Law

Corporate governance refers to the general organizational approach adopted by companies, state corporations and businesses in their operations. All the features incorporated in corporate governance are intended to ensure orderliness, timeliness, accuracy and completeness of all fundamental management information within the reach of company directors. For proper governance, compliance to set standards and requirements acts as a springboard in ensuring this. At company level, compliance may be facilitated through adoption of best practices andor management structures that clearly define the needed requirements.

Some aspects of corporate laws in Ireland require regulatory compliance whereby state corporations and huge private agencies aspire to adhere to in their attempt to make certain that the workers are made aware of all the required rules and regulations. Through regulatory compliance, the executives of the companies in question take all the initiatives to ensure their personnel take preventative compliance steps for the success of the companies. Corporate governance is therefore meant to ensure total compliance and understanding of applicable laws, regulations and rules in regard to Irelands labour force, fraud cases, security and general privacy requirements of corporate governance.

The primary objective of this essay is to discuss in full detail, the various aspects of corporate governance as applied to Ireland. Some of the elements discussed include the importance of corporate governance, specific governance obligations, and a general discussion on the main sources of corporate governance in Ireland. Towards the end of the essay, a comparative with the corporate governance regime of the United States will be discussed briefly. Recommendations and suggestions for future reforms in Irelands corporate governance structures will also be highlighted.

The importance of corporate governance
All over the world, corporate governance is regarded as an essential issue for businesses and companies so as to avoid scandals and other problems facing the private and state corporations. Corporate governance and associated solutions are in most cases imposed in such organizations that have the inability to effectively enforce compliance. The basis for corporate governance in Ireland is to regulate the individual authority of corporations and in effect facilitate a collective influence on the companys destiny through the formulation of optimal systems that may be applied in their overall management.

In Ireland, the main centre of attention drawn when instituting corporate governance is on company executives who dodge their responsibilities by failing to account for their firms fiscal reports by giving misleading or insufficient information on their financial status (Phelan, 2005).

The introductions of the Companies Act on Auditing  Accounting in 2003 was anticipated to impact positively on Irelands corporate governance and thus attract international companies and foreign investors to establish businesses in the country.

The other importance of corporate governance in Ireland and other countries is that it provides for alternative dispute resolution measures. These strategies as provided for by the existing corporate laws may act as a substitute to the court processes. Since the court processes may usually take long to reach a conclusion concerning a particular non-compliance case, the alternative dispute resolution methods play substantial roles e.g. mediation whereby the particular interests of the parties in the dispute are cross-examined and an optimal solution agreeable to both parties is reached. This channel is usually shorter and more effective than the traditional Irish court processes (Bebchuk  Cohen, 2008).

In addition, the fundamental aim of corporate governance measures in any organisation is to define the importance of in house control and probably suggest possible mitigation measures that may be adopted when dealing with companycorporate risks through the implementation of all the requirements provided by Irelands Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA). These provisions make it possible for large private companies and state corporations to carry out proper risk assessment ( HYPERLINK httpwww.risk-compliance-association.com httpwww.risk-compliance-association.com).

The state of corporate governance in Ireland
Presently, the guiding principles on Irelands corporate governance systems are a combination of both the mandatory and the non-mandatory rules and regulations. The fixed rules in this domain are made up of legislation, i.e. the 1963-2003 Companies Acts, the common law which describes the fiduciary roles and duties of company directors and executives, the corporations articles of association and finally the Listing Rules as published by the Irish Stock Exchange (Phelan, 2005).

An example of non-mandatory, usually a discretionary rule in corporate governance includes the Combined Code on Corporate Governance. In as much as this code is optional under the auspices of the Listings Rule, corporations and companies on the Irish stock exchange have to adhere to it (Phelan, 2005).
The Combined Code on Corporate Governance incorporates the ideas and recommendations put across by the Hampel, Cadbury and Greenbury Committees in the United Kingdom (Phelan, 2005). This code comprises of the code of best practice and some principle standards of good governance. For any company listed in the Irish stock exchange, any failure on the part of the company to comply with the requirements of the code has to be clearly stated in the firms annual report (Fry, 2009).

Legislation
To concentrate on Irelands corporate government matters, several enactments have been put in place since the year 2001. These acts include the Company Law Enforcement Act, 2001, the Criminal Law Act, 2003, and the Companies Act, 2003.

The Company Law Enforcement Act 2001
In Ireland, this enactment imposed an affirmative responsibility on company executives to ensure compliance and total conformity with the existing Companies Acts. This act led to the formation of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement mandated the responsibility of encouraging and promoting conformity with corporate laws. This office also carries out investigations and inquiries on any allegations of infringement on the company laws (Phelan, 2005).

A total of thirty three convictions were made in 2003 by the Irish Courts based on applications initiated by the Directorate of Corporate Compliance. As a result, almost two hundred company executives got written warning letters after thorough scrutiny of the liquidators reports which gave a clear indication of failures in complying with corporate governance laws in their daily operations (Phelan, 2005). The written warnings clearly recommended the nature of disciplinary actions and the magnitude of penalties to be dispensed for future infringements on corporate compliance laws.

Criminal Law Act 2001 (Fraud  Theft Offences)
This enactment is updated version Irelands criminal laws on false accounting and corporate fraud. The act further requires auditors and auditing firms to make a clear report indicating the nature of offences committed by a given company.

The Companies Act 2003 (Accounting and Auditing)
The Companies Act 2003 was enacted in 2003. The main reason behind its enactment was to improve Irelands existing systems of corporate governance as applied to the Irish companies. The enactment puts in place two main provisions namely the Audit Committees and the Compliance Statements (Phelan, 2005).

The Audit Committee
The enactment makes it a requirement that all Irish plcs (public limited companies) need to establish an internal audit committee. For the case of private companies with a turnover of over and above fifty million, or with a profits and loss account total exceeding five million, it is a requirement by law that such organizations set up an audit committee. In case the firm does not have such a committee in place, then a thorough explanation ought to be given in the directors annual report and also state clearly who will perform such tasks.

The Compliance Statement
It is the responsibility of the Board of Directors of any Irish medium-sized company to formulate a Compliance Statement containing all the necessary information about the company policies on compliance and the associated legal requirements the tax laws, the Companies Act any other laws that may directly or indirectly affect the companys daily operations in regard to their legal systems andor financial statements.
The compliance statement should also incorporate any information deemed necessary in achieving compliance. Internal procedures, strategies and precautionary measures for evaluating the feasibility of such strategies in warranting compliance may also be included in the compliance statement. For corporations with financial statements extending beyond 7.6 million and with a turnover greater than 15 million, the internal auditor, after reviewing the statement is required to give his professional opinion of the feasibility of the compliance statement and suggest amendments where necessary (Phelan, 2005).

Supervisory Authority  IAASA
This act puts in place a regulatory body to supervise and monitor the financial statements of large private and all public limited corporations to ensure total conformity to company laws. The Irelands Accounts  Auditing Supervisory Authority- IAASA is mandated the responsibility of notifying the companies in question for any allegations of non-compliance. If IAASA is not satisfied by steps taken by a given company to correct the earlier notifications issued, then the Irish laws on corporate governance allow the supervisory authority to seek court orders which may give it the power to correct the status (Fasterling, 2005 328).

In addition, IAASA advises the Irish Minister for Finance on various aspects of auditing and accounting. It also has the responsibility of granting recognition and accrediting accountancy bodies by clearly defining the code of ethics for the members of such accountancy bodies.

New Requirements for Corporate Governance  Company Reporting
In November 2009, Ireland signed into law the 2006 European Union decree on company reporting (Fry, 2009). Some of the changes brought about by the implementation of this directive include Fair Value which allows for proper accounting for a broader category of fiscal tools for all corporations. The other change brought about fresh disclosure requests for all companies in regard to party transactions and off-balance sheet structures (Fry, 2009). Practically, this requirement has minimal effects on established trading plc since they already are subjective to similar conditions guided by the Combined Code and the Listings Rule. This rule may only apply to fund companies with their shares admitted to Ireland Stock Exchange trading (Fry, 2009).

The Irelands Stock Exchange, after reviewing the corporate governance requirements in reference to fund companies, gave the board of directors of listed companies an option to choose between implementing ISE listing regulations or adopting the corporate governance code (MHC Times, 28022005).

A comparative analogy with the corporate governance regime of the US
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is regarded as the most important regulation in the US, in matters related to corporate governance and compliance. This act defines considerable and usually tighter personal accountability of company management executives for preciseness and accuracy of reported profits and loss accounts of the corporation in question, for a given fiscal year. Just like the role played by IAASA in Ireland, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act recommends that company executives found manipulating or interfering with the financial statements of a given company for selfish interests would be criminally answerable for their actions. The act also gives provision for an internal counsel within the corporation to forward any suspicious activities to relevant authorities.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was enacted in the US in the year 2002 with an aim of providing better disclosure by corporations and developing corporate governance structures. The act also influences the activities of Irish based US firms listed by the Irish Stock Exchange. It may be argued that the introduction of this act, which diverts firms from rules-based to principles-based accounting, ends up bringing the United States in tandem with Europe (Phelan, 2005). Under this act, the company executives in the United States who are non-compliant to corporate governance laws are liable to criminal penalties such as twenty years imprisonment andor a hefty fine in the tune of five million US dollars (Phelan, 2005).

Recommendations
The current corporate governance and company law structures in Ireland need to undergo modernization so as to match the levels and standards set by the European Union. All countries within the European Union should therefore adopt a similar approach in matters to do with corporate governance. This strategy may be used to ensure high standards of corporate governance and defined disciplinary measures and penalties to non-compliance. A common approach ensures that there are no conflicting cases of misunderstanding should a foreign investor infringe on the corporate compliance requirements of Ireland.

For efficiency in corporate governance all the relevant corporate compliance data as guided by Irelands Accounting and Auditing Supervisory Authority - IAASA should be made available to individual organizations at all times. Such information about the business in regard to corporate compliance is very critical in the validation of the companys overall governance strategies through the adoption of an accurate, comprehensive and consistent approach.

Other areas to be looked into by Ireland and the relevant stakeholders in corporate governance include reinforcing shareholder rights, strengthening directors responsibility and accountability, the need for optimal disclosure, and also the need to synchronize regulations on corporate compliance throughout Ireland and the European Union.

Conclusion
The fundamental values of an ideal corporate governance setting include accountability, transparency, responsibility, and fairness, with the basis being disclosure. In Ireland, an ideal corporate governance setting plays a critical role in enhancing creation of Irish companies and attracting foreign investors to establish their subsidiaries in the country. Since the legislation frameworks in Ireland ensure high standards of accountabilityauditing and organizational management, most foreign investors find Ireland an ideal place for setting up subsidiary companies or branch networks.

