Academicus International Scientific Journal

14-28

Authors: Marţian Iovan

In this article, the author analyzes eco-education from a transdisciplinary perspective, as part of the “new education”, referring to its current dimensions, its goals and its utility in shaping the attitudes and behaviors of contemporary humans towards their environment and towards sustainable living. The goals and content of eco-education are dependent on a new philosophy, on a new axiological and ethical orientation that is, opposed to rationalistic philosophy, which guided the age of machinism and industrialization. The new view regarding humans’ (anthroposphere) relations with nature (biosphere and geosphere), is inspired from the fundamental rights of the human being, as part of nature, from universal values which harmonize sociosphere and biosphere, the ecological awareness of contemporary society with regard to the objective laws of nature, biodiversity conservation and environmental protection by juridical laws. These goals are meant for the entire population, especially children and young people, with the aid of schools and other educational factors (church, mass – media, cultural foundations, non-governmental organizations etc.), an ecological awareness, positive feelings and attitudes with respect to the environment, skills, abilities and capacities for efficient action in the sense of protecting nature and conserving ecological circuits. The author lays an emphasis on the idea that ecological education, in all its forms, will not yield the results expected by experts and future generations if it is undertaken randomly, fragmentarily, incoherently – regardless of how diversified and quantitatively extended it might be. As a global issue of today’s society – the efficiency of eco-education is dependent on the philosophy of nature and life, materialized in a global strategy, such as that of durable and knowledge-based development, which will facilitate the harmonization of various public policies launched by contemporary organizations and authorities. Generally speaking, any public policy has an ecological component, and the obtainment of performance in ecological policies necessarily involves an adequate ecological education.

43-54

Authors: Michele Marsonet

Nicholas Rescher writes that “objectivity is not something we infer from the data; it is something we must presuppose. It is something that we postulate or presume from the very outset of our dealings with people’s claims about the world’s facts”. Such definition is just the opposite of objectivity conceived of in classical terms, but it cannot be equated with an idealistic viewpoint according to which objectivity is something that our mind simply creates in the process of reflection. It is, rather, a sort of cross-product of the encounter between our mind-shaped capacities, and a surrounding reality made up of things that are real in the usual meaning of the term. Science itself gives us some crucial insights in this direction, since it shows that we see, say, tables and trees in a certain way which, however, does not match the image that scientific instruments are able to attain. Does this mean that our commonsense view of the world is totally wrong and that nature deceives us? This is not the case. The difference between the commonsense and the scientific image of the world is explainable by the fact that we are evolutionary creatures. Nature has simply endowed human beings with tools and capacities that enable them to survive in an environment which - at least in remote eras - was largely hostile. Our way of seeing tables and trees is what is requested for carrying on a successful fight for the survival of the species: nothing more - and nothing less - is needed for achieving this fundamental goal. Turning once again to the problem of ontological objectivity, the picture has now gained both strength and clarity. If we recall that human endeavors, although occurring in a largely autonomous social and linguistic world, are nevertheless limited by the constraints that natural reality forces upon us, we begin to understand that the social-linguistic world itself is not a boat freely floating without directions. If the boat is there, it means that an explanation of its presence is likely to be obtained if only we are patient enough to look for it. Some kind of hand must be on the wheel, giving the boat indications on Contrary to other pragmatist-flavored positions popular nowadays, this approach maintains that universality has a fundamental and unavoidable function in our rational endeavors. This is due to the fact that “presupposition” and “hypothetical reasoning” are key ingredients of our very capacity to rationalize the world in which we live. Indeed, there can be no rationality without universality.

69-78

Authors: Paolo Muner

The complicated, troubled and tragic events of a wealthy family from Vlorë, Albania, which a century ago expanded its business to Italy, in Brindisi and Trieste, and whose grand land tenures and financial properties in Albania were nationalized by Communism after the Second World War. Hence the life-long solitary and hopeless fight of the last heir of the family to reconquer his patrimony that had been nationalized by Communism. Such properties would have been endowed to a planned foundation, which aims at perpetuating the memory of his brother, who was active in the resistance movement during the war and therefore hung by the Germans. His main institutional purpose is to help students from the Vlorë area to attend the University of Trieste. The paper is a travel in time through history, sociology and the consolidation of a state’s fundamentals, by trying to read the past aiming to understand the presence and save the future. The paper highlights the need to consider past models of social solidarity meanwhile renewing the actual one. This as a re-establishment of rule and understanding, a strategy to cope with pressures to renegotiate the social contract, as a universal need, by considering the past’s experiences as a firm base for successful social interaction. All this, inside a story which in the first look seems to be too personal and narrow, meanwhile it highlights the present and the past in a natural organic connection, dedicated to a nation in continuous struggle for its social reconstruction.

