title: Faith, hope and charity – a critical review of charity law's socio-legal reconciliation of the advancement of religion as a recognised head of charity

authors: Chevalier-Watts, Juliet

subjects: Law

abstract: The object of my inquiry throughout the thesis was to reconcile the advancement of religion as a recognised charitable purpose, and this is undertaken through a critical socio-legal review, taking in to consideration, inter alia, historical and contemporary tensions that exist with regard to the legal recognition of religion within charity, and the fundamental need for charity in society, whereby the two principles may be critically bound, but often with competing interests and values, especially in a contemporary global climate.

The research raises questions about current issues within charity law in a socio-political landscape, such as public benefit, and is significant because of the considerable and recent changes to charity law internationally, with many more likely.  For instance, in the last 60 years alone, there have been nearly 30 reviews of the law relating to charity, in a variety of jurisdictions.  This illustrates the magnitude of some of the legal issues associated with charity law that will inevitably impact on the charity sector and in turn, society generally.

In addition, the research makes causal links between charity and a well-functioning society, not least because of the many and varied services that charities provide to numerous communities. Consequently, the research will assist policymakers, the judiciary, the charity sector and academics to understand trends in charity law, and assist in decision-making processes.  Therefore, the overall benefit of this research will be with regard to policymaking in helping overcome challenges within charity law to benefit society generally.

text: Faith, hope and charity – a critical review of charity law's socio-legal reconciliation of the advancement of religion as a recognised head of charity The object of my inquiry throughout the thesis was to reconcile the advancement of religion as a recognised charitable purpose, and this is undertaken through a critical socio-legal review, taking in to consideration, inter alia, historical and contemporary tensions that exist with regard to the legal recognition of religion within charity, and the fundamental need for charity in society, whereby the two principles may be critically bound, but often with competing interests and values, especially in a contemporary global climate.

The research raises questions about current issues within charity law in a socio-political landscape, such as public benefit, and is significant because of the considerable and recent changes to charity law internationally, with many more likely.  For instance, in the last 60 years alone, there have been nearly 30 reviews of the law relating to charity, in a variety of jurisdictions.  This illustrates the magnitude of some of the legal issues associated with charity law that will inevitably impact on the charity sector and in turn, society generally.

In addition, the research makes causal links between charity and a well-functioning society, not least because of the many and varied services that charities provide to numerous communities. Consequently, the research will assist policymakers, the judiciary, the charity sector and academics to understand trends in charity law, and assist in decision-making processes.  Therefore, the overall benefit of this research will be with regard to policymaking in helping overcome challenges within charity law to benefit society generally.

year: 2019

title: Dispute resolution clause, mistaken interpretation and cancellation of contract: Jade Residential Limited v Paul

authors: Liao, Zhixiong (Leo)

subjects: Dispute resolution clause

abstract: Jade Residential Ltd (Jade) entered into a contract to build a house for a couple, the Pauls. Progress payments were required when certain construction “milestones” were met. Two of the “milestones” were “closed-in” and “lined”. Jade was required to “maintain a continuous construction programme until completion”, but was allowed to suspend work in certain circumstances including the Pauls’ failure to pay monies due. The contract includes a dispute resolution clause (cl 27) which provided that if any dispute arises the parties shall meet promptly in good faith and use their best endeavours to resolve such dispute, if such dispute has not been resolved then any party may give a dispute notice, the parties shall refer the dispute to mediation once dispute notice is given, and neither party may issue any arbitration or legal proceedings unless that party has first taken all reasonable steps to comply with this clause.

text: Dispute resolution clause, mistaken interpretation and cancellation of contract: Jade Residential Limited v Paul Jade Residential Ltd (Jade) entered into a contract to build a house for a couple, the Pauls. Progress payments were required when certain construction “milestones” were met. Two of the “milestones” were “closed-in” and “lined”. Jade was required to “maintain a continuous construction programme until completion”, but was allowed to suspend work in certain circumstances including the Pauls’ failure to pay monies due. The contract includes a dispute resolution clause (cl 27) which provided that if any dispute arises the parties shall meet promptly in good faith and use their best endeavours to resolve such dispute, if such dispute has not been resolved then any party may give a dispute notice, the parties shall refer the dispute to mediation once dispute notice is given, and neither party may issue any arbitration or legal proceedings unless that party has first taken all reasonable steps to comply with this clause.