In many jurisdictions, the police are bestowed with the responsibility of detecting crime as part of the general responsibility of maintaining law and order. The whole procedure of crime detection aims at bringing on table concrete evidence that is pertinent in resolving a case in a court of law. Broadly, the crime detection procedure as carried out by the police involves such aspects as making arrests, performing searches and inspections as well as carrying out other necessary investigations. The validity of these procedures is of pivotal role in determining the courts decision as far as making the correct judgment is concerned. This work is an exploration on the role of the procedures carried out by the police in detecting crime. Of particular focus will be a lengthy discussion on the subject of police investigations in crime detection. Other crime detection procedures such as making searches and inspection as well as conducting arrests are also part of this work. Finally, the work explores on the effect that the procedures can have on the decisions and judgments made by courts. Discussions will be based on a variety of jurisdictions which act as examples of the role of police procedures in crime detection.

What is crime detection
Crime detection encompasses making discoveries of criminal evidence, identifying the same as well as analysing such evidence with the aim of enforcing the law. In most jurisdictions, it is the work of the police to carry out crime detection using various procedures and in the end present concrete evidence that surpasses any reasonable doubt that the suspected criminal is the real perpetrator of the crime at hand. A variety of methods are applied by the police in accomplishing this role and these depend on the nature of the particular crime in addition to the procedures that are acceptable under the jurisdiction. All in all, investigations have to be done in a careful, procedural and objective manner in order to come up with concrete evidence that will see justice administered in the course of law.

The role of the police in crime investigation is very central since the police often come in reactively or proactively. Reactively, police come in to help victims as a response to a call by the public. In such a case, the role of the public in investigating the case cannot be ignored since they can be wealthy in information if they were eye witnesses. Even though the reactive approach can be very effective in identifying crime, it is a bit inefficient as the police are hardly likely to come across the real crime taking place. In proactive crime investigation, the police have to do surveillance and apply special intelligence in order to unearth likely crime. No matter which approach is taken, it is important to appreciate that crime detection procedures have to be followed. There are a variety of crime detection methods that have been applied for many years while others are a bit modern. These range from the traditional surveillance techniques, interrogation, and use of records to the more modern scientific methods including analysis of DNA, firearms, toxicological tests among others.

Police procedures in crime detection
In general, police are involved mainly in making arrest of persons that are suspected to have committed a crime or intending to commit one and carrying out investigations to ascertain the same of which may involve performing searches and inspections. There is no single standard of detecting crime since differences in circumstances surrounding different crimes determine the approach to be taken. However, some obvious basis must be applied including investigation, arrest as well as searches where necessary. Aspects of police investigation into a crime are discussed broadly below.

Police investigations
After a crime has been committed or suspicion of a likely crime, the police usually launch investigations. Police investigation is more of an enquiry process that unearths the circumstances surrounding a crime. Investigations are supposed to dig deep into the truth of the allegation and present evidence of a committed or to be committed crime. As part of the investigations, the police may require to interview persons who are linked either directly or indirectly to the crime. Such persons include the victims, suspected perpetrators and the witnesses. In addition, collection of physical evidence and recording the same appropriately are also essential activities to be accomplished by the police. Police response once the crime has been reported to them though rapid depends on the nature of the crime. Nevertheless, the first thing usually forms entry to investigations. It is important to realize that thorough investigations make it possible for the police to discover the root of a crime which opens up a multitude of leads that may be necessary in making the case watertight. It is important to realize that the police have the right to do investigation which may involve approaching people as well as questioning them. In some instances, the police may be forced to detain an individual so that they can investigate them particularly if they reasonably suspect the involvement of the person in the crime at hand. The police must in this case be sure not to detain the person for longer than necessary otherwise they will be compromising in law administration.

Crime detection involves interrogation which is basically the act of getting additional information from any one who may be having well enough knowledge regarding the crime at hand. This is where the witnesses, victims and suspects of the crime are brought on board to provide any information. The police are supposed to conduct interrogations on the victim and the witnesses mainly asking them questions that would lead to identification of the crime perpetrator. It is important that the police look for eyewitnesses for these are able to furnish them with more factual information. Interrogation is specially done on a suspect more so when it is hard to obtain the needed information. This calls for the police to be persistent on the victim but obviously within legal limits.

As part of investigations, the victim can be questioned on a variety of issues which are very vital in gathering concrete information to warrant an arrest and to convict a criminal. It is therefore the responsibility of the police to ensure that the victim is treated with dignity and questioned as efficiently as possible to get the most of information as evidence in a crime. A police statement is very effective as it gives the victim a chance to explain the events surrounding the crime as guided by the questions asked. This interview with the victim should be conducted well to ensure that the victim gives as much information as possible for investigations to be comprehensive. The police statement is particularly helpful since it can help in providing details regarding the perpetrator of the crime, the witnesses thereof as well as the general description of the crime scene. The importance of the victim in crime detection calls for the police to act courteously, fairly and respectfully to the victim without any form of discrimination for there to be fruitful evidence. The Commonwealth Secretariat has for instance set guidelines for this whereby the police as law enforcement agents are required to fully identify themselves before the victim in addition to letting the victim make any changes in their statement as heshe may deem necessary.

It has been established that crude extraction of information from victims, witnesses or suspects is not lawful and appeasing to many as was being done in olden days before the 1829 Metropolitan Police Act in Great Britain. Currently, most jurisdictions have laws governing investigations into crime making the retrieval of information from physical evidence or people very productive. In investigating crime, the police can do surveillance more so in cases of suspected upcoming criminal activity. The police are kept alert and they keep observing the location likely to be affected by the crime. In surveillance process, the police must ensure the legality of the process by using techniques that will provide concrete evidence on the crime. Such techniques would include use of binoculars or electronic devices that will ensure most accurate surveillance that is able to table concrete evidence before a court of law. To make the evidence acceptable before the court, the police should make sure that they have a court order otherwise it would be termed as invasion of privacy.

Persons who are under police investigation are supposed to be cooperative with the police as much as possible to make the whole process easy. It is the role of the police to let these persons realise that once they have recorded a statement, they are also required to sign the same for it to be valid, failure to which may call for their own arrest as this amounts to a crime. It is also the responsibility of the police to ensure that the persons involved in the crime, may it be the victim or the suspect, are constantly updated on the stage in which the investigations have reached.

The nature of the crime is a determinant on the level of involvement and the roles that the police would take up in the crime detection procedure. Some of the crimes need special expertise to help in unearthing details of the crime. In this day and age where criminals easily commit crime without leaving the usual physical evidence such as fingerprints, understanding of the DNA as a concrete evidence is crucial to detection of crime. Rarely do DNA profiling miss to identify a criminal positively if the evidence was preserved and processed correctly. It lies with the police, the responsibility of ensuring that such evidence is preserved for the right expertise to utilise it correctly. Even without necessarily having advanced know-how on such techniques as DNA typing, the police should be knowledgeable enough on the ways of preserving such evidence with the recognition that such a sophisticated technique has proved invaluable in crime detection. It has been identified that for a crime scene to provide the most accurate and reliable evidence, contamination should be avoided and should be among the first principles in obtaining physical evidence in crime scene investigations. Failure to observe such a principle in crime detection is enough to interfere with evidence and to make a case loose weight.

In essence, the police should always consider involving certain experts depending on the crime nature and the circumstances under which the crime has occurred. Having people who are well versed with the circumstances surrounding a crime under investigation increases the chances of digging up the truth since those against the investigations such as the suspect finds it hard to present false evidence. Such has been the case with rape cases where DNA evidence has been used to acquit some and convict others positively. If competent experts are involved, it is likely that the exact perpetrator is identified and the higher the likelihood of convicting the suspect.  

When carrying out investigations, the time taken by the police to respond to the crime is also a great determinant on how well the criminal is to be apprehended. This is so because the criminal realizes that the more heshe succeeds in eradicating any evidence, the more likely that he will escape scot-free. If the police take too long to respond to a crime, the victims may end up discouraged and uncooperative since late entry into investigations often takes more time and effort in identifying and apprehending a criminal. Late response requires that the victim almost always accompany the police during investigations and this may be tiring to the victim who dismisses the efforts. On the other hand, ability of the police to collect as much evidence as possible through the various investigative strategies, the more likely is the police to win in not only positively identifying the crimes perpetrator but also in apprehending him. Important to remember is that success of crime detection is very dependent on successive investigative procedures that are able to present evidence that is beyond any reasonable doubt before a court of law. Any evidence less than this standard is insufficient in apprehending a criminal and mainly indicates a failure on the side of the police in following crime detection procedures.

For investigations to be effective no matter how sophisticated and rigorous they may be, it is crucial that the police work within the laws that govern such. These laws differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction with most of them aiming at making sure that there is justice on both sides of the case i.e. justice to the victim as well as the suspect.  These two should not feel threatened by providing evidence and they should be made to understand that the police have been mandated to carry out investigations which may involve search on property and inspection of the same among other forms of investigation. In any case, the suspect should understand that police will never carry out any investigation unless they have reasonable suspicion to do so. Furthermore, police officers are obliged to identify themselves fully in case of reactive investigations.

Tactic is very essential in making sure that as complete evidence as possible is collected. Among the most successful tactics of carrying out investigations is commencing the investigations with suddenness such that the suspects are not given time to interfere with evidence. Some of the things to consider when performing sudden investigations include time of undertaking investigations, place and the behaviour to be adopted when carrying out the investigations among other factors. Applying such techniques helps the police to have higher chances of succeeding. Ahtirskaya for instance identified that of all convicted computer crimes, 71 percent admitted being surprised by how sudden the investigations were carried out as far as time and place were concerned. To accomplish suddenness of time, the police may opt to delay investigations up to a time when the suspect least expected it and as such, the suspect is caught off guard.

With proper and thorough investigations, police are well positioned to identify who is a suspect in a particular crime as well as have enough reasons to make an arrest. It is in the process of investigations that performing searches as well as exploratory searches on the suspect and hisher property may be of need. On the other hand, these procedures may be rendered futile if the investigative procedure was leaking in any way since the suspected crime perpetrator may use the weakness to hisher defense.

Search and inspection
As part of police crime detection, a search may be required or at the same time, the police may need to inspect the suspects property as well as the suspect himself. Under the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 of the Queensland Consolidated Acts for instance, the police are empowered to make searches and inspections on suspected persons and property even without warrant as a means of obtaining evidence to be presented in a court of law. While making searches on persons, the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 empowers the police to stop a suspect and detain him after which a search may be made on the individual and anything that the person may be possessing in order to find out whether the person possesses any relevant thing that is connected to the crime that the person is being suspected of. While performing such a search, the police may obtain and seize things that may act as evidence that the person committed the offence the items were intended to be for carrying out an offence against someone else or the individual himself. Other than searching an individual, police are also empowered to search vehicles and public property.

