Thursday, October 31, 2019

Presidential versus Congressional Decision Making Essay

Presidential versus Congressional Decision Making - Essay Example The two divisions share in the course and each one of them plays a significant although dissimilar function. Presidential versus congressional decision making The issue of who formulates foreign policy does not contain a more accurate answer for a number of reasons. Foremost, United States foreign policy is not formed in a vacuity as some type of indissoluble whole with a solitary imposing design. Relatively, formulating foreign policy is a lengthened course concerning many actors and including dozens of personal policies towards diverse nations, constituencies, and operative problems. Subsequently, the composite course of establishing foreign policy makes it hard to come to a decision of who ought to be accredited with instigating or adjusting any meticulous foreign policy. The two divisions frequently interrelate and persuade each other. Beneath this state of affairs, it is complicated to trace a proposal back to its derivation, establish when an idea actually manipulates policy, a nd come to a decision when an adjustment generates a novel policy. ... One research categorized the epoch 1789-1829 as one of Presidential proposal (Mowbry, 2003), 1829-1898 as one of congressional dominance and 1899 in the course of the abrupt post World War II phase as one of mounting Presidential supremacy. A different research classified three epochs of congressional supremacy, 1837-1861, 1869-1897, and 1918-1936, with an additional one commencing toward the conclusion of the 1973 War in Vietnam. Following are fundamental ways the President or executive division can initiate or originally outline foreign policy. In these state of affairs, Congress is placed in the position of either acting in response optimistically to the President's proposal or requesting to amend or turn around the influence of his rank. Reacts to Foreign Occurrences. Government Proposal for Legislation. Concession of Intercontinental Accords. Statements of Policy. Implementation of Policy. Sovereign Action. Decisions and Statements of Policy. Directives of Legislation. The most significant characteristic of the president’s function is decision-making, and this power by all sort of things. It is fundamental to comprehend the ambiance in which the president formulates decisions. They ought to make decisions in strict restraints. There are frequently previous pledges formed by the government that necessitates it to use up money, guard allies, preserve overhauls, or guard rights (De Castro, 2000). The president is also stressed by the institutional capacities of the executive division, which is also a result of precedent decisions. Presidential Decision Making illustrates two organizational problems the President encounters. The interrelatedness of the matters

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Finance - Hedging Strategies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Finance - Hedging Strategies - Assignment Example The essence of hedging strategies is to reduce business risks while deterring the creation of additional risks. Multinational firms encounter a multitude of risks, particularly as a result of their competitive exposures across the globe. General Motors has along experienced competitive exposure due to the Japanese yen. This exposure has a lot to do with the depreciating Japanese yen. However, the company is yet to establish clear guidelines to deal with the competitive risk caused by the yen’s continued depreciation. In essence, the company’s hedging strategies do not provide lucid hedging strategy guidelines. General Motor’s treasurer and finance vice-president Eric Feldstein had to establish robust hedging strategies to counter the risk posed by the depreciating Japanese yen. General Motors was incurring substantial losses as a result of market changes with regard to the US dollar and Japanese yen (Desai & Veblen, 2006). General Motors, therefore, sought to min imize currency risk to maximize its profitability. GM established a passive policy that involved hedging half of its commercial exposures on a regional basis. This means that GM’s hedging strategy involved a clear distinction between commercial and financial exposures. GM defined its commercial exposures as cash flows related to its ongoing business, for instance, payables and receivables and its financial exposures as dividends and debt repayments. The primary purpose of GM’s overall hedging strategy was related to its foreign exchange risk management policy. This hedging strategy aimed at reducing the volatility between cash flow and earnings by hedging cash flows i.e. transaction exposures only and disregard translation (balance sheet) exposures. In addition, GM’s strategy aimed at minimizing the cost, as well as management time devoted to the management of global foreign exchange. This policy was an outcome of an internal audit, which showed that resource in vestment in active foreign exchange management had not led to substantial operation of passive benchmarks. This led to policy changes, as well as the adoption of a passive approach in place of the active one. Lastly, GM’s hedging strategy aimed at aligning the company’s foreign exchange management with GM’s operation of its automotive business (Desai & Veblen, 2006). This move reflected the assumption that financial management needs to conform to the geographic, operational footprint of GM’s overlying business. Overall, GM’s hedging strategy has effectively reduced its foreign exchange risks, enabling the company to operate efficiently in the Japanese market. JP Morgan is a US-based financial company that rolled out its business in other regions of the world. While companies establish hedging strategies to protect them from risks, particularly future risks, wrong practices can cost massive losses to a company. One such company is JP Morgan, which u sed derivatives as its primary hedging strategy resulting in losses of up to $ 2 billion. JP Morgan adopted the use of risky derivatives rather than less risky bonds used by its competitors such as Bank of America, Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. (Griffin & Moore, 2012). The later financial companies do not trade in credit-default swaps with regard to their indexes. However, JP Morgan accumulated massive credit-default indexes, which resulted in, price moves within the financial industry. Unlike JP Morgan, other financial industry players use

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Islamic Law And Its Impact On Arbitration Of Ip Cases

