First Year Psychology Students’ Memory for The News as a Function of Media of Presentation

7O psychology students were presented with a selection of four news stories in three different media; print form, audio form and audio visual form. Participants were tested immediately after exposure to the news to measure retention of story details, via a questionnaire. Subsequent results showed significant differences in information recall between the medium of presentation. Recall of detail was greatest from print, and worst from audio mode. It was made clear that when in print form, information is better absorbed, processed and retained than when in audio-visual mode and audio form. INTRODUCTION As the world's technology grows, and the public's demand for information is ever increasing, the news is presented in increasingly varied media. The news is a key factor in modern day society, with the vast majority of the U.K population being exposed to it at least once every day. Despite the various forms in which news can be accessed, for example radio, print and even music, it can be gathered from public opinion surveys that the vast majority of individuals endorse television as their most important source of news information. Subjective views of audiences indicate that television is an important news source, from which they learn a lot. Yet, research in the past has shown that on the whole, individuals frequently fail to remember very much from television broadcasts. One survey of people living in the San Francisco area, where respondents were telephoned shortly after the evening's main broadcast and asked, â€Å"What do you recall from tonight's broadcast?†, showed 51% could not recall any stories. On average subjects remembered just 6% of bulletin's stories.(Stern 1971) These losses of information recalled can be due to various factors concerning the viewer's motivation, attention, interest in the story and relationship with the story (Gantz 1979, Neuman 1976). For example, British research indicated that gender differences in the recall of TV news is linked to content factors. Interestingly, males recalled information from news narratives about violent incidents accompanied by violent images better than females did. Yet when these same stories were presented in sound only and print form, these gender differences disappeared(Gunter,Furnham and Gietson 1984). Also, research has questioned a variety of news presentation factors as having significant effects on learning(Berry, Gunter and Clifford 1981). It must therefore be questioned whether television is in fact the most memorable form of presentation of information, when compared with audio-only or print form. Printed media convey greater quantities of information, and also allow readers to process the news at their own pace, whereas in both visual and audio-visual modes, the pace of information presentation is set by the producer. It is also argued that people are able to process information more deeply when reading or listening to the source. This is due to the fact that when watching the news item, the viewer is given all the information at once; visual and audio. This can not only be somewhat confusing(especially if the visual information does not correlate to the audio or narrative, often due to quick cutting of visual scenes), but also means the individual does not need to pay attention as much, as no extra thinking must be done. When reading and to some extent listening to an article, the individual must think of the visual ingredient themselves, as this is not given. This additional processing of the material can result in better retention. This has been supported by various researchers(Greenfield 1982, Meringoff 1980). It should be noted that this theory is argued in research, it has been found that recollection of the same story in print and audio-visual modes is better from print(Beighley 1952; Browne 1978). On the other hand, a study using television, radio and print to present information, it was reported that retention of abstract information is far superior when from television, in turn with better memory performance from radio than print(Williams,Paul and Ogilvie 1957). Yet more recent research by Wilson (1974), which involved all three media, found that retention was better from print than audio and audio visual. It is possible that these differences in findings is because Williams tested recognition, whereas Wilson tested free re-call(Gunter,Furnham and Gietson 1984). This therefore could help argue that printed presentation of information produces better free recall performance as reading requires more cognitive effort and requires deeper information processing than television. Millions of pounds are spent on advertising and sponsorship on television, as it is presumed that information that people see on TV will be remembered and hence may lead to buying a certain product. This, therefore is an important and interesting area of research, not only due to the controversy of previous results, but due to the present day necessity for effective advertising and could also lead to future improvements in education and teaching methods. In this experiment, it is Hypothesised that- scores regarding information retention would be higher from groups who receive written material than audio, which would be higher than audio-visual material. In order to carry out this study, a similar study's framework was used as a template for the design. In this case, the study- â€Å"Memory for the news as a function of the channel of communication† (Gunter, Furnham and Gietson 1984) was replicated. METHOD Design and Materials- Random assignation of participants (a control) produced three groups (see participants subsection later) with no limitation on sex ratio in each group. These three groups were the independent variable. The groups were presented with varying media all of which gave the same narrative script (a constant throughout each item), in different forms. Group A(n=25) were presented with news in audio form. Group B(n=22) received the information in print form and Group C(n=23) received the news in audio-visual form. The news items were originally recorded from TV news bulletins transmitted by an experimental TV service, and had not been aired on mainstream networks throughout the U.K. The bulletins were originally broadcast separately over 18 years ago, therefore further reducing the likelihood of a participant having previously seen said items. Participants in were confronted with four separate news stories, which were presented in the same order for each media. In its audio/audio-visual state, each of the four stories lasted approximately one minute, with a total time of 4 minutes, 33seconds from beginning of story 1 to the end of story 4. Two items were scenes of street fighting between protesters/demonstrators and police in El Salvador and South Korea. The two other news items depicted non-violent events – Japan lifting trade restrictions and A Greek Prime Minister's visit to Yugoslavia. Each story had a common narrative voiced over by an unseen narrator, and it was this common narrative which was transcribed in the print form given to Group B. Footage presented to Group C depicted the following scenes- the El Salvador footage showed gun-fighting between individuals in the streets, with commentary from the narrator. Footage from South Korea showed rioters throwing stones at police and rioters reprimanded being clubbed and beaten by officers. The story told gave reasons for these disturbances, which were varying social groups' dissatisfaction with each Government. Japan's reduction on tariffs on certain goods due to disapproval from the U.S.A and the E.E.C was accompanied by footage of delegates at a summit meeting in Versailles concerning various matters including those mentioned previously. The last story concerning the Greek Prime Minister's visit to Yugoslavia depicted images of the visit and documented reasons for the visit. Group C were presented the stories via a colour screen with sound capability. Group A were presented with only the sound stream from the audio-visual medium. Group B were given transcripts of the narrative from the broadcasts. A questionnaire was then given to the groups, which contained twenty questions, five from each story, which questioned the groups about certain facts from the news items, hence testing the content retention of each group. The questions tested remembrance of where and why certain events occurred. The participants then were awarded two points for each correct answer, one point for a partially correct answer and zero for an incorrect answer, giving a maximum score of forty points. Participants- A total of 70 subjects were used in the experiment, all of whom were University of Bath first year psychology students, with ages ranging from 18 to 40. Group A,B and C each had three males in them, and subsequently contained 22, 19 and 20 females respectively. Procedure- Once seated, participants were given a letter which referred to their group- A,B or C. Group B were then removed from the room, and given scripts which they had four minutes to read. They remained in the building's foyer until time was up. Groups A and C were presented with a video with sound on a projected colour screen in the main room. Group A (audio only) were then instructed to cover their eyes as to only listen to the audio from the video, whilst Group C were allowed to watch the video and listen. The exposure times for each group were equated across each media. Once all groups were re-assembled, they were handed with a questionnaire which they had twenty minutes to complete. Subjects then were told the correct answers and marked their own tests. They then handed in the scripts with their group letter and total score on, from which the results were calculated. RESULTS Table 1 (shown below) shows the processed data gained from the experiment. The table presents the means from each group's results on the questionnaire, and the standard deviation of each group. Table 1 Group Number of subjects Mean Score Standard Deviation A- audio 25 7.9 4.6 B- print 22 12.0 5.1 C- audio-visual 23 8.9 4.9 The mean scores of each group are a point of interest in this study as they illustrate the extent to which each medium was recollected, as an average for each group. Group B gained the highest mean score on the questionnaire with an average of 12. Group C gained the next highest average, with a mean score of 8.9, and Group A had the lowest score with 7.9. This indicates that those who received information via print recalled the greatest level of detail, as they scored highest (on average) in the questionnaire. The comparison of mean scores also indicates the superiority of audio-visual medium over audio in terms of detail recollection. It was also necessary to include standard deviation in the data as this shows the dispersion of individual results around the mean for each group. As can be seen from Table 1, the standard deviation for each group was relatively similar; 4.6, 5.1 and 4.9 respectively for groups A, B and C. The standard deviation scores were also relatively low in each group, with group B having the most dispersed results around the mean with the highest standard deviation (5.1). Group A had the lowest standard deviation with 4.6, with group C in between with 4.9. The standard deviation indicates that scores were more agglomerated in group A than groups C and B. As the dispersal around the mean for each group were rather similar, it is indicated that the memory performance of participants in all three groups varied to a certain extent, even though averages were different. DISCUSSION The extent to which the news was recalled by participants was highly dependant upon the mode of presentation. As hypothesised, the results show that the level of detail recalled was greatest following pint presentation of the news. This was the expected outcome, and has been confirmed in previous research, for example Beighley(1952) and Browne(1976), who both found that print in the most memorable medium of presentation. There are a number of theories as to why print is the superior format for news recollection, firstly it is argued that in print form, there is a greater quantity of information offered to the reader. Although the print format was purely a transcript of the narrative of the audio/audio-visual media, the amount of information that can be absorbed and processed by the reader is greater. This can be due to the fact that when in print format, information can be processed at a self-paced speed( Gunter, Furnham and Gietson 1984), whereas in audio and audio visual formats, i nformation is presented at the set pace decided upon by the producer. This leads to a greater absorption of information from print format and hence a greater level of detail recall (as shown in the results of this report; the mean score for subjects given the print format was 12, compared to 7.9 and 8.9 for audio and audio-visual formats respectively),indeed imagery is known to act as a strong mnemonic device(Paivio and Csapo, 1973; Kosslyn and Pomerantz 1977). Printed news also necessitates the reader to conjure up his/her own images whilst reading the script, in order to get a mental picture of the scenes documented. It is this process which also may lead to greater remembrance of detail, as the reader must process the information further than participants who received the audio-visual format( Greenfield 1982 and Meringoff 1980). To some extent, this is prevalent with audio only subjects, as images are not given, so must be imagined. The experiment showed that, contrary to the hypothesis, Group C(audio-visual) scored a higher average than Group A(audio),as can be seen from the results; Group C's average on the questionnaire was 8.9 whilst Group A's average was 7.9. This determination was also made by Williams, Paul and Ogilvie (1957) in a similar study. The findings in their study showed that audio-visual media led to greater information retention than audio only. This result was unexpected, yet there are a number of reasons as to why news presented in audio-visual format was better recalled than in audio. Firstly, the structure of the audio feed was not purposefully made for audio presentation – subjects in Group A(audio) simply covered their eyes and listened to the video's audio stream. Therefore it could be argued that if the audio format was structured for audio presentation, then absorption of information would be greater, as the audio-visual format would rely somewhat on its visual imagery to present its information, therefore Group A(audio) would miss out on this extra source. Another bias in performance could be due to Group A simply having to cover their eyes so as to prevent them from watching the video. This could prove to be distracting, as the subject would to some degree focus on not watching the video footage and therefore lose slight interest in listening to the information. It could also be argued that the act of shielding the information source from oneself has subconscious implications, in that the listener subconsciously feels removed and distanced from news source due to covering his/her eyes. This would limit the amount of information processed and therefore retained. Listeners may also get bored of the blank visual stimuli, therefore making it harder to focus and retain information. There is also the possibility that those who watched the news scored more highly on average than those who listened to the news due to the violent images displayed. It is said that many individuals(especially male) recall images in the video which aid them in retaining information(Gunter, Furnham and Gietson). This is especially prevalent when concerning images of a violent nature- for example scenes from El Salvador of gun fighting. Emotionally charged images, such as war and fighting are proven to be better recalled than neutral images(i.e those with no emotional connotations)(Cohen, Wigand and Harrison, 1976). Therefore video footage may in fact aid the retention of detail. A theory put forward by A. Paivio is that of Dual Coding Theory(Paivio and Csapio 1973), which helps to explain why the hypothesis in this report was partially disproved(in that audio-visual ave rage was higher than audio). Dual Coding theory suggest two cognitive sub-systems, one which deals imagery and the other specializes in language. In this case, Dual Coding theory would assume that due to two sources of information(audio and visual) a were presented to group C, the group members had more information to gather, and furthermore, each source re-enforces the other. This means that the visual imagery would be re-enforced by the audio source, but would itself re-enforce the audio, therefore creating a circumstance in which information is easily absorbed and processed and consequently retained. The investigation could have been hindered and distorted by certain factors encountered. Firstly, Group B were kept in a seating area in a building's foyer whilst reading the transcript. This could have proved to be distracting due to events outside of the building visible through the windows and the coming and going of unrelated individuals through the foyer. Perhaps a closed room would have been more suitable to use for the reading group. The audio feed was not perfect either, as subjects had to sit with other group members and cover their eyes whilst listening to the video, this could result in distancing from the source and loss of focus hence distorting the results. The questionnaires were also marked by the subjects themselves, once told the correct answers. Therefore there was the possibility for cheating, and so the results themselves may be incorrect. This could be improved by using external markers to score the questionnaires, as they have no bias towards the result. Future research could focus on whether Dual Coding theory is a valid argument, and the extent to which it operates.