Use of the most accurate methods to perform searches can guarantee the police the ability to get the precise evidence to be presented in a court of law. Detection dogs have for instance been helpful in detecting drugs. Additionally, the effectiveness of an investigation will also depend on the ability of the police to interfere with coordination between suspected individuals. As such, it is advisable that the police arrest everyone who is suspected to be involved in a crime virtually at the same time and make simultaneous searches to all the suspects otherwise the investigations may be interfered with if coordination between suspects is left to continue. Perhaps the conduct of inspection is among the trickiest of the crime detection procedures as it requires more patience. Of course, inspection of property may not require special expertise and patience but when inspecting a suspects conduct with the aim of linking the same with a certain crime, then the procedure proves tricky. One way of accomplishing a successful inspection on a suspect is by intentionally delaying investigations to allow the suspect to go back to his normal conduct and then going back into the investigation with suddenness such that the suspect is caught unaware. Such a tactic can be very successful in obtaining concrete evidence to convict someone.

Often, redoing searches and inspections can be very fruitful in obtaining solid evidence enough to prove a suspect guilty. For instance, Ahtirskaya says that among the many computer crimes investigated, most of the repeated searches end up effective as criminals have a tendency of settling down once the initial search has been carried out and then go back to return anything that they had taken as a means of clearing the evidence and it is at this point that the second search comes in and convicts the individuals. In fact of the convicted suspects of computer crime, indicates that 82 percent were convicted on this basis.

Arrest
In some jurisdictions such as the New South Wales, police are given powers to arrest suspected criminals for further investigations. It is however appreciated that for such arrests to be made, the police must have concrete reasons regarding the decision to arrest a suspect. Arrest is a means of law enforcement where an individual is lawfully placed under detention. For police to make an arrest, they must adequately justify the arrest. In most cases, arrests are made under warrant issued by a judge or a magistrate as is common in cases involving unanswered bail. In case an arrest is made without a warrant, detention usually follows to allow for questioning. Under the UK law, a police may arrest a person without first issuing a warrant if he comes across someone in the act of committing a crime that requires arrest mainly from the officers own discretion of what amounts to an arrestable offence. Just enough reason that a person is about to or has committed an arrestable offence is substantial to lead to an arrest without a warrant. It should be clear that being searched by the police or being under detention for questioning purposes does not necessarily imply that one is under arrest. This is because detention is mainly done for questioning purposes and lasts for the least time possible whereas an arrest is mainly done after the police have reasonable cause for suspicion mainly out of investigation that the individual has been involved in the crime. The arrested person is also supposed to be taken into a police station for custody.

Since an arrest is made upon reasonable cause for suspicion that the individual intended to commit a crime or is the one who committed the crime, it forms a good basis for police investigations. This implies that the more solid the reason for arrest, the more likely that the case will go through. Often, arrest may be executed by way of touching or else by words such as declaring that the person is under arrest of which the individual is supposed to consent. An arrest should always be carried out with a lot of sensitivity for the conduct during this period may interfere or preserve any available evidence necessary for the case. This implies that force should be used only if necessary and this should be as minimal as possible. Of course reasonable force should be used as the arrest may demand mainly due to the amount of resistance encountered.

The police should also consider the age of the person whom they are arresting in order to be positioned to take the correct precautions for action. Arresting children for instance may require that the childs parent or guardian is notified as soon as possible among other considerations.

After arresting a suspect, the person is kept in custody up to the time when the person is summoned into a court of law. Once the person is in custody, it becomes easier to launch investigations and at the same time restore peace and order in the community affected by the crime. This is among the reasons why police make searches and inspections on individuals and property that they reasonably deem as threats to peace and lawfulness.

Effects of procedures on courts decision
It is important to note the procedures followed by police in crime detection are determinant on the judgment decision by the court and also acts as leads to any judgment. This is to imply that thoroughness of the procedures and action within the law will see the court make correct judgment while any compromise in these procedures is likely to lead to incorrect judgment. As stated earlier, the promptness of investigations from the time the crime takes place is very effectual in realizing substantial evidence that is worth presented in a court of law. This is due to the fact that evidence is usually obtained unhampered and the victim and the witnesses are more willing to offer support in the search for evidence. Failing to have the victim cooperating fully with the police detectives as a result of delays in investigation has been shown to lead to decreased successful detections.

The validity of the police crime detection procedures is influential on the decisions made by the court regarding a particular crime. For instance, failure to involve experts in the investigations may end up providing insufficient and misleading evidence that may lead to wrong judgment. If for example the police only depend on testimonial evidence in a rape case and never concentrate on physical evidence such as DNA analysis of the samples collected, then the wrong person may end up being convicted. People have time and again accused others of sexually molesting them but upon close examination such as DNA analysis or toxicological analysis have proved negative.  At the same time, such sophisticated and modern techniques of investigations have resulted into right convictions of which would have escaped unnoticed. It is unfortunate that most police departments in most jurisdictions are not mandated to carry such specialized investigations or have no means of doing the same.

The manner in which the police perform searches, inspections and arrests are also vital in validating the crime and the case thereof. In every jurisdiction, there are restrictions within which the police must act as they accomplish their crime detection responsibilities. In England as well as Wales for example, the police have to make sure that they do not carry any of the procedures from a discriminatory point of view. This therefore means that if the police were to arrest or search an individual on the basis of race or religion, then the individual is likely to defend himherself successfully in a court of law. On the other hand, the police officer responsible is likely to face charges for this amount to crime. Even though the police in these two jurisdictions are allowed to make searches on persons and individuals without warrant, ethics have to be adhered to otherwise the credibility of the investigations is compromised with. Never are the police allowed to demand persons to take off their clothing unless it is the outer clothing such as a coat.

Detailed police investigations have always been found to lead to correct judgment once the evidence is presented in court. It is the duty of the police to ensure that comprehensive evidence concerning a case is collected and conserved well otherwise wrong judgments are bound to occur. Other than having statements recorded and signed by any party involved in the crime, it is necessary that the police reinforce the evidence by say taking samples from the crime scene which include photographing the scene, taking fingerprints as soon as possible before such delicate evidence is interfered with. Interfering with delicate evidence such as fingerprints may mean introduction of other fingerprints resulting into conviction of the wrong person. To validate such evidence, it is important that the police keep the crime scene out of bounds from anyone who is not involved expertly with collection of the evidence by for instance enclosing the scene. The police sure always bear in mind that for a court to prove an individual guilty of committing a crime, the evidence at hand must surpass any reasonable doubt hence the need for comprehensive and accurate evidence.

While carrying out all the crime detection procedures, the police must remain awake to how far they are supposed to treat the suspect and the victims of the crime in order to make the procedures valid. They should realise that failure to adhere to the governing codes can be a tragic let down to the courts decision and judgment in any case. Positive identification of the crime perpetrator through the evidence presented by the police as crime detectors is always the aim of every jury signifying the need to have the police crime detection procedures valid.

Conclusion
Crime detection is a complex responsibility that is placed in the hands of the police in most jurisdictions in the world. There are many aspects on how the detections are carried out with different parties being involved but the role of the police is paramount. As such, police come in handy in responding to a call in a crime from where they can launch investigations, make arrests, and perform searches and inspections as general rules of the responsibility. When these procedures are carried out professionally and thoroughly, it becomes possible to connect the points surrounding a particular crime. Adherence to laid down guidelines concerning police investigations in a crime holds much weight in the manner in which a court of law is to execute judgment. The competent the procedures, the more just are the decisions and judgments of the court.

The international business community has increasingly developed interest in arbitration as the sole and closest way of solving disputes in international commercial settings.  Arbitration has also attracted a large number of large scale commercial disputes that arise from global business. The major factor linked to this increase is the way supportive laws are put in place in several states.  These laws provide favorable conditions for the enforcements of most of the clauses provided in the laws of arbitration. National courts all over the world accord power and legitimacy to the process of arbitration with regards to international commercial matters.
Arbitration process allows faster and cheaper dispute resolution without the need to follow court procedures.  In this process, the arbitrators replace the conventional judges and the juries in the decision making (Stoppi, 2001).  It is fully the responsibility of the arbitrators to decide if the violation against the business really occurred and how compensation and the correction process will be effected.

The rationale for arbitration
The international business communities have turned to arbitration as a way to resolve disputes because once the arbitration is done, the arbitrators decision is final.  The decisions made during the arbitration process are not subject to any appeal even if one party does not find the decision made to be satisfactory.  However, in rare situations, when one can substantially prove that the arbitrator was biased, the arbitrator decision can be challenged (Marshall, 1992). The challenge is often done within the first three months and any thing more than the duration is never considered. The challenge is called the motion to vacate.

Investors or business entities access a brokerage account and automatically sign an agreement requiring a broker to settle all types of disputes through arbitrations rather than the traditional way of court procedures.
In order to be successful in arbitration process, it is important to consider the factor of time.  Legal actions should be taken promptly or else the right to recover the lost funds or to be compensated may be lost.  There is a provision for time limitations called statutes of limitations and this provision is not the same but keeps on varying from one state to another. For instance, the laws of federal securities require that court actions to be brought within two years of the exact time of discovery of violation. The provision does not provide for any delay and if wrongdoing is reported after five years, the case is regarded as null.

Arbitration in the Federal Law
In every state or a federal there are statutes which may pose limitations to the normal operations of the arbitrators.  Prior to their operations, the arbitrators first consider if a claim is a violation of laws governing either a federal or a state (Jean, 2000).   It becomes difficult to pursue a case if it has lasted more than six years under the laws of arbitration.

The initial filing of arbitration is done by the Financial Industry Regulation Authority Dispute Resolution.  Other claims may be filed with the exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Simpler arbitrations may require a person to appear in person at a hearing. Simpler claims are characterized by their money value of less than USD 25,000.  In this scenario of simplified arbitration, the arbitrator makes a decision on the case by rigorously reviewing the documents and any written detail presented to him about the real incident from both the broker and the claimant (Gold, 2008).   This may seem a cheaper option since there may not be a need to travel and appear in person for a hearing or give testimonies or answer any questions that may be posed.

