title: International Human Rights Law

authors: Breen, Claire

abstract: Obligations stemming from United Nations treaty and Charter based bodies resulted in an active year for New Zealand in 2014. New Zealand engaged, for the first time, with the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and also submitted its sixth periodic report¹ under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT).² New Zealand underwent its second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and continued its active engagement within the UN Human Rights Council. This note reviews these and other aspects of New Zealand’s state practice in the area of human rights in 2014.

text: International Human Rights Law Obligations stemming from United Nations treaty and Charter based bodies resulted in an active year for New Zealand in 2014. New Zealand engaged, for the first time, with the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and also submitted its sixth periodic report¹ under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT).² New Zealand underwent its second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and continued its active engagement within the UN Human Rights Council. This note reviews these and other aspects of New Zealand’s state practice in the area of human rights in 2014.

year: 2014

title: Corporate Social Responsibility Indexes: Measure for Measure

authors: Timperley, Stephen

subjects: CSR

abstract: This thesis investigates criteria used by research agencies that publish ratings of business organisations in respect of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and the relationship of these criteria to underlying ethical principles.  

Companies are rated according to CSR criteria.  Observation of different rating agencies' results for the same, or similar organisations, shows a significant variation in results.  Variations in rating must result either from different criteria being applied or from criteria addressing similar topics being assessed in a different way.  Criteria from different rating agencies are found to be comparable.  Thus if rating criteria are derived from an ethical view of the responsibilities of business organisations, then inconsistent results may be explained by variations in the ethical basis of corporate social responsibility used by agencies.

Subject companies are rated under broad categories such as corporate governance, human rights and the environment.  These categories contain specific criteria.  My investigation compares the criteria used by major rating agencies and identifies the ethical basis, if any, that can be attributed to each criterion.

The study finds that there are clearly identifiable links between a number of criteria used by each rating agency and the ethical theories selected for evaluation.  Further, there is sufficient difference between the agencies to characterise each in relation to one or more of the ethical theories selected.  There is inconsistency, however, within each agency's basis of principles as well as between agencies, which indicates an unsatisfactory lack of explicit relationship between the general, and reasonably consistent, definition of corporate social responsibility and application of coherent ethical principles.

In practical terms around 10% of all investments in the United States, representing 2.3 trillion dollars, are invested in ethical or screened funds that rely on these and similar rating agencies results to determine CSR performance of firms.  The large variation in results demonstrated in my thesis suggests that very significant financial decisions are based, at least in part, on inconsistent data.   I suggest in my conclusion that if agencies were to consider, justify and clearly state the ethical basis from which their criteria derive, then investment managers and their clients could be more certain that their CSR principles were being upheld.

text: Corporate Social Responsibility Indexes: Measure for Measure This thesis investigates criteria used by research agencies that publish ratings of business organisations in respect of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and the relationship of these criteria to underlying ethical principles.  

Companies are rated according to CSR criteria.  Observation of different rating agencies' results for the same, or similar organisations, shows a significant variation in results.  Variations in rating must result either from different criteria being applied or from criteria addressing similar topics being assessed in a different way.  Criteria from different rating agencies are found to be comparable.  Thus if rating criteria are derived from an ethical view of the responsibilities of business organisations, then inconsistent results may be explained by variations in the ethical basis of corporate social responsibility used by agencies.

Subject companies are rated under broad categories such as corporate governance, human rights and the environment.  These categories contain specific criteria.  My investigation compares the criteria used by major rating agencies and identifies the ethical basis, if any, that can be attributed to each criterion.

The study finds that there are clearly identifiable links between a number of criteria used by each rating agency and the ethical theories selected for evaluation.  Further, there is sufficient difference between the agencies to characterise each in relation to one or more of the ethical theories selected.  There is inconsistency, however, within each agency's basis of principles as well as between agencies, which indicates an unsatisfactory lack of explicit relationship between the general, and reasonably consistent, definition of corporate social responsibility and application of coherent ethical principles.