Main sources of water pollution in urban areas versus rural areas Essay

Water constitutes approximately 70 percent of the earth’s surface and therefore it is a significant resource (Krantz and Kifferstein (n. d. ). It is a vital resource for without water, life would cease to exist on earth. It is however unfortunate that despite being a precious commodity, water pollution is existent everywhere ranging from the rural areas to the urban areas. The World Factbook (2010, p. 1) defines pollution as â€Å"the contamination of a healthy environment by man-made waste. † In case of water pollution, there is introduction of large amounts of substances into the water rendering it unsuitable for intended use. Water pollutants are classified as either point source pollution or non-point source pollution. Either way, these occur in both rural and urban places but with differing magnitude. It is also notable that major sources of water pollution differ in urban and rural areas. This paper compares and contrasts between major water pollutants in rural and urban areas. Causes of water pollution in rural areas It is notable that water pollution in rural areas mainly affects ground water since ground water forms the major source of water for rural populations. Ground water is usually contaminated in case there are leakages and in the ground tanks or in case of municipal landfills. As earlier stated, water pollution can be point source pollution or nonpoint source pollution. In point source pollution; there is direct introduction of pollutants into the water as opposed to nonpoint source pollution whereby pollutants are indirectly introduced into the water. Krantz and Kifferstein (n. d. ) provide that run-off fertilizer is a good example of nonpoint water pollution whereas oil spill is a good illustration of point water pollution. From this illustration, it is evident that nonpoint forms of water pollution are more likely to be found in rural areas whereas point pollution is more likely to be witnessed in urban areas. In rural areas, the main source of water pollution is surface-runoff. This introduces a variety of pollutants especially chemicals that are used for agricultural purposes. Nitrates and phosphorous are commonly used in farming more so in European countries such as England, Wales and Ireland. These countries have gone to the extent of classifying some farms as nitrate vulnerable zones to indicate that the farms can easily cause nitrate pollution. The risk of nitrate and phosphorous pollution increases depending on the time when the fertilizers are applied, the rate at which the fertilizers are applied, how fertilizers are handled and the distance between the point where fertilizers are applied and watercourses (Murray, 2010). An increase in nitrates and phosphorus causes aquatic plants to proliferate thus causing oxygen depletion as well as turbidity not to mention the clogging of water passages. This is detrimental to aquatic life as well as dependants of aquatic resources. It is notable that run-off water pollution is also referred to as diffuse water pollution and it also entails run-off from farm buildings as well as farm roads. Manure is also likely to be washed down into water bodies during rainfall periods thus acting as a diffuse water pollution source. A study carried out by Nkwonta and Ochieng 2009) in Soghanguve area, rural South Africa, indicated that run-off from farms as well as household waste were the dominant pollutants in the local rivers. In addition, pollution from fertilizer run-off made up to 50 percent of the water run-off pollution. Other farming chemicals such as pesticides were significant water pollutants in the region thus confirming diffuse water pollution due to farming activities as the main water pollutant in rural areas. Silt and wash-off from fields causes eutrophication whereby water bodies tend to fill up and aquatic life is harmed due to impaired respiration and suffocation. Agro-based industries are mentioned as major sources of pollution in rural areas. According to Narendra (2010), effluents from agro-based industries have a striking role in pollution of water in rural areas. This is in combination with the already mentioned excessive application of chemical fertilizers. Narendra (2010) further reports that an assessment of 179,999 ground water sites in 26 states contains pollutants such as fluoride, nitrate, salinity, arsenic and iron as per a report by the department of Drinking Water Supply. Pollution in River Hindon is said to emanate from up to 28 agro-based industries. The release of chemicals from agro-based industries causes change in water pH as well as foaming thus interfering with the aquatic environment. Release of agrochemicals such as DDT pollutes water and the chemicals are passed through the food chain to human beings. Organic pollution especially from sewage is also a common source of water pollution in rural areas. The organic content in sewage promotes proliferation of microorganisms that pollute water by causing disease as well as using up oxygen contained in water as they decompose the organic substances. Oxygen depletion leads to an imbalanced aquatic ecosystem. Organic water pollutants in rural areas can also emanate from decomposing plants, pastures as well as livestock waste. It is important to identify that untreated organic waste such as sewage or farm runoffs introduce disease causing organisms such as bacteria and protozoan and diseases such as dysentery are a predictable outcome. To put extra emphasis on the contribution of agricultural wastes as water pollutants in rural areas, it is worth considering a country such as China. China stocks the largest number of pigs in the world (470 million pigs as compared to 950 million world pig stock) (Qing, 2007). China is also a leader in production of poultry and goats and therefore forming the largest water pollutant country. It is identified that most of the waste coming from the livestock farming activities is not treated well with pig farms discharging a lot of wastewater. The waste water from poultry and pig farms has low temperature and mire which is mainly organic leads to oxygen depletion once introduced into water bodies. It is estimated that if China continues to practice poultry and livestock farming, rural water pollution from these sources will exceed pollution from fertilizer and domestic wastes. Causes of water pollution in urban areas Urban areas usually depend on ground water as stored underground tanks. The main causes of water pollution in urban areas are leaking pipes and contamination from water and sewage being close. Since urban water is sourced from a particular point, contamination at the source is also a major phenomenon. Human waste, industrial effluents as well as household wastes have are important sources of water pollution in urban areas. Urban areas, just like rural areas, have runoff especially after rainfall and these contain pollutants that are of great concern. Sediments are a common component of urban runoff and these constitute the greatest components of urban water pollutants. Most sediment originates from the construction industry which thrives in most urban areas. The runoff may also contain other substances such as rubber, and automobile wastes (Environmental Health and Safety Online, 2009). Petroleum products are the main automobile wastes and these contain hydrocarbons. Other constituents of urban runoff include anti-icing chemicals, heavy metals, disease causing organisms such as bacteria, as well as organic materials. Pathogens and organic materials emanate from sewage, spoilt septic tanks, and grass and leaves. A notable source of organic waste is pet wastes whereas use of fertilizer in lawns and kitchen gardens is also common in urban areas. Nutrient pollutants like fertilizers and organic wastes enhance growth of microorganisms and decomposition of wastes thus causing a decrease in dissolved oxygen. These consequentially render aquatic life unbearable. An increase in fertilizer and pesticide pollution in Bagmati River in Kathmandu city of Nepal is a good example of an urban source of water pollution. It is also indicated that Bagmati River experiences direct discharge of industrial and domestic untreated wastes released from Patan city as indicated by an increase in faecal coliform in the polluted areas. This is an important difference in sources of urban water pollution because water from rural regions of Bagmati has normal chemistry and coliform numbers (SEARO. , n. d). Release of sewage without treatment or with poor treatment into water bodies in urban areas has the potential to introduce disease causing organisms such as coliform bacteria. Nitrates are found to be high even in treated sewage and therefore it is a great challenge as urban source of water contamination. Phosphates are also introduced in water bodies as a result of poorly treated sewage. Phosphates are notorious in speeding up the growth of algae as evidenced in the Broads Lake in the UK. As the Broads was expanding in terms of population increase, an increase in sewage with high content of phosphates was experienced with some of the sewage gaining way into the Broads Lake. Consequently, there was a spurt in algae growth whereas water plants died eventually disturbing the lake’s ecosystem (Srinivas, 2010). A similar phenomenon has been experienced in Lake Biwa in Japan where an excess of phosphorous and nitrogen led to excessive growth of algae as well as eutrophication. As earlier noted, urban areas depend on ground water which is prone to various forms of contamination. For instance, leaking oil from storage tanks and leaking sewage lines that are in close proximity with water pipes can end up polluting ground water. On another note, garbage can be intentionally dumped into water bodies or the mere garbage dump can end up contaminating surface water. Since urban areas usually have industries, the industries may cause water pollution indirectly by emitting gases like sulphur dioxide that cause acid rain. Acid rain ends up disturbing water chemistry and this is hazardous to living organisms. According to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2005, para 3), â€Å"pavement and compacted areas, roofs, and reduced tree canopy and open space increase runoff volumes† eventually contaminating water significantly. In addition to increase in runoff volume the runoff is also at a high velocity thus increasing water pollution through increased erosion of stream banks, and depositing sediments in streams. The channels through which the high velocity runoff passes through are also incised leading to an increase in sediment deposition. Runoff from urban areas has a higher potential off causing water pollution since there exists no forests or grasslands to enhance water filtration into the ground as compared to such conditions in rural areas. Urban landscapes are nonporous thus there exists almost no opportunity for runoff to percolate. EPA also notes that runoff from highly developed urban areas can lead to increased water temperatures thus adversely affecting aquatic life and the quality of water in affected streams. If a wastewater treatment plant is not maintained well or if it is poorly cited, then there is the risk of causing water pollution in urban areas. Industrial wastes and emissions are a serious concern due to their contribution in water pollution in urban areas. With most urban areas having industries, industrial pollutants have been of major concern. It is noted that most industries are likely to be located close to water sources for industrial process (TutorVista, 2010). Unfortunately, these same industries end up mismanaging the precious resource by introducing hazardous chemicals. Industrial wastes include acids and alkalis, heavy metals like cadmium in addition to chemicals such as ammonia. Acids and alkalis alter the pH of water whereas detergents cause increased turbidity that has the potential to intoxicate aquatic organisms. Some of the industries cause an increase in water temperature which can be lethal to aquatic life. This is common with power plants and industries that use a lot of water for cooling purposes. It is also a common phenomenon to find oil spills in lakes and oceans. Although this cannot be purely be defined as an urban source of water pollution, it is important to know that oil spills can occur in lake regions located in urban areas. Furthermore, oil refineries can be located offshore and oil spills can occur. Oil spills lead to death of aquatic organisms since the oil covers the surface of water preventing oxygen from penetrating (TutorVista, 2010). Conclusion Looking at the main sources of water pollution in urban and rural areas, it is evident that runoff dominate as the main source of contaminant. It is clearly evident that water pollution in rural areas is point form pollution whereas pollution in urban areas is mainly nonpoint form. However, the content of the runoff differ with rural runoff contain contaminants that are mainly agricultural-based whereas urban areas have industrial-based runoff. In rural areas, runoff mainly contains fertilizer compounds such as nitrates and phosphorous causing a proliferation in algae and water plants. The consequent eutrophication leads to oxygen depletion and death of aquatic life. Runoff from livestock farms also introduces organic compounds that are lead to oxygen depletion as they are decomposed by microorganism. In urban areas, runoff is mainly composed of sediments from construction industries as well as industrial and automobile wastes. Urban runoff is more detrimental since percolation is rare unlike in the vegetated rural areas. Acid rain is a possible water pollutant in urban areas due to emission of noxious gases from the many industries in rural areas. In both rural and urban areas, human waste from poorly treated or untreated sewage is emergent as a popular water pollutant. Pathogens such as bacteria and viruses are also evident as water pollutants in both rural and urban areas as introduced by human and animal waste. Bibliography Environmental Health and Safety Online. (2009). Causes and control of water pollution in urban areas. Retrieved 14, Aug. 2010 from http://www. ehso. com/ehshome/WaterPollution_Urban.htm Environmental Protection Agency. (2005). National management measures to control nonpoint source pollution from urban areas. Retrieved 14, Aug. 2010 from http://www. epa. gov/nps/urbanmm/ Krantz, D. and Kifferstein, B. (nd). Water pollution and society. Retrieved 14, Aug. 2010 from http://www. umich. edu/~gs265/society/waterpollution. htm Murray, P. (2010). Controlling diffuse water pollution in rural areas. Retrieved 14, Aug. 2010 from http://www. netregs. gov. uk/netregs/100797. aspx Narendra, C. (2010, Mar. 10). Water pollution in surface resources and rural areas. Retrieved 14, Aug. 2010 from http://www. mynews. in/News/Water_Pollution_in_Surface_Resources_and_Rural_Areas_N40334. html Nkwonta, O. I. and Ochieng, G. M. (2009). Water pollution in Soshanguwe environs of South Africa. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 56: 499-503. Qing, C. (2007). Urban & rural water pollution: hazard & control. Retrieved 14, Aug. 2010 from http://www. ecosanres. org/icss/proceedings/presentations/51–CHEN-Qing–EN. pdf SEARO. (n. d). National Environmental & Health Action Plan: Environmental problems. Retrieved 14, Aug. 2010 from http://www. searo. who. int/LinkFiles/National_Environment_&_Health_Action_Plan_chp9a. pdf Srinivas, H. (2010). Urban water pollution. Retrieved 14, Aug. 2010 from http://www. gdrc. org/uem/water/watershed/urban-water-pollution. html TutorVista. (2010). Water pollution. Retrieved 14, Aug. 2010 from http://www. tutorvista. com/content/biology/biology-ii/environment-and-environmental-problems/water-pollution. php World Factbook. (2010). Environment – current issues. Retrieved 14, Aug. 2010 from https://www. cia. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2032. html

