Civil service and economic freedom Essay Example for Free

Civil service and economic freedom Essay Around a decade ago, Hong Kong became the hottest topic not because of some festival but rather due to a political event. On July 1, 1997, the sovereignty of Hong Kong was officially transferred to the Peoples Republic of China from the United Kingdom. The Handover, as it is most often called, signaled the official end of British rule on the colony. At present, Hong Kong is one of the top financial centers of the world. It cannot be denied however that the handover was a significant event in its history. It is therefore important to keep in mind that in studying the history of Hong Kong and learning about the place, one has to give emphasis on this event. One resource to read is a paper written by Ming K. Chan titled, â€Å"The Legacy of the British Administration of Hong Kong: A View from Hong Kong,† published in The China Quarterly in 1997. In the paper, Chan gives his insights on four major contributions by the British to Hong Kong as cited by Christopher Patten, the last British Governor of the colony. The four major contributions are rule of law, democratization, civil service and economic freedom. Chan uses these four points raised as his starting points in discussing the legacies of the British. Chan however does not stop merely at describing what these legacies are but goes on to show its weaknesses and flaws. Under the rule of law for example, he states that the legal system implemented by the British in Hong Kong was, like most legal system, aimed at providing fair and equal justice to every citizen. These same laws though turned out to be not only draconian in nature but also discriminatory. Specifically laws that were said to be anti-Chinese thus failing to achieve the aim that it was designed to give. One example of its failure is that during the British rule, English and not Chinese was the preferred language used by courts. As a result, even if the courts practiced a jury system, only those who were able to attain a higher education were able to serve. In effect, this implies that the jury system failed because it did not represent the society in general. The paper also contests the idea that Hong Kong had economic freedom. The paper admits that while Hong Kong did achieve a world class status, the British still intervened in matters that carried significant importance. The principle of laissez-faire, while a good economic concept, was instead misused to the point that it covered up unfair practices by the government. An example is the rule requiring the use of motor vehicles manufactured by the British public buses. While civil service has always been considered as the foundation of British rule, the reality in Hong Kong is that the state of the civil service system is not as efficient as it seems. The paper considers this as somewhat ironic since the localization of the civil service only when the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed. The paper further cites that with the hierarchy being led by people who have little or no understanding of China or even the Chinese community in Hong Kong, their effectiveness as administrators is rather lessened. The biggest failure though is under the British civil service system, those in power failed to participate in the issue of the reintegration.