Islamic Law And Its Impact On Arbitration Of Ip Cases Islamic Law And Its Impact On Arbitration Of Ip Cases In Middle East With Special Reference To Jordan Introduction The law of intellectual property is one of the areas of law that has emerged in Jordan relatively recently. The reasons for such late emergence of intellectual property law in Jordan are that there were no sufficient conditions for development of this area of law in this jurisdiction. Due to this fact, courts in Jordan were hardly able to decide such cases because of their complexity and lack of necessary skills and knowledge of judges in respected area of law. It is for this reason it seems that Jordanian legal practitioners saw the necessity of establishing courts which would adjudicate such cases. The law of intellectual property is one of the areas that pose several challenges to trade area, where sellers of unauthorized products or products which breach intellectual property rights are widespread. It is inevitable truth of most Arab countries and in this respect it seems that position of intellectual property legislation saw its goal. Some would ask: Why would Jordan need intellectual property law at all? It does not have such potential in order to enforce such complicated legislation and procedures. The answer lies in increasing importance of Jordan as a financial and trade center of Middle East, which would compete and challenge such centers as U.A.E. and Qatar. In order to ensure such position in market, Jordan, first, has to ensure that legislation is in harmony with international trade and financial legislation. Amidst them, intellectual property law, if not most important, but occupies significant place to such an extent that it has to increase awareness and skills in this area. Simultaneously, one of the important and flexible methods of alternative dispute resolution as arbitration has to play here crucial role. Arbitration is one of the areas of alternative dispute resolution, necessity of which has increased along with globalization of international trade. It has been seen as one of the areas which can significantly simplify international trade procedure without bringing unsolvable complexities into the business which has already gone into complexities. The arbitration of cases related to intellectual property is different and complicated matter, which cannot be explained with reference to arbitration of normal and common cases that emerge in the course of international or local trade. It requires lawyers which are not only fluent but also skilled in matters of IP law and practice. Such lawyers, the amount of which is few in Jordan, can be and should be trained in this area in order to ensure the integrity of arbitration procedures in IP cases. As a rule, majority of companies and lawyers cannot trust to state courts, which would consider intellectual property cases along with ordinary cases and are subject to inevitable error by doing incorrect analogies in decision of such cases. Usually parties which address their cases to state courts are usually unsatisfied not only with level of knowledge of judges in intellectual property cases but also with complexity of procedure. In this sense, one should realize the importance of arbitration methods for adjudication of intellectual property cases. Jordan, it seems, have realized the serious threat posed by this problem and have taken number of measures in order to respond to this challenges. One of the notable measures is certainly sending law students abroad in order to prepare future judges specialized on intellectual property disputes. This has been done effectively and majority of students are in prominent institutions which are really strong in this area of law. Second is creation of respective legislation in this area, yet there are some gaps which are inevitable and these gaps should be filled in order to harmonize Jordanian legislation in the field of arbitration and IP law. Jordan has examples to learn from and it is its closest neighbors such as U.A.E., Qatar and Bahrain. These countries have foremost skills and experience in these fields of law. It is not only explained by abundance of their experts but also rapid expansion of their economies and integration into the world economy. In this respect, Jordan is in more convenient position than other countries since even the culture of its neighbors is identical to Jordan. The similarity in culture and tradition is one of the factors that make harmonization of Jordanian IP legislation much easier and painless. Besides, the lack of experience and knowledge not only in IP law, but also in arbitration process in IP case makes Jordan vulnerable to the challenge posed by the legal world of these neighbors. It is for this reason; the necessity of this dissertation is realized. There is also Islamic factor that raises issue. Since Jordanian constitution recognizes Islam as a religion of state and due to historical circumstances when Islamic law dominated Jordan for centuries, it raises question: Has Islamic law influenced emergence and development of arbitration in Jordan as well as of intellectual property law? In this respect, Akhtar remarked: â€Å"there exist considerable variations in the Middle East on the incorporation and application of arbitration laws and the practice and procedure in enforcing arbitral awards, which are complicated further by the differing interaction between Sharia law and Western systems of law in each country†. Therefore, the major goal of this dissertation is to examine whether Islamic legal principles in fact had an impact on development of arbitration and intellectual property law in Jordan. It will be tested on the basis of case related to IP law decided in arbitration courts of Jordan. The importance of this topic is realized in the context of rising importance of Jordan as emerging economic and financial leader in Middle East. It is also realized due to the fact that Islamic law is a dominant system in contemporary Middle East. This dissertation consists of four parts: (i) first chapter briefly examines the basic tenets of Islamic law; (ii) second chapter briefly examines arbitration system in Jordan; (iii) third chapter briefly analyses intellectual property law in Jordan; and (iv) final chapter, an important one scrutinizes Jordanian intellectual property disputes arbitration for compliance with Islamic law. Overview Of Jordanian And Islamic Law Jordan is one of the countries in the world that inherited several features of different legislations at a time. One of the major influences was Ottoman legislation, since Jordan was under their dominancy for almost 700 years. In this respect, it can be said that it has been influence not only by Islamic law, which was the law of Ottoman empire but also by features of unique Ottoman law, which coexisted in one line with Islamic law. Legislation And Judicial System In Jordan Once Jordan became a subject of European colonization in 19 century, it inevitably embraced some features of European legislation. Yet, at present time, Jordanian legislation is surprising mixture of European and Islamic elements. The system of government in Jordan is parliamentary monarchy. Yet, it should be noted that monarchy in Jordan is almost absolute since all powers are vested in the King of Jordan who is considered to be direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.V.) As in other countries of the world, the power in Jordan is divided into three branches, namely, legislative, executive and judicial. However, unlike other countries King may interfere within functioning of legislative power or other in order to ensure his absolute status. The constitution of Jordan openly declares Islam as the religion of state. However, upon the close examination of Jordanian legislation, one cannot call it Islamic state since it contains elements which are contrary to Islamic legal principles. Unlike Saudi constitution which declares Islam as a source of law, Jordan constitution declares Islam only as a religion of state. It is, however, not clear what it implies. Nonetheless, one can see the consequences of Islam being declared as a religion of state, in the legal system, where there is duality of courts. Jordanian courts are divided into secular and religious courts. While religious courts are not only Islamic but also ecclesial or Christian courts, which are free to decide family matters of their respective religious communities. The competence of religious courts, including Islamic, are not extended to the matters of commercial and administrative law. Therefore, matters pertaining to commercial or administrative law are decided in secular courts. Officially, Jordanian constitution declares that there are three types of courts: (i) civil courts; (ii) religious courts; and (iii) special courts. Yet, civil courts also hear criminal cases along with civil cases and cases of administrative field. Religious courts are divided into Islamic and courts of other non-Muslim communities. Both of them hear cases within scope of their competence. It is interesting that Sharia courts also hear cases which are related to the compensation of blood money where one of the parties are not Muslims. Compensation of blood-money, otherwise called diya, is one of the old features of Islamic criminal law and it is surprising that it is not in competence of secular courts but religious. The constitution does not define how special courts function, leaving this matter to the law. Yet, there are tribunals which are designed to interpret law and one of them is High Tribunal, the purpose of which to interpret constitution when required by government. It is also necessary to provide brief overview about Shari ‘a, which occupies significant position in Jordanian legislation. Sharia, otherwise called Islamic law, is one of the ancient systems of law that has been preserved since 7 century A.D. with some modifications. The sources of Sharia, according to Muslim belief, are Quran and Sunna. First being Holy Book of Islamic religion and second are traditions or precedents of Prophet of Islam. Besides, official Islamic dogma declares that Islamic jurisprudence functions according to four sources of law, Quran, Sunna, ijma and qiyas. Ijma, otherwise called consensus is being interpreted differently by four schools of Islamic law and same goes with qiyas, which is otherwise called analogy. Four schools of Islamic law that has emerged at different periods of time during first century of Islam, mainly diverge upon interpretation of major or secondary sources of Islamic law. Islamic law does not recognize freedom of contract and prohibits such elements of trade and economy as charging interest, fortuity and gambling. In order to comply with these principles, Islamic lawyers has developed certain methods and forms which would allow Muslim to operate in one or another way in business world. One of the remarkable features of new Islamic jurisprudence is creation of Islamic banking, which replaces interest with profit-and-loss sharing concept, Islamic insurance that operates in almost similar fashion and other new concepts as Islamic bonds, otherwise called sukkuk. As far as intellectual property concerned, Islamic law protects inviolability of property as well as its manifestations in different forms. The same applies to any form of intellectual property, be it trademark or invention. Arbitration in Islamic law is unique, since arbitration has been inherent to Arab culture and was called hakama. Hakams were arbitrators in ancient Arabia and judged according to Arab customs and traditions. Therefore, there is nothing new in arbitration which is not familiar to Islamic lawyers. In last century, the position of Islamic law in disputes that were decided in arbitration courts was widely ignored. It is evident from several cases. In Petroleum Development (Trucial Coasts) Ltd. V. Shaikh of Abu Dhabi, Lord Asquith, the arbitrator ironically observed: â€Å"†¦it would be fanciful to suggest that in this very primitive region there is any settled body of legal principles applicable to the construction of modern commercial instruments†. Another remark, done by arbitrator in Ruler of Qatar v. International Marine Oil Company Ltd., was bitterer and arrogant: â€Å"†¦I am satisfied that the [Islamic] law does not contain any principles which would be sufficient to interpret this particular contract†. Such excesses and bitter remarks were summed up and characterized in the following terms: â€Å"In general, the legal community throughout the Arab world is still manifesting its hostility to transnational arbitration mainly as a result of the great publicity devoted to the criticism of certain unfortunate arbitral awards rendered as of 1951 by western arbitrators who excluded, with terms of a humiliating nature, the application of the national applicable legal systems of countries like Abu Dhabi or Qatar†. It should be also noted that Jordanian legislation does not fully implement precepts of Islamic law such as prohibition of interest or insurance. There are banks and insurance companies in Jordan which operate according to Western principles of banking and insurance. The companies and banks in Jordan are free to operate in the mode they choose to be most efficient for them. There is no hindrance on the part of Jordanian government in this sense. Defining Islamic Law There is no single or unified definition of Islamic law. Various scholars offer various definitions. I shall not go into each definition offered but shall arbitrarily explicate some of them. One of the famous scholars of Islamic law, Joseph Schacht offered an interesting definition for Islamic law: â€Å"Islamic law is the epitome of the Islamic spirit, the most typical manifestation of the Islamic way of life, the kernel of Islam itself†. Goitein, it seems, offered more precise and comprehensive definition: â€Å"Islamic religion is characterised by the prominence of legal conceptions in its systems: The Sharia, or holy law, is its very essence and Fiqh, or religious jurisprudence, is its science (‘ilm) par excellence. The minute observation of many commandments is its most conspicuous practical aspect; the free fellowship of religious scholars, who do not need authorisation by any government to interpret, develop and apply its law, is its most representative body, and even purely legal sections of the Fiqh are studied as an act of worship†. These two definitions are not exhaustive but reflect true essence of Islamic law. Schachts ‘way of life and Goiteins ‘religious jurisprudence constitute what is called Shariah in Arabic. Moreover, Islamic law cannot be compared with common or continental legal systems. It is because latter do deal and embrace all areas of law, whereas Islamic law mostly deal with private law, leaving aside public law. Therefore, the claim of some countries that since their legislation is based on Shariah, their law is being regulated by divine law is not correct. The Shariah only applies to matters of private law in these countries and the public law has been imported from Western models. The majority of scholars have long been recognizing Quran as a major source of Islamic law, sometimes without examining what it stands for. It was Schacht who first suggested that Shafii, prominent Islamic jurist, paid merely lip-service to Quran as a source of law in his jurisprudential theory. Certainly, major principles of Islamic law has been deducted from Quran but it is only a major and in a number of cases, we discover that Muslim jurists are dependant or totally reliant on other sources rather than Quran without hesitation. The holy book of Islam or Muslims all over the world, Quran is believed by Muslims to have been revealed via Archangel Gabriel to Muhammad, who is