The complexity of legal and ethical experience : studies in the method of normative subjects /

Includes bibliography.

Das Recht der Wirtschaft. Kritisch, systematisch und kodifiziert. Sozialwissenschaftliche rechtsuntersuchungen ...

Mode of access: Internet.

Semantic Web for the legal domain: the next step

Ontology-driven systems with reasoning capabilities in the legal field are now better understood. Legal concepts are not discrete, but make up a dynamic continuum between common sense terms, specific technical use, and professional knowledge, in an evolving institutional reality. Thus, the tension between a plural understanding of regulations and a more general understanding of law is bringing into view a new landscape in which general legal frameworks – grounded in well-known legal theories stemming from 20th-century c. legal positivism or sociological jurisprudence – are made compatible with specific forms of rights management on the Web. In this sense, Semantic Web tools are not only being designed for information retrieval, classification, clustering, and knowledge management. They can also be understood as regulatory tools, i.e. as components of the contemporary legal architecture, to be used by multiple stakeholders – front-line practitioners, policymakers, legal drafters, companies, market agents, and citizens. That is the issue broadly addressed in this Special Issue on the Semantic Web for the Legal Domain, overviewing the work carried out over the last fifteen years, and seeking to foster new research in this field, beyond the state of the art.

The place of writing in first grade Kuwaiti english education : a sociological case study

A hybridized society, Kuwait meshes Islamic ideologies with western culture. Linguistically, English exists across both foreign language and second language nomenclatures in the country due to globalization and internationalization which has seen increasing use of English in Kuwait. Originally consisting of listening, speaking, reading and writing, the first grade English curriculum in Kuwait was narrowed in 2002 to focus only on the development of oral English skills, and to exclude writing. Since that time, both Kuwaiti teachers and parents have expressed dissatisfaction with this curriculum on the basis that this model disadvantages their children. In first grade however, the teaching of pre-writing has remained as part of the curriculum. This research analyses the parameters of English pre-writing and writing instruction in first grade in Kuwaiti classrooms, investigates first grade English pre-writing and writing teaching, and gathers insights from parents, teachers and students regarding the appropriateness of the current curriculum. Through interviews and classroom observations, and an analysis of curriculum documents, this case study found that the relationship between oral and written language is more complex than suggested by either the Kuwaiti curriculum reform, or international literature concerning the delayed teaching of writing. Intended curriculum integration across Kuwait subjects is also far more complex than first believed, due to a developmental mismatch between English pre-writing skills and Arabic language capabilities. Findings suggest an alternative approach to teaching writing may be more appropriate and more effective for first Grade students in the current Kuwait curriculum context. They contribute also to an emerging interest in the second and foreign language fields in the teaching of writing to young learners.