Preventive Priorities Survey 2014 Essay Example for Free

Preventive Priorities Survey 2014 Essay In this article the author has written about a survey conducted by The Center for Preventive Action which is Preventive Priorities Survey (PPS) that assess the current and all the possible conflicts which can occur in the coming years of US and how they can influence U.S. interests . The purpose of PPS is to help the U.S. policymaking community primarily to prevent conflicts and all the incentives that can erupt a conflict . In the conflict preventive survey there are many possible sources of instability and conflict around the world that the United States should try to avoid. Predicting which conflicts are more likely to occur and can pose a greater threat to U.S. interests than others helps to decide where to focus attention and resources. PPS is a qualitative evaluation that uses the informed judgement of the experts to check all the possible threats and risks that can destroy US interests by erupting a conflict. To help the experts with their estimations and cope up with the situation , the survey offered general guidelines to check the relative probability and impact of potential contingencies which a US could face. These contingencies were categorized in different levels as high , moderate and low based on their chance of occurring and their intensity of impact on US interests. The PPS did not include the potential economic or financial crises or any natural calamity or environmental problems , PPS is primarily concerned with the discrete geopolitical contingencies .Also the PPS represents the expert’s opinion at the time the survey was conducted. Risk assessments can change rapidly and oftenly. The results, therefore, could be quite different after several months. There is a certain methodology to carry out this survey which the center for preventive actions performs in different stages of which first stage is soliciting the PPS contingencies in which CPA used a variety of social media platforms as well as its blog on CFR.org to seek suggestions for contingencies to include in the 2014 survey. With the help of the Council on Foreign Relations’, CPA extracted hundreds of suggestions into thirty contingencies considering both ,possibility to occur over the next twelve months and potentially harmful to U.S. interests. The nest stage was polling of experts in which the survey was sent to more than 1200 government officials ,foreign policy experts and academics to evaluate the likelihood and poteintial impact of each contingency on US inetrest  according to the definite criteria. Ultimately the most popular suggestions were included in the survey. Then comes the final stage that is categorizing the contingencies in which the survey results were uniformly scored and contingencies were sorted into one of three preventive priority tiers in accordance to their placement in the risk assessmemnt matrix. There are three tiers in assessing the contingencies in PPS . In Tier 1 Contingencies judged high preventive priorities for U.S. policymakers because in tier 1 those contingencies were included which had a severe impact on US interests and their chance to occur was moderate like the Syrian civil war ,a highly disruptive cyberattack on U.S. critical infrastructure ,threat of military strikes against Iran , a mass casualty terrorist attack on the U.S. homeland ,a severe North Korean crisis caused by a military provocation, internal political instability, or threatening nuclear weapons/ ICBM-related activities. Then comes the contingencies which had moderate impact but high likelihood such as growing violence and instability in Afghanistan resulting from the drawdown of coalition forces and/or contested national elections ,increasing internal violence and political instability in Pakistan ,strengthening of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula resulting from continued political instability in Yemen and/or backlash from U.S. counterterrorism operations , civil war in Iraq ,growing political instability and civil violence in Jordan triggered by spillover from the Syrian civil war. In Tier 2 Contingencies judged mid-level preventive priorities for U.S. policymakers as those contingencies are includedin tier 2 which had moderate effects and moderate chance to occur such as deterioration of the political situation in Egypt, increased sectarian violence and political instability in Lebanon ,continuing conflict in Somalia, political instability and growing militancy in Libya ,drug-related violence in Mexico, a severe Indo-Pakistani military confrontation due to Kashmir. Also there were contingencies which had high impact and low likelihood which are an armed confrontation in the East China Sea between China and Japan ,an armed confrontation in the South China Sea between China and Southeast Asian plaintiff to disputed mari- time areas. It also includes contingencies with low effect on US and high likelihood of occurrence like increasing sectarian violence and political instability in Nigeria ,violence and risk of mass killing in the Central African Republic . In Tier 3 Contingencies judged low preventive priorities for U.S.  policymakers as it included those contingencies which had moderate effect on US interests and their chance of occurrence was low such as a Sino-Indian clash .it also included contingencies with low impact and moderate likelihood which were destabilization of Mali, growing popular unrest and political instability in Sudan , military conflict between Sudan and South Sudan due to border resource disputes ,conflict in the Kurdish- dominated regions of Turkey and the Middle East , growing violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo , internal violence in Bangladesh surrounding the general elections. Tier 3 also included contingencies with low impact and low likelihood such as political crisis in Venezuela leading to civil violence and potential regional instability , an outbreak of military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan . So this survey played a vital role to find out and take preventive measures for all t he current and upcoming conflicts which could have any adverse effect on US interests. This survey helped the experts to assess the contingencies and suggest those to CPA which could adversely influence US so the policymakers then worked according to the intensity of the contingencies suggested . PPS is very helpful for the center of preventive action to check the impact and likelihood of the contingencies which could occur and they carried out all their activities according to the strength of the contingencies which they measured on the risk assessing matrix and placed them in different tiers and took precautionary measures to protect the US interests and security.

