Scrutiny of arms export controls (2011)

Scrutiny of arms export controls (2011) PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business, Innovation and Skills Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215558992
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 142

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Book Description
This is the first joint report on arms export controls since the present Government took office in May 2010. As in previous years, the report reviews the Government's policy on arms exports, its administration and enforcement, and the adequacy or otherwise of current legislation. This year the Committees have paid particular attention to the Government's policy of intensifying the promotion of arms exports. The policy has come under scrutiny following the uprisings and demonstrations in recent weeks in North Africa and the wider Middle East and the armed response made to them. Since January 2011 the Government has been vigorously backpedalling on a number of arms export licence approvals to authoritarian regimes across the region. The MPs conclude that both the present Government and its predecessor misjudged the risk that arms approved for export to certain authoritarian countries in North Africa and the Middle East might be used for internal repression. The Committees welcome the revocation of a number of arms export licences to Bahrain, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, and recommend that the Government extends immediately its review of UK arms export licences for countries in North Africa and the wider Middle East to authoritarian regimes worldwide. The Government should also set out how it intends to reconcile the potential conflict of interest between increased emphasis on promoting arms exports with the staunch upholding of human rights.

Scrutiny of arms export controls (2011)

Scrutiny of arms export controls (2011) PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business, Innovation and Skills Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215558992
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 142

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Book Description
This is the first joint report on arms export controls since the present Government took office in May 2010. As in previous years, the report reviews the Government's policy on arms exports, its administration and enforcement, and the adequacy or otherwise of current legislation. This year the Committees have paid particular attention to the Government's policy of intensifying the promotion of arms exports. The policy has come under scrutiny following the uprisings and demonstrations in recent weeks in North Africa and the wider Middle East and the armed response made to them. Since January 2011 the Government has been vigorously backpedalling on a number of arms export licence approvals to authoritarian regimes across the region. The MPs conclude that both the present Government and its predecessor misjudged the risk that arms approved for export to certain authoritarian countries in North Africa and the Middle East might be used for internal repression. The Committees welcome the revocation of a number of arms export licences to Bahrain, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, and recommend that the Government extends immediately its review of UK arms export licences for countries in North Africa and the wider Middle East to authoritarian regimes worldwide. The Government should also set out how it intends to reconcile the potential conflict of interest between increased emphasis on promoting arms exports with the staunch upholding of human rights.

Scrutiny of arms export controls (2012)

Scrutiny of arms export controls (2012) PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business, Innovation and Skills Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215046772
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
The Committees on Arms Export Controls (CAEC) believe that the Government should apply significantly more cautious judgements on the export of arms to authoritarian regimes which might be used for internal repression. The Committees have scrutinised in unprecedented detail the Government's latest (2010) Annual Report on Strategic Export Controls (HC 1402, session 2011-12, ISBN 9780102973662), the Government's quarterly information on individual export licence approvals and refusals, and the Government's policies and performance on arms export controls and on arms control generally. The Committees conclude that the Government's review of its policies and practices on arms exports following the Arab Spring should not have been carried out merely as "an internal review" and should instead have been the subject of public consultation in accordance with the Government's stated policy of transparency on arms exports. And whilst the Government's introduction of a new licence suspension mechanism is welcome, this is not sufficient to ensure that arms exported are not used for internal repression overseas because in many cases the arms will have left the UK before suspension occurs. The Government should extend its arms export policy review from countries in the Middle East and North Africa to authoritarian regimes and countries of human rights concern worldwide. Annex 7 of the report gives selected arms export licence approvals by the Government to countries of human rights concern, and the report also contains details of the extant UK Government approved arms export licences to Argentina, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen.

Scrutiny of arms export controls (2010)

Scrutiny of arms export controls (2010) PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business, Innovation and Skills Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215545497
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
The joint committee is known as the Committees on Arms Export Controls, formerly the Quadripartite Committee. The UK strategic export controls annual report 2008 was published as Cm. 7662 (ISBN 9780101766227)

Strategic Export Controls Annual Report 2000

Strategic Export Controls Annual Report 2000 PDF Author: Great Britain. Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 347

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Book Description


House of Commons - Business, Innovation and Skills Committee: Open Access - HC 99-I

House of Commons - Business, Innovation and Skills Committee: Open Access - HC 99-I PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business, Innovation and Skills Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215061829
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
The Government's commitment to increasing access to published research findings and its desire to achieve full open access are welcomed in this report from the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee. However, whilst Gold open access - where authors publish their articles in an open access journal that provides free immediate open access to all of its articles on the publisher's website - is a desirable ultimate goal, focusing on it during the transition to a fully open access world is a mistake. The Government and Research Council UK should reconsider their preference for Gold open access during the five year transition period, and give due regard to the evidence of the vital role that Green open access and repositories have to play as the UK moves towards full open access. (Authors opting for Green open access publish in any subscription journal, and then make their peer-reviewed final draft freely accessible online by self-archiving or depositing the article in a repository (either institutional or disciplinary) upon acceptance for publication.) Other recommendations include: promotion of standardisation and compliance across subject and institutional repositories; mitigation against the impact on universities of paying Article Processing Charges out of their own reserves; introduce a reduced VAT rate for e-journals; non-disclosure clauses should not be used in publishing contracts that include the use of public funds; BIS must review its consultation processes to ensure that lessons are learned from the lack of involvement of businesses, particularly SMEs, in the formation of open access policy

