KSOURI L

IN JERUSALEM

2008-08-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

In Jerusalem, I mean inside
old ramparts,
I walk a time to another
without a souvenir
which m'oriente. The prophets there share
the history of sacred… They ascend to heaven
slaughtered and return less and less sad,
because the love
and peace are holy and they will come to the city.
I go down a slope, muttering:
How storytellers to agree not they
on the words of light in a stone?
The wars they leave a stone buried?
I walk in my sleep.
Eyes wide open in my thinking,
I do not see people behind me. Nobody front.
All this light is mine. I walk.
I m'allège, steals
and transfigures me.
The words springing grass
in the mouth prophetic
Isaiah: "Believe in order to be saved."
I walk as if I was another than me.
My wound is a rose
white evangelical. My hands
these are two doves
on the cross that whirl in the sky
and cover the earth.
I do not. I fly and I transfigures.
No place, no time. Who am I then?
I am not myself in this place of the Ascension.
But I say:
Only the Prophet Muhammad
spoke Arabic literature. "And after that?"
After? One soldier shouted to me suddenly:
Even you? Did I not killed?
I say: You killed me… but, as you,
I forgot to die.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

2008-03-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

Preamble

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, therefore,

The General Assembly,

Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11

Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13

Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14

Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15

Everyone has the right to a nationality.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16

Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17

Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20

Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21

Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his country.
The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23

Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26

Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27

Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29

Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

Center for Conciliation and Arbitration of Tunis

2008-02-22T09:58:00.000-08:00

Official name	Centre de conciliation et d'arbitrage de Tunis
Address	8, rue du Nigéria
City	Tunis
Country	Tunisia
Telephone	(216) 1 792 350 / 849 695 / 790 281
Fax	(216) 1 796 192
URL	http://www.ccat.org.tn
Email	ccat@gnet.tn
Presentation	Le Centre de conciliation et d’arbitrage de Tunis est une association de droit privé tunisien, à but non lucratif, créée en 1996. La création du Centre de Conciliation et d’arbitrage de Tunis est le résultat de l’initiative de l’Université de Tunis et de l’organisation patronale (l’U.T.I.C.A.) ainsi que de plusieurs Chambres de commerce, ordres professionnels ou organisations professionnelles et associations pratiquant l’arbitrage.
Functions	Le Centre de Conciliation et d’arbitrage applique la loi Nº 93-42 du 26 avril 1993 (Code de l’arbitrage) largement inspirée de la loi-type de la Commission des Nations Unies pour le Droit Commercial International (CNUDCI). Le Centre dispose de formation sur l’arbitrage, organise un colloque international annuel et gère des arbitrages.
Services	Le Centre dispose d’une bibliothèque, des salles de réunion pour les audiences d’arbitrage, ainsi que des services de secrétariat pour les arbitres.

President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali receives the President of the lawyers' Bar

2008-02-20T13:22:00.000-08:00

President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali received, on Tuesday, Mr. Bechir Essid, the president of the Lawyers’ Bar, who declared after the meeting that he had conveyed to the Head of State the regards and consideration of the members of the bar, as well as the gratitude of the lawyers for his support.

Mr. Bechir Essid added that the President of the Republic showed keen interest for the concerns and aspirations of lawyers, as well as his commitment to improve their material and moral conditions.

In this context, the president of the bar said the Head of State had given instruction to work out a draft bill setting the right to consult a lawyer in all penal cases on appeal, as well as in cases of optional registration and those relative to updating the cases submitted to the real estate court.

The Head of State ordered to assign the ownership of the Lawyers' Club in Soukra to the bar.

President Ben Ali also demonstrated the care he grants to the conditions of trainee lawyers by giving instructions to increase the requisition fees they receive.

The president of the bar reiterated the gratitude and consideration of lawyers to the President of the Republic for signing a decree providing for the organisation and management of the retirement and health care fund for lawyers, which provides a comprehensive health coverage for them, as well as for their families in addition to a retirement pension.

The history of law

2008-02-08T11:56:00.000-08:00

The history of law is closely connected to the development of civilizations. Ancient Egyptian law, dating as far back as 3000 BCE, had a civil code that was probably broken into twelve books. It was based on the concept of Ma'at, characterised by tradition, rhetorical speech, social equality and impartiality. Around 1760 BCE under King Hammurabi, ancient Babylonian law was codified and put in stone for the public to see in the marketplace; this became known as the Codex Hammurabi. However like Egyptian law, which is pieced together by historians from records of litigation, few sources remain and much has been lost over time. The influence of these earlier laws on later civilisations was small. The Old Testament is probably the oldest body of law still relevant for modern legal systems, dating back to 1280 BCE. It takes the form moral imperatives, as recommendations for a good society. Ancient Athens, the small Greek city-state, was the first society based on broad inclusion of the citizenry, excluding women and the slave class from about 8th century BCE. Athens had no legal science, and Ancient Greek has no word for "law" as an abstract concept. Yet Ancient Greek law contained major constitutional innovations in the development of democracy.

