Tribal customary law in contemporary Jordan : conciliation and security through Bedouin justice

Customary legal practices work alongside, under the authority of, or in competition with modern state laws in many Middle Eastern countries. Often the form of legal pluralism adopted is largely tokenistic: customary law is used by dictators to bolster their regimes, or it fills a judicial vacuum in failing states. In Jordan, however, a sustained partnership has emerged between traditional tribal leaders (sheikhs) and institutions of the state, particularly regional governors and police. The government supports tribal practices because they provide stability, lend legitimacy to the monarchy and contribute to creating a pan-Jordanian identity. State officials support tribal justice because it is typically faster and more efficient than the state system. Ordinary citizens tend to trust the system because it is accessible, flexible and resolves their conflicts in a practical and workable manner. The thesis argues that every legal system gives priority to some legal principles over others. The tribal justice system focuses on minimising violence, protecting the reputation of participants, maintaining the honour of tribes and tribal leaders, providing accessible and timely justice and delivering outcomes that are mutually agreeable to the parties. Its success in keeping the peace comes, to some extent, at the expense of other legal principles such as individual accountability, an accused’s right to be judged by an impartial decision-maker using rules that are clearly specified in advance, and opportunities to present evidence. Whether or not an outside observer might consider this trade-off appropriate, it is popular among Jordanians, seems to be effective and is supported by agencies of the state. This thesis examines 12 cases of tribal justice in Jordan representing the range of matters that come before tribal gatherings. These are supplemented by a number of cases from Gaza where the tribal law process is similar but cooperation with the state is more constrained. The thesis identifies the conditions that led to the current partnership between tribal and state law in Jordan and evaluates whether lessons from Jordan can be applied elsewhere. It finds that while the concept of partnership between state officials and traditional leaders may be relevant in other countries, the relative success of the arrangement in Jordan may be the result of fortuitous historical circumstances including a long period of relative stability - something most of Jordan’s neighbours did not enjoy - plus a mutual dependence of the monarchy and the tribes on each other’s support

Examining Nontherapeutic Circumcision

This study in moral, political, and legal philosophy contends that it is morally impermissible to circumcise male minors without a medical indication (nontherapeutic circumcision). Male minors have a moral anticipatory autonomy right-in-trust not to be circumcised. This right depends on norms of autonomy and bodily integrity. These norms generate three direct non-consequentialist arguments against nontherapeutic circumcision: (1) the loss of nonrenewable functional tissue, (2) genital salience, and (3) limits on a parental right to permanently modify their sons' bodies. An indirect argument holds (4) that if it is morally impermissible to remove the female prepuce (clitoral hood), then it is also morally impermissible to remove the male prepuce (foreskin). Although there is debate across medical cultures, a reasonable understanding supports the claim that nontherapeutic circumcision causes some harms and imposes unwarranted risks on male minors. The overall moral case applies to secular circumcisions and, with some qualifications, to religious circumcisions in Judaism and Islam. Arguments of political philosophy that invoke the freedom of religion, toleration, multiculturalism, and social meaning qualify somewhat, but do not eliminate, the case against circumcising male minors without a medical indication. Nevertheless, the arguments deployed in this study do not warrant legal interference at this time with secular and religious practices of nontherapeutic circumcision

Ecology of the evening bat (\u3ci\u3enycticeius humeralis\u3c/i\u3e) at the northern edge of the range

Only a single colony of evening bats (Nycticeius humeralis) is known to occur in Michigan, and it is the northernmost colony on the North American continent. In mid-May, only female evening bats migrate to Michigan to raise their pups, and in late August, evening bats migrate to southern portions of their range, where they are ubiquitous. I studied the roosting and dietary ecology of the evening bat in southeastern Michigan. Evening bats roosted in cavities, crevices, and under exfoliating bark of older trees located in a bottomland forest, interlaced with waterways and surrounded by agricultural fields. These habitats play an important role in the diet of evening bats. Fourteen orders of insects and two orders of arachnids were found in fecal pellets of evening bats; Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, and Hemiptera composed 94% of dietary volume. Several insects consumed by evening bats are economically important

Persons and Consequences: Observations on Fried\u27s \u3cem\u3eRight and Wrong\u3c/em\u3e

A Review of Right and Wrong by charles Frie

Power transmission planning using heuristic optimisation techniques: Deterministic crowding genetic algorithms and Ant colony search methods

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The goal of transmission planning in electric power systems is a robust network which is economical, reliable, and in harmony with its environment taking into account the inherent uncertainties. For reasons of practicality, transmission planners have normally taken an incremental approach and tended to evaluate a relatively small number of expansion alternatives over a relatively short time horizon. In this thesis, two new planning methodologies namely the Deterministic Crowding Genetic Algorithm and the Ant Colony System are applied to solve the long term transmission planning problem. Both optimisation techniques consider a 'green field' approach, and are not constrained by the existing network design. They both identify the optimal transmission network over an extended time horizon based only on the expected pattern of electricity demand and generation sources. Two computer codes have been developed. An initial comparative investigation of the application of Ant Colony Optimisation and a Genetic Algorithm to an artificial test problem has been undertaken. It was found that both approaches were comparable for the artificial test problem.EPRSC and National Grid Company pl