The concept of mediation in arbitration
Prior to arbitration, individuals may consider mediation.  The mediation may make it possible for one to save time and finances since this method is faster than even arbitration.  It has also been argued that mediation is less confrontational than arbitration itself.   However, individuals are advised to seek arbitration in case mediation does not bear any significant fruit.  It should be noted that the decision to arbitrate needs some consideration.  Sometimes a broker or brokerage firm that is representing an individual may be declared bankrupt or may go out of business. When this happens, there is a possibility that recovery of an individuals money may turn almost impossible.  The recovery of money will be impossible even if the court or the arbitrator makes decisions in favor of an individual (Deitsch, Dilts, 2001).  Therefore, it is of importance for an individual to investigate the brokers disciplinary profile. The same should be done to the brokerage firm before any sort of investment.

It is not mandatory to hire a lawyer to represent an individual in arbitration. Especially if an individual has small claims (less than USD 25, 000), he can opt to take an option of utilizing arbitration or mediation clinics offered by most law schools especially those in the United States in New York, Illinois, California and Pennsylvania.

American Arbitration Association (AAA)
In the United States, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) is committed to provide assistance to parties in matters of dispute resolution in international standards.  To achieve international class, the AAA has set up the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) which is charged with a responsibility for exclusive administration of all the international issues of the AAA (Bandaw, 2005).

The experience of the ICDR with its international expertise and multilingual staff make it a center for dispute resolution procedures. The international system at ICDR is based on the capacity to progress matters forward in fast ways which may not be the same in some other courts.  Communication in the ICDR is highly facilitated with a sharp sensitivity and understanding of cultural difference. The ICDR ensures that only qualified mediators and arbitrators are appointed and the costs are highly controlled making access easy. There is also a proper interpretation and application of rules of mediation and international arbitration.  A cooperative agreement exists between the ICDR and several international arbitral institutions, which facilitates the ICDR in administering the international disputes (Anderson, 2002).

The ICDR has improved services to clients and the business clients can file their cases under particular rules allowing clients to select where the dispute will be arbitrated and as well as providing the means of choosing a skilled mediator or arbitrator who is not only competent in arbitration but also possesses relevant and desired communication skills.

There is also another international organization concerned with matters of arbitration, called the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), located in Hague, Netherlands. Although it is mistakenly perceived as a court, it is not a conventional one, but rather an administrative organization whose aim is to provide a permanent and easily accessible registry for the aim of international arbitration or other procedures related to it which may include conciliation and commission of enquiry.  PCA is a permanent framework which is easily accessible to help temporary arbitral hearing and commissions (Stoppi, 2001).  The PCA is open to both to the states and other parties which makes it convenient for everybody.   This means that the PCA has a mandate to offer arbitration services which resolve disputes among several combinations of states, individual states, private individuals and intergovernmental organizations.

PCA is more or less mandated in handling cases which arise from international treaties which may include the bilateral and multilateral investment treaties.  At the same time, the PCA administers disputes arising from other agreement to arbitrate.  PCA does not only handle cases of arbitration but also a wide class of disputes. The most common case that PCA handles includes legal issues which mainly consist of territorial and maritime disputes over boundaries. In the business and trading sector, the PCA offers international investment support and international and regional trade handling of issues.

Advantages of arbitration
Confidentiality is to the utmost the hearing is never open to the public nor the decisions exposed.  The decision by the PCA to keep hearing and decision secret is provided at the request of the involved parties.

The confidential nature of arbitration is one of the reasons why the business community has become more attracted to its use in resolving their disputes.  In most cases, arbitration involves the resolution of disputes through an impartial adjudicator.  This adjudicator derives decisions from both the parties whatever they decide is what the adjudicator will stick to. This makes arbitration to be far different from mediation, expert determination, judicial proceeding and alternative disputes resolution (Jean, 2000). The word arbitration has sometimes been used to refer to the court or judicial proceeding.

There are many reasons why parties seek the arbitration procedure in dispute resolution. These benefits of arbitration surpass the court or judicial proceedings.  For instance, in situations where the subject matter is very technical, the arbitrators who have considerable amount of expertise may be selected for some interventions. Arbitration is also important as it offers faster services than even the litigation process in the court procedures. The flexibility and the low cost of seeking arbitration has attracted a wide rang of business to consider the procedure to be effective in solving business disputes.

All procedures and awards of arbitrations are purely confidential, which means that the parties involved retain some measure of privacy from the public, regarding the resolution of the dispute. This makes most parties to seek arbitration. The arbitration awards are easier and quicker to enforce because of the provisions by the New York Convention.  The reverse is true when it comes to the court judgments which are very hard to enforce in many states (Gold, 2008). Most legal systems have limited options for appealing of an award offered by arbitration. This gives people seeking arbitration some kind of immunity over court hearings and judgments.

Drawbacks of Arbitration
The arbitration method of resolving disputes presents several advantages which attract parties and state to seek the procedures, however such benefits also require the imposition of some limitations. Some of these involve lack of clarity.  In most cases, arbitration agreement is contained in ancillary agreement.  Sometimes the agreement is contained in a small print within other agreements.  This makes the consumers and employees not to be sure whether they have already agreed to compulsory binding the pre-dispute arbitration by buying a product or taking up a job (Bandow, 2005).  

The two parties seeking arbitration have to put aside their rights to access the courts in case the arbitration is compulsory and binding. This means that they have to involve a judge or a jury to decide the case and give possible remedies.  This limits the free nature of arbitration although this happens in few incidents.

The recovery of the attorneys fees cannot be traced or is practically unavailable.  This happens typically in some arbitration agreement and systems.  The impossibility to recover the attorneys fee makes it difficult for employees or consumers to have access to legal representation.  However, majority of arbitration agreement and codes provide for the same relief which can be provided for by in courts.  

There is a possibility of a natural incentive to rule against the employee or a consumer if the arbitrator or a forum of arbitration fully relies on the corporation for repeat business. Another limitation presented by arbitrations procedures is that there may be very minimal ways to make an appeal. This implies that flawed decisions are not easily reversed.

The arbitration process is believed to be fast. However this is only possible if there are many arbitrators on the panel. If there are few arbitrators, the process may seem to be very slow. This especially happens when arbitrators are attempting to juggle their schedules for hearing dates in long cases may pose very long delays.

Arbitral awards tend to have less enforcement remedies than the judgments in some legal systems.  An exception is the United States where arbitration awards are enforced in a similar manner like those in courts.  The arbitration judgments and all procedures may resemble those in courts and may take similar effects.

One of the most serious limitations of arbitration is that the arbitrators are often not able to enforce interlocutory steps against one party.  This makes it easier for another party to take measures in order to evade enforcement of an award.  The steps which one party can undertake include the repositioning of the assets offshore.

The arbitrators are never governed by the rule of applicable law.  This does not mean however that they are to disregard the law.  There is a claim the discovery is limited when it comes to arbitration. This could mainly be due to lack of rigorous processes as opposed to court procedures.

There is a low potential for attorneys to generate billings as compared to pursuing the disputes through court procedures or trials. The arbitration awards are never independently enforceable unlike court judgments. This implies that a party seeking to enforce an arbitration award has to resort judicial solutions which is known as an action to confirm an award.

In arbitration, the foundations for attacking an arbitration award are limited although the measures to confirm the awards can be sought with great effort. The great efforts invested usually causes huge expenses in seeking legal justice.  This negates the alleged economic inducement to arbitrate the dispute in the first place.
Not all cases are arbitral. This can be caused by the nature of cases making arbitration process not to apply.  Generally, there are two groups of legal procedures which can never be subject to arbitration those that lead to a determination which the parties may not agree upon and those that legal orders exempt or restrict the arbitration possibility for the purpose of providing immunity to the weaker parties like the consumers.  

In cases where the procedures lead to a determination which the two involved parties in the dispute do not agree upon, the arbitration will be null. Some procedures in courts may have judgments which bind generally all members of the public or the public authorities in their capacity for their interest.  This way both parties are favored. Some of the cases which were not arbitral included the antitrust matters in the U.S. Similarly, crime related matters, status and family law are never considered arbitral.  This is because the power of the parties to enter into an agreement has defined boundary (Marshall, 2004).   However, some of the disputes which involve two parties with private rights may be resolved by arbitration procedures. It is also to find that some cases have different segments.

Difficulties encountered in arbitration law
Some parts of the claims can be handled using arbitration procedures while others cannot. For instance, a dispute of infringement into patented product can have two sections.  The first part is the validation of the claim that an infringement into patented product has been done and this can be handled by arbitration.  The other section of the case is the real validation of the patent which cannot be done by arbitration. This is because patents are subject to a procedural system of public registration.  Therefore, the arbitral panel may have little to do to demand the involved body to correct any patent registration which is based upon its ruling.
The second exception where arbitration may not apply is when the legal order exempts the propensity of arbitration.   The legal order may make these provisions to protect the weaker individual in the society such as consumers.  Germany, for instance, has laws protecting the tenants from disputes over the renting of the living space from arbitration interference. Arbitration agreements with consumers in the same country are only valid prior to signing by either party (Brams, 2003).  This is also applicable only when the documents that are signed do not bear other contents other than the agreement of the arbitration.

In arbitration, there are some crucial procedures that have to be carried out.  One of these most essential procedures is the making of arbitration agreement between the two parties.  Theoretically, arbitration is a consensual process which a party cannot be forced into unless he agrees to make a fully consensual agreement.  The theoretical perspective seems to differ from the practical aspect.

Majority of arbitration agreement are made on settings where the employees and consumers have little or no bargaining power.  In addition, arbitration clauses have always been written and sealed deep within the user manuals which are provided when purchasing products.  The products can be tangible or intangible ones and both of these come with the arbitration clauses deep hidden and not easily to view (Amazu, 2001). When these agreements are contained in the websites, they often involve a number of clicks before reaching the consumers. In some other situations, the consents do not make much sense.

The arbitration agreements are divided into two broader categories.  Agreement that disputes should always be resolved by arbitration and the agreement that is formulated after a dispute has already occurred.  Normal contracts but with arbitration clauses represents the first type of agreement. The second type can also be termed as submission agreement which state that arbitration shall only be applicable in situations after a dispute has arisen.

Most business communities and consumers may give support to the second type of agreement of arbitration. However, the legal significance dictates on the choice of arbitration agreement to be taken.  For instance, some countries belonging to a Commonwealth have a provision that each individual party has to bear the costs in a typical arbitration clause.  This however does not apply to a submission agreement.  

State laws have been keen in keeping with the informality of entire process of arbitration process.  These enactments in various states and nationals uphold the principles of arbitration clauses even in situations where the normal formal language which is associated with legal contracts is lacking (David, 2009).  State laws have validated the process of arbitration despite the apparent weakness. Examples of these clauses have been adapted by the London where the English law is said to apply, sometimes calling it suitable arbitration clause.

