How do we safeguard human rights - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 17 Words: 5028 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Law Essay Type Analytical essay Level High school Tags: Human Rights Essay Did you like this example? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Safeguarding Human Rights lies less in new laws, than in new interpretationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Discuss with reference to the United States and the United Kingdom Introduction Both sides of the proposition posed in the title question are fraught with difficulty. Human history, particularly as it unfolded in the twentieth century, confirmed that national and supranational treaties and legislation, no matter how compellingly drafted or extensively ratified, was a thin safeguard against human rights abuses. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "How do we safeguard human rights?" essay for you Create order Versailles, the Yalta Conference, the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the International Convention against Torture represent a sampling of this truth. The mere enactment of a human rights provision does not carry an implicit assurance of compliance or respect for its terms. Similarly, the legal traditions advanced by case law and other jurisprudence are an inadequate moral compass era to era in the human experience. Human rights are a dynamic and highly contextual aspect of our global existence. Written laws can quickly assume the status of tombstone data, immutable, inert and ineffective in the face of rapidly changing societal attitudes and diversity. The precise definition of what constitutes a fundamental right of any kind is never static. The body of law in any society is susceptible to manipulation by subsequent generations. In the course of this paper, an argument shall be advanced that seeks to synthesise both aspects of the title, with a primary weight g iven top the promulgation of better and more powerfully written laws as the ultimate tool to encourage cogent and authoritative interpretations to best counter the dynamics of human rights issues. The analysis commences with a series of working definitions. Depending upon the tenor of a particular time, human rights protections may be expressed in terms as expansive as an ocean, or as thin as a puddle. An effective definition of human rights is crucial given its status as the touchstone modern societal concept in both the United States and the UK. The relevant definitions are especially examined from the perspective of two constructs à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" rights versus obligations, and claims versus rights versus entitlement. The definitional foundation analyses specific examples available in both the American and the UK human rights experience. The common roots of the constitutional protection of human rights in each country and the divergence in approaches between both nations are considered; the American Constitution and the UK incorporation by reference of European Community human rights standards are considered in this respect. It is contended that the United States and the UK have recently returned to a common root in the consideration of the limits to be placed upon human rights availability in times of national emergency, a contention examined with particular reference to the events and the repercussions of the 9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks. An examination of modern constitutional protection in both the UK and the United States leads inexorably to a restatement of the central question à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"is the best human rights protection an enlargement of the existing positive law or the promotion of existing human rights jurisprudence? In this specific context, the question may be further re-stated in terms of an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"acid testà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"how has the protection of human rights withstood the exigencies of the c urrent à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"war on terrorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢? This conflict and all of its attendant human rights pressures will be considered as both a latter day moral panic and as the ultimate human rights intersection between individual liberties and societal protection. The paper concludes with an observation advanced in support of the proposed synthesis. Human Rights à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a societal touchstone As noted in the Introduction, human rights are increasingly identified in the public consciousness as representing the essence of both modern UK and American society. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Rightsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in all of their forms are asserted, advanced and in theory, protected with a vigour that is evident in every aspect of society. It is a simple but worthy observation that both American and UK societies now stress human rights laws because a functioning society must have them. Humans through history have proven themselves incapable of effective rule without laws. Alan D ershowitz has noted that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦man strives for something to worshipà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦today that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"somethingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ is human rightsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢[1] The natural law theories of Enlightment thinkers such as John Locke have remained a constant in modern day human rights considerations, where any type of intolerance is generally regarded as a limitation upon natural and desirable human growth and the acquisition of knowledge.[2] Michael Ignatieff has characterised human rights as a language that connects the disparate nature of global humanity. Progress on human rights issues is defined in this context as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦an increase in our ability to see more and more differences among people as morally irrelevantà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢[3]; the spread of human rights must be encouraged as it represents definitive proof of moral progress. The concept of human rights is one of the few philosophical or legal con structions that may be defined by what they are not without doing violence to logic or scholarship. In one sense, a theory of human rights is a theory of human wrongs; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it begins with the worst of the injustices: the Crusades, the Inquisition, slavery, the Stalinist starvation and purges, the Holocaust, the Cambodia slaughter, and other abuses that reasonable people now recognise as wrongs.