regarded by Muslims as both Prophet and Messenger of God. Quran is law but law in a spiritual sense. If you ask a Muslim: What is your law (Sharia)? He or she would respond: â€Å"Quran† without realizing whether it is spiritual or actual law. For the purposes of present study, Quran is a source of law but to a limited extent since a major proportion of rules and judgments is being extracted from other sources of law and via different methods of legal reasoning. It is not however realized by ordinary Muslim as such, and even by Muslim jurist, who would suggest that sources for such rulings is Sharia and all rules, embodied in Sharia are immutable and should not be a subject of any challenge by anyone. Before turning to critical points, it is crucial to explore basics of Quran. Quran is the holy book of Islamic religion. It is said to have been revealed during 23 years, once Prophet Muhammed started his mission among Arab people. The Quran derives from the word ‘qara which denotes in Arabic, reciting or reading. It is also asserted that with a same meaning it is cited in Old Testament in Hebrew language. There are other names which are designed for Quran, such as ‘Quran al-Majid or ‘al-Quran ash-Sharif or ‘Furqan, etc. For the purpose of present study, it shall be called Quran, which is rather easy to refer and this way we shall avoid confusion. The divine legislation is said to have been established through revelation of Quran in stages as I have mentioned earlier. The modern scholars as well as classic jurists were still unsure about precise role of Quran as a source of legislation. It is not clear whether the role of Quran corresponds to the hierarchy where it has been hoisted to the primary position. In fact, Quran has never been a primary source as we understand a primacy in modern jurisprudence. Muslim jurists would often rule according to verse of Quran but not a principle or spirit that it implies. They would pay a lip-service to Quran as a source of all legislation, but in fact they would disregard those rules of Quran that should have been regarded in specific occasion. The precise role of Quran is difficult to define; it is because the primacy of Quran has been overshadowed by other sources and methods of law. Quran has always been mentioned along with Sunna, second sources of Islamic law which we shall have occasion to discuss in the next paragraph. In order to demonstrate the position of Quran as a source of law, let us look at some examples of utilization of Quran in classic Islamic jurisprudence. The Prophetic Traditions or hadith as called in Arabic form a second source of law in hierarchy of sources of Islamic law and jurisprudence. It does not only occupy this position indeed but sometimes shares dominancy with Quran. The difference that emerged between Muslim jurists and later led to establishment of schools of law was caused by diverging interpretation of Prophetic Tradition. From liberal approach of Hanafis to strict compliance of Zahiris, they all dispute on nature of Prophetic Traditions as a source of law. Sometimes their conflict went as far as one realise that it is rather absurdity than logical argument. The word ‘ijma, which is basically translated as ‘collecting or ‘assembling, in a legal sense has caused a lot of debates over its validity. It is sometimes viewed as a consensus of either jurists or Muslims in general. Some assert that it is consensus of early Muslims Companions over common postulates of faith and religion. The consensus might be reached if it is unanimously adopted in practice or ‘custom as in the case of international law. Second, consensus might be uttered in respect of certain ruling by majority of either scholars or jurists. Finally, it can be ‘e silentio support for certain opinion by majority of jurists that have the right to adjudicate their independent opinion. It is not clear from Islamic jurisprudential theory when ijma should be employed and what certain conditions are. Some jurists, Hanafi, for instance, usually in their judgments, say ‘there has been consensus on this issue or ‘question but they never clarified how and why such consensus has been reached among them. We also do not know whether we may employ ijma concept in modern context and whether it shall be binding on all Muslims or adopted by them as a constituent part of Islamic law. In Sunni jurisprudence, we know that by way of ijma, certain jurists united into groups affiliated with dominating opinion of single jurist, which later became known as ‘schools of law or ‘madhahib. It has also been asserted that ijma on common legal issues has been reached in eighth century by respective founders of ‘madhahib; there is no way to re-visit these concepts or judgments. When speaking of analogy principle in Islamic law, it is not clear whether it is absolute or not or whether it is logically applicable to all cases. The word ‘qiyas itself means ‘to compare and it is regarded as one of the major sources of Islamic law. Islamic jurists themselves stipulate four predominant conditions of analogy: The precept or practice upon which it is founded must be of common (amm) and not of special (khass) application; The cause (‘illa) of the injunction must be known and understood; The decision must be based upon either the Quran, the Sunna, or the Ijma; The decision arrived at must not be contrary to anything declared elsewhere in the Quran and Sunna. The fourth stipulation raises some concerns. As we have discussed earlier, there are a lot of contradictions between Quran and Sunna, and even within Quran and within Sunna. The jurists attempted to decide such contradictions by asserting that there cannot be hypothetically any conflicts between these sources and even within these sources; they exist and it is reality. This factor also serves as a great hindrance in deriving rules or judgments from primary sources of Islamic law. Even though these rules has been developed and elaborated by jurists; there are still a lot of controversies with application of this principle. It is caused by a different degree of application in schools of law and conflict between jurists whether such analogy might be applied when the necessity in such application is clear. Thus, for instance, it is not clear why principle of justice embodied in Quran might not be equally applied to all subjects of Islamic state, be it Muslim or non-Muslim. Normally, Islamic jurist would object saying that since Quran is only for Muslims, its injunctions are only applicable to Muslims. There is no logic which might be applied but incoherence in reasoning, sometimes leading to absurd conclusions. Concluding Remarks In present chapter, we have discussed general legal conceptions that exist in Jordanian and Islamic law. There is a big difference between them because of the nature of legislation. Islamic law is mainly religious, whereas Jordanian is secular; even though Constitution claims that Islamic is a state religion. In majority of Islamic countries, a fact that Islamic is a religion of state is merely lip-service to Islamic as a religion of people. It does not go further than that, except some countries as Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. But even legislation of these countries demonstrates how secular they are in their nature. It does not however mean that Jordan lack of Islamic legal taste; there are some aspects of Islamic law in Jordanian legislation, as we have seen previously. The matters of marriage, divorce, inheritance and religious endowment are mainly under realms of Islamic law. Yet, on the other hands, similar matters that arise with other religious communities are decided based on their respective religious law. However, the matters which are related to arbitration and intellectual property are mainly based on secular, precisely on European model based laws. Therefore, purpose of forthcoming chapters will be to examine whether they comply with Islamic law in general. Arbitration System In Jordan And Compliance With Islamic Law And Its Implications For Intellectual Property Law This chapter summarizes the current state of arbitration system in Jordan and issue of its compliance with Islamic law. It is done with purpose to acquaint readers with main aspects of these systems and legislation, so he or she has full understanding when looking through forthcoming chapters. Arbitration In Jordan The arbitration process in Jordan is being regulated by special law Law No. 31 of 2001 otherwise called Jordan Arbitration Law. It is not unique; neither has it been adopted from international law, but from Egyptian Arbitration Act No. 27 of 1994, which in turn has been adopted from UNCITRAL Model Law 1985. The law consists of 7 parts and 56 articles. It can be structured thus: (1) General provisions (Articles 1-8); (2) Arbitration agreement (Articles 9-13); (3) Arbitration tribunal (Articles 14-23); (4) Arbitration proceedings (Articles 24-35); (5) Arbitral award and termination proceedings (Articles 36-47); (6) Nullity of arbitral award (Articles 48-51); (7) Enforcement of awards (Articles 52-56). The Art. 3 makes the scope of law absolute; it extends to any arbitration proceedings in Jordan and to any cases whether they derive from contractual dispute or not. Neither does it differentiate between commercial or civil disputes; both of them are within scope of this law. The Art. 5 allows not only contracting parties to choose the arbitration procedure but also a third party which shall be able to choose such procedure. The Art. 8 explicitly prohibits the intervention by state courts; yet, it stipulates that the arbitration tribunal may ask the intervention of state courts where former needs the participation of experts, witnesses, etc. As far as arbitration agreement is concerned, Art. 9 allows only those persons, be it physical or legal, which has legal capacity, to conclude such agreement. It does not allow arbitration on matters which are on â€Å"amiable compositeaur† basis. The arbitration agreement is valid only if in writing, according to Art. 10a, yet, the form of written agreement is flexible. It can be contained in exchange of letters, faxes, etc. It has been also reaffirmed by Jordanian Court of Cassation which stated: â€Å"the arbitration clause as established should be written, clear and explicit as well, by virtue of Article 10/A of the Arbitration Law No. 31of 2001†. The law also allows parties to render their dispute to arbitration whilst in state court, in which case state court has the right to refer to arbitration tribunal and its reference shall be viewed as arbitration agreement in writing. As far as arbitration tribunal concerned, Art. 14a and b, establishes that number of arbitrators shall be odd, otherwise it is void. If there is a disagreement between parties then number of arbitrators is three. Noteworthy, the law reaffirms the independence of arbitration clause, which is according to Art. 22, is not dependent on other clause of underlying contract. The language of arbitration proceedings is Arabic but law allows the use of another language or other languages upon consent of parties, according to Art. 28a. Most importantly, Art. 17 upheld the principle of impartiality and independence of arbitrators and in elaboration of this provision Court of Cassation further held: â€Å"all arbitral procedures, in which the challenged arbitrator has participated, including the arbitral award, shall be deemed void†. These are the major aspects of arbitration law in Jordan. Besides, Jordan has also ratified the New York Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards by the virtue of Jordanian Court of Cassation, where it was remarked: â€Å"It is understood from the Article (2) of Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Law No. 8 of 1952 that the foreign arbitral award which has been enforced and ratified by the forum court , shall be enforceable in Jordan in accordance with all the clauses and requirements, and does not conflict with any of the stipulated provisions of Article (7) of the said law†. The ratification of New York Convention by Jordan should be viewed as positive development and attractive for the foreign companies who wish to deal with Jordanian companies or invest in Jordan. The same applies to IP disputes; any company which would challenge Jordanian company with the claim of breach of copyright or violation of other forms of intellectual property, are in convenience in the view of ratification of New York Convention. However, in his study of issues pertaining enforcement, Haddad critically commented: â€Å"Turning again to Jordanian Law which provides, as has just been seen, that a foreign award must be enforceable in the place in which it was issued, which means that the award should have been reduced to a judgment in the foreign country†. It implies that Jordanian legislation does not recognise validity of foreign judgement as enforceable in Jordan. But he noted that â€Å"this approach may be criticized since it may be difficult in practice or even impossible to achieve this goal in certain circumstances, particularly in institutional arbitration. In this type of arbitration, it may happen that the parties involved in the proceedings including the arbitrators, and all other relevant factors have no relation whatsoever with the place of arbitration except that the proceedings were conducted there. In such a case, the foreign court may reasonably reject to enforce the award rendered in its country, and that means that the award may not be enforced in Jordan either†. In such dubious situation, it is unclear how Jordanian legislation on arbitration would cope with this kind of problem. It seems to be paradoxical situation because award cannot be enforced either domestically or locally. It will also have some implication for enforcement of foreign arbitral awards on intellectual property rights since majority of arbitral awards may not be enforced in foreign country since its enforcement should be accomplished in Jordan because of object of dispute. In such case, it is difficult to predict how arbitration courts and moreover state courts would deal with it. Enforcement Of Foreign Arbitration Awards In Jordan One of the problems that foreign company may encounter in Jordan is the problem of enforcement of award related to IP cases in Jordan. It is clear that certain IP cases may intervene with public policy and in this regard it is nearly impossible to assert such possibility may not arise. IP legislation in Jordan being in immature position sometimes may not offer effective solutions for parties which are from different countries. In this regard, one should closely take a look at public policy issues in Jordan. According to IP legislation, certain names cannot be registered as trademarks in Jordan. However: what if the name of foreign company or brand coincides with the name trademark registration of which is illegal in Jordan? The company in this case would face difficulties in carrying out business and moreover it would face difficulties in enforcing award that has been rendered in foreign or international arbitration court. The case of Mitsubishi in U.S. showed how difficult it is to determine whether one case is subject to public policy or not. It has changed the contours of arbitrability in U.S. but the question arises: can such case have implication for Jordanian arbitration system? One can answer positively, but one would be confused when it comes to IP arbitration. IP arbitration, as it has been seen, is a difficult and complex matter. It cannot be simply adjusted as in the case of ordinary commercial arbitration. The IP legislation is diverse and this diversity may imply negative consequences for arbitration, since arbitrators should be expertise in all areas Islamic Law And Its Impact