In a number of states, the courts have upheld those clauses that specify the dispute resolution other than the conventional methods following the particular system of legal provision. For instance, there is a provision which states that the arbitrators must not necessarily make decision based on the strict law but rather on a general ruling which takes into consideration the laws of practical business (Anderson, 2002). Another provision states that arbitration procedures should be based on the internationally accepted principles of law governing the contractual relation.  

The consensus to forward the disputes to arbitration process has a special status before the law.  For instance, in a dispute involving a contract, the most likely defense mechanism is to plead that the contract is void and therefore any claim that will be based upon it will automatically be null and void (David, 2009).  This always follows that if one of the parties claims that the contract is void, then all the clauses in the agreement will be declared void.

Benchmarks of arbitration
To bring some uniformity in arbitration, there are generally accepted principles governing the process of arbitration.  These laws have been identified to encourage some criteria which can help make judgments on empirical basis and considering different countries.  There are laws governing the arbitration agreement, arbitral tribunal and its proceedings, substance of the dispute and finally the laws recognizing and enforcing of the award.

There are several problems associated with the litigation of foreign jurisdiction. These problems are not new but have always been encountered in the past. There have been enormous efforts to provide a workable arbitration substitute internationally. One of the most notable efforts was that made by the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards also called the New York Convention in 1958 (John, Alexander, 2005).  The Convention endows with that each signatory nation shall be recognizable with arbitral award as binding and put them into effect according to the territorial rules where the award is relied on under the conditions specified in the Convention.

The arbitral award
The adoption of arbitral award was very difficult for most countries after the Convention.  Majority of foreign tribunals became disinclined to recognize arbitral awards rendered against their nationals.  Further still, majority of foreign tribunals did not have the legal framework to credit the awards (Brams, 2003). Currently, several nations have signed the Convention although the U.S ratified it in 1970 but later enacted it as Chapter Two of the Federal Arbitration Act.

Arbitration process benefits both the domestic and foreign parties and individuals. The jurisdiction reach of arbitration is diverse since it applies to all international businesses.  For a party or individual to be recognized as international, the parties should be diverse internationally. It may also necessitate that the place of arbitration should be outside the country of the parties or individuals presented.

A case example is the new Illinois International Commercial Arbitration Act (ICAA) which has no court intervention except when provided for by the ICAA.  The judicial intervention, under the ICAA is only permissible to appoint neutrals, determine jurisdiction and decide possible challenges (Amazu, 2001).  However, the judicial interventions are not subject to any appeal.  This means that the final and binding nature of the permissive court interventions is made on purpose to break an impasse in an arbitration to enable it proceed as the two contracting parties expected.

During the dispute, the parties should start the process of arbitration without the court intervention.  In case of a party filing a complaint under some court jurisdiction, the ICAA will then direct the courts to advise the parties to start the arbitration process.  This is possible as long as the defendant have sought to initiate the process of arbitration but not later than the first substantive pleading.

The ICAA concurrently does the envision arbitration together with the court actions.    .  Further still, the ICAA provide that the court may take a step to provide an interim measure of protection.  This can be done before or during the arbitral proceeding (Wheeler, Mahony, 2004).  The interim measure of protection refers to the equitable solutions like injunctions or protective orders.  The arbitral tribunal has also the authority to order the same remedies.

Conventionally, there is a single presiding arbitrator.  Unless the parties make a ruling, the circuit court of a particular county has full authority for this function.  In situations where parties contract three arbitrators and at times fail to reach a consensus, the ICAA will grant that each party appoints one arbitrator while the two arbitrators will appoints the third one (Mario, Charles, 1999).

The arbitrator must expose any aspect which is likely to cause justifiable doubts.  This should be done without any partiality or dependency on anything.  Any of the two parties has the capacity to challenge the arbitrator decision. The tribunal law has authority over its own jurisdiction over the claims and it is to determine the rules of pretrial or trial procedure.  The tribunal will also determine the place of arbitration, the language to e used and the possibility of oral hearings.

Sometimes a respondent fails to file a statement of defense.  If this happens the tribunal shall proceed with the proceedings without blaming the failure. The ICAA through it experts, provides a hybrid between the continental legal system and the American communities.  The tribunal may need a party to supply the expert with the necessary information and documents in order to assist in the process (Miachael, 1992). That is distinctive in continental and civil law countries whereby the tribunal takes a more rigorous approach.

Conclusion
As the international business community continues to experience enormous growth, it becomes even more critical for business disputes to be resolved in the most efficacious manner possible. The challenge is to expedite such resolutions in such a way as to not bog down the existing legal infrastructure and the relevant judiciary institutions. By making use of arbitration services, one can significantly reduce the pressure experienced by lawyers in resolving disputes between parties both foreign and domestic, especially in a business climate where contracts that engage companies of different legal and geographical origins.
Additionally, arbitration is fully recognized by federal and international law, which means that it allows parties concerned to find a solution to their disputes that is not only recognized by the law, but legitimized and enforceable. Furthermore it provides a degree of privacy and confidentiality that is not normally accorded to such parties under the auspices of the courts.

However, for the use of arbitration in resolving disputes to continue to be effective, it must be held accountable to various standards and scrutinized thoroughly for the deficits it may incur in dispute resolution. Arbiters must possess relevant expertise to the dispute at hand, and therefore require the kind of specialization that most judiciary entities do not possess. As such, arbitration should not be mistaken as a substitute court, but rather a means by which to address the peculiarities of certain disputes that make them
so difficult to resolve in the first place.

However, arbitration services do not apply to all kinds of disputes and therefore have limits to their use. Furthermore, legal precepts written into the existing law may give primacy to certain individuals and parties that curtail the power of arbitration, for example a resolution may legally require that the weaker individual such as consumers or tenants, must be favored in the overall ruling.

In any case, the emergence of arbitration over the past century has provided much relief to the courts and its future lies in the means by which its efficacy and enforceability may be improved without unnecessarily abrogating the power and responsibilities of the judiciary and by continuing to act in concordance with existing legislative mandates.

The Hague-Visby Rules happens to be a group of international rules in marine that are meant control goods transportation by use of water. These rules happen to have an official title as the International Convection for Unification of Specific Rules which is associated to Bills of Landing. This Rule was drafted in 1924 in Brussels.  The rule gained its current name after it was amended in 1968 by the Visby Amendment. However, a final amendment was later done in 1979 in SDR Protocol. (Zekos, 1997)

This Rule proposes that a carrier will always have greater bargaining power than the shipper. In addition, in order to protect the cargo-ownershipper interest, the law imposes as minimal obligation to the cargo as possible. In the rule under article ten, the Rule will only apply if the bill of landing was issued in what is referred to as a contracting State, if the carriage is originating from a port which is in a contracting State, or if the contract of carriage states that the Rule is to govern the contract. This therefore means that the Rule will only apply if the contract of carriage has the entire text of Rule incorporated. Under this, it therefore happens that any omission of the Rule will be termed void under Article III (8). (Zekos, 1997)

b) It can be argued that the Rule provides a sensible basis for any of the regulation of contractual relationship that may exist between those persons that shipping their goods. This is because depending on the way that the bill is written, it can offer protection to the individuals who are transiting goods from one region to the other. For instance, with The Rafaela S Straight Bill, the bill of lading may be made to a consignee without having to add the words to order. Such a bill is usually difficult to transfer and therefore referred to as a straight bill of lading.  (Zekos, 1997)

These words are the ones which determine whether a bill of lading is transferable or no. they are the same words which determines whether the bill will be accepted as documents of title. It can therefore be argued that it is may be easier to have a basis of contractual relationship. These bills are drawn due to different reasons. For instance, a straight bill happens to be non- negotiable and they have a contractual mandate of delivering the cargo to the consignee that is named without having to produce any original document. (Zekos, 1997)

2.  
There are a number of difficulties that a claimant may face while he is persuading the court to find out whether the tort of negligence has been committed. The reason is that due to existence of different rules, it may be difficult to know whether the original documents were produced during shipment or not. For instance, the Visby Hague Rule does not provide that the straight bill of lading can be used as a document of title but we find that it is used as a document of title regularly. If there is a fault in such a case, it may be difficult for the court to judge whether it is out negligence or not. Even though there may be the tort of negligence, if the imports are equal to exports, it may become very difficult for the court to determine this because the trade balance may be unaltered.

This is further complicated by the fact that there are times when the terms of a straight bill of lading requires that the bill of lading be presented during delivery, in most cases the carrier is never under any obligation to obtain production of the original bill of lading. This is a clear sign that the bill of lading is meant to protect the carrier and therefore makes it difficult for the complaint to win the case over the career. This is the case that applied with the The Berg Sisar case. It can be argued that due to the transactions that had been done without the production of the straight bill of lading, the Bergesen were not in any grounds in a position to claim against the Borealis for alleged breach of obligation of the shipper leave alone loading dangerous cargo under the bill of lading. (Zekos, 1997)

d) The carriage of goods by Sea Act of 1992 had a difference in the international dispute in that it was aimed at replacing the Bill of Lading Act that was constituted in 1885. By the fact that this bill was enacted by the Queens most Excellent Majesty meant that this bill had more power and that it would be used by most of the sea transport operators. In addition, because it was constituted with a number of other shipping documents by the Lords Temporal, Spirituals and Commons, it was more powerful.

4.
a) It is necessary that parties to any commercial contract have a clear understanding of the distinction between conditions and in nominate terms because, there are times when a party may need to lodge a complaint concerning an activity. Some of these terms and conditions may be standing on the way of the complainants concern and therefore if one does not fully understand the difference between the conditions that exists and the in nominate terms, it may be difficult to complain or even to deal with the other operators on a safe ground. This is because, it may be very difficult to tell whether there is a breach of contract or not and how to deal with it. (Zekos, 1997)

b) The main aim of remedies of breach of contract is to ensure that people who are in operation follow what they agree on. There are situations where people will fail to keep their end of the bargain and this is where the remedies apply. They are the ones that are used to deal with these people. In addition, they are used to discourage people from taking part in breaching the contract as they know what the consequences are for breaching the contract. This ensures that the business is running smoothly and that there are few disputes to deal with.