Animal Abuse Essay

Animal Abuse Essay Animal Abuse Essay Animals are sometimes treated as friends but are also treated as enemies. We keep them as pets, but if it suits us, we slaughter them in their own habitats and in slaughterhouses. If we could kill them in a quick and pain-free way, like a special injection, which is not harmful to us, it would be a lot nicer to the animals being killed. However, the scenes in slaughterhouses are ones of bullying and torture. The people hurt the animals in the most horrific ways possible, for example, slitting their throats while they are still alive and dropping them from great heights to break their legs and necks and other bones. These are just two of the many ways of slaughter that are used today. Meat is needed for a good healthy diet. We should not hunt animals for sport or make them do silly circus tricks like, standing on their heads and climbing on top of other animals. Angling might be the only exception to this because without angling, the rivers would be over populated with fish (who have a very small memory span anyway). It could disrupt the food chain. Hunting wild animals and reptiles is not necessary. The food chain would be just fine if we stopped wild animal hunting, for example, fox hunting, wild cat hunting, elephant hunting, crocodile hunting and whale hunting. We should not kill animals for fur. Thousands of years ago, our ancestors wore animal skins and furs to keep warm and dry. Today we have man made fibres to make such garments. We can also buy man made clothes that look and feel just like real fur, if not more comfortable. There is no need for us to kill these poor innocent creatures for status symbols. It takes many more than five lynxs to make one small fur coat. It is disgusting. How would you like it if some bigger stronger creature than yourself killed you for your hair or your bones so they can make clothes out of your hair and food delicacies out of your bones? It should be made illegal. We should also stop testing cosmetics on animals like rabbits and rodents. We need to test important medicines and drugs on animals because otherwise, the effects on us could be very harmful. I say this because new drugs for epilepsy were tested on my uncle, without his consent, and now he is mentally ill. He cannot walk very well. He cannot read or write very well. He has to live in a home for mentally disabled people like himself. This was all because a few people were against animal testing. It is horrific. It is much better that an animal suffers than a human. .

Analyse and explain different types of equality by referring to the Essay

Analyse and explain different types of equality by referring to the debates on them - Essay Example In connection to the above, it is critical to understand that the issue of absolute equality cannot always be realized in its absolute totality. This follows the differences that are always inherent in the human beings. For instance, the capabilities of individuals are not commensurate. This means that some individuals may be capable of other things whereas their fellow counterparts may not be capable of the same things the others can do. In this respect, the issue of absolute equality can be considerably compromised (Hollander, 2014). In relation to the above, it is of critical significance to acknowledge the fact that when it comes to rewards, the people who may have succeeded in performing certain tasks may get rewarded in proportions that outdo those of the other fellows who may have also vested their efforts in doing the same thing, but have failed to succeed. In this manner, the notion that all of them are rewarded for their vested efforts is a clear representation of practice of equality (Hollander, 2011). This is evident concerning the fact that those who partook the task have all been rewarded. However, the issue of absolute equality may not apply in such a situation. This follows that those who may have succeeded in performing the tasks assigned may get more rewards as compared to the ones who may have failed to execute their best in the same tasks. As such, it is important to note that the latter proves th at equality does not necessarily refer to total or absolute equality. In this respect, it is of crucial significance to understand the real meaning of the term equality. Relevant to the above, it is of critical significance to note that equality may mean the absence of all unnatural, as well as, unjust inequalities (Hands, 2015). Unjust inequalities may always take two different forms. Some of the forms of unjust inequalities may comprise of

Will Catalan split from Spain Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Will Catalan split from Spain - Research Paper Example succession ended in September 1714, Bourbon monarchy that emerged victorious suppressed Catalonia’s medieval institution of self-governance (The Trials,† economist.com). The former Spanish empire secluded Catalonia from diverse economic activities and trade and tried to dismantle its cultures for several decades before it permitted it to enjoy similar benefits. Towards the end of the 19th century, there was an emergence of political catalanism through Catalan Almirall, who was at the frontline in campaigning for the regions autonomy and later ‘Lliga de Catalunya’s political party was formed to promote economic, political and moral interests of Catalonia (Grejsen 7). Catalonia’s political parties and the society aimed for the democratic constitution and autonomy of Catalonia, which they needed established on Catalans own terms. The monarchy system was replaced by military dictatorship in the 1920s and though it initially supported catalanism, General Rivera’s authoritarian rule became inimical, which in turn spurred Catalania’s opposition and hostility to the Spanish government (Cameron, Ranis and Zinn 254). The fall of dictatorship and abolishment of the supportive monarchy in the 1930s led to Catalonia regaining regional government autonomy; a republic of Catalonia was announced in Spain and catalan language officiated by the Spanish republican parliament. The government did not last long and after trials for secession, it was returned to Spanish rule and after the Spanish civil war, General Franco overthrew the Catalan government. To suppress the Catalan culture and in effort to maintain national unity, his army completely occupied catalonia, executed hundreds of thousands of people, sacked most of Catalonia origins and replaced them with those loyal to the regime, rebels had to run into e xile for their safety in places like France; all this aimed to uproot the separatism, atheism and communism of Catalans (Eaude n.p.). Despite the forbidden

Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema - Laura Mulvey Essay

Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema - Laura Mulvey - Essay Example These are the issues that Muvley is attempting to address using psychoanalysis. In essence, Muvley outlines that the female can only fit within the male dominated society by considering herself as castrated due to her lack of a male sexual organ. In addition, the female also has the alternative of constructing meaning through her child. Muvley continues to outline that the film industry especially Hollywood has not been able to give meaning to the role played by the woman in a perspective that it free of the male perception. According to Muvley, the source of female persecution is the society’s poor understanding of the role of the female and the same aspect is reflected in the film industry. Reading the article has significantly changed my perception of movies especially in the contemporary world where some movies claim that they support feminism. In other words, most movies claim to be supporting the role and position of the woman in the society while in actual sense they are just displaying the woman as a shadow of her male counterpart. The observation also brings into question the strategies that can be employed by the society to ensure that the female is adequately represented and that she can be able to identify with female protagonists in films. An example of such a film is the movie A League of their Own. The film recounts the story of women who engage in professional baseball after most of the men are sent to war during the 2nd World War. Although the film might be taken as a film emphasizing on gender equity because the female has been given the chance to demonstrate her skills in a male sport, there are aspects in this photo that indicate that the female is still a shadown of the male. The photo displays the female as being strong and bold and even managing to take a role in a sport that was previously known to be

Jurisprudence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Jurisprudence - Essay Example In order for a society to gain such a reliable reputation, there needs to be a backbone, which in this case would be a code of law.† (2006: p 1) Man makes laws and crafts amendments in them according to the prevailing circumstances and situation. The basic motive behind devising the statutes of law was the prevention of crimes from the society. Since crime is a social phenomenon and exists in each and every culture of the world from the most primitive human tribes and clans to the modern contemporary society, no civilization can deny its subsistence at all. â€Å"Community disorganization†, according to Vedder, Koenig & Clark, â€Å"has been found to be related to several social problems, including crime and delinquency.† (1973: p 7). It is actually an act that disturbs and destroys the peace and harmony of a society. With increase in population of the world at large, the tribes and communities grew widely and developed into society. The crime rate also got its place along with the growth of civilization with an upward trend and increase. The need of rules and system was felt to preserve calm and harmony. Subsequently, social norms, folkways, mores and taboos came into being to bring regularity in society. Socio-cultural and political authorities were also established, to evade turbulence and control crimes in the prescribed manners prevailing in an area. There are two types of offences i.e. one which is against the law enforced by the state, called criminal acts, and the other that is against religious beliefs as well as existing norms that is called deviancy and immorality. Deviant behaviour and perversion refer to the breaking of the prevailing norms and values. Prostitution, incest, homosexuality, bestiality, buggery, exhibitionism, voyeurism and masochism etc are the examples of moral offenc es or perversion. The parliament of the Old Land, has decided to pass a bill in order to criminalize sexual intercourse

Art, science, and imagination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Art, science, and imagination - Essay Example In particular the author has identified the changing technology to be the main factor in the determining changes that are eminent in our society. The culture image has over days changed due to the concept of receiving and perception of the images that are around us. Berger further states that the current demand for visualization of images is so high in our present world that the images end up being degraded by the same people visualizing them. According to Berger, one has to deeply understand something before appreciating it otherwise any judgment prior to this is unjust. All through the paper, he maintains that people always look at things and visualizes them even in dreams. However very few people do have the chance of showing interest on the actual happening of what they see rather their assumptions are always made from the things that they can see. Very few people find out what is happening in the inside and so make a lot of unjustified judgments. Due to this fact, he maintains t hat people have wrongly used the appearance instability to make judgments. He maintains that there is very minimal chance of a new product being made with its source being in direct contact with it. Most of the theories of Berger are justified but at some point, I fail to agree with him. I believe that there is a major role that anxiety plays in the understanding of how an object is like, to someone viewing it. This is because some viewers take no time to know what is inside the object that they are looking at. According to Berger, most of the viewers tend to be blind to the real life that they are living and as a result, they fail to understand what the real images that they see contain. As a result of this, communication in the current society is much complex. Wilson E.O presents a very contradicting idea to Berger’s ideas through his essay â€Å"The Bird of Paradise†. Depicting himself as a hunter and a poet, he links both the world of science and art. He narrates h ow he came into contact with nature in a research. Berger concludes that natural selection plays a major role in explaining how synthetic and analytic perspectives are reached. According to him, both work together to ensure the success of natural selection. This is contradictive to the theory of Berger in which he insists that the world of artists are based on theory, and how people interpret art and imagine personal things. This would therefore mean that the world of art and science are too complex to merge. In her essay, â€Å"Imagination and the Aesthetic Appreciation of Nature† Emily Brady maintains that the individual subject is vital to the appreciation of all forms of art. By so it means that every individual can appreciate art in their own way through visualization of any image. This is in contrast to Berger’s essay in which he maintains that visualizations without the deep understanding of an image are not possible. Emily insists that the aesthetic responses t o art are guided by the art itself and the individual preference. Therefore some people may not appreciate the work of an artist not because they have not looked at it from within but because of their own personal preference. I can deeply understand this theory in my daily life while playing piano. A year ago, I fell in love with Chopin’s music and started to practice it. During the first a few days of practicing, I focused mainly on the basic skills and closely followed the music paper, the accuracy of the notes, strength of the staccato, and the

Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce - Essay Example I hope to advance to a more responsible role within a larger organization. I would also be interested in working in a library or educational environment. Any information, advice and literature would be much appreciated. I am enclosing a large, stamped addressed envelope for this purpose and look forward to your response. Thank you for your time and attention. My strength lies in the ability to motivate people to be the best at what they do and to enjoy their work. My education and previous work experience support me in carrying out the leadership role to the highest standards. I am committed to excellence in all aspects and consider people to be any organization's greatest asset. I see this as a major factor in influencing the success of the business and improving outcomes for all concerned. This has been my strategy in all past employment, and as can be seen from my resume, it has worked well. I also believe that a sound product knowledge is a positive attribute for any store manager. Your company has a great reputation for quality goods, customer service, and staff development, and I would be glad to be a part of this, believing that I would be an asset to the business and make a positive contribution in all the areas demanded by the role. To obtain the job of assistant Store Man... Your company has a great reputation for quality goods, customer service, and staff development, and I would be glad to be a part of this, believing that I would be an asset to the business and make a positive contribution in all the areas demanded by the role. I look forward to your response and would be happy to discuss any issues by telephone or email, should you need to clarify anything. Thank you for your consideration of my application. Yours faithfully, SIGNAture TYPE NAME Name Address Telephone Email Objective To obtain the job of assistant Store Manager, Home Improvement, responsible for overall running of the department and development of associates in order to deliver quality customer service and contribute to the reputation and profit of the organization. Qualifications Team leadership in varied retail environments; involving and including staff training and development, improving customer service, accounting, ordering and replenishing of stock. Management role in Home Improvement department, with increased diverse product knowledge and management skills. Committed to promoting team work, achieving targets and setting standards of excellence in all areas, roles and tasks within the department. Well proven customer handling and interpersonal skills. Strong innovative approach to people and charismatic leadership style. Business and financial management strengths. Ability to think under pressure, to diffuse difficult situations and to develop and build positive behaviors. Professional Accomplishments Achievement of 20% rise in profits in six months and increasing positive customer feedback to 98% (from 75%) within one year. Introduction of staff participation and suggestion

Adolescence as Depicted in Clueless Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Adolescence as Depicted in Clueless - Case Study Example Puberty denotes two main types of physical development which mark the transition towards young adulthood. The first physical development involves a dramatic increase in weight and height, muscle content, and body fat. The second physical development involves a change in reproductive organs and the presence of secondary sexual characteristics such as body and facial hair, and growth of breast. Cher Horowitz manifests medium-sized breast and wide hips, which are proportional to her slender physique. Her facial features also present adult proportions as she exhibits enlarge lips, prominent jaw, and protruding forehead. Kyle (2007) stresses that it illustrates physical changes experience by adolescents aged 14 to 16 years. Kyle further reiterated that female adolescents aged 14 to 16 years-old reached peak weight and heights manifest an increase in muscle mass, hip breadth, chest, and shoulder. Cher Horowitz exhibits on-time physical developments.  Puberty denotes two main types of phy sical development which mark the transition towards young adulthood. The first physical development involves the dramatic increase in weight and height, muscle content, and body fat. The second physical development involves a change in reproductive organs and the presence of secondary sexual characteristics such as body and facial hair, and growth of breast. Cher Horowitz manifests medium-sized breast and wide hips, which are proportional to her slender physique. Her facial features also present adult proportions as she exhibits enlarge lips, prominent jaw, and protruding forehead. Kyle (2007) stresses that it illustrates physical changes experience by adolescents aged 14 to 16 years. Kyle further reiterated that female adolescents aged 14 to 16 years-old reached peak weight and heights manifest an increase in muscle mass, hip breadth, chest, and shoulder. Cher Horowitz exhibits on-time physical developments.   Adolescents continue to develop their fine and gross motor skills. The former pertains to movements that require dexterity and precision, while the latter refers to movements of major parts of the body or the whole body. Cher Horowitz’s abilities to dance and drive the manifest increase in gross motor skills. Meanwhile, her ability to use the cellular phone, write legibly and manipulate objects represents an improvement of fine motor skills. Cher Horowitz can be classified into the preoperational stage of Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory. Maturation serves as a driving force for the individual’s development. The preoperational stage involves the application of logical principles acquired in the concrete operational stage into abstract and hypothetical situations. Cher sought to lead a meaningful life throughout the film. She chose to concentrate on doing good deeds instead of focusing merely on her popularity. The last part of the film exhibited how she volunteered in the relief efforts of the school to live a meaningful li fe.  

Interoperability Essay Example for Free

Interoperability Essay Interoperability has been described as the extent in which systems and devices can exchange data and translate that shared information. It is the ability of one system to perform work in addition with other systems without asking for too much hard work from the other users. This system enhances the importance for information technology to make the networks and integrations work. In order for the process to function properly the two systems that are attempting to share information must be able to exchange data and introduce that same information to other users in a way that he or she can understand it. There are many organizations in the business world and many have different operating systems. The importance of interoperability in this aspect is to allow each organization to share important information amongst one another. An example would be if an organization such as Child Protective Services (CPS) wanted to share client information with another Protective Services agency regarding a client both organizations should be able to exchange and translate information amongst coordinating organizations. Child Protective Services Child Protective Services (CPS) is known as major department with the Department of Human Services. CPS supports and maintains the social and economic welfare of children by offering services to children to help protect them from abuse and/or child neglect. The Department of Humans Services in California offers CPS to families. CPS serves as mandated reports as well as an organization to protect children from neglect or abuse within the home, from his or her family, foster home or anyone responsible for the care of the child. The services of CPS are to provide protection to the children, provide resources to enable to child to remain residing in the home under safe and harmless circumstances. Also to remove abused or neglected children from the home and to possibly terminate any parental or guardian rights to ensure that the child will be eliminated from any potential danger or harm. The basic constituent of the process include: providing any and all services to minimize potential harm to children and provide resources to families to help them protect and provide appropriate care to his or her child. Next, is to provide the best services possible to meet each child and families unique needs. Last, taking each allegation  made seriously and assessing the allegations to the best of one’s ability to ensure that if there is any form of abuse or neglect the necessary steps occur in order to protect the child. The services of CPS are to intervene if necessary and protect children until his or her parent is capable to doing so. The most essential aspect of CPS is to recognize the protection of children and to ensure that reasonable efforts are made to maintain children safely in their own home, to reunite the family as soon as the courts see fit or to find permanency for the child if the situation permits for the parental rights to be voided. Other services inc lude mental health, counseling, parenting skills training, medical care/services and adoption services. Methods of Interoperability There are several different methods to implement interoperability. Many organizations have created their own interoperability methods. One of the methods of interoperability is technical interoperability, which is the ability for different technologies to communicate and exchange data-based upon well-defined interface standards. The second is semantic interoperability, which is the ability to each endpoint to communicate data and have the receiving party understand the message in the sense intended by the sending party. The third is policy interoperability, which is the common business policies and processes related to the transmission, receipt and acceptance of data between systems, which a legal framework supports. Advantages and Disadvantages Conclusion Interoperability has been described as the extent in which systems and devices can exchange data and translate that shared information. Interoperability has many advantages and disadvantages. The goal of CPS is to find avenues to execute full backups bi-weekly and this process will be complemented daily. This organization will also implement an extended back up program monthly.

Young Goodman Brown Essay Example for Free

Young Goodman Brown Essay In the story, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†, written by author Nathaniel Hawthorne, we are offered opposites in personalities which demonstrates interesting extremes that keeps emotions flowing up and down from affection to fear in this book. Faith is a loving and kind character as Goodman Brown seems fortunate in finding a companion who desperately wants to be with. She displays acts of genuine affection for her new husband and it’s terribly obvious that she doesn’t want him to ever leave her. This character shows one opposite of the extreme measure by being king, genuine, loyal and loving with Goodman Brown. The old man in this story offers the complete opposite personality as he represents fear and what’s bad in the world. This character also shows complete opposite of what Goodman Brown’s wife is by being old where Faith is young and beautiful. Faith offers safety and security in Goodman’s home where the old man in the forest only allows for deceit and fear. Hawthorne demonstrates gloominess and evil when Goodman Brown leaves the safety of his home and wife. Faith didn’t want her husband to leave her. Possibly, she could sense the danger that awaited her husband with the close bond that they shared in their marriage. In this book, it is easily felt that one should remain on the side of the one that really cares about their safety and happiness and not be deceived by outside forces that threaten what is good in one’s life. Extreme opposites is what I took from the characters and a feeling that an individual should pay attention to those who remain sincere and caring in our lives and avoid outside influences of those who make us feel fear and uncertainty.