On Arbitration Of Ip Cases Islamic Law And Its Impact On Arbitration Of Ip Cases Islamic Law And Its Impact On Arbitration Of Ip Cases In Middle East With Special Reference To Jordan Introduction The law of intellectual property is one of the areas of law that has emerged in Jordan relatively recently. The reasons for such late emergence of intellectual property law in Jordan are that there were no sufficient conditions for development of this area of law in this jurisdiction. Due to this fact, courts in Jordan were hardly able to decide such cases because of their complexity and lack of necessary skills and knowledge of judges in respected area of law. It is for this reason it seems that Jordanian legal practitioners saw the necessity of establishing courts which would adjudicate such cases. The law of intellectual property is one of the areas that pose several challenges to trade area, where sellers of unauthorized products or products which breach intellectual property rights are widespread. It is inevitable truth of most Arab countries and in this respect it seems that position of intellectual property legislation saw its goal. Some would ask: Why would Jordan need intellectual property law at all? It does not have such potential in order to enforce such complicated legislation and procedures. The answer lies in increasing importance of Jordan as a financial and trade center of Middle East, which would compete and challenge such centers as U.A.E. and Qatar. In order to ensure such position in market, Jordan, first, has to ensure that legislation is in harmony with international trade and financial legislation. Amidst them, intellectual property law, if not most important, but occupies significant place to such an extent that it has to increase awareness and skills in this area. Simultaneously, one of the important and flexible methods of alternative dispute resolution as arbitration has to play here crucial role. Arbitration is one of the areas of alternative dispute resolution, necessity of which has increased along with globalization of international trade. It has been seen as one of the areas which can significantly simplify international trade procedure without bringing unsolvable complexities into the business which has already gone into complexities. The arbitration of cases related to intellectual property is different and complicated matter, which cannot be explained with reference to arbitration of normal and common cases that emerge in the course of international or local trade. It requires lawyers which are not only fluent but also skilled in matters of IP law and practice. Such lawyers, the amount of which is few in Jordan, can be and should be trained in this area in order to ensure the integrity of arbitration procedures in IP cases. As a rule, majority of companies and lawyers cannot trust to state courts, which would consider intellectual property cases along with ordinary cases and are subject to inevitable error by doing incorrect analogies in decision of such cases. Usually parties which address their cases to state courts are usually unsatisfied not only with level of knowledge of judges in intellectual property cases but also with complexity of procedure. In this sense, one should realize the importance of arbitration methods for adjudication of intellectual property cases. Jordan, it seems, have realized the serious threat posed by this problem and have taken number of measures in order to respond to this challenges. One of the notable measures is certainly sending law students abroad in order to prepare future judges specialized on intellectual property disputes. This has been done effectively and majority of students are in prominent institutions which are really strong in this area of law. Second is creation of respective legislation in this area, yet there are some gaps which are inevitable and these gaps should be filled in order to harmonize Jordanian legislation in the field of arbitration and IP law. Jordan has examples to learn from and it is its closest neighbors such as U.A.E., Qatar and Bahrain. These countries have foremost skills and experience in these fields of law. It is not only explained by abundance of their experts but also rapid expansion of their economies and integration into the world economy. In this respect, Jordan is in more convenient position than other countries since even the culture of its neighbors is identical to Jordan. The similarity in culture and tradition is one of the factors that make harmonization of Jordanian IP legislation much easier and painless. Besides, the lack of experience and knowledge not only in IP law, but also in arbitration process in IP case makes Jordan vulnerable to the challenge posed by the legal world of these neighbors. It is for this reason; the necessity of this dissertation is realized. There is also Islamic factor that raises issue. Since Jordanian constitution recognizes Islam as a religion of state and due to historical circumstances when Islamic law dominated Jordan for centuries, it raises question: Has Islamic law influenced emergence and development of arbitration in Jordan as well as of intellectual property law? In this respect, Akhtar remarked: â€Å"there exist considerable variations in the Middle East on the incorporation and application of arbitration laws and the practice and procedure in enforcing arbitral awards, which are complicated further by the differing interaction between Sharia law and Western systems of law in each country†. Therefore, the major goal of this dissertation is to examine whether Islamic legal principles in fact had an impact on development of arbitration and intellectual property law in Jordan. It will be tested on the basis of case related to IP law decided in arbitration courts of Jordan. The importance of this topic is realized in the context of rising importance of Jordan as emerging economic and financial leader in Middle East. It is also realized due to the fact that Islamic law is a dominant system in contemporary Middle East. This dissertation consists of four parts: (i) first chapter briefly examines the basic tenets of Islamic law; (ii) second chapter briefly examines arbitration system in Jordan; (iii) third chapter briefly analyses intellectual property law in Jordan; and (iv) final chapter, an important one scrutinizes Jordanian intellectual property disputes arbitration for compliance with Islamic law. Overview Of Jordanian And Islamic Law Jordan is one of the countries in the world that inherited several features of different legislations at a time. One of the major influences was Ottoman legislation, since Jordan was under their dominancy for almost 700 years. In this respect, it can be said that it has been influence not only by Islamic law, which was the law of Ottoman empire but also by features of unique Ottoman law, which coexisted in one line with Islamic law. Legislation And Judicial System In Jordan Once Jordan became a subject of European colonization in 19 century, it inevitably embraced some features of European legislation. Yet, at present time, Jordanian legislation is surprising mixture of European and Islamic elements. The system of government in Jordan is parliamentary monarchy. Yet, it should be noted that monarchy in Jordan is almost absolute since all powers are vested in the King of Jordan who is considered to be direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.V.) As in other countries of the world, the power in Jordan is divided into three branches, namely, legislative, executive and judicial. However, unlike other countries King may interfere within functioning of legislative power or other in order to ensure his absolute status. The constitution of Jordan openly declares Islam as the religion of state. However, upon the close examination of Jordanian legislation, one cannot call it Islamic state since it contains elements which are contrary to Islamic legal principles. Unlike Saudi constitution which declares Islam as a source of law, Jordan constitution declares Islam only as a religion of state. It is, however, not clear what it implies. Nonetheless, one can see the consequences of Islam being declared as a religion of state, in the legal system, where there is duality of courts. Jordanian courts are divided into secular and religious courts. While religious courts are not only Islamic but also ecclesial or Christian courts, which are free to decide family matters of their respective religious communities. The competence of religious courts, including Islamic, are not extended to the matters of commercial and administrative law. Therefore, matters pertaining to commercial or administrative law are decided in secular courts. Officially, Jordanian constitution declares that there are three types of courts: (i) civil courts; (ii) religious courts; and (iii) special courts. Yet, civil courts also hear criminal cases along with civil cases and cases of administrative field. Religious courts are divided into Islamic and courts of other non-Muslim communities. Both of them hear cases within scope of their competence. It is interesting that Sharia courts also hear cases which are related to the compensation of blood money where one of the parties are not Muslims. Compensation of blood-money, otherwise called diya, is one of the old features of Islamic criminal law and it is surprising that it is not in competence of secular courts but religious. The constitution does not define how special courts function, leaving this matter to the law. Yet, there are tribunals which are designed to interpret law and one of them is High Tribunal, the purpose of which to interpret constitution when required by government. It is also necessary to provide brief overview about Shari ‘a, which occupies significant position in Jordanian legislation. Sharia, otherwise called Islamic law, is one of the ancient systems of law that has been preserved since 7 century A.D. with some modifications. The sources of Sharia, according to Muslim belief, are Quran and Sunna. First being Holy Book of Islamic religion and second are traditions or precedents of Prophet of Islam. Besides, official Islamic dogma declares that Islamic jurisprudence functions according to four sources of law, Quran, Sunna, ijma and qiyas. Ijma, otherwise called consensus is being interpreted differently by four schools of Islamic law and same goes with qiyas, which is otherwise called analogy. Four schools of Islamic law that has emerged at different periods of time during first century of Islam, mainly diverge upon interpretation of major or secondary sources of Islamic law. Islamic law does not recognize freedom of contract and prohibits such elements of trade and economy as charging interest, fortuity and gambling. In order to comply with these principles, Islamic lawyers has developed certain methods and forms which would allow Muslim to operate in one or another way in business world. One of the remarkable features of new Islamic jurisprudence is creation of Islamic banking, which replaces interest with profit-and-loss sharing concept, Islamic insurance that operates in almost similar fashion and other new concepts as Islamic bonds, otherwise called sukkuk. As far as intellectual property concerned, Islamic law protects inviolability of property as well as its manifestations in different forms. The same applies to any form of intellectual property, be it trademark or invention. Arbitration in Islamic law is unique, since arbitration has been inherent to Arab culture and was called hakama. Hakams were arbitrators in ancient Arabia and judged according to Arab customs and traditions. Therefore, there is nothing new in arbitration which is not familiar to Islamic lawyers. In last century, the position of Islamic law in disputes that were decided in arbitration courts was widely ignored. It is evident from several cases. In Petroleum Development (Trucial Coasts) Ltd. V. Shaikh of Abu Dhabi, Lord Asquith, the arbitrator ironically observed: â€Å"†¦it would be fanciful to suggest that in this very primitive region there is any settled body of legal principles applicable to the construction of modern commercial instruments†. Another remark, done by arbitrator in Ruler of Qatar v. International Marine Oil Company Ltd., was bitterer and arrogant: â€Å"†¦I am satisfied that the [Islamic] law does not contain any principles which would be sufficient to interpret this particular contract†. Such excesses and bitter remarks were summed up and characterized in the following terms: â€Å"In general, the legal community throughout the Arab world is still manifesting its hostility to transnational arbitration mainly as a result of the great publicity devoted to the criticism of certain unfortunate arbitral awards rendered as of 1951 by western arbitrators who excluded, with terms of a humiliating nature, the application of the national applicable legal systems of countries like Abu Dhabi or Qatar†. It should be also noted that Jordanian legislation does not fully implement precepts of Islamic law such as prohibition of interest or insurance. There are banks and insurance companies in Jordan which operate according to Western principles of banking and insurance. The companies and banks in Jordan are free to operate in the mode they choose to be most efficient for them. There is no hindrance on the part of Jordanian government in this sense. Defining Islamic Law There is no single or unified definition of Islamic law. Various scholars offer various definitions. I shall not go into each definition offered but shall arbitrarily explicate some of them. One of the famous scholars of Islamic law, Joseph Schacht offered an interesting definition for Islamic law: â€Å"Islamic law is the epitome of the Islamic spirit, the most typical manifestation of the Islamic way of life, the kernel of Islam itself†. Goitein, it seems, offered more precise and comprehensive definition: â€Å"Islamic religion is characterised by the prominence of legal conceptions in its systems: The Sharia, or holy law, is its very essence and Fiqh, or religious jurisprudence, is its science (‘ilm) par excellence. The minute observation of many commandments is its most conspicuous practical aspect; the free fellowship of religious scholars, who do not need authorisation by any government to interpret, develop and apply its law, is its most representative body, and even purely legal sections of the Fiqh are studied as an act of worship†. These two definitions are not exhaustive but reflect true essence of Islamic law. Schachts ‘way of life and Goiteins ‘religious jurisprudence constitute what is called Shariah in Arabic. Moreover, Islamic law cannot be compared with common or continental legal systems. It is because latter do deal and embrace all areas of law, whereas Islamic law mostly deal with private law, leaving aside public law. Therefore, the claim of some countries that since their legislation is based on Shariah, their law is being regulated by divine law is not correct. The Shariah only applies to matters of private law in these countries and the public law has been imported from Western models. The majority of scholars have long been recognizing Quran as a major source of Islamic law, sometimes without examining what it stands for. It was Schacht who first suggested that Shafii, prominent Islamic jurist, paid merely lip-service to Quran as a source of law in his jurisprudential theory. Certainly, major principles of Islamic law has been deducted from Quran but it is only a major and in a number of cases, we discover that Muslim jurists are dependant or totally reliant on other sources rather than Quran without hesitation. The holy book of Islam or Muslims all over the world, Quran is believed by Muslims to have been revealed via Archangel