Beyond charity : outlines of a jurisprudence for civil society

There is not a single, coherent, jurisprudence for civil society organisations. Pressure for a clearly enuciated body of law applying to the whole of this sector of society continues to increase. The rise of third sector scholarship, the retreat of the welfare state, the rediscovery of the concept of civil society and pressures to strengthen social capital have all contributed to an ongoing stream of inquiry into the laws that regulate and favour civil society organisations. There have been almost thirty inquiries over the last sixty years into the doctrine of charitable purpose in common law countries. Those inquiries have established that problems with the law applying to civil society organisations are rooted in the common law adopting a ‘technical’ definition of charitable purpose and the failure of this body of law to develop in response to societal changes. Even though it is now well recognised that problems with law reform stem from problems inherent in the doctrine of charitable purpose, statutory reforms have merely ‘bolted on’ additions to the flawed ‘technical’ definition. In this way the scope of operation of the law has been incrementally expanded to include a larger number of civil society organisations. This piecemeal approach continues the exclusion of most civil society organisations from the law of charities discourse, and fails to address the underlying jurisprudential problems. Comprehensive reform requires revisiting the foundational problems embedded in the doctrine of charitable purpose, being informed by recent scholarship, and a paradigm shift that extends the doctrine to include all civil society organisations. Scholarly inquiry into civil society organisations, particularly from within the discipline of neoclassical economics, has elucidated insights that can inform legal theory development. This theory development requires decoupling the two distinct functions performed by the doctrine of charitable purpose which are: setting the scope of regulation, and determining entitlement to favours, such as tax exemption. If the two different functions of the doctrine are considered separately in the light of theoretical insights from other disciplines, the architecture for a jurisprudence emerges that facilitates regulation, but does not necessarily favour all civil society organisations. Informed by that broader discourse it is argued that when determining the scope of regulation, civil society organisations are identified by reference to charitable purposes that are not technically defined. These charitable purposes are in essence purposes which are: Altruistic, for public Benefit, pursued without Coercion. These charitable puposes differentiate civil society organisations from organisations in the three other sectors namely; Business, which is manifest in lack of altruism; Government, which is characterised by coercion; and Family, which is characterised by benefits being private not public. When determining entitlement to favour, it is theorised that it is the extent or nature of the public benefit evident in the pursuit of a charitable purpose that justifies entitlement to favour. Entitlement to favour based on the extent of public benefit is the theoretically simpler – the greater the public benefit the greater the justification for favour. To be entitled to favour based on the nature of a purpose being charitable the purpose must fall within one of three categories developed from the first three heads of Pemsel’s case (the landmark categorisation case on taxation favour). The three categories proposed are: Dealing with Disadvantage, Encouraging Edification; and Facilitating Freedom. In this alternative paradigm a recast doctrine of charitable purpose underpins a jurisprudence for civil society in a way similar to the way contract underpins the jurisprudence for the business sector, the way that freedom from arbitrary coercion underpins the jurisprudence of the government sector and the way that equity within families underpins succession and family law jurisprudence for the family sector. This alternative architecture for the common law, developed from the doctrine of charitable purpose but inclusive of all civil society purposes, is argued to cover the field of the law applying to civil society organisations and warrants its own third space as a body of law between public law and private law in jurisprudence.

In search of Chinese jurisprudence : does Chinese legal tradition have a place in China's future?

Questions the extent to which Westerrn commercial laws adopted by China, particularly in its Company Laws of 1993 and 1995, are comptaible with China's different cultural and legal traditions. Suggests that Western concepts of the rule of law and of corporate governance are alient to China. Outlines the development of the Western legal tradition. based on Judaeo-Christian beliefs and legal rationalism. Compares this with the deveopment of the Chinese legal tradtion, based on Confucianism and legalism. Proposes ways in which the two traditions could be reconciled more effectively.

Getting it [on]line : sociological implications of e-dating

This article explores the role of sociology in understanding the phenomenon of online dating. Based on an examination of our qualitative study of 23 online daters, combined with the findings of the small number of other empirical studies available, we argue that further sociological consideration of the online dating phenomenon is required to: illuminate the social conditions informing these activities; enhance knowledge of if, and how, online technologies mediate intimate connections; and advance a critically informed understanding of the nature of intimacy in a global era.

Nonprofit organizational behaviour : sociological and psychological approaches

The study of organizations goes to the roots of social science. Abundant theory provides the basis for explanations of diverse aspects of organizational structure and process. As a subset of organizations, nonprofit organizations can be studied with many of the same theoretical approaches used for studying other organizations. Still, nonprofit organizations have some special characteristics, such as a multiplicity of stakeholders and the use of volunteers; some theories of organizations can therefore be expected to be especially useful for studying nonprofit organizations and some other theories not to be very useful. In general, our approach is to apply relevant organizational theory to nonprofit organizations. As such, this essay is not a typical review of literature about nonprofit organizations. Instead, the purpose is to equip the reader with conceptual and theoretical tools for understanding nonprofits as organizations.

