Procedural Fairness free essay sample

The Minister of International Relations did not properly consult with Ms Engels, the process that was conducted by the Minister was procedurally unfair.This is because according to section 33 of the 1996 Constitution of the RSA everyone is entitled to an administrative action that is lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair. According to the common law principle of audi alteram partem the administrator had to give the other party timely and proper notice of the intended administrative action and the author of the administrative act had to give the other party the opportunity to present his side of the case, unless the law provides the contrary to such an issue. Looking at the action of the Minister, the Minister did not give Ms Engels any notice of the intended administrative action or the opportunity to present her side of the story. Therefore, the Minister ignored the audi alterem partem rule unfairly, her conduct is as a result procedurally unfair. We will write a custom essay sample on Procedural Fairness or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Ms Engels has a right to approach a court.Looking at legislation the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, when section 6(2)(c) is read with 3 and 4S 6(1) any person may institute proceedings in a court or a tribunal for the judicial review of an administrative action;(2) a court or tribunal has the power to judicially review an administrative action if;(c) the action was procedurally unfair.In determining if an administrative action was fair it will depend on the merits of each case. However, in order to give effect to a procedurally fair administrative action, an administrator must give a person the following minimum requirements: enough notice regarding the nature and purpose of administrative action (Nkomo Case, Bushula case, the Cape Killarney), an appropriate chance to make representation, a clear statement detailing the administrative action, options of review or internal appeals, and adequate notice of the right to request reasons in terms of s 5.(In Joseph v City of Joh annesburg, the Constitutional court held that the discretion to enforce the above requirements rests with the court). Ms Engels was not provided with any of the above, she was not informed of the nature and purpose of the administrative action, given a chance to make representation, any explanation of the administrative action, a chance to ask for reasons or information regarding her right to review or appeal the Ministers decision. Therefore, the requirements above were not followed.1Issues regarding the Discretions of the court are found in section 3(3). If only it is reasonable and justifiable, the administrator may depart from section 3 (2) as found in section 3 (4). However, such a departure has to take the following factors into consideration:1. The object of the empowering provision;2. The nature and purpose of and the need to take administrative action;3. The likely effect of the administrative action;4. The urgency of taking the Administrative action;5. The need to promote a good governance and efficient administration.Section 3 (5) allows a fair procedure if the administrator has departed from the Usual procedure. An administrative action in section 1 of PAJA is defined as a decision of administrative nature by an organ of state or juristic person exercising power or performing a public function in terms of any legislation which adversely affects the rights of any person and which has a direct external legal effect. It must be noted that s3(1) applies if the rights or legitimate expectations have been violated and such must be materially and negatively affected by an action of the administrator. If the decision taken by the Minister had adversely affected the public, section 4 would have applied. Because this section states the types of public participations such as Notice and comment, public hearings, and the combination, in order to ensure procedural fairness. At common law there is also what is called Nemo iudex in sau causa.This is a rule that is clearly against bias because for example it holds that no person may become a presiding officer on his own trial and that decision making must always be fair. A review is not only possible in terms of section 6(2) (c), but according to section 6(2)(a)(iii) a court has the power to review an administrative action where the administrator was biased or reasonably suspected of bias. In law there is a principle which state that justice should not only be done, but also be seen to be done.2In the SARFU case it was held that decision makers must approach each matter with an open mind and must impartially consider both sides, before making a decision. There must be nothing which indicates the existence of bias whether it is suspicion or an apprehension. In conclusion of the above, the administrative action of the Minister was not procedurally fair, the Minister did not consider Ms Engels rights at any point of her considerations as reported by the media. No consultation with Ms Engels was conduct or a public participation of any nature. The administrative action violated the common law principles, legislation and the Constitution. Therefore, such unfair procedure is reviewable in court and/or it can be appealed internally.(b)This concerns the reasonability of the action of the Minister, the question is, whether the Ministers administrative action was reasonable? Because ss 6(2)(f)(ii) state that anyone can refer a matter to court or a tribunal and such a tribunal or court can review an administrative action if the action was unlawful or irrational. And ss 6(2)(h) further holds that such an exercise of power or performance if it is lawful and is conducted for the purpose for which it was made and if it is unreasonable to the extent t hat no one could have exercised such power or function.Therefore ss 6(2)(f)(ii) and ss 6(2)(h) gives a right to challenge the Ministers decision on the basis of reasonableness, lawfulness and rationality. Ms Engels can thus challenge the decision of the Minister in court or tribunal to be reviewed.The common law also differentiated between an appeal and a review. Various tests for reasonableness were available to test legislative, judicial and the so called pure administrative action. In Union Government v Union Steel Corporation it was held that only an indicated unreasonableness was considered and a combination of other grounds of review also were available. In the National Transport Commission v Chettys Motor Transport it was held that an Administrative action could be reviewed only if it was grossly unreasonable. The above makes an impression that such action should be unequal, oppress, mala fide and unclear.3The Constitution tests whether the reasons for the administrative action can be justified. According to Yvonne burns, Jacques de Ville and De Waal, Currie ; Erasmus we need to look if the action was reasonable, rational, proportional and suitable. In Kotze v Minister of Health the common law test was applied, However in Standard Bank of Botswana v Reynolds it was held that unreasonableness was an independent ground of review and the common law test as stated above was not applicable. In Roman v Williams the court extended the Grounds of Review to include suitable, necessary, and proportionality. Such grounds are reasonable. Looking at all the case law mentioned above an inference could be made that the courts are inconsistently with regards to the grounds of review.Rationality focus on the biasness of the decision maker and it is objective (Carephone (Pty) Ltd v Marcus). Therefore, an action of the Administrator is reviewable if there is no connection that is rationally between the decision and the grounds found in ss 6(2)(f)(ii). There has to be proportionality, the administrator has to balance all appropriate means. Looking at the decision of the Minister, the decision was irrational, and it lacked proportionality because the Minister did not consider the individual rights of Ms Engels.Since there is no clear definition of what is reasonable, the is no need for the action of the administrator to be perfect but the decision has to at least be satisfactory and legitimate. Therefore, reasonableness will depend on the circumstances of each case. The courts should demonstrate a respect for the law and the decisions of the administrator. The court should in essence only interpret the law and ensure that that the rule of law prevails.In conclusion the Minister should have ensured that the rule of law is applied and not grant Dr G Mugabe immunity without consulting the courts and more so Ms Engels. Ms Engels can thus challenge the Ministers decision for non-compliance with ss 6(2)(f)(ii) and 6(2)(h) of PAJA. The Ministers decision was politically focused, although according to section 7 (2) of the Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges Act she has the power to confer such immunities she should have consulted all the relevant parties, hear them and make a relevant decision.4BIBLIOGRAPHYCora Hoexter Administrative Law in South Africa (Juta Cape Town 2007)Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges Act 37 of 2001 file:///C:/Users/Maebela/Downloads/diplomaticimmunitiesandprivilegesact.pdf accessed 16 May 2018Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000 file:///C:/Users/Maebela/Downloads/PAJA.pdf accessed 16 May 20185