House of Commons - Business, Innovation and Skills Committee: Draft Consumer Rights Bill - HC 697-I

House of Commons - Business, Innovation and Skills Committee: Draft Consumer Rights Bill - HC 697-I PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business, Innovation and Skills Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215065933
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 102

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Book Description
The Government's draft Consumer Rights Bill has the potential to consolidate, simplify and modernise consumer law however issues and inconsistencies must be resolved. The current proposals would apply a statutory right that services under a contract must be provided with reasonable care and skill [a fault-based standard]. This does not provide sufficient consumer protection. The Draft Bill should require that services must achieve the stated result, or one which could be reasonably expected [an outcomes-based standard]. As the Bank of Ireland case demonstrated, the right to terminate a contract does not necessarily protect consumers from detriment. This report recommends an addition to the grey list - the indicative list of contract terms which may be regarded as unfair. The Government's proposals for enhanced consumer measures, which would require traders that have breached consumer law to compensate consumers, are welcome. However, private enforcers should also be able to use them. The collective proceedings regime has the potential to improve access to redress for victims of competition law breaches but the Government must clarify the certification requirements for such proceedings. The creation of rights and remedies for digital content is welcome, but the Government must do more to communicate how the proposals will work in practice. Under the draft Bill, the remedies available to consumers of digital content would depend on whether the content is intangible (such as a music download) or tangible (such as a CD). In appropriate circumstances, consumers should have the right to reject and obtain a refund irrespective of whether they purchase intangible or tangible digital content

Ethical Engineering for International Development and Environmental Sustainability

Ethical Engineering for International Development and Environmental Sustainability PDF Author: Marion Hersh
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1447166183
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Book Description
Ensuring that their work has a positive influence on society is a responsibility and a privilege for engineers, but also a considerable challenge. This book addresses the ways in which engineers meet this challenge, working from the assumption that for a project to be truly ethical both the undertaking itself and its implementation must be ethically sound. The contributors discuss varied topics from an international and interdisciplinary perspective, including l robot ethics; l outer space; l international development; l internet privacy and security; l green branding; l arms conversion; l green employment; and l deliberate misinformation about climate change Important questions are answered, such as l what is meant by engineering ethics and its practical implications; l how decisions made by engineers in their working lives make an impact at the global as well as the local level; and l what ethics-related questions should be asked before making such decisions. Ethical Engineering for International Development and Environmental Sustainability will be a valuable resource for practising and student engineers as well as all who are interested in professional ethics, especially as it relates to engineering. Researchers and policy makers concerned with the effects of engineering decisions on environmental sustainability and international stability will find this book to be of special interest.

Taking Aim at the Arms Trade

Taking Aim at the Arms Trade PDF Author: Doctor Anna Stavrianakis
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
ISBN: 1848139004
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
Taking Aim at The Arms Trade: NGOs, Global Civil Society and the World Military Order takes a critical look at the ways in which NGOs portray the arms trade as a problem of international politics and the strategies they use to effect change. NGOs have been pivotal in bringing the suffering caused by the arms trade to public attention, documenting its negative impact on human rights, conflict, security and development around the world, and pushing for measures to control or eradicate the trade. Overall, however, their activity has helped sideline debate on Northern military predominance while facilitating intervention in the South based on liberal understandings of the arms trade, conflict, development and human rights. They thus contribute to the perpetuation of a hierarchical world military order and the construction of the South as a site of Northern benevolence and intervention. Stavrianakis exposes the tensions inherent in NGOs' engagement with the arms trade and argues for a re-examination of dominant assumptions about NGOs as global civil society actors.

Exporting out of recession

Exporting out of recession PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business, Innovation and Skills Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215543615
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 74

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Book Description
This report examines what should be done by Government to sustain and increase Britain's export strengths. It is essential that the Government does all it can to help to create an environment that is supportive of businesses' engagement in international trade. The report calls on all Government departments to involve themselves in the exporting effort and not simply to leave it to UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), the Government export promotion agency. The Committee found that UKTI is, overall, a successful agency but that it has been subject to too much interference from other parts of government. Its priorities have been changed too often, leading to a lack of clarity. Treasury imposed revenue targets have also forced UKTI to offer businesses services it is able to charge for, rather than providing the services which will most benefit individual companies and the country. The Committee was also concerned to hear worrying reports about unnecessary competition and wasteful duplication of services by the Regional Development Authorities (RDAs), whose activities often seen to conflict or overlap with work being done by UKTI. If RDAs are to become more of a benefit than a burden to national trade promotion efforts this must stop, the report says.

OECD Development Assistance Peer Reviews: United Kingdom 2010

OECD Development Assistance Peer Reviews: United Kingdom 2010 PDF Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9264098321
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 134

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Book Description
The OECD Development Assistance Committee's 2010 peer review of the UK's development assitance programmes and policies.