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢[4] In a similar legislative context, Thomas Hobbes described covenants without swords as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"only wordsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢;[5] rights could only exist through a combination of statements of intention and a commitment to action and their enforcement. Similarly, a right is expressed in contradistinction to an obligation. Both the American Constitution and the UK law (both before and after the Human Rights Act / ECHR interpretations) emphasise rights, and their inherent sense of entitlement to the holder of the right. John Gentry speaks of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"the revolution of rising expectationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ fostered by human rights as a true societal touchstone issue; the revolution, evidenced by the sweeping nature of both American and ECHR judicial interpretations, is suggested as the cause of a serious deterioration in the concept of personal responsibility.[6] It is argued that within the broad tent of human rights, certain specific rights have primacy. In both the United States and the UK systems, civil and political rights have traditionally been afforded greater respect than economic, social or cultural rights. Civil and political rights are ones that advance and protect individualism and self expression; freedoms of assembly, religion, and property all developed organically from these roots. It is a more recent historical development that presents economic, social and cultural rights on an equal footing as that of the primary group; a distinction to be observed between the ECHR and the American Constit ution is in the emphasis in the European documents on this second group. While a number of commentators have expressed the view that the desired universality of human rights does not require à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"cultural homogenisationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢,[7] the right to work, to earn a living wage, the protection of cultural expression and the promotion of health care are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"softerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ human rights elements; the ECHR jurisprudence on these issues is more fully rounded than its American counterpart, because as is contended in this paper, the written law has led the jurisprudence à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"new laws have led to new interpretations.[8] It has been suggested that human rights laws are the means by which a state, a dry and impersonal legal entity, is transformed into a vibrant and dynamic nation.[9] In this respect the foundation human rights document in United States law, the American Constitution, has been the vehicle through which true nationhood has been attained. The Constitution as written represents a powerful codification into positive law the principles of natural law articulated by Locke and Rousseau that were dear to constitutional authors such as Thomas Jefferson.[10] The largely unwritten character of the UK constitutional system achieves a similar result through implication; the Human Rights Act, through the mechanisms discussed below, achieves a similar effect by different means. Both UK and American modern constitutional approaches to human rights presume their universality. The language of the American Constitution establishes broad definitions of citizenship and protection against an overbearing state. As an example, the language of the Fourteenth Amendment provides thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ The relationship between à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"citizensà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"personsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ and their respective constitutional protections has been a rich source of American litigation. A powerful example of the interplay between the clear language of the American constitution, historical circumstances, societal attitudes and national emergency is found in the differing manners in which the United States reacted to the two most immediate and stunning incursions made by an enemy upon its home soil. In 1941, in the wake of the Japanese strike against Pearl Harbour in Hawaii, the United States government through its Congress authorised the detention of all persons of Japanese ancestry resident in the United States, including those persons who were American citizens. The plain language of the Fourteenth Amendment was circumscribed by the perceived threat presented by persons of Japanese ancestry. In a constitutional challenge to their internment[11], the United States Supreme Court ruled that the government action was permitted; Congress à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦had reposed confidence in its military leadership (in recommending the detention of these persons)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" war powers, said the Court, must be judged within the context of war.[12] Sixty years later, the 9/11 attacks perpetrated by the Al Qaeda terrorist movement were determined to be the work of persons who originated from a primarily Saudi Arabian based Muslim sect. The United States made no movement to detain or otherwise restrict the citizenship rights of its Saudi or broader Arab Muslim minority; the United States restrictions on the travel freedoms of some members of this general class of persons was a markedly lesser response to the 9/11 emergency than that which followed Pearl Harbour; even these latter actions have attracte d widespread adverse commentary[13]. It may appear that a 1941 styled response to the events of 9/11 would not accord with modern American or perceived global standards of human rights; it may be said that modern American attitudes to the notion of confining persons on the basis of ancestry or religion evolved from what in retrospect was the disagreeable treatment of American Japanese in World War Two. However, whether the