year: 2021

title: The Politics of Knowledge and the Reciprocity Gap in the Governance of Intellectual Property Rights

authors: Emett, Raewyn Anne

subjects: Knowledge

abstract: ABSTRACT
This study examines the politics of knowledge benefit-sharing within the re-regulatory framework of the Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement which entered into force in 1995 under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The thesis argues that TRIPS both represents a mainstream legal mechanism for states and organisations to govern ideas through trade, and is characterised by a commercial direction away from multilateralism to bilateralism. In its post-implementation phase, this situation has seen the strongest states and corporations consolidate extensive markets in knowledge goods and services. Through analyses of the various levels of international and national governance within the competitive knowledge structure of international political economy (IPE), this study argues that the politicisation of intellectual property has resulted in the dislocation of reciprocity from its normative roots in fairness and trade equity. In conducting this enquiry the research focuses on the political manifestations of intellectual property consistent with long-standing epistemic considerations of reciprocity to test the extent to which the intrinsic public good value of knowledge and its importance to human societies can be reconciled with the privatisation of public forms of knowledge related to discoveries and innovations. 

This thesis draws on Becker's virtue-theoretic model of reciprocity premised on normative obligations to social life to ground its claim that an absence of substantive reciprocal requirements capable of sustaining equivalent returns and rewards is detrimental, both theoretically and practically, to the intrinsic socio-cultural foundation and public good value of knowledge. The conceptual framework of reciprocity defined and developed in this study challenges the materialist controlling authority and proprietary ownership vested in intellectual property law. A new conceptual approach proposed through reciprocity, and provoked by on-going debates about IP recognition, knowledge protection, access and distribution is advanced to counter strengthened and expanded IPRs. Theories of knowledge and property drawn from political philosophies are employed to test whether reciprocity is sufficiently robust enough, or even capable of, encompassing the gap between capital and applied science. This thesis argues that hyper-capitalism at global, national and local levels, accompanied by the boundless accumulation of technology, closes down competition both compromising IP as private rights and the viability of their governance. The political implications of the protection and enforcement of private rights through IP is examined in two key chapters utilising empirical data in relation to traditional knowledge (TK) and reciprocity; the first sets the parameters of TK and the second explores aspects of Māori knowledge systems and reciprocity directed at identifying national and local issues of significance to the debates on IP governance. As a viable direction for knowledge governance this thesis concludes that the gap between the re-regulatory trade framework of intellectual property on the one hand, and reciprocity on the other, requires closing to ameliorate the detrimental disruptions to democratic integrity, fairness and trade equity for significant numbers of communities and peoples around the world.

text: The Politics of Knowledge and the Reciprocity Gap in the Governance of Intellectual Property Rights ABSTRACT
This study examines the politics of knowledge benefit-sharing within the re-regulatory framework of the Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement which entered into force in 1995 under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The thesis argues that TRIPS both represents a mainstream legal mechanism for states and organisations to govern ideas through trade, and is characterised by a commercial direction away from multilateralism to bilateralism. In its post-implementation phase, this situation has seen the strongest states and corporations consolidate extensive markets in knowledge goods and services. Through analyses of the various levels of international and national governance within the competitive knowledge structure of international political economy (IPE), this study argues that the politicisation of intellectual property has resulted in the dislocation of reciprocity from its normative roots in fairness and trade equity. In conducting this enquiry the research focuses on the political manifestations of intellectual property consistent with long-standing epistemic considerations of reciprocity to test the extent to which the intrinsic public good value of knowledge and its importance to human societies can be reconciled with the privatisation of public forms of knowledge related to discoveries and innovations. 

This thesis draws on Becker's virtue-theoretic model of reciprocity premised on normative obligations to social life to ground its claim that an absence of substantive reciprocal requirements capable of sustaining equivalent returns and rewards is detrimental, both theoretically and practically, to the intrinsic socio-cultural foundation and public good value of knowledge. The conceptual framework of reciprocity defined and developed in this study challenges the materialist controlling authority and proprietary ownership vested in intellectual property law. A new conceptual approach proposed through reciprocity, and provoked by on-going debates about IP recognition, knowledge protection, access and distribution is advanced to counter strengthened and expanded IPRs. Theories of knowledge and property drawn from political philosophies are employed to test whether reciprocity is sufficiently robust enough, or even capable of, encompassing the gap between capital and applied science. This thesis argues that hyper-capitalism at global, national and local levels, accompanied by the boundless accumulation of technology, closes down competition both compromising IP as private rights and the viability of their governance. The political implications of the protection and enforcement of private rights through IP is examined in two key chapters utilising empirical data in relation to traditional knowledge (TK) and reciprocity; the first sets the parameters of TK and the second explores aspects of Māori knowledge systems and reciprocity directed at identifying national and local issues of significance to the debates on IP governance. As a viable direction for knowledge governance this thesis concludes that the gap between the re-regulatory trade framework of intellectual property on the one hand, and reciprocity on the other, requires closing to ameliorate the detrimental disruptions to democratic integrity, fairness and trade equity for significant numbers of communities and peoples around the world.

year: 2007