Directors Duties under the Companies Act 2006

Directors Duties under the Companies Act 2006 Executive Summary This paper explains about the directors’ duties that is implemented in the Companies Act 2006. It is significant that every director have to act within the legal principles in order to prevent any dispute from company’s interest with their personal interest. In the Companies Act 2006, there are several duties that every director has to act with the duties that are provided in Section 171 to Section 177. However, the directors did not put the duties into practice when carrying their responsibility as a director in a company. As a result, it has caused a great impact to many aspects such as employment rate, economy and others. Question 1 Introduction: Directors’ Duties in Companies Act 2006 In this modern globalization, every company must have at least one director for non-public listed company and at least two directors for public listed company as it had mentioned under the Companies Act 2006 in Section 154 (Davies, 2007). The reason of having a director in each company is to represent the company to act due to the ‘artificial’ legal entities of the company. In a company, the directors are the persons who represents its owners to manage and solve the problems of a company. According to the Cornell University Law School (2015), the directors of a company are called as fiduciaries because they are owing the fiduciary duties of the company while the people who owes the fiduciary duties is called as principal. Fiduciary duty is a legitimate obligation where it act exclusively in another party’s interest, which is the company where the fiduciaries are representing of. In the legal systems of United Kingdom, fiduciary duty is the most rigorous duty of ca re and duty of loyalty because the fiduciaries have to obey the duty that had implemented to prevent themselves from any irreconcilable circumstances with their principals or with different fiduciaries’ customers. In order to prevent conflict of interest, the Companies Act 2006 has implemented several fiduciary duties to the company’s director that has mentioned in sections 171 to 177. Directors’ duties in Companies Act 2006 In the Company Act 2006, there are several directors’ duties that are necessary for a director to act when carrying the responsibility of its position in a company, which is duty to act within their powers, duty to exercise independent judgement as well as duty to avoid conflicts of interest. 2.1 Duty to Act within Powers This is one of the most important duties that every directors of a company should act on. This duty requires the directors to perform their authority accordingly with the rights they have assigned by the company and utilise it in a proper purpose to give the best interests to the company. It is stated in the Section 171 of Companies Act 2006 that: A director of a company must act in accordance with the company’s constitution, and only exercise powers for the purposes for which they are conferred. Davies (2007) explains that the directors of the company are required to take after all the directions with reference to how the company’s undertakings ought to be sorted out and regulated that are set down in the company’s constitution in order to agree with any constraints that is set down in the constitution on what exercises an organization might legitimately participate. In the Section 171 (b), he explains that the directors’ powers should be utilized just for the proper purposes doctrine. This is to deal with the directors’ affairs by implement those powers that the company wish in order to avoid any conflicts with the company. Unfortunately, the directors have abuse their powers and their acts are not in line with the company’s constitution. This matter is clearly seen in the case of Hogg v Cramphorn Ltd[1], where it concerns about the distribution of shares by the directors of Cramphorn Ltd in order to avoid a take-over in the honest belief as they believe that the take-over would not be in the interest of the company and they want to protect their position as a director in the board of directors. As a result, Mr Hogg, one of the shareholder of the company sued the directors for being misused of their powers accordingly and the new distribution of shares was not legally distributed, so the court announced that this distribution of new shares are invalid (Lawteacher, 2015). However, there’s a case in Western Australia, which is Whitehouse v Carlton Hotels Pty Ltd[2] where Mr. Charles MacDonald Whitehouse is being sued for issuing the shares to his son in order to prevent his former’s wife or daughter to take over the company when he dies. In this case, the High Court of Australia held that Mr Whitehouse does not breach the directors’ duty although he distributed it for improper usage and therefore, the appeal is dismissed with costs (UnistudyGuides, 2013). 2.2 Duty to Exercise Independent Judgement Besides that, the directors must practice this fiduciary duty by using their power autonomously without influence by the other interests. In order to prevent the breach of this duty, the directors have to practice the duty in the Section 173 of Companies Act 2006, whereby they have to act: in accordance with an agreement which has been duly entered into by the company; or in a way authorised by the company’s constitution. In this fiduciary duty, it does not mean to give powers on the directors to delegate or avoid them from utilizing the power that is given by the company’s constitution to delegate. According to the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (2015), the directors have to ensure that they will give the best interest entirely for its own company and shareholders instead of their own interests offered by the third party. Also, the directors of the company are allowed to consult other professions for the legal advice but, the final decision has to be judge independently by themselves. It is clearly seen in the case of Fulham Football Club Ltd. v Cabra Estates plc[3] that the directors did not exercise their powers accordingly with its independent judgement. This is happened where the Hammersmith and Fulham Borough Council consented to an agreement to expand the Craven Cottage, the football ground for housing purposes and assure that they will not restrict the advancement at a later date or bolster a compulsory purchase order. As a result, the directors of Fulham Football Club were held that they breached the duty of exercising independent judgement because they had not restricted the future exercise of their discretion accordingly (Quizlet, 2015). As mentioned in the AustLII (2015), the directors of the organization in the case of Thorby v Goldberg[4] was held by the High Court of Australia that they did not fetter on their discretion upon the interest of the organization in entering into a contract. 2.3 Duty to Avoid Conflicts of Interest Moreover, this directors are put into practice with this duty in order to dodge in a circumstances where a director can obtain either a direct or an indirect benefits from the conflict with the company’s interests. In conjunction of this, the Section 175 of Companies Act 2006 has clearly mentioned that this duty is not violated if: the situation cannot reasonably be regarded as likely to give rise to a conflict of interest; or the matter has been authorised by the directors. Based on the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (2015), the breach of this duty is applied when the directors take advantages from the third party in terms of property, unofficial information and opportunities. At the same time, it is not a breach of duty in a circumstance that it is arise unreasonably or it has been approved by the directors. Unfortunately, the directors always face the conflict of interest with the competitor, major shareholder, or a supplier and it has been increasing from years to years. This is because the Act does not explained clearly on what is â€Å"interest† or the â€Å"conflict of interest† means. This issue has showed clearly in the case of Boardman v Phipps[5] where Mr Broadman and Tom Phipps buy the company shares with the acknowledgement of Mr Fox as they believe that they could turn the company around. Nevertheless, Mr Broadman and Tom Phipps did not entirely acquired to all beneficiaries and they have made a great pr ofit with Mr Fox. As a result Johnn Phipps has sued them for breaching the duty to avoid conflicts of interest (Webstroke Law, 2014). In Australia, the directors are also charge for breaching this duty, which is stated in the case of Chan v Zacharia [6]where the High Court of Australia was held that Dr Chan has breached the duty. This is because Dr Chan acted in his personal interest instead of legitimate the interest of the partnership as a whole (Oxbridge Notes, 2014). Conclusion: Prevention rather than cure? In conclusion, it is essential for every directors to act within the directors’ duties that is stated in the Companies Act 2006 to ensure that they do not breach the duty when carry out their responsibility to a company. There are several duties that is important among all of the directors’ duties, which is the duty to act within powers, duty to exercise independent judgement as well as duty to avoid conflicts of interest. It is mentioned in the LawTeacher (2015) that those directors who have breached the duties will caused the company to have financial losses and at the same time, the directors will also be charged for such as imprisonment, fines, and commercial consequences. The directors will also be barred from its position under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 in the Section 6 if they breach the directors’ duties. In order to prevent the breach of duties rather than cure it, the Corporate Governance is a better system than the directorsâ€⠄¢ duties where the Cadbury Report 1992 states that it is a system where the companies are controlled and directed accordingly (SA Technical, 2012). This has led to more sharpness to the director’s responsibilities where they have the executive responsibilities and monitoring role to prevent the breaching of their duties as a directors. [1] Hogg v Cramphorn Ltd. [1967] Ch 254, Chancery Division [2] Whitehouse v Carlton Hotels Pty Ltd. [1987] 162 CLR 285 [3] Fulham Football Club Ltd. V Cabra Estates plc [1992] BCC 863 [4] Thorby v Goldberg [1964] HCA 41; (1964) 112 CLR 597 [5] Boardman v Phipps [1966] UKHL 2 [6] Kak Loui Chan v John Zacharia [1984] 58 ALJR 353