Islamic Law And Its Impact On Arbitration Of Ip Cases

Islamic Law And Its Impact On Arbitration Of Ip Cases Islamic Law And Its Impact On Arbitration Of Ip Cases In Middle East With Special Reference To Jordan Introduction The law of intellectual property is one of the areas of law that has emerged in Jordan relatively recently. The reasons for such late emergence of intellectual property law in Jordan are that there were no sufficient conditions for development of this area of law in this jurisdiction. Due to this fact, courts in Jordan were hardly able to decide such cases because of their complexity and lack of necessary skills and knowledge of judges in respected area of law. It is for this reason it seems that Jordanian legal practitioners saw the necessity of establishing courts which would adjudicate such cases. The law of intellectual property is one of the areas that pose several challenges to trade area, where sellers of unauthorized products or products which breach intellectual property rights are widespread. It is inevitable truth of most Arab countries and in this respect it seems that position of intellectual property legislation saw its goal. Some would ask: Why would Jordan need intellectual property law at all? It does not have such potential in order to enforce such complicated legislation and procedures. The answer lies in increasing importance of Jordan as a financial and trade center of Middle East, which would compete and challenge such centers as U.A.E. and Qatar. In order to ensure such position in market, Jordan, first, has to ensure that legislation is in harmony with international trade and financial legislation. Amidst them, intellectual property law, if not most important, but occupies significant place to such an extent that it has to increase awareness and skills in this area. Simultaneously, one of the important and flexible methods of alternative dispute resolution as arbitration has to play here crucial role. Arbitration is one of the areas of alternative dispute resolution, necessity of which has increased along with globalization of international trade. It has been seen as one of the areas which can significantly simplify international trade procedure without bringing unsolvable complexities into the business which has already gone into complexities. The arbitration of cases related to intellectual property is different and complicated matter, which cannot be explained with reference to arbitration of normal and common cases that emerge in the course of international or local trade. It requires lawyers which are not only fluent but also skilled in matters of IP law and practice. Such lawyers, the amount of which is few in Jordan, can be and should be trained in this area in order to ensure the integrity of arbitration procedures in IP cases. As a rule, majority of companies and lawyers cannot trust to state courts, which would consider intellectual property cases along with ordinary cases and are subject to inevitable error by doing incorrect analogies in decision of such cases. Usually parties which address their cases to state courts are usually unsatisfied not only with level of knowledge of judges in intellectual property cases but also with complexity of procedure. In this sense, one should realize the importance of arbitration methods for adjudication of intellectual property cases. Jordan, it seems, have realized the serious threat posed by this problem and have taken number of measures in order to respond to this challenges. One of the notable measures is certainly sending law students abroad in order to prepare future judges specialized on intellectual property disputes. This has been done effectively and majority of students are in prominent institutions which are really strong in this area of law. Second is creation of respective legislation in this area, yet there are some gaps which are inevitable and these gaps should be filled in order to harmonize Jordanian legislation in the field of arbitration and IP law. Jordan has examples to learn from and it is its closest neighbors such as U.A.E., Qatar and Bahrain. These countries have foremost skills and experience in these fields of law. It is not only explained by abundance of their experts but also rapid expansion of their economies and integration into the world economy. In this respect, Jordan is in more convenient position than other countries since even the culture of its neighbors is identical to Jordan. The similarity in culture and tradition is one of the factors that make harmonization of Jordanian IP legislation much easier and painless. Besides, the lack of experience and knowledge not only in IP law, but also in arbitration process in IP case makes Jordan vulnerable to the challenge posed by the legal world of these neighbors. It is for this reason; the necessity of this dissertation is realized. There is also Islamic factor that raises issue. Since Jordanian constitution recognizes Islam as a religion of state and due to historical circumstances when Islamic law dominated Jordan for centuries, it raises question: Has Islamic law influenced emergence and development of arbitration in Jordan as well as of intellectual property law? In this respect, Akhtar remarked: â€Å"there exist considerable variations in the Middle East on the incorporation and application of arbitration laws and the practice and procedure in enforcing arbitral awards, which are complicated further by the differing interaction between Sharia law and Western systems of law in each country†. Therefore, the major goal of this dissertation is to examine whether Islamic legal principles in fact had an impact on development of arbitration and intellectual property law in Jordan. It will be tested on the basis of case related to IP law decided in arbitration courts of Jordan. The importance of this topic is realized in the context of rising importance of Jordan as emerging economic and financial leader in Middle East. It is also realized due to the fact that Islamic law is a dominant system in contemporary Middle East. This dissertation consists of four parts: (i) first chapter briefly examines the basic tenets of Islamic law; (ii) second chapter briefly examines arbitration system in Jordan; (iii) third chapter briefly analyses intellectual property law in Jordan; and (iv) final chapter, an important one scrutinizes Jordanian intellectual property disputes arbitration for compliance with Islamic law. Overview Of Jordanian And Islamic Law Jordan is one of the countries in the world that inherited several features of different legislations at a time. One of the major influences was Ottoman legislation, since Jordan was under their dominancy for almost 700 years. In this respect, it can be said that it has been influence not only by Islamic law, which was the law of Ottoman empire but also by features of unique Ottoman law, which coexisted in one line with Islamic law. Legislation And Judicial System In Jordan Once Jordan became a subject of European colonization in 19 century, it inevitably embraced some features of European legislation. Yet, at present time, Jordanian legislation is surprising mixture of European and Islamic elements. The system of government in Jordan is parliamentary monarchy. Yet, it should be noted that monarchy in Jordan is almost absolute since all powers are vested in the King of Jordan who is considered to be direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.V.) As in other countries of the world, the power in Jordan is divided into three branches, namely, legislative, executive and judicial. However, unlike other countries King may interfere within functioning of legislative power or other in order to ensure his absolute status. The constitution of Jordan openly declares Islam as the religion of state. However, upon the close examination of Jordanian legislation, one cannot call it Islamic state since it contains elements which are contrary to Islamic legal principles. Unlike Saudi constitution which declares Islam as a source of law, Jordan constitution declares Islam only as a religion of state. It is, however, not clear what it implies. Nonetheless, one can see the consequences of Islam being declared as a religion of state, in the legal system, where there is duality of courts. Jordanian courts are divided into secular and religious courts. While religious courts are not only Islamic but also ecclesial or Christian courts, which are free to decide family matters of their respective religious communities. The competence of religious courts, including Islamic, are not extended to the matters of commercial and administrative law. Therefore, matters pertaining to commercial or administrative law are decided in secular courts. Officially, Jordanian constitution declares that there are three types of courts: (i) civil courts; (ii) religious courts; and (iii) special courts. Yet, civil courts also hear criminal cases along with civil cases and cases of administrative field. Religious courts are divided into Islamic and courts of other non-Muslim communities. Both of them hear cases within scope of their competence. It is interesting that Sharia courts also hear cases which are related to the compensation of blood money where one of the parties are not Muslims. Compensation of blood-money, otherwise called diya, is one of the old features of Islamic criminal law and it is surprising that it is not in competence of secular courts but religious. The constitution does not define how special courts function, leaving this matter to the law. Yet, there are tribunals which are designed to interpret law and one of them is High Tribunal, the purpose of which to interpret constitution when required by government. It is also necessary to provide brief overview about Shari ‘a, which occupies significant position in Jordanian legislation. Sharia, otherwise called Islamic law, is one of the ancient systems of law that has been preserved since 7 century A.D. with some modifications. The sources of Sharia, according to Muslim belief, are Quran and Sunna. First being Holy Book of Islamic religion and second are traditions or precedents of Prophet of Islam. Besides, official Islamic dogma declares that Islamic jurisprudence functions according to four sources of law, Quran, Sunna, ijma and qiyas. Ijma, otherwise called consensus is being interpreted differently by four schools of Islamic law and same goes with qiyas, which is otherwise called analogy. Four schools of Islamic law that has emerged at different periods of time during first century of Islam, mainly diverge upon interpretation of major or secondary sources of Islamic law. Islamic law does not recognize freedom of contract and prohibits such elements of trade and economy as charging interest, fortuity and gambling. In order to comply with these principles, Islamic lawyers has developed certain methods and forms which would allow Muslim to operate in one or another way in business world. One of the remarkable features of new Islamic jurisprudence is creation of Islamic banking, which replaces interest with profit-and-loss sharing concept, Islamic insurance that operates in almost similar fashion and other new concepts as Islamic bonds, otherwise called sukkuk. As far as intellectual property concerned, Islamic law protects inviolability of property as well as its manifestations in different forms. The same applies to any form of intellectual property, be it trademark or invention. Arbitration in Islamic law is unique, since arbitration has been inherent to Arab culture and was called hakama. Hakams were arbitrators in ancient Arabia and judged according to Arab customs and traditions. Therefore, there is nothing new in arbitration which is not familiar to Islamic lawyers. In last century, the position of Islamic law in disputes that were decided in arbitration courts was widely ignored. It is evident from several cases. In Petroleum Development (Trucial Coasts) Ltd. V. Shaikh of Abu Dhabi, Lord Asquith, the arbitrator ironically observed: â€Å"†¦it would be fanciful to suggest that in this very primitive region there is any settled body of legal principles applicable to the construction of modern commercial instruments†. Another remark, done by arbitrator in Ruler of Qatar v. International Marine Oil Company Ltd., was bitterer and arrogant: â€Å"†¦I am satisfied that the [Islamic] law does not contain any principles which would be sufficient to interpret this particular contract†. Such excesses and bitter remarks were summed up and characterized in the following terms: â€Å"In general, the legal community throughout the Arab world is still manifesting its hostility to transnational arbitration mainly as a result of the great publicity devoted to the criticism of certain unfortunate arbitral awards rendered as of 1951 by western arbitrators who excluded, with terms of a humiliating nature, the application of the national applicable legal systems of countries like Abu Dhabi or Qatar†. It should be also noted that Jordanian legislation does not fully implement precepts of Islamic law such as prohibition of interest or insurance. There are banks and insurance companies in Jordan which operate according to Western principles of banking and insurance. The companies and banks in Jordan are free to operate in the mode they choose to be most efficient for them. There is no hindrance on the part of Jordanian government in this sense. Defining Islamic Law There is no single or unified definition of Islamic law. Various scholars offer various definitions. I shall not go into each definition offered but shall arbitrarily explicate some of them. One of the famous scholars of Islamic law, Joseph Schacht offered an interesting definition for Islamic law: â€Å"Islamic law is the epitome of the Islamic spirit, the most typical manifestation of the Islamic way of life, the kernel of Islam itself†. Goitein, it seems, offered more precise and comprehensive definition: â€Å"Islamic religion is characterised by the prominence of legal conceptions in its systems: The Sharia, or holy law, is its very essence and Fiqh, or religious jurisprudence, is its science (‘ilm) par excellence. The minute observation of many commandments is its most conspicuous practical aspect; the free fellowship of religious scholars, who do not need authorisation by any government to interpret, develop and apply its law, is its most representative body, and even purely legal sections of the Fiqh are studied as an act of worship†. These two definitions are not exhaustive but reflect true essence of Islamic law. Schachts ‘way of life and Goiteins ‘religious jurisprudence constitute what is called Shariah in Arabic. Moreover, Islamic law cannot be compared with common or continental legal systems. It is because latter do deal and embrace all areas of law, whereas Islamic law mostly deal with private law, leaving aside public law. Therefore, the claim of some countries that since their legislation is based on Shariah, their law is being regulated by divine law is not correct. The Shariah only applies to matters of private law in these countries and the public law has been imported from Western models. The majority of scholars have long been recognizing Quran as a major source of Islamic law, sometimes without examining what it stands for. It was Schacht who first suggested that Shafii, prominent Islamic jurist, paid merely lip-service to Quran as a source of law in his jurisprudential theory. Certainly, major principles of Islamic law has been deducted from Quran but it is only a major and in a number of cases, we discover that Muslim jurists are dependant or totally reliant on other sources rather than Quran without hesitation. The holy book of Islam or Muslims all over the world, Quran is believed by Muslims to have been revealed