining the content of corporate reporting on human rights

Business enterprises have to report their activities to stakeholders in order to provide corporate transparency. Non-financial corporate reports provide a comprehensive coverage of environmental, socio-economic, labor, health, and human rights issues. In the paper the author argues that a uniform definition of a sector-specific human rights issue in reporting frameworks, rather than self-identification by enterprises of salient human rights issues, would help to achieve standardization and thus the possibility of sanctions in the event of false or misleading reporting. The author analyzes existing international and regional non-financial reporting instruments regarding the human rights included in it. The main content issues of non-financial reporting are derived and given requirements to improve them. The author further analyzes whether the two main frameworks for human rights reporting (the GRI Standards and the UNGPs Reporting Framework) currently meet the requirements for content defined in the paper and, if not, how they can be changed.

Human Rights in Vietnam – A Current Reality

The article is based on recognized human rights standards, using concrete examples in real life, thus showing the actual picture of human rights in Vietnam today. Vietnam is willing to cooperate and strives to realize the values in the Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations in 1948 and other international conventions on human rights. It tries to answer questions about human rights in Vietnam: Why is the human rights situation in the country making much progress, although the US still regularly puts Vietnam on the list of countries particularly concerned about human rights? Most importantly, this colorful picture will delve into human rights values that Vietnamese people are enjoying. With vivid images, the article also points out the difficulties that Vietnamese people are going through to join the international community to be more aware of the human rights issues that they actively address.

The need for a structured approach to extradition between China and New Zealand

<p>New Zealand will increasingly be confronted with human rights issues arising from the extradition of individuals to China due to perceived inadequacies in China’s criminal justice system and the practice of using force to extract confessions by China’s law enforcement agencies. This thesis examines the failings of New Zealand’s current ad hoc extradition system with its reliance on diplomatic assurances to guarantee fair trial rights and protection against torture for individuals extradited to China. Due to these inadequacies it is possible that the only way in which New Zealand can fulfil its obligations under the United Nations Convention against Corruption in cases involving corruption is for New Zealand to exercise its extraterritorial jurisdiction as an alternative to extradition. The Law Commission’s approach in its 2016 report recommending changes to the Extradition Act 1999 fails to comprehend the essential role bilateral treaties are likely to play in terms of New Zealand’s extradition relationships with countries such as China in the future. It is argued that a more structured approach is needed by concluding a legally binding treaty with China that provides for specific human rights guarantees and a monitoring regime. This treaty should also allow either state party to offer to try an individual sought for extradition by exercising the requested party’s extraterritorial jurisdiction as an alternative to extradition. Furthermore, consideration should be given to expanding the scope of New Zealand’s extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction in cases involving individuals requested for extradition under the treaty.</p>

The need for a structured approach to extradition between China and New Zealand

<p>New Zealand will increasingly be confronted with human rights issues arising from the extradition of individuals to China due to perceived inadequacies in China’s criminal justice system and the practice of using force to extract confessions by China’s law enforcement agencies. This thesis examines the failings of New Zealand’s current ad hoc extradition system with its reliance on diplomatic assurances to guarantee fair trial rights and protection against torture for individuals extradited to China. Due to these inadequacies it is possible that the only way in which New Zealand can fulfil its obligations under the United Nations Convention against Corruption in cases involving corruption is for New Zealand to exercise its extraterritorial jurisdiction as an alternative to extradition. The Law Commission’s approach in its 2016 report recommending changes to the Extradition Act 1999 fails to comprehend the essential role bilateral treaties are likely to play in terms of New Zealand’s extradition relationships with countries such as China in the future. It is argued that a more structured approach is needed by concluding a legally binding treaty with China that provides for specific human rights guarantees and a monitoring regime. This treaty should also allow either state party to offer to try an individual sought for extradition by exercising the requested party’s extraterritorial jurisdiction as an alternative to extradition. Furthermore, consideration should be given to expanding the scope of New Zealand’s extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction in cases involving individuals requested for extradition under the treaty.</p>

Bilateral will dominate Gulf UK and EU trade advances

Significance The post-Brexit United Kingdom is eager to conclude economic agreements across the world under its promise to deliver a ‘Global Britain’. The EU wants to increase its visible commercial clout in the Gulf and strengthen its image as a significant geopolitical actor. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are ready to seize the opportunity to boost technology transfers. Impacts The Gulf countries’ increasingly serious shift towards green energy could be a major driver for increased European engagement. The GCC countries will seek further investment in their respective education sectors. Differences in perspective on human rights issues will lead to tension within the EU itself, as well as with the GCC.

Human Rights in the Light of the Process of Financialisation

The article deals with the challenges resulting from financialisation, in which we observe an increasing impact of the financial sphere in man’s everyday life. It also considers the effect of this process on the functioning of societies and concludes that the process of creating and applying financial market law must be redefined and human rights issues taken into account. In addition to the activity of the UN and the European Union in promoting the concept of business and human rights, the experiences of recent years show that combining human rights with financial market regulation is possible. To achieve this, however, many actors must be involved and a specific understanding of human rights and values must be adopted, and their protection should constitute the core of the legislator’s activity.

Gendered Violence and Neoliberal Desaparecidos in Luis Cano’s Socavón

This article situates Socavón (1999), a monologue by leading Argentine playwright Luis Cano, in terms of former Argentine President Carlos Menem’s (1989–99) economic policies in post-dictatorship Argentina, demonstrating how neoliberalism can be understood through the gendered shame and violence it produces. Shunted aside in Buenos Aires and haunted by its legions of desaparecidos, protagonist Ulisito desperately seeks throughout Socavón to regain his masculinity – as well as his personhood and his visibility – through aggression. I argue that Ulisito’s violence is a form of civil resistance, a reaction against a dehumanizing economic regime, as well as a critique of unresolved human rights issues haunting democratic Argentina. Cano draws on numerous dramatic and literary antecedents, including a play that is foundational to dramatic modernity, Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck, as blueprints for a contemporary crisis. Socavón suggests that unless a more equitable society is created, women in particular will continue to be the victims of a collapsed masculinity trying to reassert itself.