Missiles in Cuba: Thirteen Days, Robert F. Kennedy :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This novel tells the story of a small-town, working-class life in the mid 1900’s. The daughter of a meatpacking company millwright, Cheri Register tells about the event, which divides her small town of Albert Lea during time of depression. Albert Lea, Minnesota was an industrial town of only 13,545 people. Surrounding the area was cornfields, lakes, cattail marshes, knolls, and oak groves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Albert Lea still was in the 1950’s when this story began. Cheri was an elementary student. Her school plans many field trips, which tend to be excursions in industrial technology. Cheri and her classmates visit places, which serve an entertainment and educational purpose.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  They have visited placed such as printing press, Coca-Cola, and egg hatching victories. Their next trip was different. Cheri and her class were to visit the Wilson & Co. meatpacking industry. This was where Cheri’s father had worked since 1943. Not speaking much of his job Cheri didn’t know much about her fathers work. This trip consisted of a parent’s signature because of the scene it may bring to the youngsters. Each kid had the option not to participate in the activity that morning since once they entered there was no turning back. They describe the trip as very scenic and educational. For the rest of the day the kids talked to each other about th e incredible views, which they encountered. Such as the hundreds of people who worked there and how the assembly lines for the animals just never ended, one after another after another.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wilson & Co. was a gigantic industrial factory in which many of the mid-class working life men supported their families by. During this time the eight-hour working day laws were supported and workers did just that. An eight-hour day at Wilson & Co. itself was extremely demanding and tiresome to the workingman. Cheri’s dad at this time was in a verbatim pattern of a workday, dinner, and falling asleep attempting to relaxing. Wilson & Co. decided to demand â€Å"mandatory overtime† of two hours. This made workers furious. Cheri’s dad himself would often work overtime just for the cash for odds and end payments needed around the house. Workers fought their boss in saying they didn’t have to obey this demand. Wilson & Co. reacted with a â€Å"yellow-dog contract† threatening if their workers didn’t sign agreeing to work these extra hours then they would be asked to leave the plant and not return.