Gabriel to Muhammad, who is regarded by Muslims as both Prophet and Messenger of God. Quran is law but law in a spiritual sense. If you ask a Muslim: What is your law (Sharia)? He or she would respond: â€Å"Quran† without realizing whether it is spiritual or actual law. For the purposes of present study, Quran is a source of law but to a limited extent since a major proportion of rules and judgments is being extracted from other sources of law and via different methods of legal reasoning. It is not however realized by ordinary Muslim as such, and even by Muslim jurist, who would suggest that sources for such rulings is Sharia and all rules, embodied in Sharia are immutable and should not be a subject of any challenge by anyone. Before turning to critical points, it is crucial to explore basics of Quran. Quran is the holy book of Islamic religion. It is said to have been revealed during 23 years, once Prophet Muhammed started his mission among Arab people. The Quran derives from the word ‘qara which denotes in Arabic, reciting or reading. It is also asserted that with a same meaning it is cited in Old Testament in Hebrew language. There are other names which are designed for Quran, such as ‘Quran al-Majid or ‘al-Quran ash-Sharif or ‘Furqan, etc. For the purpose of present study, it shall be called Quran, which is rather easy to refer and this way we shall avoid confusion. The divine legislation is said to have been established through revelation of Quran in stages as I have mentioned earlier. The modern scholars as well as classic jurists were still unsure about precise role of Quran as a source of legislation. It is not clear whether the role of Quran corresponds to the hierarchy where it has been hoisted to the primary position. In fact, Quran has never been a primary source as we understand a primacy in modern jurisprudence. Muslim jurists would often rule according to verse of Quran but not a principle or spirit that it implies. They would pay a lip-service to Quran as a source of all legislation, but in fact they would disregard those rules of Quran that should have been regarded in specific occasion. The precise role of Quran is difficult to define; it is because the primacy of Quran has been overshadowed by other sources and methods of law. Quran has always been mentioned along with Sunna, second sources of Islamic law which we shall have occasion to discuss in the next paragraph. In order to demonstrate the position of Quran as a source of law, let us look at some examples of utilization of Quran in classic Islamic jurisprudence. The Prophetic Traditions or hadith as called in Arabic form a second source of law in hierarchy of sources of Islamic law and jurisprudence. It does not only occupy this position indeed but sometimes shares dominancy with Quran. The difference that emerged between Muslim jurists and later led to establishment of schools of law was caused by diverging interpretation of Prophetic Tradition. From liberal approach of Hanafis to strict compliance of Zahiris, they all dispute on nature of Prophetic Traditions as a source of law. Sometimes their conflict went as far as one realise that it is rather absurdity than logical argument. The word ‘ijma, which is basically translated as ‘collecting or ‘assembling, in a legal sense has caused a lot of debates over its validity. It is sometimes viewed as a consensus of either jurists or Muslims in general. Some assert that it is consensus of early Muslims Companions over common postulates of faith and religion. The consensus might be reached if it is unanimously adopted in practice or ‘custom as in the case of international law. Second, consensus might be uttered in respect of certain ruling by majority of either scholars or jurists. Finally, it can be ‘e silentio support for certain opinion by majority of jurists that have the right to adjudicate their independent opinion. It is not clear from Islamic jurisprudential theory when ijma should be employed and what certain conditions are. Some jurists, Hanafi, for instance, usually in their judgments, say ‘there has been consensus on this issue or ‘question but they never clarified how and why such consensus has been reached among them. We also do not know whether we may employ ijma concept in modern context and whether it shall be binding on all Muslims or adopted by them as a constituent part of Islamic law. In Sunni jurisprudence, we know that by way of ijma, certain jurists united into groups affiliated with dominating opinion of single jurist, which later became known as ‘schools of law or ‘madhahib. It has also been asserted that ijma on common legal issues has been reached in eighth century by respective founders of ‘madhahib; there is no way to re-visit these concepts or judgments. When speaking of analogy principle in Islamic law, it is not clear whether it is absolute or not or whether it is logically applicable to all cases. The word ‘qiyas itself means ‘to compare and it is regarded as one of the major sources of Islamic law. Islamic jurists themselves stipulate four predominant conditions of analogy: The precept or practice upon which it is founded must be of common (amm) and not of special (khass) application; The cause (‘illa) of the injunction must be known and understood; The decision must be based upon either the Quran, the Sunna, or the Ijma; The decision arrived at must not be contrary to anything declared elsewhere in the Quran and Sunna. The fourth stipulation raises some concerns. As we have discussed earlier, there are a lot of contradictions between Quran and Sunna, and even within Quran and within Sunna. The jurists attempted to decide such contradictions by asserting that there cannot be hypothetically any conflicts between these sources and even within these sources; they exist and it is reality. This factor also serves as a great hindrance in deriving rules or judgments from primary sources of Islamic law. Even though these rules has been developed and elaborated by jurists; there are still a lot of controversies with application of this principle. It is caused by a different degree of application in schools of law and conflict between jurists whether such analogy might be applied when the necessity in such application is clear. Thus, for instance, it is not clear why principle of justice embodied in Quran might not be equally applied to all subjects of Islamic state, be it Muslim or non-Muslim. Normally, Islamic jurist would object saying that since Quran is only for Muslims, its injunctions are only applicable to Muslims. There is no logic which might be applied but incoherence in reasoning, sometimes leading to absurd conclusions. Concluding Remarks In present chapter, we have discussed general legal conceptions that exist in Jordanian and Islamic law. There is a big difference between them because of the nature of legislation. Islamic law is mainly religious, whereas Jordanian is secular; even though Constitution claims that Islamic is a state religion. In majority of Islamic countries, a fact that Islamic is a religion of state is merely lip-service to Islamic as a religion of people. It does not go further than that, except some countries as Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. But even legislation of these countries demonstrates how secular they are in their nature. It does not however mean that Jordan lack of Islamic legal taste; there are some aspects of Islamic law in Jordanian legislation, as we have seen previously. The matters of marriage, divorce, inheritance and religious endowment are mainly under realms of Islamic law. Yet, on the other hands, similar matters that arise with other religious communities are decided based on their respective religious law. However, the matters which are related to arbitration and intellectual property are mainly based on secular, precisely on European model based laws. Therefore, purpose of forthcoming chapters will be to examine whether they comply with Islamic law in general. Arbitration System In Jordan And Compliance With Islamic Law And Its Implications For Intellectual Property Law This chapter summarizes the current state of arbitration system in Jordan and issue of its compliance with Islamic law. It is done with purpose to acquaint readers with main aspects of these systems and legislation, so he or she has full understanding when looking through forthcoming chapters. Arbitration In Jordan The arbitration process in Jordan is being regulated by special law Law No. 31 of 2001 otherwise called Jordan Arbitration Law. It is not unique; neither has it been adopted from international law, but from Egyptian Arbitration Act No. 27 of 1994, which in turn has been adopted from UNCITRAL Model Law 1985. The law consists of 7 parts and 56 articles. It can be structured thus: (1) General provisions (Articles 1-8); (2) Arbitration agreement (Articles 9-13); (3) Arbitration tribunal (Articles 14-23); (4) Arbitration proceedings (Articles 24-35); (5) Arbitral award and termination proceedings (Articles 36-47); (6) Nullity of arbitral award (Articles 48-51); (7) Enforcement of awards (Articles 52-56). The Art. 3 makes the scope of law absolute; it extends to any arbitration proceedings in Jordan and to any cases whether they derive from contractual dispute or not. Neither does it differentiate between commercial or civil disputes; both of them are within scope of this law. The Art. 5 allows not only contracting parties to choose the arbitration procedure but also a third party which shall be able to choose such procedure. The Art. 8 explicitly prohibits the intervention by state courts; yet, it stipulates that the arbitration tribunal may ask the intervention of state courts where former needs the participation of experts, witnesses, etc. As far as arbitration agreement is concerned, Art. 9 allows only those persons, be it physical or legal, which has legal capacity, to conclude such agreement. It does not allow arbitration on matters which are on â€Å"amiable compositeaur† basis. The arbitration agreement is valid only if in writing, according to Art. 10a, yet, the form of written agreement is flexible. It can be contained in exchange of letters, faxes, etc. It has been also reaffirmed by Jordanian Court of Cassation which stated: â€Å"the arbitration clause as established should be written, clear and explicit as well, by virtue of Article 10/A of the Arbitration Law No. 31of 2001†. The law also allows parties to render their dispute to arbitration whilst in state court, in which case state court has the right to refer to arbitration tribunal and its reference shall be viewed as arbitration agreement in writing. As far as arbitration tribunal concerned, Art. 14a and b, establishes that number of arbitrators shall be odd, otherwise it is void. If there is a disagreement between parties then number of arbitrators is three. Noteworthy, the law reaffirms the independence of arbitration clause, which is according to Art. 22, is not dependent on other clause of underlying contract. The language of arbitration proceedings is Arabic but law allows the use of another language or other languages upon consent of parties, according to Art. 28a. Most importantly, Art. 17 upheld the principle of impartiality and independence of arbitrators and in elaboration of this provision Court of Cassation further held: â€Å"all arbitral procedures, in which the challenged arbitrator has participated, including the arbitral award, shall be deemed void†. These are the major aspects of arbitration law in Jordan. Besides, Jordan has also ratified the New York Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards by the virtue of Jordanian Court of Cassation, where it was remarked: â€Å"It is understood from the Article (2) of Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Law No. 8 of 1952 that the foreign arbitral award which has been enforced and ratified by the forum court , shall be enforceable in Jordan in accordance with all the clauses and requirements, and does not conflict with any of the stipulated provisions of Article (7) of the said law†. The ratification of New York Convention by Jordan should be viewed as positive development and attractive for the foreign companies who wish to deal with Jordanian companies or invest in Jordan. The same applies to IP disputes; any company which would challenge Jordanian company with the claim of breach of copyright or violation of other forms of intellectual property, are in convenience in the view of ratification of New York Convention. However, in his study of issues pertaining enforcement, Haddad critically commented: â€Å"Turning again to Jordanian Law which provides, as has just been seen, that a foreign award must be enforceable in the place in which it was issued, which means that the award should have been reduced to a judgment in the foreign country†. It implies that Jordanian legislation does not recognise validity of foreign judgement as enforceable in Jordan. But he noted that â€Å"this approach may be criticized since it may be difficult in practice or even impossible to achieve this goal in certain circumstances, particularly in institutional arbitration. In this type of arbitration, it may happen that the parties involved in the proceedings including the arbitrators, and all other relevant factors have no relation whatsoever with the place of arbitration except that the proceedings were conducted there. In such a case, the foreign court may reasonably reject to enforce the award rendered in its country, and that means that the award may not be enforced in Jordan either†. In such dubious situation, it is unclear how Jordanian legislation on arbitration would cope with this kind of problem. It seems to be paradoxical situation because award cannot be enforced either domestically or locally. It will also have some implication for enforcement of foreign arbitral awards on intellectual property rights since majority of arbitral awards may not be enforced in foreign country since its enforcement should be accomplished in Jordan because of object of dispute. In such case, it is difficult to predict how arbitration courts and moreover state courts would deal with it. Enforcement Of Foreign Arbitration Awards In Jordan One of the problems that foreign company may encounter in Jordan is the problem of enforcement of award related to IP cases in Jordan. It is clear that certain IP cases may intervene with public policy and in this regard it is nearly impossible to assert such possibility may not arise. IP legislation in Jordan being in immature position sometimes may not offer effective solutions for parties which are from different countries. In this regard, one should closely take a look at public policy issues in Jordan. According to IP legislation, certain names cannot be registered as trademarks in Jordan. However: what if the name of foreign company or brand coincides with the name trademark registration of which is illegal in Jordan? The company in this case would face difficulties in carrying out business and moreover it would face difficulties in enforcing award that has been rendered in foreign or international arbitration court. The case of Mitsubishi in U.S. showed how difficult it is to determine whether one case is subject to public policy or not. It has changed the contours of arbitrability in U.S. but the question arises: can such case have implication for Jordanian arbitration system? One can answer positively, but one would be confused when it comes to IP arbitration. IP arbitration, as it has been seen, is a difficult and complex matter. It cannot be simply adjusted as in the case of ordinary commercial arbitration. The IP legislation is diverse and this diversity may imply negative consequences for arbitration, since arbitrators should be expertise in all areas