Most of the remedies are still and the main reason for this is that people will be discouraged by what they will face if they breach the contract. Among the main remedies that are proposed is the withdrawal of the contract, the termination of the contract or even charging the person who have breached the contract in court. This is known to have a very negative effect on all the people who thinks of doing this later.  Most remedies are made by the policy makers that are in the organizations that will be involved the transactions that will be covered by the contract.

c) English law is so often the chosen applicable international law because first it is on this land that the first laws were constituted. In additional all the other laws may be said to have originated from this law. Since they originated from the queens land, it is obvious that the English law will be adopted. The Arbitration Act is the one that made the English Law to come into being but in the United Kingdom. The law is commonly used in the international trade contract because arbitration happens to be very common practice in the trade. The player in the trade find this law very convenient to them as it protects the cargo and the ship and this is another reason why most companies put it in practice in most parts of the world. (Zekos, 1997)
In addition, it is difficult to stay with people and fail to have disputes. This law is said to protect and help the key players to deal with any form of dispute that may be experienced in the sea transport business. Most of those players are said to put this law in practice while solving their disputes because they view the law as being universal and applicable to most cases. The law is termed as impartial as compared to all the other  laws such as the one that were passed by the United States and France which were known to promote the use of adjudication because they claimed that the judicial system was inefficient. This law is known to solve these problems. (Zekos, 1997)

1 Contractual notice and their importance

A contractual notice is a written agreement concerning an activity that is to happen in the future. They are important in that they are prove that some different parties had came into an agreement concerning some future activity that they intend to do. It also acts as a reminder of some future activities that needs to be done. (Zekos, 1997)

aa) Arbitration clause
I would advice parties to include an arbitration clause in their contract as an issue may come up which does not require the parties to go to court. When such an issue arises, it would be a great idea to deal with it outside the court and this can only be done if an arbitration clause exists.

(cc) Mediation
The reason as to why some parties may require mediation is the fact that they have failed to come to an agreement. This is because both parties have a feeling that they are compromising. After mediation, the two parties usually come to an agreement. For there to be a solution which is usually the reason for mediation, each of the parties involved must compromise and therefore it is difficult to say that there is a party that won after a mediation. (Zekos, 1997)

12) Trade opinion and peer pressure forms soft law in international trade
The law can never be done away with but it is usually bent so that some parties can be able to operate the way they want. This is all as a result of peer pressure and trade opinions. Parties are known to come up with their individual laws which will cater for their needs when they are operating. This is as a result of sitting down and sharing opinions. Others do so because they counterpart are doing the same and this may be referred to as peer pressure. These new laws may be referred to as soft laws and they are formed out of peer pressure and trade opinions. (Zekos, 1997)

Parties should expect that the Hague Visby Rule will apply in case there is a dispute where there is a straight bill of landing. The reason is that this rule is supposed to protect the carriage and at the same time protect the owner of the ship. This means that in case there is a dispute between these two, it is only this rule that will solve the case.

The Hague, Hague-Visby and Hamburg Rules
These two rules are meant to be universal rules. However, their strength depends on the magnitude of the dispute that has taken place. In addition, it also depends on the region where it has taken place. This means that even though the three regimes may be in force, they are no international universality because each dispute will be dealt with differently from each region. There are also some situations where there are some overriding laws between all the three regimes and this brings more conflict. (Zekos, 1997)

Suing a defendant for breach of contract
It is easier for a defendant to sue for breach of contract rather than to sue for negligence. The reason is that due to the laws that exist in the sea transport, it may be very difficult to prove that there was a tort of negligence committed in the case. The reason is that there is no specific law that requires production of document on delivery of cargo. It would therefore be easier to sue a party of breach of contract which is easier to prove than to sue of negligence.

12. To what extent do trade opinion and peer pressure form soft law in international trade
This question is similar to one already answered above numbered as 12 Trade opinion and peer pressure forms soft law in international trade.

22.   Would you advise a part to a contract to incorporate an arbitration agreement into it This question is similar to another one which has been answered above numbers as 1 aa Arbitration clause.

223. Role of the bill of lading in modern
In modern days, the bill of landing has been in use as a register in the loading books. It is usually used vital and fundamental document of commerce and international trade. It is indispensable to the financing and conduct of business which involves the sales and then transportation of goods between parties that are located far from each other. (Zekos, 1997)

I. INTRODUCTION

The Bush Meat Crisis Big Picture
Bushmeat is an ideal that has become a major predicament in the socioeconomic profile of Africa. Even though issues about the bushmeat have been resonating within African society over the years, most people are still wondering where this issue actually originated. The term actually came from two simple concepts bush  which entails forest or any type of vegetation  and meat. As straightforward as it appears, combining these terms gives bushmeat which literally connotes the flesh of wild animals living in the African bush.

However, recent studies show that this term is not as uncomplicated as it appears. Studies demonstrate that bushmeat generates one of the most sensitive predicaments Africa today. According to POSTnote of the UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, 1 to 3.4 million tons of wild animals meat are sold in Africa annually. This includes meat of endangered species such as gorilla (and other great apes), African elephant, porcupine, and certain species of antelopes.

Some people speculate where the dilemma originates from. Since Africans have hunted animals in the bush for generation, one may wonder why people had to be so concerned with this problem now. The truth of the matter is that the dilemmas grew much broader than simply being an issue of hunting for meat. In fact, Godall claims that the bushmeat crisis is the most significant and immediate threat to wildlife population in Africa today.

Several factors make this crisis more problematic
1. Unsustainability due to overhunting endangered species, resulting in impossibility of normal recruitment
2. Industrial equipment, which pertain to products of civilization including new types of hunting weapons, vehicles, and massive construction of roads that make animals especially defenseless
3. Profitability of bush-hunting, providing immediate gains but causing long-term negative effects
4. Growth of population needing protein products
5. Lack of environmental regulation and awareness between African peoples
6. Disease transmission (including AIDS and Ebola) through meat of hunted animals.

The abovementioned factors make the bush meat crisis a multifaceted problem of the Equatorial Africa at the eve of the 21st century. This paper shall then attempt to explore this issue as a complex problem. The second chapter of this discussion shall give a more comprehensive definition and explication of bush meat and the bush meat crisis. The third part shall focus on the aspects of the crisis such as hunting for meat, wildlife trade, exotic pet trade, logging, among others. The succeeding parts shall propose solutions for the defined problems and discuss the drawn conclusions from the rest of the discussion.

II. WHAT IS BUSH MEAT
A. Bush Meat Inexpensive Food Source-historically used sustainably.
1. Locals Livelihoods And SustenanceSubsistence
Indigenous people residing in the African sustain their livelihood through hunting. For those dwelling in the tropical forest areas, hunting easily became a primary source of protein, since this is where substantial farming and cattle breeding appear most feasible unlike on timbered territories like Congo basin. Thus, the people of the bush depend on hunted proteins, which make up 60 to 80 of meat eaten in the Congo basin area. However, not all of the meat of the hunted animals is eaten by those people in need of vital proteins. It was found that existing hunting rates in Africa currently surpass sustainable levels for 6 times. Meat consumption in tropical Africa increases 3 annually, while the number of wild animals is becoming increasingly marginal. The amount of bush meat regularly sold and eaten in Africa has been estimated to 1 million tons annually in 2000, while in 2005, experts suggested an amount of 3.4 million tons, including 28 million bay dunkers, and 7 million red colobus monkeys are being hunted in the Congo Basin yearly.

Wildlife is an available and virtually free source of meat for the local rural communities, especially in this locale in Africa. Statistics have shown that rural areas consume a vast part of the hunted wild animals meat, while in the urban areas wild meat is efficiently substituted with chicken meat which is cheaper than wild meat and usually comes from the cities. However, this does not appear to be the case in the neighboring countries of Africa. In Congo for example, most cities do not demonstrate the potential for urbanization, as the population only grows 4 annually with urban population growing at 1.5 to 2 annually. This suggests that wild meat consumption shall continue to increase 2 to 4 annually. Consequently, hunting is likely to become the most immediate threat to wildlife in the Congo basin area in the next 5 to 15 years. Considering that alternative sources of animal protein are hardly obtainable for the local populace, it can be easily inferred that they will engage in more hunting, which shall then result in the extinction of species, and this extermination shall lead to a more aggressive and active hunting. This may trigger a set of problems. Central among those problems are the extinction of endangered species and food shortage in the underprivileged rural communities of Central Africa.

III. BUSH MEAT CRISIS

A. Wildlife Trade.

1. Hunted Species.
Bush hunters often do not target particular species. Regardless of where meat comes from, whether from widespread species like duikers or pigs or endangered ones like gorillas, hunting preferences are determined by easiness and profitability of hunting. Studies conducted in the 1990s show that most hunters prefer medium-sized species including 9 of antelopes, 18 of primates and 3 of rodents, as well as birds, snakes, lizards. 60 of the hunted species are hunted unsustainably.

Different species are hunted for diverse purposes. The most pervasive species are hunted for meat to support the living of the natives. Great apes on the other hand are difficult to locate, making them an exquisite and expensive elite product hunted with the intention to further sell them. Elephants are hunted for both meat and ivory. Some species like crocodiles are hunted for their valuable skin, usually used for the production of exotic products and ornamental objects. Such commercial hunting is increasing from year to year due to increasing interest in bushmeat products (including exotic meat, skin, and ornamental objects) on the global markets.

2.  Food.
According to experts, 60 to 80 of natural proteins in the Congo basin and West Africa are gained from bush meat. There is a notable difference in bush meat consumption among various social groups. Rural communities gain most of their animal proteins from bush meat while in the urban areas, bush meat provides only about 4 of consumed animal proteins. Bush meat is popular among the poor due to its availability and comparative inexpensiveness. Since their main concern is survival, their hunting is unselective. Fresh water and salt water fishes are also eaten as an alternative source of protein. However, access to fish resources is limited in the inland. Hence, fish resources are limited just as bush meat resources are.
Recent case studies in West Africa suggest a different picture of bush meat consumption. As certain sorts of bush meat (like the arms of gorillas) are regarded as an elite expensive product, the richest members of the society prefer bush meat over meats of typically domesticated animals. Thus, animals are hunted not only for home market but for foreign markets as well.

3. Exotic Leathers and Furs.
Except for bushmeat, local economies also benefit from by-products like skins and fur of the hunted animals. In contrast to bushmeat hunting, often performed for survival, hunting wild animals for such by-products is almost exclusively for commercial purposes. Certain species are hunted solely for their valuable skins, including carnivores, pitons crocodiles, alligators, and other reptiles. Furs and skins are also used for local production of household articles (shoes, bags, etc.) and souvenirs to supplement the local income as well as for export to foreign markets for the production of more sophisticated goods.

4. Ornamental Objects.
Trading ornamental objects manufactured from bushmeat by-products is becoming increasingly profitable in Africa. Except for products manufactured out of skin and leather, objects being sold also include stuffed animals, decorations, and religious objects made out of parts of animal bodies and household items. Most popular of such items include ivory and rhino horns because of their intrinsic value for people ready to buy them for even higher prices. According to experts, the price of ivory increased twofold between 1970 and 1990. This can be attributed to the increasing demand and decreasing population of elephants in Zaire, Congo Tanzania, and South Africa.

