The Incorporation Problem in Interdisciplinary Legal Research

The seriousness of the incorporation problem in interdisciplinary legal research, this article argues, depends on how legal research is understood. If legal research is understood as a single, inherently interdisciplinary discipline, the problem largely falls away. On this view, the incorporation of other disciplines into legal research is what legal academics have for the last 40 years already successfully been doing. If, on the other hand, legal research is best conceived as a multi-disciplinary field, consisting of a core discipline – doctrinal research – and various other types of mono-disciplinary and interdisciplinary research, the incorporation of other disciplines presents real difficulties. For legal academics engaged in socio-legal research, in particular, two problems arise: the practical problem of trying to address a legal pro- fessional and academic audience at the same time and the philosophical problem of trying to integrate the internal perspective of doctrinal research with the external perspective of other disciplines. In the final part of the article, these practical and philosophical difficulties are illustrated by reference to the author’s research on the politics of judicial review in new democracies

Indonesia’s Judicial Review Regime in Comparative Perspective

This paper provides a comparative perspective on judicial review in Indonesia after the establishment of the Constitutional Court in 2003. It starts by retelling the well-known story of the "transformation of American law" over the first half of the last century. As narrated by Morton Horwitz, that story is about how nineteenth-century industrialisation processes destabilised the premises of "Classical Legal Thought", and then about how the legal realist movement exploited the ensuing crisis to transform the way Americans think about law and its relationship to other social systems. Mining this story for generalisable concepts, the paper argues that the establishment of strong-form judicial review necessarily draws on and, in turn, influences prevailing conceptions of legal and political authority. These conceptions vary along a continuum, in the first case, from public confidence in law's autonomy to a conception of law as deeply immersed in politics, and, in the second case, from a conception of legitimate political authority as contingent on a fairly won democratic mandate to a conception of political authority as residing in the power holder's capacity to promote important social goals, such as national security or economic prosperity. Each of these variables may change independently of the other. In certain situations, however, they may also combine to form a relatively stable judicial review regime – a hegemonic legitimating ideology in which conceptions of legal and political authority lock into and mutually support each other. The fourth section uses this conceptual framework to assess the Indonesian Constitutional Court's approach to its mandate after 2003. Under its first two chief justices, the paper notes, the Court engaged in a concerted effort to build public understanding of its legitimate role in national politics. The Court's abrupt switch between its first Chief Justice, Jimly Asshiddiqie's legalist conception of law's authority and his successor, Mohammad Mahfud's more instrumentalist conception, however, has impeded the consolidation of a determinate judicial review regime. Given the considerable threats still confronting Indonesia's democracy, this situation is worrisome. The Court urgently needs to present a coherent account of its legitimate claim to authority if it is to continue playing an effective role

Transformative Constitutionalism and the best interpretation of the South African constitution : distinction without a difference?

Written for a conference in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the publication of Karl Klare's article on "Legal Culture and Transformative Constitutionalism" 1998 SAJHR 146, this paper argues that Klare's article, while justly celebrated, defines the project of transformative constitutionalism in too exclusive a fashion. In particular, it unnecessarily requires, as a condition for participation in that project, the rejection of the liberal legalist distinction between law and politics in favour of a candid recognition of the politics of adjudication. Whatever the outcome of the decades-old dispute in Anglo-American legal theory over this question, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 clearly commits itself to a number of progressive political values. It is therefore not obvious why an interpretive method based on Ronald Dworkin's notion of putting the Constitution "in its best light" would not produce the progressive legal outcomes Klare advocates, while at the same time insulating the South African judiciary from the potentially legitimacy-threatening charge of political adjudication. To the extent that Klare's article makes successful implementation of the project of transformative constitutionalism conditional on changing South Africa's traditionally formalist legal culture, the imposition of this condition, given that it is unlikely to be fulfilled in the short term, was (a) strategically unwise; and (b) wrongly premised on a circular argument about the preferred method of interpretation that the Constitution supposedly invites. Rather than being made to depend on a particular interpretive method, the project of transformative constitutionalism should be open to all participants, subject only to respect for the fundamental tenets of non-violent, democratic, law-driven social change

Comment on Michael Kirby, \u27India & Australia: A Neglected Legal Relationship and a Plan for Action\u27

Has much changed more than two decades after former Australian High Court Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG proposed his nine-point plan of action to solidify the legal relationship between India and Australia? This piece traces the evolution of that relationship from the time Kirby first envisioned a mutually beneficial legal partnership to the transformed landscape of the present day. After placing Kirby at the centre of initial efforts to reinvigorate the \u27neglected relationship\u27, this piece offers a structured explanation of how the association between India and Australia has progressed over the years. It presents a picture of how contemporary global politics, trade-driven cooperation and the emergence of parochial nationalism has impacted the course of interactions between the two countries. It concludes by re-emphasising Kirby\u27s call for closer interaction between India and Australia, and the importance of intercultural learning in building a truly cooperative global community

Indonesia's Judicisl Review Regime in Comparatif Perpective

Hal. 188-22

The Nicholson judgement : an exercise in law and politics

The Nicholson judgment was clearly a precipitating factor in the resignation of former South African President Thabo Mbeki in 2008. Engaging with the judgment in its own terms, this note first puts forward a best legal interpretation of the judgment, covering the doctrines of prosecutorial independence and legitimate expectations. It then identifies the degree to which the comment in the judgment may be termed politically activist. In the authors’ view, Nicholson tackled political issues in his judgment that he need not have: in particular, allegations of executive interference in the independence of the prosecutions authority. Assuming that Nicholson J’s text may be read as an attempt to bolster the legitimacy of the judiciary, the note explores whether it succeeds on those terms and concludes that the judgment is ultimately an example of failed dramatic art

Company value : working capital and the cash conversion cycle investigated

Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.The primary objective of any corporation should be shareholder wealth maximisation. A firm's working capital policies have an effect on the firm's expected future returns and the risk associated with the returns, which ultimately have an impact on shareholder wealth. Efficient working capital management is a fundamental portion of the overall corporate strategy to create shareholder value. In this study the relationship of corporate profitability and working capital management was investigated. This relationship is examined using regression analysis. A sample of 118 firms listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) for the period 2003 to 2007 was used. The purpose of this study is to establish whether a relationship exists between working capital management efficiency and profitability, considering the cash conversion cycle and operating profitability of the firm. The results of the regression analysis indicated that a statistical significance exists for three of the five years (2003 - 2005) analysed between profitability, measured with the gross operating profit, and the cash conversion cycle. It is observed (2003-2005 regression results) that a lower gross operating profit is associated with an increase in number of days accounts payable. The negative relationship between accounts receivable and firms' profitability (for 2003-2005) suggests that less profitable firms will pursue a decrease of accounts receivables in the attempt to reduce cash gap in the respective cash conversion cycles. The negative relationship between the number of days inventory and corporate profitability (for 2003-2005) suggests that a sudden decrease in sales accompanied by mismanagement of inventory, will lead to tying up excess capital at the expense of profitable operations. Managers or owners of firms can improve profits for firms by handling correctly the cash conversion cycle and keeping each individual component (accounts receivable, accounts payable and inventory) to an optimum level. These results (for 2003-2005) suggest that managers can create value for shareholders by reducing the cash conversion cycle and its individual components.Master