Friday, October 25, 2019

Advertising Analysis Essay -- Ad Advertisement Commercial Essays

Advertising Analysis This paper will analyze an ATT commercial according to audience, purpose, context, ethics, and stance. The focus will emphasize the audience which the aid is trying to reach and how they do so. The commercial begins with Latino rap music playing in the background, as a man drives up in a 62 chevy low rider convertible. This car is the paramount of ghetto style enhancement. As he pulls up it is impossible not to notice his car’s insanely high-powered hydraulics. This car is classic and one can tell its worth by it expensive paint job alone. The driver is dressed in an aristocratic ghetto style which includes and expensive watch and better than average clothing. A goatee adds to this style of appearance. The driver asks a group of four young people if they are using the phone that one of them is leaning against. One of the shocked juveniles responds that he isn’t using the phone. The driver says,†The great thing about 1-800 call ATT is the rates don’t bounce up and down†.The driver then tries to hop out of the insanely rocking car but trips and lands on his face in the street. He dials 1-800 call ATT and shakes out his hand as the sou nd effects of a cracking whip coincides. He then says,†smooth† to himself as if to affirm his coolness. One of the young ladies by the phone flashes him a questioning look. When the line picks up he states,†Sweetie, I need a ride†. The camera pans to his car that is bouncing down the street setting off car alarms. He then pounds his chest twice and holds out his fist, a ghetto gesture, again trying to reaffirm his coolness. The makers of this commercial intended the audience to be teenagers and young adults. The values used were sex appeal (of one of the... ...y they did this was by using hyperbole to such a point so as to make something stylish appear ludicrously funny. The repeated exposures to the service throughout the commercial also aids in selling the service. The time slot and channel for this commercial was also strategically planned so as to get the maximum exposure to the intended audience. There was no attempt to hide the blatant advertising. This was clearly meant to be seen as a commercial. However, the ethics were a bit on the shady side so as to make the deal seem better than it really was. The small print of the details makes it appear as though the company is trying to hide the truth and is shown only because it is mandatory. The rhetoric of this commercial is in short stating this commercial is meant to sell a service to young people through a comedic commercial while hiding the negative ethics.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