via Archangel Gabriel to Muhammad, who is regarded by Muslims as both Prophet and Messenger of God. Quran is law but law in a spiritual sense. If you ask a Muslim: What is your law (Sharia)? He or she would respond: â€Å"Quran† without realizing whether it is spiritual or actual law. For the purposes of present study, Quran is a source of law but to a limited extent since a major proportion of rules and judgments is being extracted from other sources of law and via different methods of legal reasoning. It is not however realized by ordinary Muslim as such, and even by Muslim jurist, who would suggest that sources for such rulings is Sharia and all rules, embodied in Sharia are immutable and should not be a subject of any challenge by anyone. Before turning to critical points, it is crucial to explore basics of Quran. Quran is the holy book of Islamic religion. It is said to have been revealed during 23 years, once Prophet Muhammed started his mission among Arab people. The Quran derives from the word ‘qara which denotes in Arabic, reciting or reading. It is also asserted that with a same meaning it is cited in Old Testament in Hebrew language. There are other names which are designed for Quran, such as ‘Quran al-Majid or ‘al-Quran ash-Sharif or ‘Furqan, etc. For the purpose of present study, it shall be called Quran, which is rather easy to refer and this way we shall avoid confusion. The divine legislation is said to have been established through revelation of Quran in stages as I have mentioned earlier. The modern scholars as well as classic jurists were still unsure about precise role of Quran as a source of legislation. It is not clear whether the role of Quran corresponds to the hierarchy where it has been hoisted to the primary position. In fact, Quran has never been a primary source as we understand a primacy in modern jurisprudence. Muslim jurists would often rule according to verse of Quran but not a principle or spirit that it implies. They would pay a lip-service to Quran as a source of all legislation, but in fact they would disregard those rules of Quran that should have been regarded in specific occasion. The precise role of Quran is difficult to define; it is because the primacy of Quran has been overshadowed by other sources and methods of law. Quran has always been mentioned along with Sunna, second sources of Islamic law which we shall have occasion to discuss in the next paragraph. In order to demonstrate the position of Quran as a source of law, let us look at some examples of utilization of Quran in classic Islamic jurisprudence. The Prophetic Traditions or hadith as called in Arabic form a second source of law in hierarchy of sources of Islamic law and jurisprudence. It does not only occupy this position indeed but sometimes shares dominancy with Quran. The difference that emerged between Muslim jurists and later led to establishment of schools of law was caused by diverging interpretation of Prophetic Tradition. From liberal approach of Hanafis to strict compliance of Zahiris, they all dispute on nature of Prophetic Traditions as a source of law. Sometimes their conflict went as far as one realise that it is rather absurdity than logical argument. The word ‘ijma, which is basically translated as ‘collecting or ‘assembling, in a legal sense has caused a lot of debates over its validity. It is sometimes viewed as a consensus of either jurists or Muslims in general. Some assert that it is consensus of early Muslims Companions over common postulates of faith and religion. The consensus might be reached if it is unanimously adopted in practice or ‘custom as in the case of international law. Second, consensus might be uttered in respect of certain ruling by majority of either scholars or jurists. Finally, it can be ‘e silentio support for certain opinion by majority of jurists that have the right to adjudicate their independent opinion. It is not clear from Islamic jurisprudential theory when ijma should be employed and what certain conditions are. Some jurists, Hanafi, for instance, usually in their judgments, say ‘there has been consensus on this issue or ‘question but they never clarified how and why such consensus has been reached among them. We also do not know whether we may employ ijma concept in modern context and whether it shall be binding on all Muslims or adopted by them as a constituent part of Islamic law. In Sunni jurisprudence, we know that by way of ijma, certain jurists united into groups affiliated with dominating opinion of single jurist, which later became known as ‘schools of law or ‘madhahib. It has also been asserted that ijma on common legal issues has been reached in eighth century by respective founders of ‘madhahib; there is no way to re-visit these concepts or judgments. When speaking of analogy principle in Islamic law, it is not clear whether it is absolute or not or whether it is logically applicable to all cases. The word ‘qiyas itself means ‘to compare and it is regarded as one of the major sources of Islamic law. Islamic jurists themselves stipulate four predominant conditions of analogy: The precept or practice upon which it is founded must be of common (amm) and not of special (khass) application; The cause (‘illa) of the injunction must be known and understood; The decision must be based upon either the Quran, the Sunna, or the Ijma; The decision arrived at must not be contrary to anything declared elsewhere in the Quran and Sunna. The fourth stipulation raises some concerns. As we have discussed earlier, there are a lot of contradictions between Quran and Sunna, and even within Quran and within Sunna. The jurists attempted to decide such contradictions by asserting that there cannot be hypothetically any conflicts between these sources and even within these sources; they exist and it is reality. This factor also serves as a great hindrance in deriving rules or judgments from primary sources of Islamic law. Even though these rules has been developed and elaborated by jurists; there are still a lot of controversies with application of this principle. It is caused by a different degree of application in schools of law and conflict between jurists whether such analogy might be applied when the necessity in such application is clear. Thus, for instance, it is not clear why principle of justice embodied in Quran might not be equally applied to all subjects of Islamic state, be it Muslim or non-Muslim. Normally, Islamic jurist would object saying that since Quran is only for Muslims, its injunctions are only applicable to Muslims. There is no logic which might be applied but incoherence in reasoning, sometimes leading to absurd conclusions. Concluding Remarks In present chapter, we have discussed general legal conceptions that exist in Jordanian and Islamic law. There is a big difference between them because of the nature of legislation. Islamic law is mainly religious, whereas Jordanian is secular; even though Constitution claims that Islamic is a state religion. In majority of Islamic countries, a fact that Islamic is a religion of state is merely lip-service to Islamic as a religion of people. It does not go further than that, except some countries as Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. But even legislation of these countries demonstrates how secular they are in their nature. It does not however mean that Jordan lack of Islamic legal taste; there are some aspects of Islamic law in Jordanian legislation, as we have seen previously. The matters of marriage, divorce, inheritance and religious endowment are mainly under realms of Islamic law. Yet, on the other hands, similar matters that arise with other religious communities are decided based on their respective religious law. However, the matters which are related to arbitration and intellectual property are mainly based on secular, precisely on European model based laws. Therefore, purpose of forthcoming chapters will be to examine whether they comply with Islamic law in general. Arbitration System In Jordan And Compliance With Islamic Law And Its Implications For Intellectual Property Law This chapter summarizes the current state of arbitration system in Jordan and issue of its compliance with Islamic law. It is done with purpose to acquaint readers with main aspects of these systems and legislation, so he or she has full understanding when looking through forthcoming chapters. Arbitration In Jordan The arbitration process in Jordan is being regulated by special law Law No. 31 of 2001 otherwise called Jordan Arbitration Law. It is not unique; neither has it been adopted from international law, but from Egyptian Arbitration Act No. 27 of 1994, which in turn has been adopted from UNCITRAL Model Law 1985. The law consists of 7 parts and 56 articles. It can be structured thus: (1) General provisions (Articles 1-8); (2) Arbitration agreement (Articles 9-13); (3) Arbitration tribunal (Articles 14-23); (4) Arbitration proceedings (Articles 24-35); (5) Arbitral award and termination proceedings (Articles 36-47); (6) Nullity of arbitral award (Articles 48-51); (7) Enforcement of awards (Articles 52-56). The Art. 3 makes the scope of law absolute; it extends to any arbitration proceedings in Jordan and to any cases whether they derive from contractual dispute or not. Neither does it differentiate between commercial or civil disputes; both of them are within scope of this law. The Art. 5 allows not only contracting parties to choose the arbitration procedure but also a third party which shall be able to choose such procedure. The Art. 8 explicitly prohibits the intervention by state courts; yet, it stipulates that the arbitration tribunal may ask the intervention of state courts where former needs the participation of experts, witnesses, etc. As far as arbitration agreement is concerned, Art. 9 allows only those persons, be it physical or legal, which has legal capacity, to conclude such agreement. It does not allow arbitration on matters which are on â€Å"amiable compositeaur† basis. The arbitration agreement is valid only if in writing, according to Art. 10a, yet, the form of written agreement is flexible. It can be contained in exchange of letters, faxes, etc. It has been also reaffirmed by Jordanian Court of Cassation which stated: â€Å"the arbitration clause as established should be written, clear and explicit as well, by virtue of Article 10/A of the Arbitration Law No. 31of 2001†. The law also allows parties to render their dispute to arbitration whilst in state court, in which case state court has the right to refer to arbitration tribunal and its reference shall be viewed as arbitration agreement in writing. As far as arbitration tribunal concerned, Art. 14a and b, establishes that number of arbitrators shall be odd, otherwise it is void. If there is a disagreement between parties then number of arbitrators is three. Noteworthy, the law reaffirms the independence of arbitration clause, which is according to Art. 22, is not dependent on other clause of underlying contract. The language of arbitration proceedings is Arabic but law allows the use of another language or other languages upon consent of parties, according to Art. 28a. Most importantly, Art. 17 upheld the principle of impartiality and independence of arbitrators and in elaboration of this provision Court of Cassation further held: â€Å"all arbitral procedures, in which the challenged arbitrator has participated, including the arbitral award, shall be deemed void†. These are the major aspects of arbitration law in Jordan. Besides, Jordan has also ratified the New York Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards by the virtue of Jordanian Court of Cassation, where it was remarked: â€Å"It is understood from the Article (2) of Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Law No. 8 of 1952 that the foreign arbitral award which has been enforced and ratified by the forum court , shall be enforceable in Jordan in accordance with all the clauses and requirements, and does not conflict with any of the stipulated provisions of Article (7) of the said law†. The ratification of New York Convention by Jordan should be viewed as positive development and attractive for the foreign companies who wish to deal with Jordanian companies or invest in Jordan. The same applies to IP disputes; any company which would challenge Jordanian company with the claim of breach of copyright or violation of other forms of intellectual property, are in convenience in the view of ratification of New York Convention. However, in his study of issues pertaining enforcement, Haddad critically commented: â€Å"Turning again to Jordanian Law which provides, as has just been seen, that a foreign award must be enforceable in the place in which it was issued, which means that the award should have been reduced to a judgment in the foreign country†. It implies that Jordanian legislation does not recognise validity of foreign judgement as enforceable in Jordan. But he noted that â€Å"this approach may be criticized since it may be difficult in practice or even impossible to achieve this goal in certain circumstances, particularly in institutional arbitration. In this type of arbitration, it may happen that the parties involved in the proceedings including the arbitrators, and all other relevant factors have no relation whatsoever with the place of arbitration except that the proceedings were conducted there. In such a case, the foreign court may reasonably reject to enforce the award rendered in its country, and that means that the award may not be enforced in Jordan either†. In such dubious situation, it is unclear how Jordanian legislation on arbitration would cope with this kind of problem. It seems to be paradoxical situation because award cannot be enforced either domestically or locally. It will also have some implication for enforcement of foreign arbitral awards on intellectual property rights since majority of arbitral awards may not be enforced in foreign country since its enforcement should be accomplished in Jordan because of object of dispute. In such case, it is difficult to predict how arbitration courts and moreover state courts would deal with it. Enforcement Of Foreign Arbitration Awards In Jordan One of the problems that foreign company may encounter in Jordan is the problem of enforcement of award related to IP cases in Jordan. It is clear that certain IP cases may intervene with public policy and in this regard it is nearly impossible to assert such possibility may not arise. IP legislation in Jordan being in immature position sometimes may not offer effective solutions for parties which are from different countries. In this regard, one should closely take a look at public policy issues in Jordan. According to IP legislation, certain names cannot be registered as trademarks in Jordan. However: what if the name of foreign company or brand coincides with the name trademark registration of which is illegal in Jordan? The company in this case would face difficulties in carrying out business and moreover it would face difficulties in enforcing award that has been rendered in foreign or international arbitration court. The case of Mitsubishi in U.S. showed how difficult it is to determine whether one case is subject to public policy or not. It has changed the contours of arbitrability in U.S. but the question arises: can such case have implication for Jordanian arbitration system? One can answer positively, but one would be confused when it comes to IP arbitration. IP arbitration, as it has been seen, is a difficult and complex matter. It cannot be simply adjusted as in the case of ordinary commercial arbitration. The IP legislation is diverse and this diversity may imply negative consequences for arbitration, since arbitrators should be expertise in all areas