Islamic law and international law: the terms of a relationship

The relationship between Islamic Law and other legal systems (basically western type domestic legal orders and international law) is often thought of in terms of compatibility or incompatibility. Concerning certain subject matters of choice, the compatibility of Islamic (legal) principles with the values embedded in legal systems that are regarded as characteristic of the Modern Age is tested by sets of questions: is democracy possible in Islam? Does Islam recognize human rights and are those rights equivalent to a more universal conception? Does Islam recognize or condone more extreme acts of violence and does it justify violence differently? Etc. Such questions and many more presuppose the existence of an ensemble of rules or principles which, as any other set of rules and principles, purport to regulate social behavior. This ensemble is generically referred to as Islamic Law. However, one set of questions is usually left unanswered: is Islamic Law a legal system? If it is a legal system, what are its specific characteristics? How does it work? Where does it apply? It is this paper`s argument that the relationship between Islamic Law and domestic and international law can only be understood if looked upon as a relationship between distinct legal systems or legal orders.

Law and narrative: a life history interview with a Brazilian jurist

This article discusses some issues in communicating experience, based on a life history interview with 83-year-old Brazilian jurist Evandro Lins e Silva conducted by the Getúlio Vargas Foundation’s oral history program (Centro de Pesquisa e Documentação de História Contemporânea do Brasil, or CPDOC) between August 1994 and January 1995.1The text focuses especially on two images used by the interviewee, which consolidate both the experiences that have been communicated to him and the experience that he himself endeavors to communicate regarding his activities as an attorney and the status of truth within the field of law.

Compliance to law and effectiveness of the rule of law in Brazil

The goal of this paper is to debate the degree of effectiveness of the rule of law in Brazil, through a survey measuring perceptions, attitudes and habits of Brazilians in regard to compliance to law. The survey conducted in Brazil is based on the study conducted by Tom R. Tyler in the United States, entitled Why People Obey the Law? (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990). The main argument of Tyler´s study is that people obey the law when they believe it’s legitimate, and not because they fear punishment. We test the same argument in Brazil, relying on five indicators: (i) behavior, which depicts the frequency with which respondents declared to have engaged in conducts in disobedience to the law; (ii) instrumentality, measuring perception of losses associated with the violation of the law, specially fear of punishment; (iii) morality, measuring perception of how much is right or wrong to engage in certain conducts in violation of the law; (iv) social control, which measures perception of social disapproval of certain types of behavior in violation of the law, and (v) legitimacy, which measures the perception of respect to the law and to some authorities. Results indicate that fear of sanctions is not the strongest drive in compliance to law, but more than legitimacy, indicators of morality and social control are the strongest in explaining why people obey the law in Brazil.

The role of law and public-private collaboration in promoting innovative firms in Brazil: the case of the BNDES and the “criatec fund”

This paper presents the result of a qualitative empirical research about the “Criatec Fund”, a venture capital fund, privately managed and directed to innovative firms, that was created in 2007 by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES). The paper discusses the role of law in the implementation of the Criatec Fund in three different legal dimensions: structural, regulatory and contractual. Based on interviews, this paper tries to test some hypothesis previously formulated by some scholars that studied new financial policies created by the BNDES. This study explains the institutional arrangements of this seed capital policy and the role of flexible legal instruments in the execution of this peculiar type of publicprivate partnership. It also poses some questions to the “law and development agenda” based on some insights from the economic sociology of law.

The interdisciplinary perspective on International Law and International Relations by Anne-Marie Slaughter

Este artigo consiste em uma resenha crítica sobre a reflexão de Anne-Marie Slaughter para uma aproximação interdisciplinar entre Direito Internacional e Relações Internacionais. Slaughter tem sido apontada, internacionalmente, como uma das protagonistas neste debate acadêmico, e sua obra é indicada como uma das mais influentes na academia dos Estados Unidos da América, no século XX. Em tempos de aproximação entre juristas e internacionalistas no Brasil, o artigo procura contribuir com a contextualização da produção da autora, bem como elucidar os momentos de influência das suas atividades em outros centros de discussão e produção. A proposta principal deste artigo é, assim, favorecer um mapeamento histórico e contextualizado da chamada para o debate interdisciplinar entre Direito Internacional e Relações Internacionais, a partir dos trabalhos de um de seus pivôs na academia nos Estados Unidos.