My Summer Vacation in Florida Essays -- Summer Vacation Essays

Have you ever been on a vacation? To me a vacation is a time to be with friends or family. When I think of vacations, I think of packing, the flight or drive, and relaxation. Not only is it very exciting to go on a vacation, but you get closer to the people that go with you. Linda, my best friend's mom had asked me if I would want to go with their family to Florida. When she asked me I thought she was kidding, but when she said, "I need to know because if you are I need to get you a airplane ticket," I knew she was serious. I was so excited I could have kissed her. I was going to Florida with my best friend, Lisa, and her family. The people from Lisa's family that were going were Tina, Randy, Ashley, and Linda. Tina is Lis'?s sister, Randy is Tina?s husband and Ashley is Tina?s daughter. Linda is Lisa?s mom and she was the only one out of all Lisa?s family I knew. Going on a trip packing is defiantly a priority. The whole week before the trip I had began packing. I didn?t realize how many things I was going to need until I started packing. I packed two suit cases full of clothes, but I figured I?d rather have more clothes because you never know what the weather will be like. I packed cards, connect four, guess who, I pod, and food so we wouldn't be bored on the flight. When I was done packing my mom asked ? Are you moving out?? The night before leaving I couldn't sleep. When I woke up that morning it was a beautiful spring day. The sun was shining brightly, and the clouds in the sky looked like giant marshmallows. I was so excited because this was my first time going on a vacation. I had already put my suitcases and bags in my car the night before. After I said my goodbyes to my family, I was on my way. I met with Lisa a... ...icking because we didn?t want to miss our flight. Randy called the company where he had rented the van from and they came to pick us up. We made it to the airport just in time because when we walked in the airport they called our flight. This made us very relieved. The flight home went just as well as the flight there except this time I didn't have the butterflies. Overall going on a vacation is something I want to do more in the future. I learned many things from this vacation such as even though you go with some people you don't know as well, you get to know them and by the end of the vacation it's like you have known them your whole life. This vacation brought my friend Lisa and I closer because we experienced things together. Going on a vacation with someone makes your relationship stronger and you find out many different likes and dislikes about each other.

