/library/oar/handle/123456789/10515 2025-11-06T13:18:42Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/130168 Title: ‘Il giuramento decisorio’ : a discussion of Article 2160 of Chapter 16 of the Laws of Malta Abstract: ‘It takes two to speak the truth: One to speak, and another to hear’ - Henry David Thoreaui Had this dissertation been written two centuries ago, the perception of the oath would have indeed been different. There would have been a significant weight attributed to it - a subtle message embedded therein that suggests a sense of trustworthiness. If one were to go down the historical lane. it would result that the oath traces its origins to the ‘judicium dei’ - the divine judgement. An oath, therefore, is, or rather, used to be, in its very essence, the calling of God as a witness; and thus, the heightened status that the oath used to occupy and its irreplaceable capacity of endowing concomitant security and fear. The institute of the oath is not short dating, and this, in view of the fact that as early as the seventeenth century, Rubens, acting in England in an attempt to strike peace between England and Spain, could be seen testifying under oath before a court, on the issue of goods which had been captured from a Genoese merchant. ln the same manner, Locke, back in 1689, expressed his doubts in writing about the thrust that would propel one to accredit a non-believer with the holding of office, provided that one who was not fearful of God could not be relied upon It was for the mentioned reasons that an oath taken in a courtroom used to be believed to give weight to the testimony given by a witness. The oath was indeed intended as a reminder for the witness about both the seriousness of the undertaking, as well as to alert him to the penalty incurred should dishonesty result to have taken place during the process of the same undertaking. It is however doubtful how effective the oath in our times is. This dissertation will seek to address the extents to which a testifying party, particularly a debtor, is willing to admit his debts simply because he is under oath. This dissertation will raise and try to answer questions relating to the balance, if any, that exists between self-interest and one's conscience. Description: LL.D. 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/130026 Title: The grounds of revocation found under EU and Maltese trademarks legislation : a study Abstract: A trademark acts to differentiate between the goods and services of a company. It is the mark by means of which a business can attract and retain its client base and create value and growth. This ongoing growth of trade mark applications has been associated with an increase in expectations on the part of stakeholders for more simplified and efficient trade mark registration procedures. However this growth has also led to a situation where trademarks have remained not utilised, which in itself creates problems for this sector. It is for this reason that the grounds for revocation of trademarks, which will be dealt with in this study, are a key to keeping control over the situation. It is an accepted fact that trademarks, allow the public to differentiate between goods of numerous suppliers at the point of sale. This is useful. both from the point of view of the customer, but also from that of the brand owner. It is evident, that a registered trade mark has two complimentary qualities - one enabling a consumer to make a distinction between the goods from different sources and secondly, it is fundamentally important that the trade mark's owner retains the exclusivity to market goods or services protected by the mark. The Court of Justice of the European Union, has played an important role in the development of this particular area, relative to the grounds of revocation and has gone into this all important fields relating to trademarks, which has these two very important functions of protecting both the consumer's as well as the proprietor's rights. This dissertation will deal with an analysis of the grounds of revocation as distinct from the grounds of invalidation found in the EU Trademark Directive and Regulation and also in Chapter 416 of the Laws of Malta and implicitly examine their proprietary rights as a basis to enable this work to give a more detailed critical study of the important grounds of revocation. Description: LL.M.EUR.COMP. 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/129879 Title: The best interest of the child is the purpose of the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction? Abstract: The study conducted in this thesis is about Parental Child Abduction in relation to the Hague Convention 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The study seeks to answer the question as to whether the 1980 Hague Convention is in fact in the child's best interest. In this study reference is given to the meaning of the child's 'Best Interest'. This is because there is no definition in the 1980 Hague Convention as to what constitutes the child's best interest. To answer this question, various articles of the 1980 Hague Convention itself were analysed as well as case law. During this situdy various aspects of the Hague Convention were discussed, amongst which; the right of the child to be heard; the court delays; the Judges experience and training and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Analysing the 1980 Hague Convention in detail was of utmost importance, only through these areas of study was it possible to attempt to answer the research question. In the conclusion apart for arriving to a conclusion and an opinion, that yes the 1980 Hague Convention is in fact in the child's best interest. Other suggestions where proposed, to help achieve better results in this field, always keeping in mind the child's welfare. Mediation was here discussed were the pros and cons were also mention and discussed. This study overall is an in depth study of the 1980 Hague Convention, only in relation to the child's best interest. Description: LL.M. 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/127458 Title: The Europeanisation of insurance contract law Abstract: The ultimate objective of this dissertation is to recommend the way forward towards the harmonisation of insurance contract law in the European Union (EU), keeping in mind the ultimate scope of a complete single European insurance market. Initially, this dissertation examines the roots of the legal systems in European Union member states and the differences between one legal system and another. The first part of the dissertation aims to demonstrate how insurance laws and policies within member states have developed to be different from one another and the ways in which such divergences create obstacles to insurance cross-border trade. This study then progresses to examine the practical situation in Malta by reflecting feedback obtained from local insurance managers and insurance principals which habitually trade across EU borders. Following this foundation, this dissertation then moves forward to examine the steps taken to date by the EU towards harmonisation. An overview of communications and legal texts which the EU has delivered to date, together with drafts of the proposed harmonising texts provided by the Project Groups appointed by the Commission, are crucial for the formation of a sound basis that needs to support a resulting recommendation that ensures a smooth transition Into a Europeanised Insurance contract regime. The last chapter of this dissertation questions whether Europeanisation can also have its disadvantages and in the affirmative, whether these are of a significant enough magnitude to outweigh the advantages which the dissertation demonstrates would ensue once Europeanisation occurs. The final parts of this study focus on the manner in which Europeanisation can take place. The dissertation questions whether the harmonising instrument proposed should be. Description: LL.M.EUR.COMP. 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z