Modernising charity : steps to an alternative architecture for common law charity jurisprudence

This chapter addresses the question, how can the common law concept of charity law be modernised? There are difficulties with the present jurisprudential conception. The focus of the chapter is not on those difficulties, however, but rather on the development of an alternative architecture for common law jurisprudence. The conclusion to which the chapter comes is that charity law can be modernised by a series of steps to include all civil society organisations. It is possible if the ‘technical’ definition of charitable purpose is abandoned in favour of a contemporary, not technical concept of charitiable purpose. This conclusion is reached by proposing a framework, developed from the common law concept of charities, that reconciles into a cohesive jurisprudential architecture all of the laws applying to civil society organisations, not just charities. In this section, first the argument is contextualised in an idea of society and located in a gap in legal theory. An analogy is then offered to introduce the problems in the legal theory applying, not just to charities, but more broadly to civil society organisations. The substantive challenge of mapping an alternative jurisprudence is then taken in steps. The final substantive section conceptualises the changes inherent in a move beyond charities to a jurisprudence centred on civil society organisations and how this would bring legal theory into line with sectoral analysis in other disciplines.

Home literacy education of Taiwanese Australian families : a sociological analysis

This research investigates home literacy education practices of Taiwanese families in Australia. As Taiwanese immigrants represent the largest ¡°Chinese Australian¡± subgroup to have settled in the state of Queensland, teachers in this state often face the challenges of cultural differences between Australian schools and Taiwanese homes. Extensive work by previous researchers suggests that understanding the cultural and linguistic differences that influence how an immigrant child views and interacts with his/her environment is a possible way to minimise the challenges. Cultural practices start from infancy and at home. Therefore, this study is focused on young children who are around the age of four to five. It is a study that examines the form of literacy education that is enacted and valued by Taiwanese parents in Australia. Specifically, this study analyses ¡°what literacy knowledge and skill is taught at home?¡±, ¡°how is it taught?¡± and ¡°why is it taught?¡± The study is framed in Pierre Bourdieu.s theory of social practice that defines literacy from a sociological perspective. The aim is to understand the practices through which literacy is taught in the Taiwanese homes. Practices of literacy education are culturally embedded. Accordingly, the study shows the culturally specialised ways of learning and knowing that are enacted in the study homes. The study entailed four case studies that draw on: observations and recording of the interactions between the study parent and child in their literacy events; interviews and dialogues with the parents involved; and a collection of photographs of the children.s linguistic resources and artefacts. The methodological arguments and design addressed the complexity of home literacy education where Taiwanese parents raise children in their own cultural ways while adapting to a new country in an immigrant context. In other words, the methodology not only involves cultural practices, but also involves change and continuity in home literacy practices. Bernstein.s theory of pedagogic discourse was used to undertake a detailed analysis of parents. selection and organisation of content for home literacy education, and the evaluative criteria they established for the selected literacy knowledge and skill. This analysis showed how parents selected and controlled the interactions in their child.s literacy learning. Bernstein.s theory of pedagogic discourse was used also to analyse change and continuity in home literacy practice, specifically, the concepts of ¡°classification¡± and ¡°framing¡±. The design of this study aimed to gain an understanding of parents. literacy teaching in an immigrant context. The study found that parents tended to value and enact traditional practices, yet most of the parents were also searching for innovative ideas for their adult-structured learning. Home literacy education of Taiwanese families in this study was found to be complex, multi-faceted and influenced in an ongoing way by external factors. Implications for educators and recommendations for future study are provided. The findings of this study offer early childhood teachers in Australia understandings that will help them build knowledge about home literacy education of Taiwanese Australian families.

The nature of juristic paradigms : exploring the theoretical and conceptual relationship between adversarialism and therapeutic jurisprudence

Problem solving courts appear to achieve outcomes which are not common in mainstream courts. There are increasing calls for the adoption of more “therapeutic” and “problem solving” practices by mainstream judges in civil and criminal courts in a number of jurisdictions, most notably in the United States and Australia. Currently, a judge who sets out to exercise a significant therapeutic function is quite likely to be doing so in a specialist court or jurisdiction, outside the mainstream court system, and, arguably, from outside the adversarial paradigm itself. To some extent, his work is tolerated but marginalized. But do therapeutic and problem solving functions have the potential to define, rather than complement, the role of judicial officers? The basic question addressed in this paper is, therefore, whether the judicial role could evolve to be not just less adversarial, but fundamentally non-adversarial. In other words, could we see--or are we seeing--a paradigm shift not just in the colloquial, casual sense of the word, but in the strong, worldview changing sense meant by Thomas Kuhn?