The aim of this paper is to describe and explain which policy instruments for human rights (HR) the United States and the European Union use towards Burma and to examine the priority given to HR in their respective foreign policy. From the results of an empirical analysis this paper seeks to analyze the US and the EU as powers in the international system and aims to explain their behavior from this theoretical perspective. From the theoretical approaches used I conclude that these actors act in different ways regarding the Burmese issue. This is partially due to the structure of the international system. Both actors primarily use different forms of diplomatic tools and sanctions to try to force change for HR in Burma.

The VAT Directive (2006/112/EC) does not regulate Member States? opportunities to intervene against tax evasion. The European Court of Justice has clarified the situation in case C-255/02 Halifax. This case establish that the universal principle against the abuse of rights applies to VAT, which means that Member States have the opportunity to redefine transactions not involving a breach of law but nevertheless goes past what the legislature envisaged at the introduction of the provision.A debate has risen as to whether the principle against the abuse of rights is equally ap-plicable in Swedish domestic law on VAT. The administrative court of appeal in Go-thenburg, Case No.

Arms trade is a multi-faced issue, it can increase the state's economic revenue; however also endanger the human security. The European Union's member state United Kingdom is one of the five largest arms traders in the world. The EU promotes human security in its work, especially in the union's development policies. These circumstances address the main question of the study: is there a contradiction between the UK's arms trade and the EU development policies. The objective of this study is to research the stately weapon use in three of the UK's trading partners, and how it could affect the EU development policies.

AbstractThis study is a critical analysis of three different views on human dignity and its function in the discourse of human rights: that of Christopher McCrudden, Jürgen Habermas and Elena Namli. The three positions are interpreted, analyzed and compared in order to see which is most reasonable.The conclusion is that Habermas?s and McCrudden?s view of human rights as legal reduces human dignity to a legal concept. Namli?s perspective of human dignity as a moral principle generates a wider understanding of human dignity and its function.

It is the aim of this paper to examine, and analyze at a discursive level, the Swedish Democrats' interpretation of the term 'human rights', as this is presented in the material available on the party's official website. The goal is then to investigate in what manner the party portrays its political ambitions in relation to 'human rights'. The theoretical foundation for this analysis is discourse theory as it is presented in the works of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe.Furthermore, the aim is also to examine whether the Swedish Democrats? interpretation of 'human rights' is compatible with the established understanding of the term, such as this is presented in the international UN treaties on human rights. This will be done by thoroughly examining and comparing certain aspects of the Swedish Democrats' political ambitions, such as they have been portrayed in the analytical section of the paper, with relevant sections of the UN treaties..

The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights is probably the world's most known andinternationally most respected document. The purpose of this study is to examine if the UDHRreflects universal values and norms and to assess its moral and juridical relevance today, 60 yearsafter the adoption. The literature used in this literature-based critical study is mainly written bythe academic elite of the discourse on Human Rights. By comparing these sources I have reachedthe conclusion that the UDHR is still today an important document because of its continuinginfluence on international lawmaking and because of the encouragement and aspirations tomankind in the never-ending struggle for the rights it represents..

The common asylum and migration policy of the European Union is a struggle between a strong belief in the protection of human rights and the need of strong and secured borders. This paper highlights the dilemma that occurs in the common asylum and migration policy of the European Union. What happens when the union have to choose between liberal standards with high priorities to human rights and a realistic focus on security? The aim is to study the asylum policy presented in the Stockholm Program, and thereafter evaluate what kind of character the union has itself. By an ideal type analysis of the Stockholm program from 2009, the common asylum policy is divided into either liberal or realistic ideas.

AbstractThe purpose of this thesis is to examine if performing art is a good medium to convey human rights.To make this examination Riksteatern, The National Touring Theater of Sweden has been used as anexample. To bring more depth to the thesis and to be able to answer whether performing art is agood medium to convey human rights Riksteatern´s work with human rights has been examined andalso what kind of responsibility Riksteatern think they have to communicate human rights. Toanswer the questions the thesis have investigated Riksteaterns policy documents, webpage, differentprojects and performing arts performances. Moreover interviews with five employees at Riksteaternhas also been used to answer the questions. Different theories regarding theater, culture and learninghave been used to highlight what purpose art and culture has and to see what kind of qualitiesperforming arts has when it comes to convey human rights.