Free Essays on Socrates & Crito

Topic: Does Socrates convince you (as he seems to have persuaded Crito) that an agreement obliges him to remain in Athens and face execution? Crito is a dialogue between Socrates and the title character in which both men discuss whether Socrates should or should not attempt to escape from an execution sentenced by the state of Athens. The scene is set a few days before the actual execution of Socrates is scheduled to take place. Crito approaches Socrates in his prison cell and attempts to persuade him into running away with the monetary and physical help of Crito and Socrates’ other friends and admirers. Crito gives a number of reasons why Socrates should run away basing his reasons around how Socrates should avoid harm (e.g. by running away, Socrates will avoid harming his friends and their reputation, his children, and so forth). Socrates is faced with making a decision in a limited amount of time (i.e. the decision to run away). Socrates rejects Crito’s reasons for running away, and then presents his own arguments about why running away would be committing a wrongful act. Before Socrates begins his two arguments, Crito concedes to Socrates’ assertion that if two parties have come to an agreement, then the agreement must always be held. By not upholding the agreement, one party is causing harm to the other. And, both Socrates and Crito believe that it is always wrong to harm another, in any situation. Socrates then begins to speak of his association with the laws. He states that if he were to run away, he would destroy the laws because he would leave the laws equivalent to nothing. If Socrates were to claim that the city had wronged him, and its decision was not right, the laws would reply that there was an agreement between Socrates and the nation of Athens (and its subsequent laws) which both parties had agreed to and as a consequence, the agreement required Socrates to remain in prison and serve his sentence... Free Essays on Socrates & Crito Free Essays on Socrates & Crito Topic: Does Socrates convince you (as he seems to have persuaded Crito) that an agreement obliges him to remain in Athens and face execution? Crito is a dialogue between Socrates and the title character in which both men discuss whether Socrates should or should not attempt to escape from an execution sentenced by the state of Athens. The scene is set a few days before the actual execution of Socrates is scheduled to take place. Crito approaches Socrates in his prison cell and attempts to persuade him into running away with the monetary and physical help of Crito and Socrates’ other friends and admirers. Crito gives a number of reasons why Socrates should run away basing his reasons around how Socrates should avoid harm (e.g. by running away, Socrates will avoid harming his friends and their reputation, his children, and so forth). Socrates is faced with making a decision in a limited amount of time (i.e. the decision to run away). Socrates rejects Crito’s reasons for running away, and then presents his own arguments about why running away would be committing a wrongful act. Before Socrates begins his two arguments, Crito concedes to Socrates’ assertion that if two parties have come to an agreement, then the agreement must always be held. By not upholding the agreement, one party is causing harm to the other. And, both Socrates and Crito believe that it is always wrong to harm another, in any situation. Socrates then begins to speak of his association with the laws. He states that if he were to run away, he would destroy the laws because he would leave the laws equivalent to nothing. If Socrates were to claim that the city had wronged him, and its decision was not right, the laws would reply that there was an agreement between Socrates and the nation of Athens (and its subsequent laws) which both parties had agreed to and as a consequence, the agreement required Socrates to remain in prison and serve his sentence...