93-106

Authors: Seth Oppong

This paper explores the literature to identify common occupational injuries, diseases, and psychological wellbeing on oil rigs as well as the negative environmental impacts of the upstream oil and gas sector. It ends by making recommendations for effective health, safety, and environmental (HSE) management. Review of the literature showed that contusion (bruise), cuts, and laceration are the commonest occupational injuries that workers on the oil rig suffer and that the injuries mostly affect the hand and finger, leg, and eyes of the offshore workers. These injuries were found to be caused mostly by direct stroke, jamming and overstrain. Similarly, accidental poisoning, musculoskeletal disorders, respiratory disorders and diseases of the digestive system were also documented as the commonest occupational diseases among offshore workers. The literature also shows that working offshore is associated with poorer psychological wellbeing or health; this is to say that offshore workers tend to experience higher levels of stress, burnout, anxiety, depression, low job satisfaction (particularly with the environmental conditions associated with their work), and sleep disorders. Finally, the literature review indicated that land-use problems, air pollution, acid rain, climate change, habitat disruption, environmental degradation, oil spills and leakages are some of environmental impacts of upstream oil production. This review was concluded by recommending some measures for the management of the HSE hazards associated with the oil and gas sector.

120-139

Authors: Fatmira Hajdari

Concession agreements represent the most utilized and preferred legal option in the exercise of public functions by private entities. Before entering into a concessionary agreement, there is a special procedure that takes place, and that is one of the distinctive characteristics of this type of contract vis-a-vis other civil contracts. This procedure is provided for under the Public procurement law. Consequently, all agreements stemming from the exercise of the concession agreement are regulated according to the modalities defined in this law. According to the Public Procurement law, administrative reviews represent the first obligatory instrument used in defense of the rights that parties claim to have been violated or otherwise infringed. The administrative review is the scope of this paper, with the view to clearly determining the administrative entity where the appeal will be addressed to, the subject matter of the appeal, and the legitimated subject, as its integral part. The role of the Public Procurement Commission and its competencies during the process of the administrative review represent another aspect. The practice of concessionary agreements in Albania is only in its early steps of development. Furthermore, the legislation that provides for the concession agreements has suffered changes to reflect the international legislation. All of which have led to the case law encountering various issues, which we have only humbly tried to reflect in this paper, while also providing our opinion with regard to addressing them.

159-171

Authors: Eniana Qarri

This paper aims to analyze to the regulation of the family matters in the EU “acquiss communautaire” regarding marriage, dissolution of marriage, marital property regimes and parental responsibility. The European Union law of these recent years has shown some increasing trend of intervening in the regulation of family relationships. Community acts in the area of family law are the acts for the recognition of the foreign judicial decisions and for the jurisdiction criteria as well as finally the uniform conflict rules, but no material acts. Thus, this is about rules which exclusively regulate only the international cross-border family matters, leaving unregulated the core of the family matters. The regulation of these cases aims to create, maintain and develop a common area of freedom, security and justice, with a view to the well functioning of the common European market. In accordance with the power provided by the EU Treaty, the European Commission has adopted the Regulations Brussels II bis and Rome III. Also the paper will focus in the study of the institute of marriage and parental responsibilities in the cases of marriages with foreign elements, seen in the framework of the new Albanian Act “On private international law” compared to the previous law and compared with the EU regulations Brussels II bis and Roma III.

200-212

Authors: Klodjan Skenderaj, Sokol Mëngjesi

A guarantee for real ensuring of defendant’s rights is the qualified legal assistance by the side of the lawyer, chosen or assigned by the proceeding body. Providing legal protection to defendants was an important achievement in the long and difficult efforts to democratize the criminal proceedings. It was initially achieved in developed countries which promulgated the fundamental rights and freedoms and on this basis the major laws of activity of justice’s bodies were enforced. The role of lawyer in the criminal proceeding gradually increased and became an important factor in the fight against violations of law and injustice. The lawyer became a respected procedural figure, standing in front of prosecution, as the opposing party able to develop a cross-examination and to influence in a fair solution of case. However in practice, it is not rare the violation of rights of defendants by proceeding organs. So, it is right to make this question: What will be done with their rights and how will they be protected? In practice there were different opinions in terms of guaranteeing the rights of these defendants and how far the rights of lawyers of the defendants are extended. This is the reason why this paper will bring in attention the position, procedural guarantees of lawyers, the actions that can take and the exercise of their main rights in defending the interest of defendant, taking into account the main phases of criminal proceedings. Special attention will be devoted to case law of European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in terms of guaranteeing the rights of defendants, the orientations of the Albanian Constitutional Court and that of Supreme Court. At the end, this paper will reach in some conclusions through which proposals and amendments will be made to the code of criminal procedure, starting from the principle that the rights and procedural guarantees of defendants should be guaranteed at the maximum, because it’s the only way to achieve the highest degree of democratization of the criminal proceedings.

222-234

Authors: Ilda Mucmataj, Lorenc Danaj

In a world like today’s one, with communication, trade and the increasing cross-border travels, the issue of the conflict of laws appears in every aspect of the private law. It is important that every member of the legal community understands the conflict of laws. This is important especially for judges, because they are the ones who should solve cross-border disputes submitted to them, which affect the personal lives of individuals and their businesses. Judges are precisely those who, with their work, should increase the confidence of the parties and the public, both within the community of their country and in other countries. However, in a broader view, not only lawyers but all legal subjects must have general knowledge in this field in order to perform effective agreements. Thus, through this article we aim to shed light on the regulation of private legal relations that are characterized by a foreign element, presenting innovations brought by Law No. 10426 ‘On Private International Law’ which entered into force on 02.06.2011.