This essay is aimed at exploring how governments inclination to adhere to international human rights law develops in the wake of interstate conflicts. It examines how human rights in Eritrea and Ethiopia has developed after the war in 1998-2000 by examining the historical background to the war, and reviewing country reports from United States State Department and Amnesty International between 2001-2005.The result of the paper shows that Eritrea's adherence to human rights suffered setbacks, and that some of these happened due to the aftermath of the war. Ethiopia also had some lesser setback primarily due to internal turmoil. The essay concludes that states adherence to human rights in postconflict situations depend on if the war severely weakened the state, in which case the state becomes more repressive in order to cling to power..

It is a human right to be treated equally and fairly no matter whom you are, what you like or where you are from. The United Nations addressed the important aspects of equally treatment in their declaration of the human rights. It is each conventions state?s responsibility to fulfil all the rights in the declaration. This study focuses on three Swedish county administrative organizational works with the human rights from their annual reports from 2014.

The European Union has faced lots of criticisms over the last couple of years when it comes to how refugees are treated in Europe. The Lisbon Treaty states in Article 2 that the European Union is founded on respect for human freedom, dignity and equality. Values such as democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights and that the rights of persons belonging to minorities should be respected are also something that the Union should be based on. How is it then that the Roma people, which are Europe's largest minority, are being persecuted all over Europe, that they get deported and have their camps destroyed? Why are refugees from North Africa being sent back before they even have a chance to seek asylum?  In this essay I have examined how the EU are treating refugees and tried to distinguish if there are any differences in how they treat internal and external refugees.

This study analyzes the court of appeals work on judging immediate care (6 § LVU) by the child´s best from 10 court cases. This study has been reviewing 10 court cases and reviewing the court of appeals applicable laws in their decisions on interlocutory order within LVU. The material than have been analyzed consists of immediate care of children, and the concept of the best interests derived from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.The legal sanctions includes when a state signs a convention, which Sweden has. This means that Sweden is at their disposal to offer all children within its territorial limits, up to 18 years may take part of the rights set down in the Convention of the Rights of the Child. This means that all decisions relating to the individual child, should always be taken with respect to the best interest of the child, when a child for varoius reasons end up in a lawsiut.The concept of the best interest of the child are vague and abstract because it is not clearly defined.

This paper investigates whether there is a right not to suffer from poverty. The investigation is being conducted from the theoretical standpoint/view that only civil and political rights constitute justiciable rights and rights proper from a moral stance, whereas economic and social rights constitute mere political agendas or less.In the search of an answer to this question the content of economic and social rights, and thereafter civil and political rights will be outlined, followed by an inquiry of what should really be considered as rights. Finally, the arguments against economic and social rights as real rights is presented and scrutinized.This paper will conclude that the stated difference between the above-mentioned sets of rights is illusory and that the right not to suffer from poverty ought to have the same status as civil and political rights..

Previous studies have shown that economic sanctions have adverse effects on the level of human rights in sanctioned countries. The focus of research on the effects in sanctioned countries has left the question of whether economic sanctions can have a regional effect on human rights levels in countries not sanctioned in the same region. Therefore, this essay has sought to investigate if economic sanctions aimed at an individual state have a regional effect on the level of human rights in countries not sanctioned within the same region. A previous study found that economic sanctions in Latin America positively affected the level of human rights in non-sanctioned countries within the same region. This essay has examined whether the same result can be found in a region with a different level of democracy.

The purposes of this thesis is study the European Court of Justice from a non legal perspective and investigate the courts possibility to advance its own preferred goals rather that of the member states in cases of non-compliance. Drawing on general principal-agent theory I construct a model from which I derive certain hypothesis mainly about under what circumstances we should expect the Court to be more sensitive to member states preferences and under what circumstances we should expect the Court to be less sensitive. These hypotheses are then tested empirically against all cases of non-compliance initiated by the European Commission against member states between 1953-2000. The results from the study are rather positive. The most important result is that when the threat of sanctions against the Court increases so does the Courts sensitiveness to member states preferences and when it decreases so does the Courts sensitiveness..