United States through its treatment of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"war on terrorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ suspects has effected an improvement on its 1941 Japanese policy is open to significant question, as is illustrated below. The European human rights conventions (ECHR) that are now a part of UK law by virtue of the Human Rights Act are a useful contrast to the American approach. The language of Article 5[14] (right to liberty) is stated as an emphatic guarantee of liberty and security that is subject to limited exceptions in its application. The Article is as sweeping in it s language as that of its American counterpart. Article 6 is a recapitulation of legal rights to due process and fair trials that largely mirrors the case law developed in the American constitutional interpretations and the UK jurisprudence prior to the enactment of the Human Rights Act. In both systems, the written law does not enumerate every conceivable human rights issue that requires protection, but there is a clear attempt in both the American and the UK provisions to establish and foster a legal foundation for human rights. In an overarching fashion, individual rights are the accepted trump against the powers of the state. The definition of what constitutes a right within each constitutional framework is the subject of continual reassessment and reassertion. In both jurisdictions, the development of human rights is based upon an experiential approach, akin to trial and error processes that are re-evaluated case by case. In this sense, in theory, there is a present synthesis o f law and interpretation such as that contended for in this paper à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the practical realities are different. The manner in which each system has created exceptions to these broad human rights protections may define the scope of both American and UK human rights better than the primary and positive enactments themselves. The ECHR establishes the means by which an individual state may declare its derogation from the primary human rights established and confirmed by the ECHR. Article 14[15] is far more specific than the old fashioned language of the American Constitution Fifth Amendment, but the net effect is that each regime permits significant leeway to a government that perceives itself as imperilled to impose limitation so basic human freedoms. The à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"war on terrorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ analysis set out below is an amplification of this point. A literal reading of each set of constitutional enactments reveals that the similarities in the extent and the protection of human rights are striking. One would expect a similarity in judicial results through the interpretation of these laws. As the jurisprudence that has flowed from the war on terror reveals, human rights is a highly mobile and elusive concept. A further important similarity exists in the written structure of UK and American human rights protections in the context of national emergency. In both systems, the power to relax or abrogate human rights provisions is stated as a clear exception to the law, as opposed to a balancing of competing interests. The stated level of emergency provided for to permit government exceptions to the standard of human rights in each system is very high. The ECHR derogation power noted in Article Fourteen above is conveyed in a tone that would suggest its power would be rarely invoked. The American Constitution is no less circumspect. The case law arising in both the UK and the United States in the wake of terrorist activity since 2001 has created a different legal landscape that what might reasonably be anticipated from a strict reading of the black letter constitutional law. The terrorism cases and the redefinition of human rights Korematsu established a principle of American constitutional interpretation that the right of citizenship was not absolute in war time. Further, the United States Supreme Court paid particular homage to the notion of judicial deference to the decisions of the executive and legislative branches in times of national emergency. The most striking similarity in the UK and the American case law to flow from the modern war on terror is the manner in which the respective national courts have applied this very principle. In the United States, Hamdi v Rumsfeld [16]is an instructive example. Hamdi, an American citizen, was detained by the United States as an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"enemy combatantà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ when he was determined to have significant links to the Taliban insurgency in Afghani stan. Hamdi brought an application for habeus corpus for a judicial review of his detention; Hamdi reed primarily upon the rights afforded American citizens under the Constitution for due process.[17] In language that echoed that of the Supreme Court in Korematsu, it was held that the war making powers of the executive branch presumed expertise and experience was lodged there. The Court held that the branches of government most accountable to the people should be the ones to undertake its ultimate protection; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a healthy deferenceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ must be shown by courts to legislative and executive judgements in military affairs.[18] The Court expressed its concern that to examine the basis of the government assertion that Hamdi was properly designated an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"enemy combatantà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ would represent an undesirable judicial à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"creepà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ into a military sphere.