by IJLMH | Oct 7, 2020
In a democratic state, courts are in the best place for protecting individual and institutional rights as well as the development and economy of a country. The activism of judge in criminal court as it is provided in civil law may highly contribute to the fight against the economic crimes. This study seeks to address the role of a court in collecting pieces of evidence with the purpose to fight against economic crimes. It examines the provisions governing the collection of evidence by the court with the aim to safeguard the rights of the accused person and the fight against the economic crimes. In this perspective, the legal framework of economic crimes in Rwanda and the criminal procedure and modes of administration of evidence in court hearing were qualitatively analyzed. This research argues that is true that the burden of proof is for the prosecution, but the first impressions of a best Rwandan judge could not be rejecting pieces of evidence of economic crimes produced by the prosecutor or accused person without its scrupulous examination. The recourse to the scientific and forensic evidence is helpful in case of assessing pieces of evidence relating to economic crimes. This contribution commends legislative enactment and the creation of awareness of the investigators and prosecutors toward on a carefulness investigation in case of collecting evidence of economic crimes and judges in case of judging those cases.
Keywords: Rwanda, prosecution, economic crimes, activism of the judge, evidence.
by IJLMH | Sep 14, 2020
The main motive behind providing for reservation to treaties under the Vienna Convention was to substantially increase global participation in ratification of treaties in general and humanitarian treaties in particular. However, despite gaining certain degree of stability over the years, these provisions still suffer from various defects as they have rendered the uniform applicability of the treaties infructuous to a certain extent, and has been a matter of constant examination. In this article, the authors aim to examine the impact of the provisions for reservation under the Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties on global relations, while discussing the reasons for their inclusion in the Convention and focusing on their relevance in the 21st Century. In this regard, the authors extensively analyse various cases that have helped to establish the concept of reservation of treaties, especially in case of multilateral treaties, and instigated its development under international law.
by IJLMH | Sep 9, 2020
Mankind is well-familiar with the element of discrimination- where man hounds for factors upon which he can discriminate others such as race, place of birth, place of residence, economic affluence, and the age old factor of discrimination- sex and gender. The society was traditionally understood to have been divided into a “binary gender system”, where women were always perceived as the gender inferior to men, but now the term “sexual orientation and gender identity” is not limited to male and female. Men have come to discover varied understanding of sexuality and introduced the concept of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI). The LGBTI Community has fallen victim to unfathomable discrimination meted out against them because they do not fall within the confines of the “binary gender system”. Homosexuality is not just the epitome of blasphemy in countries but is a criminalized act under their municipal laws. It is recently that the LGBTI Community raised their voice against the injustice that has been inflicted upon them for decades. With a sea of protests sweeping over the State authorities, the act of homosexuality was decriminalized in a number of countries now, but the Islamic countries all across the globe continue to impose death penalty on consensual same-sex sexual acts. The paradigm shift was brought about in Indonesia’s Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, in 2006, where the Yogyakarta Principles were developed at a meeting of the International Commission of Jurists and human rights experts from around the world. The Yogyakarta Principles are a set of Principles that have been specifically devised to provide people of differed sexual orientation and gender identity with all the basic human rights that every individual is entitled to despite their sexuality. The Yogyakarta Principles have borrowed heavily from the body of international human rights law but has made it explicit that people of varied sexuality are entitled to these rights despite all odds. India too has relied on these principles as an international authority in granting rights to the LGBTI Community through its recent judgments. The aim of this article is to analyze the extent to which the Yogyakarta Principles are an embodiment of the International Human Rights Law; to examine if India requires a separate body of law governing the rights of the LGBTI Community or their rights can be read into the Indian Constitutional provisions and other statutory laws with certain amendments being made to the latter to suit the needs of the Community, as they too are human beings and not aliens.