The Rhetorical Strategies of the Scarlett Letter

Grayce Byrnes Mr. Smith AP English 11-Period A 24 September 2012 The Passion of Pearl In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts the hardships of a young girl named Hester forced to live with the letter A pinned to her chest in penitence for her sins in a strict Puritan town in the 1800s. The illegitimate daughter of Hester carries the same traits and qualities as Hester, making Pearl a double of Hester. Hawthorne defines Pearl with his use of abstract diction, whimsical tone, and his selection of detail.Pearl’s character functions primarily as a symbolic character that stands for her mother and the scarlet letter. Pearl becomes the Scarlet Letter brought to life. She is dressed in elaborate, scarlet garb as if to be a real-life scarlet letter. The narrator explains her as â€Å"the scarlet letter in another form: the scarlet letter endowed with life! †(Hawthorne 57). When Hester tries to discard the letter, she gets in a panic mode, as if Hester is ac tually discarding her. The author never really states the purpose of Pearl being the scarlet letter, but instead uses abstract ideas and prodigious vocabulary.Many people in the Puritan community believe that since Hester would not reveal the child’s father, that he must be the devil himself. Pearl has an uncanny perception of what goes on around her and constantly is seeking for the truth. The connection of Pearl to the letter and her constant obsession with finding truth leads us to believe that the letter means truth. Her excessively perceptive knowledge is almost supernatural. Hawthorne’s tone is one of a whimsical, mischievous, and capricious descriptions. Pearl’s main purpose seems to be to uncover the truth for the main characters.Once she completes her goal, â€Å"A spell was broken. The great scene of grief, in which the wild infant bore a party, had developed all her sympathies; and as her tears fell upon her father's cheek, they were the pledge that she would grow up amid human joy and sorrow, nor forever do battle with the world, but be a woman in it. Towards her mother, too, Pearl's errand as a messenger of anguish was all fulfilled†(233). Her capricious emotions and the fickle opinions of the author make it hard for the reader to decipher if the child is the evil embodiment of Hester’s sin or just the naivety and curiosity of a child.Overall, there are some striking similarities between Hester and Pearl. Even during Hester’s pregnancy, she could feel Pearl’s â€Å"wild, desperate, defiant mood, the flightiness of her temper, and even some of the very cloud-shapes of gloom and despondency that had brooded in her heart† (50). These emotions correlate with Hester. Her wild, desperate and defiant mood is emulated through her betrayal of the puritans through her sin. Her temper, gloom, and despondency is felt from Hester because of her forced isolation from the rest of the town and marked as an o utcast. Pearl is described as beautiful, imaginative, graceful, and impulsive.These traits are also seen in Hester. Pearl is a character of mystery and has an almost supernatural essence to her. The author talks about her like she is more than human although we never know if she heaven-sent or from the devil because the author plays both sides of the argument. Pearl is a symbol of the passion that is within every human heart, and as the story ends with her finding great success in Europe, she shows us that society should never define you. I Pledge My Honor That I Have not Received Aid on this Paper _____________________________________________

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Effect of Video Games on Kids

Tessa Johnson Professor Harrison Composition II 2 October 2012 Effect of Video Games on Kids Growing up, playing outside was what I did for fun. Whether it was riding my bike, playing with friends, or swimming, I was outside for hours at a time every day. Today, kids have access to things like Xboxes, Playstations, and Nintendo DS. In a study conducted by Gentile, Lynch, Linder & Walsh (2004) â€Å"adolescent girls played video games for an average of 5 hours a week, whereas boys averaged 13 hours a week. A survey done by Harris Interactive shows that 23 percent of youth have felt â€Å"addicted to video games. † Studies have shown that teenagers who play violent video games for extended periods of time tend to be more aggressive, are more prone to engage in fights and confrontations, and see a decline in academic success. (Gentile et al) In 2010, Robert Weis and Brittany Cerankosky conducted a study to see how video games affect academic success.They selected a group of boys who didn’t own video games and assigned them to one of two conditions: the â€Å"video games now† group got a game system immediately, and the â€Å"video games later† group didn’t receive their systems until months later. The researchers tracked the boys’ academic success at school. They found that the boys who got their game systems immediately spent less time on schoolwork and, 4 months later, they got lower reading and writing scores. This makes sense, since more time spent playing video games means less time studying.Also, the distraction of video games can cause kids to lose interest in their studies and cause them to fall behind. These results line up with another survey done by Cummings and Vandewater in 2007, which concluded that kids aged 10-19 who played video games spent 30% less time reading and 34% less time doing homework. (Cummings & Vandewater) A 2009 Brigham Young University study found that as video game usage increased, the qua lity of relationships with others, including family, friends, and other peers, decreased. The BYU Study found that daily video game users were twice as likely to use drugs.They were three times as likely to use drugs over those who never played games. This doesn’t mean that all kids who play video games are going to go out and do drugs, but it certainly doesn’t help anything. If a child spends hours at a time playing video games, they will have no time to form relationships and socialize, not giving them the social skills they may need to succeed in the future. This can set them up for failure in job interviews, school, and in building solid relationships that are crucial to every teenager’s life. However, there are also many positive elements of video games.According to Chacha Tumbokon, a psychologist at De La Salle University, video games can give kids betters skills in areas such as following directions, problem solving and logic, and hand-eye coordination an d fine motor skills. Often times the player is asked to follow commands or prompts in a video game in order to gain rewards or status, which aids with following directions. Also, when there is a challenge in a game, it doesn’t get solved easily; the player is often forced to work through many riddles or obstacles in order to succeed—another important life lesson for a child to learn.And lastly, video games require a great deal of hand-eye coordination. Often times games require the player to change viewpoints with one control, move with another control, and do actions (shooting, jumping, etc. ) with another control. This builds up hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, which is a good workout for the brain. Another common aspect of games is resource management. There are often a limited number of resources (such as lives, power-ups, money, etc. ) that has to be managed in order to succeed in a game. This is another valuable lesson that many kids should learn in t heir lifetime.James Paul Gee, professor of education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says that playing a video game is similar to working through a science problem. There is a lot of trial and error involved, which teaches a child inductive reasoning and hypothesis testing, something that can be used in many areas of life. In conclusion, there are many positive and negative effects of video games. Psychologists suggest that parents monitor the games that are being played by their children and make sure the games aren’t affecting the child’s

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Great Expectations Essay

Great Expectations Essay Great Expectations Essay Great Expectations Essay Writing Great Expectations essay you should not ignore the importance of keeping the standard academic format.   It means that your Great Expectations should open with an introduction followed by a detailed body and end with a concise and relevant conclusion.   Below is the short sample Great Expectations essay. If you want to have an essay written especially for you, you may order customized essay writing help. Our writers will write your Great Expectations essay in accordance to requirements and instruction provided by you.   No late deliveries and no plagiarism! writers are responsible and educated. Check our writing guide for free sample essays and term papers. Great Expectations Essay Sample The distinctive comedy in Great Expectations is the result of the multitude of collisions. The major collisions shock Pip into realizing that he is an intruder. The pervasiveness of collisionscharacters battering each other with their private languages, objects senselessly asserting themselves against each other, parts of bodies assaulting one anothercreate the real anxiety. The distinctive terror in Great Expectations comes from the discovery that the world in which Pip finds himself an intruder is not homogeneous, that the forces directed against him are infinite and infinitely different. Dickens did not sustain his comic terror to the extent of any of the more modern writers I am discussing, probably because he was much more optimistic about the possibilities for social progress. Yet what makes Great Expectations far more than a piece of social satire is that he so thoroughly interrelated the social and natural orders, showing them both to be parts of the same capricious and heterogeneous process. There is no way of telling whether Pip's nightmare is reality or his response to reality, whether it is the result of an unjust and menacing social system or whether the social system is unjust and menacing because of natural human drives. Miss Havisham, the weird goddess figure who proves not to be a goddess; Magwitch, the figure of natural and social menace who turns out to embody Fortune; Orlick, the figure of irrational evil, brought to life, as it were, by the accident of Pip's continuing good fortune; and Joe, the figure of unreasoning goodnessall collide with Pip as members of society, but they are also projections of Pip's natural desires and possibilities. Some of the most important collisions in the novel externalize conflicting inner drives, and these are related to collisions in the outer reality of Society and Nature. Pip is so entangled in and excluded from such a thoroughly chaotic world that there is no basis for distinguishing between the psychological and the physical, the individual and the social. The two-dimensional point of view is not just the conjunction of youth and age, but of perspectives that are simultaneously rebellious and adjustive. Although the story moves toward the adjustive, a deep sense of the reality he created kept Dickens at first from writing a happy ending. And even in the revised ending, written as a concession to popular taste, there is a strain of ambivalence based on the impossibility of harmony or final adjustment in the world of Great Expectations. Great Expectations Essay: Custom Writing The above sample of Great Expectations essay is written here with the hope to assist you with starting your own essay.   If writing an essay is a real challenge for you, if you do not want to spend hours researching and writing, you may freely order professional essay writing assistance at our site.   Our prices are affordable and our writers are truly experienced.   No other site is able to provide you with fully referenced and 100% plagiarism free essay!

Monday, October 21, 2019

The Life and Works of David Ricardo - a Biography

The Life and Works of David Ricardo - a Biography David Ricardo - His Life David Ricardo was born in 1772. He was the third of seventeen children. His family was descended from Iberian Jews who had fled to Holland in the early18th Century. Ricardo’s father, a stockbroker, emigrated to England shortly before David was born. Ricardo began working full-time for his father at the London Stock Exchange when he was fourteen. When he was 21 his family disinherited him when he married a Quaker. Luckily he already had an excellent reputation in finance and he set up his own business as a dealer in government securities. He quickly became very rich. David Ricardo retired from business in 1814 and was elected to the British parliament in 1819 as an independent representing a borough in Ireland, which he served up to his death in 1823. In parliament, his main interests were in the currency and commercial questions of the day. When he died, his estate was worth over $100 million in todays dollars. David Ricardo - His Work Ricardo read Adam Smiths Wealth of Nations (1776) when he was in his late twenties. This sparked an interest in economics that lasted his whole life. In 1809 Ricardo began to write down his own ideas in economics for newspaper articles. In his Essay on the Influence of a Low Price of Corn on the Profits of Stock (1815), Ricardo articulated what came to be known as the law of diminishing returns. (This principle was also discovered simultaneously and independently by Malthus, Robert Torrens, and Edward West). In 1817 David Ricardo published Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. In this text, Ricardo integrated a theory of value into his theory of distribution. David Ricardo’s attempts to answer important economic issues took economics to an unprecedented degree of theoretical sophistication. He outlined the Classical system more clearly and consistently than anyone before had done. His ideas became known as the Classical or Ricardian School. While his ideas were followed they slowly were replaced. However, even today the Neo-Ricardian research program exists.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Analytical Essay Even Wives Want a Wife