[19] The language employed by the Court is in c ontrast to the Arar case as discussed below[20]. The language employed in the UK terrorism cases is powerful evidence that whatever divergences may be apparent in the course of the human rights histories of the USA and the UK, the respective judicial attitudes as to how human rights may properly be limited in times of national emergency reflect a return to the legal roots shared by these nations. In a line of cases commencing with Secretary of State for the Home Department v Rehman[21] (where the consideration and delivery of the reasons for judgement straddled the events of 9 / 11), the deportation of a Pakistani citizen whose parents resided Britain was upheld as the proper exercise of executive power and the advancement of the public good: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"(The Secretary of State)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is entitled to have regard to the precautionary and preventative principles rather than to wait until directly harmful activities have taken place, the individual in the meantime rema ining in this country. In doing so he is not merely finding facts but forming an executive judgement or assessment.[22] Lord Hoffman noted in a postscript written after 9/11 that the events in America à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦are a reminder that in matters of national security, the cost of failure can be high. This seems to me to underline the need for the judicial arm of government to respect the decisions of ministers of the Crown on the question of whether support for terrorist activities in a foreign country constitutes a threat to national securityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ If the people are to accept the consequences of such decisions, they must be made by persons whom the people have elected and whom they can remove.[23] The subsequent decisions of the House of Lords, particularly in A Ors v. Secretary of State for the Home Department [24]reinforce this position. Lord Bingham employed the expression à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"great weightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in his view of the manner in w hich government decisions should be considered in assessing the terrorist threat. The court did emphasize that while national security represented the one area of national life where a court would be most leery to tread, where persons are deprived f their liberty without trial such action à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦plainly invites judicial scrutiny of considerable intensity.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢[25] The spirit of these decisions was maintained in the more recent case law that considered deportations that occurred as fall out from the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"war on terrorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, particularly as outlined in Khadir[26] and Tabnak[27]. In Khadir, Lord Mance buttressed the court view that a terrorist related deportation was supported in the ECHR jurisprudence[28] as authority for the proposition that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦litigation concerning immigration control does not concern the determination of a civil right within the meaning of article 6(1), despite acknowledging th e major repercussions on an applicants private and family life or on his prospects of employment that such litigation may haveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢[29] In both the American and the UK examples, the courts have employed a strict constructional division of powers analysis to establish the breadth of the permitted exceptions to otherwise available human rights protections in times of national emergency. The Arar case as outlined below is a useful illustration of where both the written law and the interpretations did not evidently prevent a breach of a fundamental human right in the name of the war against terror. Moral panic and terrorism à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the Arar case Sociologist Stanley Cohen coined the expression à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"moral panicà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ as a result of his studies concerning the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Mods versus Rockersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ social controversy in the UK in the 1960s[30]. By definition, a moral panic is a psychological disturbance to a community that is triggered by a perceived threat to the social fabric, precipitating calls for government action and a public outcry against its perpetrators. Moral panics in the shape of phenomena such as youth crime and obscenity have swept Western cultures; each has an element of being over stated and sensationalised by the media out of all proportion to actual threat posed. Terrorism and the threats posed to the safety and security of Western society generally and the United States and the UK in particular are far beyond a mere moral threat. However, the moral threat analysis may be a useful consideration in understanding that even a profound threat to national security is not without the imposition of definable human rights standards; the United States handling of the Arar incident and its conduct of the Iraq war in terms of the use of extraordinary rendition brings this question into stark focus. In 2002, Maher Arar, a Syrian born Canadian citizen, was prevented from c ontinuing on a passenger flight to Montreal that had stopped over in New York. American authorities, acting in conjunction with operatives involved in a Canadian security investigation concerning Arar and his possible connections to Al Qaeda and terrorism, detained Arar. Over his protests, Arar was taken from the United States and ultimately turned over to Syrian military and security personnel. Arar was detained in Syria for over 10 months, during which time he was variously questioned, tortured, and deprived of access to either legal counsel or Canadian consular officials. The information secured from Arar through the Syrian interrogation proceedings was ultimately provided to the United States as a part of its anti-terrorism activities, coupled with the military intelligence gathering process in relation to the Iraq war. In 2005, President George Bush declared that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦torture is never acceptable, nor do we hand over people to countries that do tor ture[31]à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. The International Convention on Torture, to which both the UK and the United States are signatories, sets out a clear prohibition against the use of torture in any form in conjunction with military operations or prisoner detention[32]. The American Congress had passed legislation in 1998 that confirmed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the policy of the United States not to expel, extradite, or otherwise effect the involuntary return of any person to a country in which there are substantial grounds for believing the person would be in danger of being subjected to torture, regardless of whether the person is physically present in the United States.