Norwegian Institute of International Affairs

Linked with Torild Skard – Norway, and with Frontal Attack on the UN.
Website in Norsk; and website in english.

Forum for Development Studies

Publications of NUPI

The Norwegian Research Database: INDEX and dbh/…

The Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) was established by the Norwegian Parliament in 1959 in order to promote a better understanding of international issues in Norway. NUPI has sought to achieve this by undertaking a wide range of research activities and by disseminating information on international issues. The Institute has an independent position in studying matters of relevance to Norwegian foreign policy and economic relations.

As a small nation, Norway depends strongly on stable and open ties to the rest of the world. Consequently, the understanding of international relations and the constantly evolving international economy is a vital prerequisite when the foreign, as well as domestic policy of Norway is to be shaped. With more than 40 years of experience, NUPI is one of Norway’s leading independent centres for research and information on political and economic issues.

Continuer la lecture de « Norwegian Institute of International Affairs »

The International Criminal Court (ICC)

Linked with Elizabeth Odio Benito – Costa Rica, and with Ensuring Peace through Justice.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in 2002 as a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, as defined by several international agreements, most prominently the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The ICC is designed to complement existing national judicial systems: the Court can only exercise its jurisdiction when national courts are unwilling or unable to investigate or prosecute such crimes, thus being a « court of last resort ». Primary responsibility to exercise jurisdiction over alleged criminals is therefore left to individual states.

The ICC is separate from, and not to be confused with, the International Court of Justice, which is a body to settle disputes between nations, and the Belgian War Crimes Law

It should be noted that « International Criminal Court » is sometimes abbreviated as ICCt to distinguish it from the « International Chamber of Commerce » or the « International Cricket Council, » both of which also use the abbreviation ICC. However in these articles the more common abbreviation of ICC is used.

See all on wikipedia. See there also ‘Cases before the court’, also Development, Composition of the Court, Structure and powers etc.

AGHS Legal Aid Cell

Linked with Alarmed at rising violence in Sri Lanka, and with Hina Jilani – Pakistan.

AGHS Legal Aid Cell is a relatively small but important NGO in Pakistan. It was set up in 1980 for providing free legal aid to women. Over the years, the mandate of AGHS has expanded to respond to the needs of a growing civil society and the demands made by various groups for legal recourse. AGHS is a professional organization headed by two Supreme Court Lawyers, Asma Jahangir and Hina Jilani. AGHS is quite unique in the country in term of its legal research, review of existing laws and lobbying new laws. It has strong links with the Bar Associations, police, political parties and the press. It also works closely with other groups of civil society nationally as well as internationally. With Regional Focus on Middle East or Asia, and with Country Focus on Pakistan. (Read more on International Rule of Law Directory).

AGHS Legal Aid Cell (ALAC) was set up in February 1980 in Lahore. Initially lawyers working for AGHS Law Associates supported the activities of ALAC. The activities were confined to providing legal aid to women. Gradually, however, these activities increased. Now legal awareness, education, protection from exploitation, legal research, counseling and providing legal assistance is all part of legal aid.

Objectives:
– To disseminate information on Family law and laws for the protection of the target group (women, children, elderly, disadvantaged etc.);
– Provision of legal aid to target group;
– Training of paralegal to involve more women in the mainstream movement for women rights;
– Campaign for child, women prisoners and crimes against women.

Activities in cooperation with Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation: AGHS provides legal assistance to women prisoners in Lahore and Multan along with monitoring situation of women prisoners in Punjab province. Besides that AGHS prepares and prints legal literacy material focused on women and human rights.

See AGHS also on the Human Rights Databank of hri.ca. And e-mail.

PARIVARTAN, Fighting Corruption – India

Linked with Arvind Kejriwal – India, and with KABIR.org – India.

Parivartan fights for people’s right to information. Parivartan, initially started up to help people get their work done in government departments without having to pay bribes, continues its crusade to educate and help people assert their right to information

Parivartan, a voluntary organisation active in Delhi, started out as a people’s movement in June 2000, to provide relief to taxpayers from extortionist corruption in the income tax department. “The idea was to help people get their income tax refunds without paying bribes,” says Manish Sisodia Parivartan’s founder. Taxpayers in Delhi were instructed not to pay bribes but to approach Parivartan with their grievances. The organisation has so far resolved about 700 grievances and helped some 2,500 customers in the Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB).

Parivartan soon realised that although its role as troubleshooter provided immediate relief to people, it neither empowered citizens to resolve their grievances directly, nor helped bring about permanent systemic changes. The organisation began to use the Delhi Right to Information Act 2001 to resolve public grievances.

Continuer la lecture de « PARIVARTAN, Fighting Corruption – India »

Departement of Biblical Studies, Univ. Fribourg (CH)

Linked with Tiere sind weder Menschen noch Waren, and with Othmar Keel – Switzerland.

The DBS has several publications:

For other recent publications by members of the department, please refer to Fribourg University’s Futura database or the profiles of our researchers.

Ancien Testament, Groupe Lefebvre – Comment la recherche biblique peut-elle croiser d’autres disciplines, et d’abord des disciplines théologiques ? Comment rendre utilisables les conclusions de l’histoire du texte biblique au théologien, au philosophe, au littéraire ? Un groupe se constitue, réunissant quelques biblistes du Département d’Études Bibliques (premiers membres : Ph. Hugo, Y. Goldman, Ph. Lefebvre) : les membres de ce groupe travaillent d’abord un passage précis de la Bible, puis ils présentent de manière simple quelques conclusions sur les plans de la critique et de l’histoire du texte, de la philologie, de l’exégèse ; enfin ils questionnent, à partir de ce matériau mis en forme, des représentants d’autres disciplines. Il ne s’agit donc pas pour chacun de développer un discours spécifique qui ne trouve dans le texte biblique que ce qui peut consonner avec sa propre démarche ; il s’agit au contraire de tenter une véritable rencontre, un croisement, entre un texte qui définit des potentialités de sens, à la fois multiples et précises (ce que le travail biblique aura permis de dégager) et diverses disciplines.

Continuer la lecture de « Departement of Biblical Studies, Univ. Fribourg (CH) »