5. Exotic Pet Trade.
Exotic pets from the bush are sold as valuable gifts and status symbols. Animals (especially apes) are usually caught as youngs after their parents were killed for their meat. The price of a single ape baby on the black market increased almost twofold between 1995 and 1999. As such, most of the caught babies die without adequate housing and veterinary care soon after being caught.

6. Traditional Medicine.
Traditional beliefs, including faith in traditional medicine, are still consistent in Central Africa. For example, in some rural areas of Tanzania chimpanzee bones are believed to enhance health and vitality. Although not a primary target of bushmeat hunters, traditional medicine commodity trade increases the general profitability of bushmeat hunting.

7. Biomedical Research and Teaching.
Due to their perceived relation to human species, apes, especially chimpanzees, have become attractive objects for biomedical research and experimenting. 1970s was a period where chimpanzees export for medical purposes boomed in Africa, and it was exported to the countries such as United States, Japan, and European nations. This practice ceased during the early 1980s. Yet, apes were still used as experimental objects in local research institutions. Animal bodies were used for educational purposes as well, including stuffed animal production. However, recent scientific developments suggest the use of animals hunted as bushmeat as transplantation donors and material for genetic research.

8. Stocking of Game Hunting Farms.
Contrasting usual bushmeat hunting for survival and commercial purposes, game hunting is a developing business for the rich, which can be both legal and illegal. Legal game-hunting and safari-games are often viewed as a partial solution of the bushmeat crisis. Thus, Zimbabwe recently introduced the so-called CAMPFIRE program under which certain communal areas are provided for controlled game-hunting, and the hunters are encouraged to use cameras but not weapons. Local people benefit directly and indirectly from such programs as they increase employment and provide them with legally and sustainably hunted bushmeat.

Another pole of the problem is illegal game hunting conducted for the entertainment of either local rural inhabitants or richer urban classes. This type of hunting remains largely uncontrolled and unsustainable and thus affects the rarest and the most endangered species like gorillas and chimpanzees.

9. Zoos and Safari Parks.
Keeping animals in zoos and safari parks enables the preservation and reproduction of endangered species when established legally. However, these endangered species, especially young apes, are also illegally collected for export to the zoos worldwide. Certain problems are related to legal Safari parks as well, including overhunting and occasional killing of rare species.

B. Access Becoming More Available.
1. Logging
The vulnerability of bush fauna for hunting is ever increasing as a result of human penetration into the bush, including mining, road construction, and logging. In the latter case, illegal bushmeat hunting is indirectly sponsored by the logging companies. Developing infrastructure (including road construction and cleaning forest areas for construction sites) fragments the bush into separate portions, making bushmeat hunting more available and additionally open to the previously wild areas for new settlers. The hired workers performing hard physical labor are in greater need of protein-containing products than ordinary local inhabitants, and their salaries enable them to purchase hunting weapons while their equipment and transport greatly facilitate hunting.

In Congo, logging has been identified as the greatest long-term threat to endangered species due to overlap of logging concessions.  Existing logging practices proved to be unsustainable both in terms of volumes and methods. The situation became even more dramatic considering public socio-economic interests, including dependence of state and local budgets on timber revenues.

2. Commercial Hunting Ventures.
Traditionally, bushmeat hunting was a source of survival for the local communities. However, economic development of African states including development of international trade resulted in a shift towards commercialization of bushmeat hunting, dramatically affecting bush wildlife regeneration. According to esteems by Robinson and Bennet, hunting pressure on the wildlife in Africa is stronger than in any other region. Over 15 animals are hunted annually per one square kilometer of African tropical forest (compared to 8 in South America and 6 in South-East Asia), while the total number of animals killed by commercial hunters rates to 19 million in Central Africa and 18 million in West Africa (compared to 17 million in Brazilian Amazon and 6 million in other Amazon countries and South-East Asia).

Establishment of commercial ventures for bushmeat hunting as well as utilization of bushmeat by logging and mining enterprises, equipped the hunters with new technologies like guns, wire snares, battery-powered lights, and motorized transport. Workers hired among local people bring these new technologies to indigenous tribes. In combination with improved infrastructure, new technologies increase the easiness and profitability of bushmeat hunting and deplete hunting risks to lower levels.
 
Better equipment and organization combined with lower risks of bushmeat hunting led to the expansion of wildlife crisis to regions and species not previously endangered, especially large species like gorillas, lions, and elephants. Additionally, commercial activities are interrelated in their damage to the wildlife when, for example, animals hunted with superior equipment are transported by better roads to the markets which are now closer to the bush thanks to the clearing of large forest areas. The problem is likely to increase in future since weak economies of Central Africa countries are unable to provide their growing population with sufficient employment, thus directly encouraging illegal commercial bushmeat hunting.

3. Loss of Habitat
Human penetration into the wild areas would be a threat for animal life even without uncontrolled hunting since it results in drastic loss of habitat for bush species. According to conceptual model of biodiversity loss constructed by Wood, Stedward-Edwards, and Mann (2000), the loss of habitat may take forms of habitat reduction, habitat fragmentation, and habitat degradation. The habitat is reduced by logging and clearing of forestry areas for human commercial activities (including agricultural expansion). The remaining portions of the habitat are further fragmented by infrastructure like roads or electric power lines separating animal groups from sources of food and water as well as from each other, reducing animal reproduction opportunities. The remaining portions of the bush are subjected to degradation as a result of general ecosystem decline including vanishing of flora species, water pollution, and air pollution.  

In a short-term prospective, the animals may survive habitat loss by migration to unaffected regions. However, their future survival depends on availability of such virgin areas not yet occupied by resident population of the same species or similar species occupying the same ecological niche. Nevertheless, in the long-term perspective, ruination of habitat implacably reduces animal population since the bush is able to support only a limited number of animals.

Except for direct habitat loss, habitat modification is likely to affect primates population. Such habitat modification begins with small-scale disturbances by local inhabitants. For example, in the regions around Tana River in Kenya the locals cut rare trees for canoes affecting population of certain ape species. Such unseen changes in the ecological system structure are likely to increase with further growth of population and degradation of forests. The long-term influences of such minor disturbances remain largely unknown, yet according to recent case studies, they are likely to gather like a snowball and result in unpredictable consequences.

4. Loss of locals livelihoods and sustenancesubsistence.
Historically, local livelihoods in the tropical forests of Africa depended on bushmeat as an indispensable source of food. However, as observed by Short, human-wildlife conflict is growing, with crop raiding and hunting of livestock taking a large toll on the livelihoods of many poor people. And it should be noted that wildlife conservation through protected area systems continues to be resisted by poor people who are denied access and use rights in such areas.

Most households in West and Central Africa are concentrated in rural areas and their dependency on bushmeat is extremely high. This creates an important link between biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of natural resources on the one hand and traditional livelihood conservation on the other. Current overpopulation creates an endless circle in which more people hunt more animals for bushmeat unsustainably leading to a decrease in animal population and resulting in even greater competition between hunters and more active hunting resulting in further extinction of wildlife. This vicious circle is further aggravated by lack of awareness between rural people in Africa and their rapacious approach towards nature. Deprived of the opportunity to lead their traditional way of life, the poor men eagerly let themselves be hired to work for logging, construction, or hunting corporations and contribute to the ultimate destruction of local wildlife and, consequently, of their own livelihoods.

In their attempt to combat the problem, African governments introduced national programs like the abovementioned CAMPFIRE program in Zimbabwe or Tropical forestry Action Plan and Forest Policy Dialogue in Cameroon, which aim to integrate local bush communities into sustainable agricultural production. While such programs do have notable effect, they are still far from completion as they are delayed by institutional weakness of public sector in African states and general implementation blunders.

C. The Spread of Diseases
Fragmentation of the forestry areas and concentration of species on small territories has yet another long-term negative effect. Smaller and denser animal population is a favorable environment for active diseases transmission, especially considering food shortage. A smaller living area brings apes closer to people, facilitating virus penetration from one species to another. Apes are especially vulnerable to flu and other seasonal diseases, and they revenge with fevers (including Ebola) and AIDS. A case study held in 2002 in Cameroon reveals that over 20 of pet monkeys were infected with SIV, which is likely to penetrate to human blood through bites and infected meat.

Human-animal contact does not only contribute to transfer of existing diseases but it also brings along new diseases. The so-called zoonoses are presently human diseases originating from animals. Viruses and bacteria which could be relatively save for an ape can mutate into extremely dangerous forms in human organism, with HIV being the most famous example of such mutation.

D. Human Overpopulation
Overpopulation is a relative term which suggests that a particular territory is no longer able to provide sufficient nutrition for the increased population in case existing economy methods are preserved. Human population in Africa is rapidly increasing thanks to better healthcare and existing traditionally large families. In such states as Cameroon, the population doubled in the past two decades, especially in the rural areas. Unsustainable and uncontrolled hunting as well as decrease of forestry areas leads to shortage of bushmeat food supplies.

According to Wilkie et al., the normal population density which a bush is able to support in case traditional hunting is continued is 1 man per 1 square kilometer. However, current population density of the Congo basin (according to Wilkie) makes 99 men per 1 square kilometer or 5 to 20 persons per square kilometer according to Bushmeat A Wildlife Crisis in West and Central Africa and Around the World. In West Africa, the population density makes 27 to 78 persons per square kilometer.

African governments are attempting to resolve the problem of overpopulation by teaching the locals to cultivate corns and perform sustainable management of natural resources. However, these attempts are not always successful, mostly due to lack of organizational pattern, ineffective management and human ignorance. The most notable problem here is mosaic distribution of farmer lands resulting in further fragmentation of the bush and grave human influence on its ecosystem.

E. Huge problem of extreme poverty
The problem of poverty is the most important social cause of the bushmeat crisis and the main driving factor of the bushmeat trade. Poverty and destruction of environmental systems are strongly interrelated and interdependent through the system of complex links. Abject poverty results both from nutrition shortage and loss of human habitat. In this case, the fate of the poorest people in Central Africa is hardly different from the fate of the apes as they both suffer from civilization penetrating into the wild.

Due to the mentioned interrelation, the problem has to be resolved by a set of complex measures considering that better environment would mean better living conditions for the poor. However, this problem is aggravated by high human mobility, instable political environment, and conflicts of interest related to illegal commercial use of natural resources. Additionally, recent experience shows that where people are dependent on bushmeat, they are likely to resolve the problem of poverty by massive hunting, but not by application of new economic methods This makes the implementation of strategies aimed on poverty reduction complicated, if at all possible.