Islamic Law And Its Impact On Arbitration Of Ip Cases Islamic Law And Its Impact On Arbitration Of Ip Cases Islamic Law And Its Impact On Arbitration Of Ip Cases In Middle East With Special Reference To Jordan Introduction The law of intellectual property is one of the areas of law that has emerged in Jordan relatively recently. The reasons for such late emergence of intellectual property law in Jordan are that there were no sufficient conditions for development of this area of law in this jurisdiction. Due to this fact, courts in Jordan were hardly able to decide such cases because of their complexity and lack of necessary skills and knowledge of judges in respected area of law. It is for this reason it seems that Jordanian legal practitioners saw the necessity of establishing courts which would adjudicate such cases. The law of intellectual property is one of the areas that pose several challenges to trade area, where sellers of unauthorized products or products which breach intellectual property rights are widespread. It is inevitable truth of most Arab countries and in this respect it seems that position of intellectual property legislation saw its goal. Some would ask: Why would Jordan need intellectual property law at all? It does not have such potential in order to enforce such complicated legislation and procedures. The answer lies in increasing importance of Jordan as a financial and trade center of Middle East, which would compete and challenge such centers as U.A.E. and Qatar. In order to ensure such position in market, Jordan, first, has to ensure that legislation is in harmony with international trade and financial legislation. Amidst them, intellectual property law, if not most important, but occupies significant place to such an extent that it has to increase awareness and skills in this area. Simultaneously, one of the important and flexible methods of alternative dispute resolution as arbitration has to play here crucial role. Arbitration is one of the areas of alternative dispute resolution, necessity of which has increased along with globalization of international trade. It has been seen as one of the areas which can significantly simplify international trade procedure without bringing unsolvable complexities into the business which has already gone into complexities. The arbitration of cases related to intellectual property is different and complicated matter, which cannot be explained with reference to arbitration of normal and common cases that emerge in the course of international or local trade. It requires lawyers which are not only fluent but also skilled in matters of IP law and practice. Such lawyers, the amount of which is few in Jordan, can be and should be trained in this area in order to ensure the integrity of arbitration procedures in IP cases. As a rule, majority of companies and lawyers cannot trust to state courts, which would consider intellectual property cases along with ordinary cases and are subject to inevitable error by doing incorrect analogies in decision of such cases. Usually parties which address their cases to state courts are usually unsatisfied not only with level of knowledge of judges in intellectual property cases but also with complexity of procedure. In this sense, one should realize the importance of arbitration methods for adjudication of intellectual property cases. Jordan, it seems, have realized the serious threat posed by this problem and have taken number of measures in order to respond to this challenges. One of the notable measures is certainly sending law students abroad in order to prepare future judges specialized on intellectual property disputes. This has been done effectively and majority of students are in prominent institutions which are really strong in this area of law. Second is creation of respective legislation in this area, yet there are some gaps which are inevitable and these gaps should be filled in order to harmonize Jordanian legislation in the field of arbitration and IP law. Jordan has examples to learn from and it is its closest neighbors such as U.A.E., Qatar and Bahrain. These countries have foremost skills and experience in these fields of law. It is not only explained by abundance of their experts but also rapid expansion of their economies and integration into the world economy. In this respect, Jordan is in more convenient position than other countries since even the culture of its neighbors is identical to Jordan. The similarity in culture and tradition is one of the factors that make harmonization of Jordanian IP legislation much easier and painless. Besides, the lack of experience and knowledge not only in IP law, but also in arbitration process in IP case makes Jordan vulnerable to the challenge posed by the legal world of these neighbors. It is for this reason; the necessity of this dissertation is realized. There is also Islamic factor that raises issue. Since Jordanian constitution recognizes Islam as a religion of state and due to historical circumstances when Islamic law dominated Jordan for centuries, it raises question: Has Islamic law influenced emergence and development of arbitration in Jordan as well as of intellectual property law? In this respect, Akhtar remarked: â€Å"there exist considerable variations in the Middle East on the incorporation and application of arbitration laws and the practice and procedure in enforcing arbitral awards, which are complicated further by the differing interaction between Sharia law and Western systems of law in each country†. Therefore, the major goal of this dissertation is to examine whether Islamic legal principles in fact had an impact on development of arbitration and intellectual property law in Jordan. It will be tested on the basis of case related to IP law decided in arbitration courts of Jordan. The importance of this topic is realized in the context of rising importance of Jordan as emerging economic and financial leader in Middle East. It is also realized due to the fact that Islamic law is a dominant system in contemporary Middle East. This dissertation consists of four parts: (i) first chapter briefly examines the basic tenets of Islamic law; (ii) second chapter briefly examines arbitration system in Jordan; (iii) third chapter briefly analyses intellectual property law in Jordan; and (iv) final chapter, an important one scrutinizes Jordanian intellectual property disputes arbitration for compliance with Islamic law. Overview Of Jordanian And Islamic Law Jordan is one of the countries in the world that inherited several features of different legislations at a time. One of the major influences was Ottoman legislation, since Jordan was under their dominancy for almost 700 years. In this respect, it can be said that it has been influence not only by Islamic law, which was the law of Ottoman empire but also by features of unique Ottoman law, which coexisted in one line with Islamic law. Legislation And Judicial System In Jordan Once Jordan became a subject of European colonization in 19 century, it inevitably embraced some features of European legislation. Yet, at present time, Jordanian legislation is surprising mixture of European and Islamic elements. The system of government in Jordan is parliamentary monarchy. Yet, it should be noted that monarchy in Jordan is almost absolute since all powers are vested in the King of Jordan who is considered to be direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.V.) As in other countries of the world, the power in Jordan is divided into three branches, namely, legislative, executive and judicial. However, unlike other countries King may interfere within functioning of legislative power or other in order to ensure his absolute status. The constitution of Jordan openly declares Islam as the religion of state. However, upon the close examination of Jordanian legislation, one cannot call it Islamic state since it contains elements which are contrary to Islamic legal principles. Unlike Saudi constitution which declares Islam as a source of law, Jordan constitution declares Islam only as a religion of state. It is, however, not clear what it implies. Nonetheless, one can see the consequences of Islam being declared as a religion of state, in the legal system, where there is duality of courts. Jordanian courts are divided into secular and religious courts. While religious courts are not only Islamic but also ecclesial or Christian courts, which are free to decide family matters of their respective religious communities. The competence of religious courts, including Islamic, are not extended to the matters of commercial and administrative law. Therefore, matters pertaining to commercial or administrative law are decided in secular courts. Officially, Jordanian constitution declares that there are three types of courts: (i) civil courts; (ii) religious courts; and (iii) special courts. Yet, civil courts also hear criminal cases along with civil cases and cases of administrative field. Religious courts are divided into Islamic and courts of other non-Muslim communities. Both of them hear cases within scope of their competence. It is interesting that Sharia courts also hear cases which are related to the compensation of blood money where one of the parties are not Muslims. Compensation of blood-money, otherwise called diya, is one of the old features of Islamic criminal law and it is surprising that it is not in competence of secular courts but religious. The constitution does not define how special courts function, leaving this matter to the law. Yet, there are tribunals which are designed to interpret law and one of them is High Tribunal, the purpose of which to interpret constitution when required by government. It is also necessary to provide brief overview about Shari ‘a, which occupies significant position in Jordanian legislation. Sharia, otherwise called Islamic law, is one of the ancient systems of law that has been preserved since 7 century A.D. with some modifications. The sources of Sharia, according to Muslim belief, are Quran and Sunna. First being Holy Book of Islamic religion and second are traditions or precedents of Prophet of Islam. Besides, official Islamic dogma declares that Islamic jurisprudence functions according to four sources of law, Quran, Sunna, ijma and qiyas. Ijma, otherwise called consensus is being interpreted differently by four schools of Islamic law and same goes with qiyas, which is otherwise called analogy. Four schools of Islamic law that has emerged at different periods of time during first century of Islam, mainly diverge upon interpretation of major or secondary sources of Islamic law. Islamic law does not recognize freedom of contract and prohibits such elements of trade and economy as charging interest, fortuity and gambling. In order to comply with these principles, Islamic lawyers has developed certain methods and forms which would allow Muslim to operate in one or another way in business world. One of the remarkable features of new Islamic jurisprudence is creation of Islamic banking, which replaces interest with profit-and-loss sharing concept, Islamic insurance that operates in almost similar fashion and other new concepts as Islamic bonds, otherwise called sukkuk. As far as intellectual property concerned, Islamic law protects inviolability of property as well as its manifestations in different forms. The same applies to any form of intellectual property, be it trademark or invention. Arbitration in Islamic law is unique, since arbitration has been inherent to Arab culture and was called hakama. Hakams were arbitrators in ancient Arabia and judged according to Arab customs and traditions. Therefore, there is nothing new in arbitration which is not familiar to Islamic lawyers. In last century, the position of Islamic law in disputes that were decided in arbitration courts was widely ignored. It is evident from several cases. In Petroleum Development (Trucial Coasts) Ltd. V. Shaikh of Abu Dhabi, Lord Asquith, the arbitrator ironically observed: â€Å"†¦it would be fanciful to suggest that in this very primitive region there is any settled body of legal principles applicable to the construction of modern commercial instruments†. Another remark, done by arbitrator in Ruler of Qatar v. International Marine Oil Company Ltd., was bitterer and arrogant: â€Å"†¦I am satisfied that the [Islamic] law does not contain any principles which would be sufficient to interpret this particular contract†. Such excesses and bitter remarks were summed up and characterized in the following terms: â€Å"In general, the legal community throughout the Arab world is still manifesting its hostility to transnational arbitration mainly as a result of the great publicity devoted to the criticism of certain unfortunate arbitral awards rendered as of 1951 by western arbitrators who excluded, with terms of a humiliating nature, the application of the national applicable legal systems of countries like Abu Dhabi or Qatar†. It should be also noted that Jordanian legislation does not fully implement precepts of Islamic law such as prohibition of interest or insurance. There are banks and insurance companies in Jordan which operate according to Western principles of banking and insurance. The companies and banks in Jordan are free to operate in the mode they choose to be most efficient for them. There is no hindrance on the part of Jordanian government in this sense. Defining Islamic Law There is no single or unified definition of Islamic law. Various scholars offer various definitions. I shall not go into each definition offered but shall arbitrarily explicate some of them. One of the famous scholars of Islamic law, Joseph Schacht offered an interesting definition for Islamic law: â€Å"Islamic law is the epitome of the Islamic spirit, the most typical manifestation of the Islamic way of life, the kernel of Islam itself†. Goitein, it seems, offered more precise and comprehensive definition: â€Å"Islamic religion is characterised by the prominence of legal conceptions in its systems: The Sharia, or holy law, is its very essence and Fiqh, or religious jurisprudence, is its science (‘ilm) par excellence. The minute observation of many commandments is its most conspicuous practical aspect; the free fellowship of religious scholars, who do not need authorisation by any government to interpret, develop and apply its law, is its most representative body, and even purely legal sections of the Fiqh are studied as an act of worship†. These two definitions are not exhaustive but reflect true essence of Islamic law. Schachts ‘way of life and Goiteins ‘religious jurisprudence constitute what is called Shariah in Arabic. Moreover, Islamic law cannot be compared with common or continental legal systems. It is because latter do deal and embrace all areas of law, whereas Islamic law mostly deal with private law, leaving aside public law. Therefore, the claim of some countries that since their legislation is based on Shariah, their law is being regulated by divine law is not correct. The Shariah only applies to matters of private law in these countries and the public law has been imported from Western models. The majority of scholars have long been recognizing Quran as a major source of Islamic law, sometimes without examining what it stands for. It was Schacht who first suggested that Shafii, prominent Islamic jurist, paid merely lip-service to Quran as a source of law in his jurisprudential theory. Certainly, major principles of Islamic law has been deducted from Quran but it is only a major and in a number of cases, we discover that Muslim jurists are dependant or totally reliant on other sources rather than Quran without hesitation. The holy book of Islam or Muslims all over the world, Quran is believed by Muslims to have been revealed