In practical terms around 10% of all investments in the United States, representing 2.3 trillion dollars, are invested in ethical or screened funds that rely on these and similar rating agencies results to determine CSR performance of firms.  The large variation in results demonstrated in my thesis suggests that very significant financial decisions are based, at least in part, on inconsistent data.   I suggest in my conclusion that if agencies were to consider, justify and clearly state the ethical basis from which their criteria derive, then investment managers and their clients could be more certain that their CSR principles were being upheld.

year: 2008

title: “On and On It Goes”: Representations of the New Zealand Wars in novels, film, and theatre

authors: Sheridan, Brendan Daniel

subjects: History

abstract: This thesis considers fictional representations of the New Zealand Wars. Through the media of novels, feature films, and drama with links to Shakespeare, it explores common features between representations. It examines how these representations change in tone or style over time and how different representations negotiate the complex issues of race, gender, and colonialism.
	I examine key representations ranging from 1861 to 2017 in terms of genre. I begin with the nineteenth-century novel as many of the key tropes used in representations of the New Zealand Wars emerge in this period. I then look at the twentieth-century novel, before concentrating specifically on Maurice Shadbolt and Witi Ihimaera. My discussion then turns to the genres of film and theatre. In all of these diverse representations there are recurring tropes and motifs. Many of the fictions feature stock characters such as the European traveller, the imperial official, and the Māori maiden and bear the imprint of historical romance conventions, popularised by Sir Walter Scott’s Waverly and James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans. The vast majority of stories take place in the North Island between 1860 and 1870. Variations in the depiction of historical events are shaped by the historical scholarship and dominant ideologies of the time, such as the post-colonial tonal shift that emerges following the publication of work by James Belich and Ranginui Walker. I contextualise representations with their point in history, and how they treat the New Zealand Wars in terms of events, characters, and historical figures. 
	Through this approach, my thesis argues that representations of the New Zealand Wars do not form themselves in isolation and do not occur in isolated clusters. This thesis seeks to demonstrate that representations of the New Zealand Wars occur on a steady continuum. Representations of the conflict exist in parallel to one another (intentional or not) and are affected by the social climate, dominant ideologies, and published histories available to the author at the time of writing. The variety of representations—novel, feature film, stage play—share many core tropes. Even so, chronologically this continuum also features shifts in tone, ideologies, and sympathies. A novel of the 1980s has a very different perspective regarding settlers compared to a novel from the 1860s. In the same manner, a play staged in the 2000s shows a different attitude towards the conflict compared to a film from the 1940s. This thesis demonstrates that while representations of the New Zealand Wars share a common subject, how they approach the material is constantly evolving.

text: “On and On It Goes”: Representations of the New Zealand Wars in novels, film, and theatre This thesis considers fictional representations of the New Zealand Wars. Through the media of novels, feature films, and drama with links to Shakespeare, it explores common features between representations. It examines how these representations change in tone or style over time and how different representations negotiate the complex issues of race, gender, and colonialism.
	I examine key representations ranging from 1861 to 2017 in terms of genre. I begin with the nineteenth-century novel as many of the key tropes used in representations of the New Zealand Wars emerge in this period. I then look at the twentieth-century novel, before concentrating specifically on Maurice Shadbolt and Witi Ihimaera. My discussion then turns to the genres of film and theatre. In all of these diverse representations there are recurring tropes and motifs. Many of the fictions feature stock characters such as the European traveller, the imperial official, and the Māori maiden and bear the imprint of historical romance conventions, popularised by Sir Walter Scott’s Waverly and James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans. The vast majority of stories take place in the North Island between 1860 and 1870. Variations in the depiction of historical events are shaped by the historical scholarship and dominant ideologies of the time, such as the post-colonial tonal shift that emerges following the publication of work by James Belich and Ranginui Walker. I contextualise representations with their point in history, and how they treat the New Zealand Wars in terms of events, characters, and historical figures. 
	Through this approach, my thesis argues that representations of the New Zealand Wars do not form themselves in isolation and do not occur in isolated clusters. This thesis seeks to demonstrate that representations of the New Zealand Wars occur on a steady continuum. Representations of the conflict exist in parallel to one another (intentional or not) and are affected by the social climate, dominant ideologies, and published histories available to the author at the time of writing. The variety of representations—novel, feature film, stage play—share many core tropes. Even so, chronologically this continuum also features shifts in tone, ideologies, and sympathies. A novel of the 1980s has a very different perspective regarding settlers compared to a novel from the 1860s. In the same manner, a play staged in the 2000s shows a different attitude towards the conflict compared to a film from the 1940s. This thesis demonstrates that while representations of the New Zealand Wars share a common subject, how they approach the material is constantly evolving.

year: 2019