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢[33] In a similar context, the concept of extraordinary rendition is regarded as an unlawful circumvention of the torture prohibitions. This practice involves the deliberate transfer of a person to a jurisdiction that does not hold a similar regard for human rights as the sending jurisdiction in its treatment of prisoners. The Iraq war has led to significant concerns in both the United States and the UK concerning the practice[34], regarded by many observers as a breach of human rights and an indirect form of permitting otherwise illegal torture.[35] The Canadian government convened a public inquiry into the circumstances of the Arar case; the primary domestic focus was the understandable public concern that arose in Canada concerning the complicity of its official agencies in the American action. The inquiry revealed that the United States was not prepared to recognise the fundamental rights of citizenship Arar otherwise possessed, preferring what was described as thin and tenuous connections between Arar and persons involved in terrorist activities. It is in this particular connection that the apparent wholesale breach of Ararà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s human rights in New York in 2002 and perpetuated in Syria over the next year can be better understood in part with referen ce to the moral panic analogy. Arar represents a circumstance where the American government seemed intent on pursuing a systematic violation of human rights based upon information it knew was no more than suspicion. The judicial reasoning in the American and UK authorities concerning the due deference to be extended to the executive branch in times of war cannot salvage actions that bear the hallmarks of Arar.[36] Further, the war on terror represents a confluence in UK and American governmental attitudes to surveillance practices that have been widely criticised as human rights violations perpetrated against its own respective nationals.[37] In the United States, the government operated a clandestine wiretap operation without warrant or other judicial sanction, in the name of the war on terror generally, and in the struggle against the Al Qaeda organisation in particular.[38] The use of executive warrants to permit wiretaps prior to the events of 2001 had provoked fierce deba te in the UK. The purported overseers of UK practice, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, adopted a policy whereby à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦their policy is to neither confirm nor deny whether surveillance had actually taken place.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢[39] The conduct of the war on terrorism with the unsavoury aspects of rendition and the use of the Guantanamo Bay facility to house detainees was one pursued as a joint enterprise by the UK and the United States. It appears that the linkage to Europe achieved through the EU and the ECHR may only know be a factor to restore divergence in attitudes towards human rights in the conduct of the war on terrorism. One commentator noted that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦British foreign policy after 11 September was meant to change America to turn the Bush administration into European social democrats, or at least Christian democrats by persuading Bush to accept that only cooperation and efforts to alleviate poverty could reduce the threa t of Muslim fanaticism. That policy is dead. Britain failed because it overestimated its power and underestimated the self-confidence and bravado of the American right.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢[40] If a single conclusion can be drawn from the UK and American attitudes to human rights observance during the war on terror, it is that each national government has preferred hard edged operational expediency to the persona rights wherever the two concepts have clashed. Conclusion In a profound sense, recent history illustrates that notwithstanding the combined effect of written laws and focused judicial interpretations, human rights will always risk running a poor second to the will of a government executive in war time. The foregoing analysis is an example of how law and interpretations can be synthesised into a mechanism to identify as best as one can the permissible boundaries between executive action and an enduring respect for fundamental rights by the executive branch. Judicial in terpretation alone is not enough à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the written law will at least identify what protections there should be in a society à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" as the Thomas More of fiction expressed it à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢[41] Strong written law will ultimately produce compelling yet balanced human rights protections. Bibliography ECHR Cases Maaouia v. France (2000) 33 EHRR 42 UK Cases Tabnak, R. v [2007] EWCA Crim 380 Secretary of State for the Home Department v Khadir (R on the Application of) [2003] EWCA Civ 475 A Ors v. Secretary of State for the Home Department [2004] UKHL 56; see also the Court of Appeal ruling [2002] EWCA Civ 1502, [2004] QB 335 Secretary of State for the Home Department v Rehman [2001] UKHL 47 United States Cases Arar v. Ashcroft, 414 F.Supp.2d 250, 2 74 n10 (2006) Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507 (2004) Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944) Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 (2004) Statutes European Convention of Human Rights, 1953 UK Human Rights Act, 1998 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1985 United States Constitution, 1787 Secondary Sources American Bar Association (2006) National Security Law Report https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_services/law_national_security/  (Accessed May 8, 2007) Arar Commission / Report of the Events relating to Maher Arar à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Analysis and Recommendations (2006) https://www.ararcommission.ca/eng/26.htm (Accessed May 8, 2007) Baker, Nancy V. (2003) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"National Security versus Civil Libertiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Presidential Studies Quarterly 