via Archangel Gabriel to Muhammad, who is regarded by Muslims as both Prophet and Messenger of God. Quran is law but law in a spiritual sense. If you ask a Muslim: What is your law (Sharia)? He or she would respond: â€Å"Quran† without realizing whether it is spiritual or actual law. For the purposes of present study, Quran is a source of law but to a limited extent since a major proportion of rules and judgments is being extracted from other sources of law and via different methods of legal reasoning. It is not however realized by ordinary Muslim as such, and even by Muslim jurist, who would suggest that sources for such rulings is Sharia and all rules, embodied in Sharia are immutable and should not be a subject of any challenge by anyone. Before turning to critical points, it is crucial to explore basics of Quran. Quran is the holy book of Islamic religion. It is said to have been revealed during 23 years, once Prophet Muhammed started his mission among Arab people. The Quran derives from the word ‘qara which denotes in Arabic, reciting or reading. It is also asserted that with a same meaning it is cited in Old Testament in Hebrew language. There are other names which are designed for Quran, such as ‘Quran al-Majid or ‘al-Quran ash-Sharif or ‘Furqan, etc. For the purpose of present study, it shall be called Quran, which is rather easy to refer and this way we shall avoid confusion. The divine legislation is said to have been established through revelation of Quran in stages as I have mentioned earlier. The modern scholars as well as classic jurists were still unsure about precise role of Quran as a source of legislation. It is not clear whether the role of Quran corresponds to the hierarchy where it has been hoisted to the primary position. In fact, Quran has never been a primary source as we understand a primacy in modern jurisprudence. Muslim jurists would often rule according to verse of Quran but not a principle or spirit that it implies. They would pay a lip-service to Quran as a source of all legislation, but in fact they would disregard those rules of Quran that should have been regarded in specific occasion. The precise role of Quran is difficult to define; it is because the primacy of Quran has been overshadowed by other sources and methods of law. Quran has always been mentioned along with Sunna, second sources of Islamic law which we shall have occasion to discuss in the next paragraph. In order to demonstrate the position of Quran as a source of law, let us look at some examples of utilization of Quran in classic Islamic jurisprudence. The Prophetic Traditions or hadith as called in Arabic form a second source of law in hierarchy of sources of Islamic law and jurisprudence. It does not only occupy this position indeed but sometimes shares dominancy with Quran. The difference that emerged between Muslim jurists and later led to establishment of schools of law was caused by diverging interpretation of Prophetic Tradition. From liberal approach of Hanafis to strict compliance of Zahiris, they all dispute on nature of Prophetic Traditions as a source of law. Sometimes their conflict went as far as one realise that it is rather absurdity than logical argument. The word ‘ijma, which is basically translated as ‘collecting or ‘assembling, in a legal sense has caused a lot of debates over its validity. It is sometimes viewed as a consensus of either jurists or Muslims in general. Some assert that it is consensus of early Muslims Companions over common postulates of faith and religion. The consensus might be reached if it is unanimously adopted in practice or ‘custom as in the case of international law. Second, consensus might be uttered in respect of certain ruling by majority of either scholars or jurists. Finally, it can be ‘e silentio support for certain opinion by majority of jurists that have the right to adjudicate their independent opinion. It is not clear from Islamic jurisprudential theory when ijma should be employed and what certain conditions are. Some jurists, Hanafi, for instance, usually in their judgments, say ‘there has been consensus on this issue or ‘question but they never clarified how and why such consensus has been reached among them. We also do not know whether we may employ ijma concept in modern context and whether it shall be binding on all Muslims or adopted by them as a constituent part of Islamic law. In Sunni jurisprudence, we know that by way of ijma, certain jurists united into groups affiliated with dominating opinion of single jurist, which later became known as ‘schools of law or ‘madhahib. It has also been asserted that ijma on common legal issues has been reached in eighth century by respective founders of ‘madhahib; there is no way to re-visit these concepts or judgments. When speaking of analogy principle in Islamic law, it is not clear whether it is absolute or not or whether it is logically applicable to all cases. The word ‘qiyas itself means ‘to compare and it is regarded as one of the major sources of Islamic law. Islamic jurists themselves stipulate four predominant conditions of analogy: The precept or practice upon which it is founded must be of common (amm) and not of special (khass) application; The cause (‘illa) of the injunction must be known and understood; The decision must be based upon either the Quran, the Sunna, or the Ijma; The decision arrived at must not be contrary to anything declared elsewhere in the Quran and Sunna. The fourth stipulation raises some concerns. As we have discussed earlier, there are a lot of contradictions between Quran and Sunna, and even within Quran and within Sunna. The jurists attempted to decide such contradictions by asserting that there cannot be hypothetically any conflicts between these sources and even within these sources; they exist and it is reality. This factor also serves as a great hindrance in deriving rules or judgments from primary sources of Islamic law. Even though these rules has been developed and elaborated by jurists; there are still a lot of controversies with application of this principle. It is caused by a different degree of application in schools of law and conflict between jurists whether such analogy might be applied when the necessity in such application is clear. Thus, for instance, it is not clear why principle of justice embodied in Quran might not be equally applied to all subjects of Islamic state, be it Muslim or non-Muslim. Normally, Islamic jurist would object saying that since Quran is only for Muslims, its injunctions are only applicable to Muslims. There is no logic which might be applied but incoherence in reasoning, sometimes leading to absurd conclusions. Concluding Remarks In present chapter, we have discussed general legal conceptions that exist in Jordanian and Islamic law. There is a big difference between them because of the nature of legislation. Islamic law is mainly religious, whereas Jordanian is secular; even though Constitution claims that Islamic is a state religion. In majority of Islamic countries, a fact that Islamic is a religion of state is merely lip-service to Islamic as a religion of people. It does not go further than that, except some countries as Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. But even legislation of these countries demonstrates how secular they are in their nature. It does not however mean that Jordan lack of Islamic legal taste; there are some aspects of Islamic law in Jordanian legislation, as we have seen previously. The matters of marriage, divorce, inheritance and religious endowment are mainly under realms of Islamic law. Yet, on the other hands, similar matters that arise with other religious communities are decided based on their respective religious law. However, the matters which are related to arbitration and intellectual property are mainly based on secular, precisely on European model based laws. Therefore, purpose of forthcoming chapters will be to examine whether they comply with Islamic law in general. Arbitration System In Jordan And Compliance With Islamic Law And Its Implications For Intellectual Property Law This chapter summarizes the current state of arbitration system in Jordan and issue of its compliance with Islamic law. It is done with purpose to acquaint readers with main aspects of these systems and legislation, so he or she has full understanding when looking through forthcoming chapters. Arbitration In Jordan The arbitration process in Jordan is being regulated by special law Law No. 31 of 2001 otherwise called Jordan Arbitration Law. It is not unique; neither has it been adopted from international law, but from Egyptian Arbitration Act No. 27 of 1994, which in turn has been adopted from UNCITRAL Model Law 1985. The law consists of 7 parts and 56 articles. It can be structured thus: (1) General provisions (Articles 1-8); (2) Arbitration agreement (Articles 9-13); (3) Arbitration tribunal (Articles 14-23); (4) Arbitration proceedings (Articles 24-35); (5) Arbitral award and termination proceedings (Articles 36-47); (6) Nullity of arbitral award (Articles 48-51); (7) Enforcement of awards (Articles 52-56). The Art. 3 makes the scope of law absolute; it extends to any arbitration proceedings in Jordan and to any cases whether they derive from contractual dispute or not. Neither does it differentiate between commercial or civil disputes; both of them are within scope of this law. The Art. 5 allows not only contracting parties to choose the arbitration procedure but also a third party which shall be able to choose such procedure. The Art. 8 explicitly prohibits the intervention by state courts; yet, it stipulates that the arbitration tribunal may ask the intervention of state courts where former needs the participation of experts, witnesses, etc. As far as arbitration agreement is concerned, Art. 9 allows only those persons, be it physical or legal, which has legal capacity, to conclude such agreement. It does not allow arbitration on matters which are on â€Å"amiable compositeaur† basis. The arbitration agreement is valid only if in writing, according to Art. 10a, yet, the form of written agreement is flexible. It can be contained in exchange of letters, faxes, etc. It has been also reaffirmed by Jordanian Court of Cassation which stated: â€Å"the arbitration clause as established should be written, clear and explicit as well, by virtue of Article 10/A of the Arbitration Law No. 31of 2001†. The law also allows parties to render their dispute to arbitration whilst in state court, in which case state court has the right to refer to arbitration tribunal and its reference shall be viewed as arbitration agreement in writing. As far as arbitration tribunal concerned, Art. 14a and b, establishes that number of arbitrators shall be odd, otherwise it is void. If there is a disagreement between parties then number of arbitrators is three. Noteworthy, the law reaffirms the independence of arbitration clause, which is according to Art. 22, is not dependent on other clause of underlying contract. The language of arbitration proceedings is Arabic but law allows the use of another language or other languages upon consent of parties, according to Art. 28a. Most importantly, Art. 17 upheld the principle of impartiality and independence of arbitrators and in elaboration of this provision Court of Cassation further held: â€Å"all arbitral procedures, in which the challenged arbitrator has participated, including the arbitral award, shall be deemed void†. These are the major aspects of arbitration law in Jordan. Besides, Jordan has also ratified the New York Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards by the virtue of Jordanian Court of Cassation, where it was remarked: â€Å"It is understood from the Article (2) of Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Law No. 8 of 1952 that the foreign arbitral award which has been enforced and ratified by the forum court , shall be enforceable in Jordan in accordance with all the clauses and requirements, and does not conflict with any of the stipulated provisions of Article (7) of the said law†. The ratification of New York Convention by Jordan should be viewed as positive development and attractive for the foreign companies who wish to deal with Jordanian companies or invest in Jordan. The same applies to IP disputes; any company which would challenge Jordanian company with the claim of breach of copyright or violation of other forms of intellectual property, are in convenience in the view of ratification of New York Convention. However, in his study of issues pertaining enforcement, Haddad critically commented: â€Å"Turning again to Jordanian Law which provides, as has just been seen, that a foreign award must be enforceable in the place in which it was issued, which means that the award should have been reduced to a judgment in the foreign country†. It implies that Jordanian legislation does not recognise validity of foreign judgement as enforceable in Jordan. But he noted that â€Å"this approach may be criticized since it may be difficult in practice or even impossible to achieve this goal in certain circumstances, particularly in institutional arbitration. In this type of arbitration, it may happen that the parties involved in the proceedings including the arbitrators, and all other relevant factors have no relation whatsoever with the place of arbitration except that the proceedings were conducted there. In such a case, the foreign court may reasonably reject to enforce the award rendered in its country, and that means that the award may not be enforced in Jordan either†. In such dubious situation, it is unclear how Jordanian legislation on arbitration would cope with this kind of problem. It seems to be paradoxical situation because award cannot be enforced either domestically or locally. It will also have some implication for enforcement of foreign arbitral awards on intellectual property rights since majority of arbitral awards may not be enforced in foreign country since its enforcement should be accomplished in Jordan because of object of dispute. In such case, it is difficult to predict how arbitration courts and moreover state courts would deal with it. Enforcement Of Foreign Arbitration Awards In Jordan One of the problems that foreign company may encounter in Jordan is the problem of enforcement of award related to IP cases in Jordan. It is clear that certain IP cases may intervene with public policy and in this regard it is nearly impossible to assert such possibility may not arise. IP legislation in Jordan being in immature position sometimes may not offer effective solutions for parties which are from different countries. In this regard, one should closely take a look at public policy issues in Jordan. According to IP legislation, certain names cannot be registered as trademarks in Jordan. However: what if the name of foreign company or brand coincides with the name trademark registration of which is illegal in Jordan? The company in this case would face difficulties in carrying out business and moreover it would face difficulties in enforcing award that has been rendered in foreign or international arbitration court. The case of Mitsubishi in U.S. showed how difficult it is to determine whether one case is subject to public policy or not. It has changed the contours of arbitrability in U.S. but the question arises: can such case have implication for Jordanian arbitration system? One can answer positively, but one would be confused when it comes to IP arbitration. IP arbitration, as it has been seen, is a difficult and complex matter. It cannot be simply adjusted as in the case of ordinary commercial arbitration. The IP legislation is diverse and this diversity may imply negative consequences for arbitration, since arbitrators should be expertise in all areas