My Mother Essay -- Descriptive Essay Examples, Observation

My Mother When I was young, I drew a picture of my mother. It was her standing in a yard with a house in the background. It wasn't our house, and my mother looked like anyone but herself. Dressed entirely in green, with green hair and a green expression on her green face, she stood in front of a green two-story house surrounded by a green landscape. Green was her favorite color, and I wanted to make a surprise out of the drawing for her. My mother was a god to me in those days, and in my eyes she could do no wrong. I think she understood this, and in turn she lavished attention on me like I was a princess in my own little world whose wishes were to be carried out no matter the cost. We were close, too, and not a day went by when I did not divulge some sort of secret knowledge to my mom. My mother was a game show contestant also, answering countless questions with the infinite patience that only an experienced mom can possess. Her prize for a satisfying answer was a flash of comprehension in my tiny, bright eyes and a hesitant "Oh" as I caught on. It seemed to make my mother just as happy to pass on the age-old knowledge of why the sky is blue as it made me to learn of it. My undying love for her at that age seemed to motivate her to new heights of mom-hood, as she constantly fought battles of her own with my father (who she divorced when I was four), and with her own shortcomings. I also remember my mother as beautiful. She had dark hair-the kind you run your fingers through just to feel how soft it is-and it always smel... ...; I like to believe that I've accepted my self-induced isolation from her with grace, but I must admit that I do hold the hope of bridging the gap between my mother and I. I also hold the hope of amending myself for all the times I've knowingly and purposefully hurt her. Although she is not a god, as I originally assumed, she is a good woman. She has raised me, sheltered me, and loved me for over seventeen years without asking for more than casual chores in return. I believe that the greatest compliment I could ever give my mother is to grow up to be exactly what she wants me to be. I want to make her happy. My gift to her will be my success in life, so that when she's old and gray, and she's knitting me a hideous sweater in her creaky rocking chair, she can sigh, and mumble to herself, "Wow, it was worth it."

High School Dropouts Essay

Dropping out of optional school is an issue defied by various teenagers today. It happens in view of several essential standard reasons. One is normally an unlucky deficiency of companionship in extracurricular activities. An exchange turns around the people not being capable in asking for that their youths keep tabs on staying in school. A third cause is the nonattendance of effort pushed by learners to be productive in their studies. Why do young people lose their venture in school? The focus when individuals are not extraordinary with their studies it as often as possible starts a critical plunging winding in their devotion to class. When they feel less positive about school they all things considered are less fascinated by extracurricular activities – recreations, music, and clubs. For various learners, it is their accomplishment in extracurricular activities that fills their aching to stay in school. Accepting that individuals have no attainment in either academic or extracurricular activities they have no inspiring strengths to take off to class Consequently, they have no connection to their school. An overabundance of people is not firm enough with their children and their direction. People disregard to urge their children the centrality of staying in school and that dropping-out is contrary to their future. All over there high scholars drop-out as a consequence of an unlucky deficiency of trepidation instilled into them by their people. Various young people have for all intents and purpose zero parental supervision. Coupled with a nonappearance of social capacities between people and youths, the impact could be an unlucky deficiency of commitment with school. There is a nonattendance of exertion set forth by a significant number of today’s people. They appear to be truly languid and have no order regarding the matter of their studies. Constant disappointment is regularly a solution for colossal over-burden and anxiety. It has a tendency to measure to the satisfying toward oneself prediction of dropping-out. Dropping-out is their just escape. Dropping-out could be counteracted. Offering youngsters on the profits of staying in school requires consistent exertion and an extraordinary use of time. Folks must be the entire more in tune with their youngsters’ needs and cravings and be ready to help them adapt to their inconveniences. Folks must be stronger in swaying their youngsters to stay in school. In any case teenagers themselves must take the activity to acknowledge obligation regarding their future and they must set forth more exertion into their studies. Learners’ fruitful association in additional curricular exercises is useful in raising their regard toward oneself. These strategies for aversion may appear intemperate however the effects exceed the introductory battle.