33, no. 3: 547+ BBC Newsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (2006) M I-5 enabled UK pairà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s renditionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ March 28, 2006 https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4851478.stm (Accessed May 8, 2007) Bork, Robert H. (2003) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Civil Liberties after 9/11à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Commentary July/August, 29+ Cohen, Nick (2002) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Time to Bite Back? Other Countries Got Something in Return for Backing Bush; the UK Just Carries on as Americas Poodleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ New Statesman January 28, 9+ Cohen, Stanley Folk Devils and Moral Panics: Thirtieth Anniversary Edition Routledge, 2002 Dershowitz, Alan (2004) Rights from Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights New York: Basic Books Donnelly, Jack à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Human Rights are universalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Opposing Viewpoints Series Farmington Hills, NJ: Greenhaven Press, pp. 19-24 Donohue, Laura K. (2006) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Anglo-American Privacy and Surveillanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 96, no. 3: 1059+ Gentry, John A. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Defining Human Rights too broadly can destroy a nationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Opposing Viewpoints Series Farmington Hills, NJ: Greenhaven Press, 48-58 Gibbs, Blair (2003) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Human rights are not necessarily universalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Opposing Viewpoints Series Farmington Hills, NJ: Greenhaven Press, pp. 25 -31 Hobbes, Thomas (1651) Leviathan https://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/hobbes/leviathan-contents.html (Accessed May 9, 2007) Ignatieff, Michael (2001) Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry Princeton: Princeton University Press Mayer, Jane (2005) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Outsourcing Tortureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/02/14/050214fa_fact6 (Accessed May 8, 2007) 1 Footnotes [1] Dershowitz, Alan (2004) Rights from Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights New York: Basic Books, 59, 64 [2] Gibbs, Blair (2003) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Human rights are not necessarily universalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Opposing Viewpoints Series Farmington Hills, NJ: Greenhaven Press, 28 [3] Ignatieff, Michael (2001) Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry Princeton: Princeton University Press, 4, 5 [4] Dershowitz, 81 [5] Hobbes, Thomas (1651) Leviathan 8 [6] Gentry, John A. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Defining Human Rights too broadly can destroy a nationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Opposing Viewpoints Series Farmington Hills, NJ: Greenhaven Press, 51, 52 [7] Donnelly, Jack à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Human Rights are universalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Opposing Viewpoints Series Farmington Hills, NJ: Greenhaven Press, 24 [8] See the variety of cases determine annually by the European Court of Human Rights, coupled with the UK considerations of national statute compatibility with the ECHR [9] Gentry , John A., 50 [10] Ignatieff, 69 [11] Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944) [12] Ibid, 221 [13] See as examples Baker, Nancy V. (2003) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"National Security versus Civil Libertiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Presidential Studies Quarterly 33, no. 3: 547+; Bork, Robert H. (2003) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Civil Liberties after 9/11à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Commentary July/August, 29+ [14] European Convention of Human Rights, 1953, Articles 5 and 6 [15] The key expression with in the Article stated asà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ may take measures derogating from its obligations under this Convention to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ [16] Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507 (2004) [17] Ibid, 5th Amendment [18] Ibid [19] Ibid; see also Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 (2004) [20] Arar v. Ashcroft, 414 F.Supp.2d 250, 274 n.10 (EDNY 2006); see also the Canadian Commission report, infra [21] Secretar y of State for the Home Department v Rehman [2001] UKHL 47 [22] Ibid, para 23 [23] Ibid, para 62 [24] [2004] UKHL 56; see also the Court of Appeal judgement at [2002] EWCA Civ 1502, [2004] QB335, where the Court emphasised the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"inevitable trust and professionalism of the Security Serviceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ [25] [2004] UKHL 56 [26] [2003] EWCA Civ 475 [27] [2007] EWCA Crim 380 [28] Maaouia v. France (2000) 33 EHRR 42 [29] Khadir, para 86 [30] Cohen, Stanley Folk Devils and Moral Panics: Thirtieth Anniversary Edition Routledge, 2002 [31] Mayer, Jane (2005) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Outsourcing Tortureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ The New Yorker , 1 [32]United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1985 [33] Mayer, 2 [34] American Bar Association (2006) National Security Law Report, pp. 1-8 [35] BBC Newsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (2006) MI-5 enabled UK pairà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s renditionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ March 28, 2006 [36] See also the US litigation, Arar v. Ashcroft, 414 F.Supp.2d 250, 274 n.10 (EDNY 2006) [37] Donohue, Laura K. (2006) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Anglo-American Privacy and Surveillanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 96, no. 3: 1059+ [38] Ibid, 1059, 1068, 1072 [39] Ibid, 1079 [40] Cohen, Nick (2002) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Time to Bite Back? Other Countries Got Something in Return for Backing Bush; the UK Just Carries on as Americas Poodleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ New Statesman January 28, 9+ [41] Bolt, Peter à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"A Man for all Seasonsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, Act 1, scene 7