IV. SOLUTIONS TO PONDER
A. Policy and Legislation
Bushmeat problem is a subject of both international and national legislation and policy. On the international plane bush wildlife fells under protection of Convention on Biological Diversity, signed, inter alia by Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Cte dIvoire, Mozambique, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and other nations of Central and West Africa. Article 6 of the mentioned Convention provides an obligation to

(a) Develop national strategies, plans or programmes for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity or adapt for this purpose existing strategies, plans or programmes which shall reflect, inter alia, the measures set out in this Convention relevant to the Contracting Party concerned and (b) Integrate, as far as possible and as appropriate, the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity into relevant sectoral or cross-sectoral plans, programmes and policies.

The earlier Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife Flora and Fauna (CITES) established restrictions for such trade for wildlife conservation, including the obligation of the parties to establish inner legal restrictions for such trade (articles 3-6 of the Convention). The parties to the convention are all states of West and Central Africa. In 2000, the Central African parties to the CITES (including Cameroon, Gabon, CAR, Congo and Equatorial Guinea) established a sub-regional working group for management of protected wildlife areas and identified particular steps in the sphere of harmonization of legislation, enforcement of national wildlife protection policies, informational support of wildlife protection campaigns and sustainable natural resources management. In 2001, the parties set up measurable standards to monitor their progress. Currently, the program is being implemented by the states-parties, including following legislative measures taken by the states

Republic of Congo. The Congolese law N48 .83 of 21 April 1983 enforces several guidelines for wildlife exploitation, granting of licenses and permissions for wildlife exploitations and wildlife protection, as well as sets up the list of offenses against wildlife and corresponding sanctions.

Following the 2000 Conference Congo adopted a new Forestry Code, which notably expanded the powers of the national Forest Administration, as well as aggravated responsibility for forestry legislation violations. As of 2003 the Congolese parliament actively worked to pass new laws on forestry and wildlife, paying special attention to development of communications and informational strategies.

Republic of Cameroon. The new Cameroonian Forestry Code divided the forests of Cameroon into permanent protected forests and permanent forests in which human activities are permitted. The code additionally regulates the use of hunting weapons and methods, providing decentralized forest management and protection exercised by the local communities.

Cameroonian government actively promotes European-sponsored wildlife protection programs (ECOFAC, APFT, PCGBC, FOFARI, CARPE, PRGIE, SNV, GEF, TREES). Most notably, The National Forestry Action Plan provided opportunities for broad reformation of national policies, increased official awareness, and foreign assistance.

The Republic of Gabon. Gabon applies a model similar to the one of Cameroon, including adoption of a new Forestry Code which contains the classification of wild species living on the Gabonese territory, conditions of hunting and organization of synergetic events in the hunting areas, establishment of cooperation between rural hunters and urban meat traders, and conditions for obtaining hunting permits and licenses.

The Republic of Equatorial Guinea. Bellos report notes that Equatorial Guinea is striving to implement regional wildlife protection policies beyond formal dedication. As one of the initiators of 2000 meeting, Equatorial Guinea started implementing policies similar to those developed in 2000 and to those in its legislation already which were established during the 1990s. These include legislations on wildlife conservation, sustainable use of natural resources, and forestry areas fragmentation and protection. National Forestry Development Fund has been in existence in Equatorial Guinea since 1994, National Parks have been created by a decree of 1997, and forestry areas have been protected since 2000.

The Central Africa Republic. The state has demonstrated its dedication to wildlife protection since 1984 when the Order N84-045 of 27 July 1984 set forth the basic principles of hunting activities. The law amended the provisions of Order N74-72 of 28 June 1974 concerning bushmeat trade. The modified legislation provides obligatory licensing of hunting activities, as well as reporting of both by bushmeat hunters and traders. Although recent ECOFAC project offered further amendments, these have not been yet effectively implemented.

Currently, illegal bushmeat hunting and trading is a matter of concern far beyond African states. European governments have implemented policies to prevent illegal bushmeat import from entering the European Union. In 2002 the European Parliament unanimously passed a resolution condemning bushmeat trade. The World Bank and the European Union are cooperating with African States in their efforts to prevent illegal bushmeat hunting. Such cooperation includes scientific and technical support like creation of working groups to increase public awareness of the problem both in Africa and worldwide.

B. Land Use Considerations.
The abovementioned policies can be viewed as a first step towards development of effective natural resources management and wildlife protection policy. Currently, African nations implemented only some fire-extinguishing measures like certification and control over bushmeat hunting and prohibition of illegal bushmeat trade. Only Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea currently introduced long-term legislative measures for the creation of sustainable land use and protection areas like national parks and protected zones (like Equatorial Guinea) or development of non-exhausting and nature-friendly framing and logging (like Cameroon). It should thus be expected that other African nations would copy Cameroonian and Guinean experience, including establishment of forestry administrations and classification of lands.

Cameroon offers a prospection for further development of lands management in Africa. Alternatives to Slash and Burn (ASL) program is currently applied in Southern Cameroon aimed to study the impact of primitive exhaustive methods of farming on the quality of land and classify agricultural lands based on the program findings. Application of similar programs in other African countries could be effective for the implementation of more effective and less exhaustive farming methods which would enable solving nutrition problems and thus reduce the dependency of the locals on bushmeat.

C. Awareness and Education.
As shown above, the bushmeat crisis is largely a result of poor awareness of rural African people of the problem and expected consequences. Thus, the promotion of education and awareness is likely to be effective in combating bushmeat crisis. As long as the bushmeat crisis remains to be a complex problem, it requires complex informational and educational campaigning in all fields, from population control to propaganda against illegal hunting.

Education has been identified as one of the primary means to combat illegal bushmeat trade by the Food and Agricultural Organization in 2002. Among existing notable educational programs are

- CERCOPAN project (Nigeria) is designed for students. The project includes educational rally, traditional dance festival, banner competition

- Bushmeat Crisis Discussion Group (Cameroon). The purpose of the project is to encourage wildlife conservation by educating the future generations of the Africans and to increase general awareness of the bushmeat crisis in the African society through the establishment of wildlife clubs in secondary schools, organization of field tours and other awareness activities.

- Forests Partners International (Liberia). The program was implemented by a group of officers educating people in areas around Sapo National Park. Attention is drawn to sustainable use of wildlife resources and explanation of threats caused by uncontrolled hunting.

Several educational programs are performed by major western zoos in cooperation with the African zoos. Such projects are designed both for African and Western audience. The latter is becoming increasingly aware of the bushmeat crisis, including through global youth cooperation projects. Thus, the Jane Goodall Institute supports the Roots and Shoots youth project dealing, among other issues with the bushmeat crisis in the programs like Tchimpounga Youth Campaign.

D. Public  Private Initiatives.
Educational projects are designed for long-term perspective to make African societies involved into solution of the bushmeat problem both on public and private planes. The public level includes national governments, local communities and commercial companies, the private level includes NGOs and individuals.

The basic task of the states is to pass effective wildlife protection legislation including delimitation of forest areas and defining protected areas and areas of free hunting, hiring personnel for monitoring and prevention of illegal bushmeat hunting, licensing hunting and sale of hunting ammunition, prevention of commercial trade with illegal bushmeat, research for alternative sources of proteins, care of sustainable logging, development of nature-friendly infrastructure projects, promotion of nation-wide research of wildlife state and protection prospective, and promotion of environmental education and awareness.

The initiatives of local communities may include sustainable use of land, promotion of local nature protection systems, environmental education on local level, development of alternative sources of living for the local communities, combating customary and religious practices of hunting endangered species, monitoring and prevention of bushmeat trade within the community.

On the part of the private companies, one should expect teaching and training employees to apply nature protection practices such as contributing to sustainable nature resources management (for example, planting trees by the logging companies), monitoring and preventing bushmeat hunting in the areas of their interest and by their employees, and ensuring that the companys equipment and transport are not employed for bushmeat hunting.

Non-government organizations and individuals can contribute to resolution of the bushmeat crisis by adhering to governmental regulations and policies on biodiversity conservation, non-government research and monitoring, collaborating with the government and local communities in solving the crisis, promotion of general awareness and knowledge, research and suggestion of alternative protein sources, arranging teaching and training within local communities. The additional task for the NGOs shall be arranging of informational exchange between nations facing the bushmeat crisis. The first step towards such general non-government cooperation is the alliance formed by several international NGOs establishing a working group on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Currently, the alliance concentrates on enforcement of existing regulations. However, they may actively contribute to the development of new regulations and policies in the future.

E. Food Security and Livelihoods.
The ultimate resolution of the bushmeat crisis is possible only in case when its primary cause is eliminated, namely the critical dependency of the local livelihoods on animal proteins acquired from bushmeat (see Sections I and II of the present paper). Neither of the above measures is likely to be effective without resolving this underlying problem. Thus, the African governments striving to eliminate the bushmeat problem will have to offer alternative methods of agricultural production and alternative sources of animal proteins.

Apparently, the overcoming of the food crisis would require the governments and the publicity to recognize two basic facts 1.) The bushmeat is an unreliable, unstable and unsecured source of nutrition 2.) There are biological limits of the environmental system, including limits of food which can be provided by a particular territory and limits of population which is able to subsist in a particular territory.

As has been mentioned previously in this paper, alternative sources of nutrition do exist, including agricultural crops, fish and household animals. The best solution for the African nations would be complex development of their agricultural sectors in order to ensure availability of replaceable protein sources. Another solution would be to overcome the isolation of separated rural communities and arranging cooperation between regions and internationally. This would enable fast delivery of food in case of short-term lack of nutrition products in a particular community (for example in the case of draught) thus increasing their food supply security and discouraging the locals from viewing the bush as a source of cheap and available meat.

V. CONCLUSIONS
It can be asserted that the first and most important step towards the resolution of the bushmeat crisis has already been made. African nations and the entire mankind have acknowledged the problem and the need to combat it. Notable measures are already being taken, including the establishment of international and national legal framework and the development of long-term anti-crisis policies. Nations like Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea proved to be successful in the enforcement of legislative measures directed against the crisis. However, the performed actions enabled to mitigate the immediate threats only. A solid performance in combating the bushmeat crisis has yet to be achieved.

In the midterm perspective, anti-crisis measures have to be targeted at resolution of general nutrition problems in Central Africa. Finding alternative sustainable source of protein and providing food supplies security for the rural livelihoods would enable to eliminate the underlying cause of the crisis.

The long-term perspective should be directed at achievement of two purposes 1.) sustainable nature resources management, including logging and commercial hunting 2.) education of the African people in issues concerning wildlife protection and sustainable natural resources management in general and threats associated with bushmeat in particular. With consideration of this prospective, an ultimate resolution of the bushmeat crisis appears to be a matter of two or three decades.