Law and economics in the civil law world: the case of Brazilian Courts

Conventional wisdom holds that economic analysis of law is either embryonic or nonexistent outside of the United States generally and in civil law jurisdictions in particular. Existing explanations for the assumed lack of interest in the application of economic reasoning to legal problems range from the different structure of legal education and academia outside of the United States to the peculiar characteristics of civilian legal systems. This paper challenges this view by documenting and explaining the growing use of economic reasoning by Brazilian courts. We argue that, given the ever-greater role of courts in the formulation of public policies, the application of legal principles and rules increasingly calls for a theory of human behavior (such as that provided by economics) to help foresee the likely aggregate consequences of different interpretations of the law. Consistent with the traditional role of civilian legal scholarship in providing guidance for the application of law by courts, the further development of law and economics in Brazil is therefore likely to be mostly driven by judicial demand.

Measurement systems of soil water matric potential and evaluation of soil moisture under different irrigation depths

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

EFFECT of GAMMA IRRADIATION on CAPROLACTAM MIGRATION FROM MULTILAYER POLYAMIDE 6 FILMS INTO WATER FOOD SIMULANT and VALIDATION of THE METHOD

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Interaction between supraoptic nucleus and septal area in the control of water, sodium intake and arterial blood pressure induced by injection of angiotensin II

We investigated the effects of injection into the supraoptic nucleus (SON) of losartanand PD 123319 (nonpeptide AT(1) and AT(2)- angiotensin II [ANG II] receptor antagonists, respectively); d(CH2)(5)-Tyr(Me)-AVP (AVPA; an arginine-vasopressin [AVP] V-1 receptor antagonist), FK 409 (a nitric oxide [NO] donor), and N-W-mtro-(L)-arginine methyl ester ((L)-NAME; an NO synthase inhibitor) oil water intake, sodium chloride 3% (NaCl) intake and arterial blood pressure induced by injection of ANG 11 into the lateral septal area (LSA). Mate Holtzman rats (250-300 g) were implanted with cannulae into SON and LSA unilaterally. The drugs were injected in 0.5 mul over 30-60 s. Controls were injected with a similar volume of 0.15 M NaCl. ANG II was injected at a dose of 10 pmol. ANG II antagonists and AVPA were injected at doses of 80 nmol. FK 409 and (L)-NAME were injected at doses of 20 and 40 mug, respectively. Water and NaCl intake was measured over a 2-h period. Prior administration of losartan into the SON decreased water and NaCl intake induced by injection of ANG II. While there was a decrease in water intake, ANG II-induced NaCl intake was significantly increased following injection of AVPA. FK 409 injection decreased water intake and sodium intake induced by ANG II. L-NAME alone increased water and sodium intake and induced a pressor effect. (L)-NAME-potentiated water and sodium intake induced by ANG II. PD 123319 produced no changes in water or sodium intake induced by ANG II. The prior administration of losartan or AVPA decreased mean arterial pressure (MAP) induced by ANG II. PD 123319 decreased the pressor effect of ANG II to a lesser degree than losartan. FK 409 decreased the pressor effect of ANG II while (L)-NAME potentiated it. These results suggest that both ANG II AT, and AVP V, receptors and NO within the SON may be involved in water intake, NaCl intake and the pressor response were induced by activation of ANG II receptors within the LSA. These results do not support the involvement of LSA AT(2) receptors in the mediation of water and NaCl intake responses induced by ANG II, but influence the pressor response. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Transpiration and stomatal resistance variations of perennial tropical crops under soil water availability conditions and water deficit

O experimento foi realizado no Departamento de Produção Vegetal da Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, ESALQ/USP, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brasil, utilizando-se as culturas de guaranazeiro (Paullinia cupana Kunth), cafeeiro (Coffea arabica L.), cajueiro (Anacardium occidentale L.), goiabeira (Psidium guajava L.) e seringueira (Hevea brasiliensis Muell. - Arg.). No período de seca (setembro/94) e de chuvas (novembro/94), realizaram-se determinações de resistência estomática (RE) (s cm-1) e transpiração (T) (µg cm-1 s-1) nas diferentes espécies. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos casualizados com cinco repetições. A partir das análises dos dados pode-se concluir: 1. diferenças significativas entre espécies, em termos das variáveis avaliadas no período de deficiência hídrica, com valores decrescentes de resistência estomática e crescente de transpiração na seguinte ordem: guaranazeiro > cafeeiro > cajueiro > goiabeira > seringueira; 2. Nas águas as diferenças entre espécies, para ambas as variáveis, foram menos evidentes, continuando a cultura da seringueira a apresentar menor resistência estomática e maior transpiração dentre as espécies; 3. As culturas de guaraná e café apresentaram maior resistência à perda de água, em relação às demais culturas.

Water at interfaces and its influence on the electrical properties of adsorbed films

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Water adsorption isotherms and isosteric sorption heat of spray-dried and freeze-dried dehydrated passion fruit pulp with additives and skimmed milk

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)