Racism A Long Way From The End Of Colonialism Essay

Racism Transition from Domination to Hegemony Historically, United States battle against racism has come a long way from the days of colonialism, slavery, racial hierarchies, racial demarcated reserves, strict policies and segregation. And yet, discrimination and inequality continue to persist in our society. Howard Winant, an American sociologist and race theorist, stated that, â€Å"the meaning of racism has changed over time. The attitudes, practices and institutions of epochs of colonialism, segregation†¦ may not have been entirely eliminated, but neither do they operate today in the same ways they did half a century ago (Winant 128).† The meaning and how racism operates may have changed over time but its negative connotations and implications in society continue to limit the individual’s understanding, explore and accept the complexity of each individual. Presently, racism appears less blatant and may appear â€Å"more acceptable,† but its existence and effect is undeniable. 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Market mix paper free essay sample

General Motors is the organization in which I’m familiar with I was with this organization for eight years. However I work for Chrysler at this moment so I’m a little familiar with the automotive industry as a whole. How does market mix affects the development of General Motors marketing strategy and tactics? General Motors has a global marketing strategy and tactics vision which is to design, to build, and to sell the world’s finest vehicles. When designing their vehicle General Motors are focusing on their best products while lifting their global resources to form the most undeniable vehicles and technologies. When General Motors build their new sleet of vehicles they optimize their global market to be cost-effective as well as developing finest segmented vehicles. As General Motors plan marketing strategy and tactic for pricing to maximizing revenues with a focused product strategy, supplying globally vibrant vehicles to the marketplace that offer our customer’s higher residual value, with lower incentives and appropriate pricing. As general motors describe how their product is implemented first the demand for the goods has to be customer based therefore consumers will gladly purchased what is being produced. When implementing place the need is minor other than researching their current location globally to determine which location can produce the product most efficiently while increasing the effectiveness of the product to show significant impact on company profitability. Developing and managing automobiles to compete effectively and achieve goals the organization must be able to adjust its product mix. General Motors understand competition and customer attitudes and preferences. Marginal Analysis is another technique that general motors incorporate when analyzing what happens to the costs and revenues as production increases by one unit. This will determine at which point profit will be maximized, marginal analyzing will distinguish between fixed costs average fixed costs, variable costs average variable cost, total cost while focused on increasing productivity, price is being paid close attention to as well; price is major in this world of automotive. Price is implemented from the value exchanged for the product. The progression of pricing mechanisms starts at fixed versus variable. Most often dealer can change quickly in response to the shift in demand a shift in demand will reveal shifts in total revenue. In some cases pricing can be difficult to predict due to the environment and or the cost structures, pricing can also be difficult due to the competitors pricing. That’s when implementing the fourth element which is promotion. Promotion is a communications strategy, which integrates the promotion synthesis. Advertising is a popular way to communication about an organization or its products that is transmitted to a target audience through a medium: sales promotion: materials that act as a direct inducement, offering adding value, or incentive for the product, to resellers, sales people or consumers: trade promotions = 47% of promotional budget, consumer promotions = 28% Steps of the promotional program. General motors have steps in which they implement promotional programs step one consist of Identifying target audience and characteristics, and perception of product. Step two Define communications objectives such as content, structure, format source and select media and source. When implementing promotion you should take in to consideration Political stand point, personal portion, and evaluation and dealers choice. As General Motors continue to research the way they implement the four P’s they incorporate a worksheets that will help them gain better understand and tailor their marketing mix to ensure their customers’ needs and wants. The worksheet is setup to compare each element such as describing their products characteristics on one side of the worksheet and on the other side of worksheet will be describe their competitors’ products characteristics. The price worksheet is set up with the pricing strategies of their product advantages and disadvantages on one side of worksheet, on the other side of the worksheet their competitors advantages and disadvantage of pricing strategies. The place worksheet is set up as how General Motors product is distributed on one side and on the other side their competitor way of   distributing their product. The set up for promotion would consist of General Motors way of promoting on the right column (advertising, television, radio, electronic or work of mouth) and their competitor way of promoting on left column. According to â€Å"businesscasestudies â€Å" three more P’s have been added to the list of market mix P’s the new three P’s are people, processes and physical which are put in to place for extended marketing mix. These seven Ps make up the strategies of marketing and become the main point of the marketing plan. The key goal of a marketing leader is to develop and sustain a marketing mix that matches the requests of the consumers in the targeted market. Marketing segmentation contains separating the entire market into segments. A corporation selects the segments to become the targeted market. The final aim of market segmentation is to intensification