Roman law was heavily influenced by Greek teachings. It forms the bridge to the modern legal world, over the centuries between the rise and decline of the Roman Empire. Roman law underwent major codification in the Corpus Juris Civilis of Emperor Justinian I. It was lost through the Dark Ages, but rediscovered around the 11th century. Mediæval legal scholars began researching the Roman codes and using their concepts. In mediæval England, the King's powerful judges began to develop a body of precedent, which became the common law. But also, a Europe-wide Lex Mercatoria was formed, so that merchants could trade using familiar standards, rather than the many splintered types of local law. The Lex Mercatoria, a precursor to modern commercial law, emphasised the freedom of contract and alienability of property. As nationalism grew in the 18th and 19th centuries, Lex Mercatoria was incorporated into countries' local law under new civil codes. The French Napoleonic Code and the German became the most influential. As opposed to English common law, which consists of enormous tomes of case law, codes in small books are easy to export and for judges to apply. However, today there are signs that civil and common law are converging. European Union law is codified in treaties, but develops through the precedent laid down by the European Court of Justice.

The Constitution of India is the longest written constitution for a country, containing 444 articles, 12 schedules, numerous amendments and 117,369 words.Ancient India and China represent distinct traditions of law, and had historically independent schools of legal theory and practice. The Arthashastra, probably compiled around 100 AD (though containing some older material), and the Manusmriti(c. 100-300 AD) were foundational treatises in India, texts that were considered authoritative legal guidance. Manu's central philosophy was tolerance and Pluralism, and was cited across Southeast Asia. This Hindu tradition, along with Islamic law, was supplanted by the common law when India became part of the British Empire.Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Hong Kong also adopted the common law. The eastern Asia legal tradition reflects a unique blend of secular and religious influences. Japan was the first country to begin modernising its legal system along western lines, by importing bits of the French, but mostly the German Civil Code. This partly reflected Germany's status as a rising power in the late 19th century. Similarly, traditional Chinese law gave way to westernisation towards the final years of the Ch'ing dynasty in the form of six private law codes based mainly on the Japanese model of German law. Today Taiwanese law retains the closest affinity to the codifications from that period, because of the split between Chiang Kai-shek's nationalists, who fled there, and Mao Zedong's communists who won control of the mainland in 1949. The current legal infrastructure in the People's Republic of China was heavily influenced by Soviet Socialist law, which essentially inflates administrative law at the expense of private law rights. Today, however, because of rapid industrialisation China has been reforming, at least in terms of economic (if not social and political) rights. A new contract code in 1999 represented a turn away from administrative domination.Furthermore, after negotiations lasting fifteen years, in 2001 China joined the World Trade Organisation.

Law ?

2008-02-08T11:51:00.000-08:00

Law is a system of rules usually enforced through a set of institutions. It affects politics, economics and society in numerous ways. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading swaptions on a derivatives market. Property law defines rights and obligations related to transfer and title of personal and real property, for instance, in mortgaging or renting a home. Trust law applies to assets held for investment and financial security, such as pension funds. Tort law allows claims for compensation when someone or their property is injured or harmed. If the harm is criminalised in a penal code, criminal law offers means by which the state prosecutes and punishes the perpetrator. Constitutional law provides a framework for creating laws, protecting people's human rights, and electing political representatives. Administrative law relates to the activities of administrative agencies of government. International law regulates affairs between sovereign nation-states in everything from trade to the environment to military action. "The rule of law", wrote the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle in 350 BC, "is better than the rule of any individual."

Legal systems around the world elaborate legal rights and responsibilities in different ways. A basic distinction is made between civil law jurisdictions and systems using common law. Some countries persist in basing their law on religious texts. Scholars investigate the nature of law through many perspectives, including legal history and philosophy, or social sciences such as economics and sociology. The study of law raises important questions about equality, fairness and justice, which are not always simple. "In its majestic equality", said the author Anatole France in 1894, "the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread."[4] The most important institutions for law are the judiciary, the legislature, the executive, its bureaucracy, the military and police, the legal profession and civil society.

Dominique de Villepin is embarking on a new career.

2008-01-12T02:47:00.000-08:00

Like all impétrants, the former Prime Minister was dressed in the black dress. "It's the only one with the white hair," said a spectator joked. (Le Figaro / Ceccarini) Built on file with the Bar Association, the former Prime Minister has opened his own practice.

At age 54, Dominique de Villepin is embarking on a new career. The former prime minister, diplomat by training, became a lawyer. Dressed in a black dress and a white bow tie, as some fifty other impétrants, he was sworn in Wednesday before the judges of the Court of Appeal in Paris. He vowed to carry out his future duties with dignity, conscience, independence, honesty and humanity. "
"A childhood dream"
The former Prime Minister, caught in the midst of the Clearstream affair in which it is particularly under investigation for slander, "did not hide his joy. "It is a great pride for me to wear this dress. It's been part of my childhood dreams, you see there are dreams that come true, "he said.
The former secretary general of the Elysee under Jacques Chirac has acceded to the legal profession on record, according to his qualifications - a law degree and a diploma from the ENA - the recommendation of two members of the Bar and his legal career in the administration. A fairly common procedure which also benefited Jean-François Copé, president of the UMP group in the National Assembly, and Segolene Royal, has also become lawyers. Dominique de Villepin intends to open his own practice and take care of matters of international significance.