Keywords- Yogyakarta Principles, sexual orientation and gender identity, sexuality, hetero-normative individuals, binary gender system.
by IJLMH | Aug 13, 2020
Hovering amidst the large sum of 21 million disabled individuals in India, are “12.6 million males and 9.3 million females”. Based on the recent polls, 43-44% of the entire disabled population are women. The question one may fathom when we discuss “Women with Disabilities” (WWD) is that the need of carving out a gender aspect in the predominant discourse of disabled rights. The answer lies in the post-modern perspective of “Intersectionality” which as a concept first emerged in the works of Prof. Crenshaw who studied various political and social identities of a person and how such identities manifest into systems of discrimination that the said person may be exposed to. The emergence of the intersectional theory has led to percolation of different mainstream movements into one melting pot so as to achieve definitive inclusion and confront newer forms of discrimination. One primary example of such intermingled ideologies which directly relates to the focal point of this paper, is “Intersectional Feminism” which in its post-modern form has broadened its horizons of activisms from core women rights to include peripheral and concomitant issues related to rights of “queer women, transwomen, women of colour, women with disabilities”, so on and so forth. While on the forefront, people with any form of disability are prejudiced against and do not enjoy equal access to opportunities and resources, the female population, due to years of systemic oppression and prevailing patriarchal structure, assumes a greater risk due to multiplied identities leading to flaring of inequalities, violence, ignorance and predisposition . When the gender and physical identity of women with disabilities become apparent in a mutually exclusive manner, it encumbers access to any sort of rights, opportunities and resources. If we delve deeper into the intersectionality by adding a few more social markers through analysis of a government report drafted by “Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation”, we are familiarized with the deafening reality which is: half of the women who are disabled either do not have formal education or they drop out of educational facilities quite early. Furthering away from education into its end i.e. employment, it is to be noted that the gender disparity becomes unblemished in observation as 40% men with disabilities are employed in occupational settings while merely 21-23% of women with disabilities find employment in such institutions.
by IJLMH | Aug 13, 2020
Corporate philanthropy has always been a part of India’s business culture but what had remained voluntary so far was officially inserted into the legislation governing companies with the new Companies Act 2013. In fact India became the first country to actually do something that several countries had only been discussing for years. However, unlike other countries which envisage internal tweaks in operations, India’s approach to CSR is towards external philanthropic initiatives to be taken up by companies. Ever since its implementation, a lot of eligible Indian companies have gotten themselves involved in and lent a helping hand towards making India a better society. Several studies/reports have also indicated that companies too benefit from indulging in such initiatives in the form of an improved brand image, consumer loyalty as well as a motivated workforce. On the flip side, its an increased cost to the companies who could’ve used the money in strengthening their balance sheets or bettering their offerings.
The current CSR legislation is a great initiative but is highly flawed in its approach with its actual contribution to the development of the society being questionable. However, with some tweaks it can yield better results and truly serve as an example for the rest of the world to follow.
This article seeks to identify the numerous flaws in the legislation which enables loopholes for eligible companies to actually not contribute to the objectives envisaged by the legislation, with the backdrop of approaches adopted in other countries. It also looks at the advantages and disadvantages of having a mandatory approach towards Corporate Social Responsibilities and how it has fared thus far. Lastly, the paper offers solutions to the problems faced by the legislation in achieving its desired objective as well as suggestions for strengthening the legislation even further.
by IJLMH | Aug 12, 2020
During the period of industrialization, there were many industrial hazards that took place due to the faulty equipment and lack of safety. This costed many lives and there was no law enforced to protect the rights of the people associated with the factories.
In a period, such as this, the case of Rylands v. Fletcher in 1868 brought about the rule of strict liability was established, which ensured that those industries which kept hazardous substances owed strict liability to the stakeholders of the factories, if those substances escaped leading to damages. However, this rule came with a lot of defences or exceptions available, and the factory owners exploited these defences to get away with the compensation.
From the Indian perspective, the rule of strict liability was valid until the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984. This disaster took away many lives due to criminal negligence. It was one of the darkest days experienced in the history of India. However, soon after this, the Oleum Gas Leak case occurred. This back-to-back instances of two major industrial hazards pressed the judiciary’s need for a more effective and stringent law in place; the rule of Absolute Liability. This rule came with no exceptions and the factory owners would be held absolutely liable for any negative consequences of the factories.
This paper, therefore, tries to analyse the evolution of absolute liability from strict liability and the take of Indian jurists on the same from the judiciary’s perspective. It also aims to analyse the need of absolute liability rule in India and how that has affected the responsibility of businesses towards their stakeholders.
Keywords: Strict liability, Absolute liability, Rylands v. Fletcher, MC Mehta v. Union of India, Bhopal Gas Tragedy
