Effect of the civil law severability doctrine on administrative contract Theory: A study of French and Egyptian laws

This article investigates the application of the civil law severability doctrine in administrative law through an in-depth analysis of the French and Egyptian legal systems. Recognising the increasing complexity of administrative contracts and disputes, this study explores how administrative judges integrate the severability doctrine of civil law into their judgements. Specifically, it investigates whether and how this integration occurs and the balance that judges maintain between adhering to administrative law's independence and applying civil law principles. This article particularly notes the consistent application of this doctrine in the examined jurisdictions of France and Egypt. Despite minor variations, the fundamental approach to the severability doctrine remains largely uniform across these two legal systems. By presenting detailed case studies from France and Egypt, this study fills a notable gap in the current literature by offering valuable insights for countries where administrative law is still evolving, by showing how civil law doctrines can be incorporated. This approach not only bridges a knowledge gap but also sheds light on the interaction between civil and administrative laws, paving the way for similar interdisciplinary legal studies.

Identifying untapped legal capacity to promote multi-level and cross-sectoral coordination of natural resource governance

Natural resource governance in the face of climate change represents one of the seminal challenges of the Anthropocene. A number of innovative approaches have been developed in, among others, the fields of ecology, governance, and sustainability sciences for managing uncertainty and scarcity through a coordinated approach to natural resource governance. However, the absence of an enabling legal and regulatory framework has been identified in the literature as one of the primary barriers constraining the formal operationalization of these governance approaches. In this paper, we show how these approaches provide tools for analyzing procedural mandates across governmental levels and sectors in the natural resource governance space. We also find that there has been inadequate consideration of the potential in existing laws and regulations for cross-sectoral and multi-level coordination of natural resource governance. On this basis, we develop and apply a protocol that draws on the traditional legal method of doctrinal analysis to demonstrate how to identify existing, untapped legal capacity to promote coordinated governance of natural resources through an in-depth case study of water resources in South Africa. We then show how these untapped capacities within existing legal structures may be operationalized to improve natural resource governance. Further, this protocol is portable to other countries, provinces (states), and localities around the world.

Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007: A Critical Appraisal

BACKGROUND

The sociocultural changes associated with globalization and development have weakened the traditional values and family support systems for senior citizens (age 60 years and above). There is an increase in the prevalence of elder abuse and difficulties in getting appropriate care and support. This has mandated legal measures to protect the rights of the senior citizens and provide them care and support by the family and other stakeholders. Consequent to being the signatory for the "Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, 2002," several countries, including India, have introduced legislation for the social protection of senior citizens. "The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens(MWP) Act, 2007" is an important legislation in India to safeguard the elderly from exploitation and abuse.

METHODS

This article critically evaluates the implementation of the MWP Act, 2007, and the related challenges in protecting senior citizens from abuse. The article will also highlight the proposed amendments in the Act to strengthen the effective implementation of legal protection for senior citizens and ensure their well-being and dignity.

CONCLUSIONS

The MWP act is an important legal measure to ensure mainatinence and welfare of senior citizens and protect them from abuse and neglect. There is an immediate need to incorporate the necessary amendments so that the act gets more pragmatic value and becomes and important tool for elderly care and protection and reduce vulnerabilities and ensure holistic care with support in various bio-psycho-social domains.

Unfreezing unspent social special-purpose funds for the Covid-19 crisis: Critical reflections from India

In India, the government launched a US$22.6 billion financial support package for the poor and marginalized as a result of Covid-19. Approximately US$ 4.2 billion (INR 310 billion) came from a vast pile of unspent social special-purpose funds. How and why did such a large volume of funds accumulate in the first place, and why did it take a public health emergency to release them? What might be the consequences of their use under such emergency conditions - especially for our understanding of governance and accountability in social welfare provision? This paper presents a brief analysis of two preliminary case studies of specific social special-purpose funds in India. We rely on a handful of unstructured interviews and informal discussions with subnational government officials, civil society actors, trade union representatives, and local community leaders that began in January 2020, and which were pursued virtually following the lockdown. This is bolstered by analysis of primary documents, including Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) reports, relevant laws, and contemporary press coverage. We argue that non-disbursement should be understood as a institutional matter, and not only as technical or implementation failure. Moreover, as such funds are likely to mushroom following Covid-19, our findings suggest that policymakers should focus on the institutional design, decision-making and accountability structures for the flow and distribution of Covid funds, rather than merely emphasising their collection.

Litigation and political transformation: the case of Russia

This article analyzes some recent developments in the system of public law in the Russian Federation, focusing in particular on changing patterns of litigation and increases in use of administrative law, linked to new acts of legislation. It argues that discussion of the Russian case provides a sociological perspective in which we can understand the importance of legal actions in hybrid polities. It explains that litigation in Russia, even where it may have counter-systemic outcomes, is partly incentivized by the government, as promotion of access to law is seen as a means to formalize interactions between citizens and government and so to extend the societal penetration of the political system more generally. Litigation thus forms a mode of practice that, dialectically, possesses both inner- and counter-systemic status. In addition, the article argues that the case of Russia allows us to comprehend litigation as an element in processes of nation building and social integration more widely, and Russia illuminates the systemic significance of litigation in other societies.