The main points made in the essay are what the wife would do for the author such as household chores, taking care of children, catering to her friends and many other satirical duties. All the while several literary devices are used to enhance the article. She uses these elements to show sexist and selfish ideas of men that are prevalent in society. â€Å"I Want a Wife† efficiently reasons for how the male gender generalizes the role of a wife in a sexist way in our society by making use of ethos, logos, pathos, satire and repetition. Ethos is used in the essay as Brady is a wife herself. Since she is she must have a certain expertise of being a wife. As she states in one of the beginning paragraphs â€Å"I belong to that classification of people known as wives. I am a wife. And, not altogether incidentally I am a mother† (Brady 542). This shows her credibility; that all the jobs and duties she mentioned must have been personally experienced by her. The many jobs and chores discussed make the audience feel sympathy for wives and the author herself through pathos. The author concludes the essay by saying â€Å"My god, who wouldn’t want a wife† (Brady 544)? This rhetorical question allows the readers to determine that this idea is wrong and treats women like a lesser being compared to men. The ending also evokes the reader to take action towards the topic. The author utilizes logos by stating many facts such as jobs women often do while speaking through experience. She lists all of these over exaggerated duties to indirectly saying that women are expected to do too much in today’s society. Brady speaks of several seemingly unethical chores like cleaning the house, preparing dinner to serve to friends and not speaking when the husband is talking (Brady 543). This helps get her point across by exaggeration to show how the wife is expected to have a servant like persona. Brady uses satire from the beginning of the essay to the very end of it. It is mainly used to show a male viewpoint of a wife. â€Å"And I want a wife who understands that my sexual needs may entail more than strict adherence to monogamy. I must, after all, be able to relate to people as fully as possible† (Brady 544). Here the author satirizes the man’s view of what the wife must do and what he should be able to do, which in this case is have various partners. The use of satire is very effective in this article demonstrating how a man expects to have a perfect wife further illustrating the author’s image of sexism in society. Repetition is used in several of the author’s paragraphs. â€Å"I want a wife† (Brady 543) is used in the beginning of a few paragraphs to catch your eye and to get Brady’s idea burnt into your brain. This also helps as a smooth transition for the many duties described that the wife must do. Continually stating this phrase raises the thoughts of the audience making them want a wife as well. The author made fantastic use of literary devices throughout the essay. The effectiveness of satire to me was the most powerful using it to demonstrate how men expect so much from women and how many of the duties they perform are almost slave like. Ethos, logos and pathos were used successfully in many instances that appealed to the senses. As Brady is a wife and mother herself this make her a credible source so she clearly knows what she is speaking of. There was emotional appeal making the audience sympathize for the wife and feel anger towards men. Logic was used to show the wife’s duties and what their husbands expect of them. In conclusion I thought this was a very well thought out and written article because it attempts to make the reader want to take action against the topic through all of these elements. Analytical Essay Even Wives Want a Wife The main points made in the essay are what the wife would do for the author such as household chores, taking care of children, catering to her friends and many other satirical duties. All the while several literary devices are used to enhance the article. She uses these elements to show sexist and selfish ideas of men that are prevalent in society. â€Å"I Want a Wife† efficiently reasons for how the male gender generalizes the role of a wife in a sexist way in our society by making use of ethos, logos, pathos, satire and repetition. Ethos is used in the essay as Brady is a wife herself. Since she is she must have a certain expertise of being a wife. As she states in one of the beginning paragraphs â€Å"I belong to that classification of people known as wives. I am a wife. And, not altogether incidentally I am a mother† (Brady 542). This shows her credibility; that all the jobs and duties she mentioned must have been personally experienced by her. The many jobs and chores discussed make the audience feel sympathy for wives and the author herself through pathos. The author concludes the essay by saying â€Å"My god, who wouldn’t want a wife† (Brady 544)? This rhetorical question allows the readers to determine that this idea is wrong and treats women like a lesser being compared to men. The ending also evokes the reader to take action towards the topic. The author utilizes logos by stating many facts such as jobs women often do while speaking through experience. She lists all of these over exaggerated duties to indirectly saying that women are expected to do too much in today’s society. Brady speaks of several seemingly unethical chores like cleaning the house, preparing dinner to serve to friends and not speaking when the husband is talking (Brady 543). This helps get her point across by exaggeration to show how the wife is expected to have a servant like persona. Brady uses satire from the beginning of the essay to the very end of it. It is mainly used to show a male viewpoint of a wife. â€Å"And I want a wife who understands that my sexual needs may entail more than strict adherence to monogamy. I must, after all, be able to relate to people as fully as possible† (Brady 544). Here the author satirizes the man’s view of what the wife must do and what he should be able to do, which in this case is have various partners. The use of satire is very effective in this article demonstrating how a man expects to have a perfect wife further illustrating the author’s image of sexism in society. Repetition is used in several of the author’s paragraphs. â€Å"I want a wife† (Brady 543) is used in the beginning of a few paragraphs to catch your eye and to get Brady’s idea burnt into your brain. This also helps as a smooth transition for the many duties described that the wife must do. Continually stating this phrase raises the thoughts of the audience making them want a wife as well. The author made fantastic use of literary devices throughout the essay. The effectiveness of satire to me was the most powerful using it to demonstrate how men expect so much from women and how many of the duties they perform are almost slave like. Ethos, logos and pathos were used successfully in many instances that appealed to the senses. As Brady is a wife and mother herself this make her a credible source so she clearly knows what she is speaking of. There was emotional appeal making the audience sympathize for the wife and feel anger towards men. Logic was used to show the wife’s duties and what their husbands expect of them. In conclusion I thought this was a very well thought out and written article because it attempts to make the reader want to take action against the topic through all of these elements.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Developing Hospitality properties Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Developing Hospitality properties - Essay Example So, the advertising will consist of direct mail, banner ads, and inserts. Also, special efforts will be taken to ensure the appearance of special articles about the restaurant in newspapers and other health magazines. This is so because it has been found that such articles have the potential to attract people easily and convince them. It has been found that restaurants and other businesses which manage to have articles published in newspapers and magazines experience dramatic growth in business. So, personal relationships will be utilised to achieve this aim. Allen Pasta Restaurant aims to offer its customers the best and most delicious pasta meal in the city. Also, this will be offered in the best and most pleasing ambience. Furthermore, special attention will be taken to ensure that the customers are given a better service than they anticipated (Marketing strategy, 2000). Thus, it becomes evident that Allen’s customers are aged from 25-55, who are responsible for 62% of the total consumption in the city of -------. Though age is not a matter of important concern, Allen’s customers will be young working people and families with an income above $ 40,000. Another point is the increasing health-consciousness in the city. So, a considerable proportion of the customers will be the health-conscious eaters of the city who are willing to spend money for healthy eating options. Allen Pasta Restaurant wants to position itself as an average-priced, upscale, pasta restaurant. The customers will be the ones who love quality and tasty pastas, health-conscious, educated individuals, groups, and families, usually within the age of 25-50. Service- In order to ensure that the customers are offered the best service experience in the city, the employees will be given special training. Only quality employees will be deployed. It is calculated that better product along with better service will help the company beat its rivals. The most important

'Majority rule is the right response to resolving disagreements in Outline

'Majority rule is the right response to resolving disagreements in society.' Discuss - Outline Example Government is an institution majorly formed to create stable society for the people that it governs. The people are however a complex group with widely varying wishes, needs and ideas as such the government must always turn to majority rule. The government cannot in anyway please everyone all the time. It must focus on making most of the people happy in order to gain stability faster (Web, N.d). Right is conformance with justice, law or morality. It is fair and effective. Rights can also be defined as entitlements to perform certain actions, or to be certain in states or entitlements that others perform certain actions. They dominate modern understandings of what actions are permissible and which institutions are just. They structure the form of governments, content of laws, and distribution of freedom and authority. Thus to accept a set of rights is same as to approve a distribution of freedom and authority and hence to endorse a certain view of what may, must and must not be done ( Wenar, 2010). Many theorists agree that A’s claim-right gives B a second order reason not to act on some first order reason. To go by this route we would need to tamper the conclusiveness of the conclusive reasons implied by assertions of rights to accommodate the fact that some rights have priority against others, and if any, few rights outweigh absolutely all non-right considerations in all circumstances (Wenar, 2010).This paper will focus mainly on the principle of majority rule and the rights of the minority. The main arguments are that majority rule is the right response to resolving agreements and supermajority rule is a better response to resolving disagreements in the society. Majority rule is right to resolving disagreements because it provides utility and fairness. Utilitarian argument The principle of utility states that in any circumstance that action ought to be done and that institution ought to obtain all the alternatives available, produces the greatest net ba lance of happiness over unhappiness when we sum up all happiness and unhappiness over all sentient beings from now in to the future (Cohen, 2002). The main feature of utilitarian political feature is that it calls for the maximization of happiness summed over all and not any particular distribution of happiness and subject to the constraint of everyone is above a certain minimum level. Thus from this emphasis on aggregation, utilitarianism requires that we trade off the burdens on some people and benefits to other people. The utility principle reduces highly contested and vague issues of right and wrong to problems that can actually be addressed through public methods of observation and calculation rather appeals to equally vague and contested intuitive ideas. Because of the gains in analytical tractability one may be able to secure greater public agreement about what is at stake in a political dispute and how to resolve it. Hence this principle represents one way to treat people as moral equals and it assigns the happiness of each affected party equal weight in determining what ought to be done. In actual sense the principle of utility represents a refinement of the intuitive idea that conduct and policy are right just in case they have the overall consequences or best results (Cohen, 2002). Egalitarian argument Egalitarian view that equality is the special sense of comparative equality but the prioritarian view that