sales, which will help market share and profits by enhanced understanding and replying to the desires of the different targeted customers. General Motor’s success is a direct result of knowing how to market a product and having the correct individuals representing the product. The marketing mix is the key elements in the success of the organization. The elements of marketing include marketing strategies, market objectives, situational analysis and the targeted market. The Best marketing strategies start with an executive summary that provides a brief summary of the current matters affecting an organization. This strategy is vital in identifying key structures of a marketing strategy. After the executive summary the organization finds out its present situation in the market using a situational analysis. A situational analysis is an exceptional way to open the marketing plan as covers four mechanisms in a market analysis, the product analysis, the competitor analysis and the SWOT analysis. General Motors market analysis is fundamentals in determining the internal and external factors that influence the organizations certainties and uncertainties. For instance when theirs an economic movement and when theirs an economic slumps that will affect the organization. The product analysis is essential when inspecting a organizations present conditions of goods or services within a marketplace environment. It is vital that General Motors to know when a vehicle’s time is up and needs to be renewing or replacing. General Motors always keep an eye on their competitors, when doing so they will examine the marketing ideas and strategies of key competitors and evaluate how effective their operations currently are doing in areas where competitors may be seen to be a bit stronger than they are currently doing. The Promotional agencies and marketing specialists get paid a large amount of money to generate ads that are remarkable when getting individual to see the ads as well as getting people to conversation about them is huge challenges. The collective misconception is the amount of funds it take to market marketing campaigns that’s why marketers originated the solution of letting the customers spread the word which is better known as Viral Marketing. Good marketing can change an organization instantly between advertising and word of mouth it will give General Motors them influential way to engage their targeted audience. According to â€Å"General Motors.Com† Currently General Motors is the world’s leading automotive company with operations in more than 120 countries worldwide. In 2011 they sold 9.0 million vehicles. Their organization is diversified through products and geographic markets. They meet the indigenous sales and service requests of their retail and fleet businesses with a global linkage of independent dealers. Recently General Motors has experienced the manufacturings highest volume growth period. Throughout the globe, they are the leader in market share and vehicle sales, led by a diverse assortment of brands sharing core stages of efficiencies and connection by GM’s global range. Throughout the United States General Motors product the Cadillac which is their top vehicles then they have their GMC a very popular truck brand and the Chevrolet which is more of their smaller economy cars other than the corvettes which is one of the fastest vehicles on the road. Outside the United States General Motors manufactures and markets Holden, Opel and Vauxhall as well as the Cadillac, Buick, GMC and the Chevrolet. http://www.gm.com/company/investors/corporate-strategy.html http://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia http://www.businesscasestudies.com

This Tree Essays - Plant Morphology, Ornamental Trees, Plant Roots

This Tree This Tree A tree starts life as a tiny seed. Given the right conditions, the seed will start to take root. The tree seedling absorbs water and splits the seed coat. First a tiny root grows and bends downward into the soil under the influence of gravity. Finally, the stem and leaves emerge from the seed coat and push their way through the soil toward the sunlight. The seedling then begins to manufacture its own food. Eventually, it grows into a larger tree called a sapling. Despite their variations in appearance, all trees have essentially the same basic structure. They have a central column, the trunk. The trunk is the main stem of the tree. It has two main functions: first, support the branches, twigs, and leaves; secondly, transport food and water throughout the tree. The outer bark on the trunk protects the inside of the tree from injury and from drying out. The branches of the tree bear an outside covering layer of leaves. The branches give the appearance of a root system above ground. Anchoring the tree in the ground is a network of roots, which spreads and grows thicker in proportion to the growth of the tree above the ground. Roots are usually found at the lowest end of the tree and spread in a vast and intricate network, like underground branches. These roots usually extend as far underground as the twigs spread in the crown of the tree. In addition to anchoring the tree in the ground, roots absorb water and nutrients from the soil. The tree us es these to manufacture food and grow. Trees are seen as representatives of the world itself and with their inter-relationship with nature, by early man, it is not surprising that the coexisting tree is concerned with the mutual dependency of all things on Earth. I see the branches grow up strong and outwards from one single trunk, which to me represents unity. These branches are like a network of welcoming arms extended toward the sky inviting all to come rest and seek shelter. The roots of the tree represent the need to embrace life and draw life from the earth to survive. The sap of the tree flows through the tree like blood through veins and therefore to place things in the tree would enable a healing process to take place for an animal, a human, or a season. I see peace and tranquility in trees. I see cats and birds sitting side-by-side in harmony, no squabbling and certainly no death. Each is content and the overall system is in balance. Trees, like all other living things, eventually grow old and die. For some trees, death may come as suddenly as a lightning strike. High winds might uproot a tree, or an ice storm may coat it and bend it to the breaking point. For most trees, though, death is preceded by a period of natural decline. Anthropology