Guide des bonnes pratiques en matière de gouvernance et « Sustainability framework » : l’orientation de l’International Federation of Accountants vers un « capitalisme stakeholder »

Au premier trimestre 2009, le normalisateur mondial de la profession comptable (International Federation of Accountants) a publié deux documents destinés à apporter une aide aux professionnels de la comptabilité et de la finance sur leur prise en compte du développement durable et des parties prenantes d’une entreprise. En premier lieu, l’International Federation of Accountants propose un cadre d’analyse durable. Outil destiné aux comptables et financiers, il vise à faire de ces derniers un maillon essentiel du développement de nouvelles pratiques favorisant une performance économique, sociale et environnementale des entreprises. En second lieu, l’International Federation of Accountants vient de diffuser un guide international des bonnes pratiques en matière de gouvernance d’entreprise complétant les codes de gouvernance existant et ayant pour objectif d’inscrire les entreprises dans une approche stakeholder. A l’heure où la crise financière se fait ressentir et où la finance se trouve décriée pour s’être focalisée sur la valeur actionnariale, la position de l’International Federation of Accountants est révélatrice d’un changement de paradigme non sans conséquence pour la comptabilité, la finance et le droit.

Exploration of implicit theories in the formation of expert opinion in portuguese criminal law

This dissertation examines different aspects involved in the formation of psychologists’ expert opinion in the Portuguese criminal justice system, more precisely, as this opinion is reflected in assessment reports. The present dissertation is comprised of three qualitative studies, the first sought to provide a general portrait of a sample of 106 forensic psychological reports as to their overall quality as measured in terms of relevance and coherence. Results show that the formal markers of quality are present in the sample analysed, a certain number of weaknesses have been observed, notably concerning the internal coherence of the reports as well as the relevance of the information reported on. The second study explored the opinions of 17 Portuguese judges and state prosecutors concerning the use they make of this type of forensic report. It appears that they consider these reports to be useful and very credible, specially so when they have been produced under the auspices of the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, which is the state forensic institution. Furthermore, it appears that judges and prosecutors were particularly interested in data that allowed for a personalised portrait of the assessee. The third study sought to better comprehend the conceptual bases on which psychologists construct their reports. To this end, an exploratory study was undertaken with a sample of key-actors; the analysis of their interviews shows that they define their judicial mandate as well as the basic concepts that are associated to this mandate in different ways. A theoretical framework provided by an implicit theories model was used to help understand these results.

Democratic Deliberation in a Multinational Federation

Democratic deliberation is an aspiration that, in the most favorable conditions, remains difficult to achieve. In divided or multinational societies, the requirements of democratic theory appear particularly daunting. This essay surveys the Canadian debate about democratization and constitutional politics to better understand the significance of democratic deliberation in a concrete case, when principles are evoked in a context where institutions, interests, identities and power also matter. The article proposes to think of deliberation and power politics as closely intertwined and, in fact impossible to separate. Even in the best conditions, multinational deliberations always remain imperfect exercises in practical reason.