Compare and Contrast American Slavery to British Slavery Term Paper

Compare and Contrast American Slavery to British Slavery - Term Paper Example What is also important to note that slavery still exists in some other forms and people are still being slaved for different reasons. Recent news from Britain highlight that it may be existing in its traditional form even in societies like Britain in this era also. US and Britain are two of the most important countries in the world with rich history of slavery. Though both these countries are the developed countries but both these countries have a history of slavery and slave trade and it was legally abolished in 19th century. It is however, important to note that the nature of slavery and its mechanics were different in both the countries. This paper will discuss and highlight the comparison and contrast between the slavery in both these countries with special emphasis on how historical the patterns of slavery changed over the period of time in both these countries. Slavery in Britain Slavery in Britain is often less talked of and is find rare mention in the academic literature howe ver; Britain was one of the few countries which abolished the slavery trade in 1807 despite the fact that slave trade was one of the profitable occupations in the country. The overall history of slavery in Britain is however, more than 2000 years old with evidence of Romans mentioning about the British slaves. What is relatively different about Briton slaves was the fact that they enjoyed few rights and were not easily replaceable. However, they could marry with the consent of their Lord and had to work for fixed number of days without actually expecting payment for the work rendered. From 16th century to 19th century, Britain were also forced as slaves by the Barbary Pirates who were able to capture British ships and forced the sailors to slavery and were traded as slaves in other markets. (Morgan 2007) It is critical to note that the British Slave trade was the significant part of the overall history of slavery in the country. Slaves from North and East Africa were a common practi ce and Britain along with other European nations was actively involved in the trade of slaves from this region. More importantly, slaves were traded because Britain required labor and manpower to develop the land and its resources in Americas. The British slave trade therefore was largely based upon the notion of providing required manpower to the landowners as plantation owners in Americas. However, history of slavery trade in Britain also dates back to 1500s wherein British slave traders filled in the gap to provide slaves for sugar plantation in Americas and exported the processed sugar back to other countries of Europe. The Britain therefore became part of the Triangular trade in slavery wherein Portuguese as well as Dutch were involved in the slave trade also. Britain made a late entry into this market to fill in the gap left open by these two nations. (Morgan, 2000) The Workhouse slavery was another form of slavery which emerged in United Kingdom. This sort of slavery flourish ed wherein those who were poor with no alternatives were assigned to workhouses and were put under the forced labor. Workhouses also took new born illegitimate babies and subsequently put them in forced labor as they grew old and became capable of working. The modern roots of slavery in Britain also suggest that those who were convicted or punished were often sent as slaves to work on the government projects in the colonies of the British

Drug Court System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Drug Court System - Essay Example Hence, the introduction of various criminal justice programs to achieve this goal (James Ernest Lessenger, 2007, p. 126). The program we focus on is the Drug court system. Drug courts can be described as judicially monitored court dockets, whose aim is to handle cases involving non-violent substance abuse offenders under the juvenile, adult, tribal and family justice systems. These courts operate under a unique model where the defense, prosecution, law enforcement, social service, probation and the judiciary work as one to assist offenders recover and become valuable citizens. Drug courts were formed in 1989 when Miami-Dade County officials formulated a thorough, community based, rehabilitation, treatment, and supervisory program for drug defendants who were non-violent, to deal with increasing recidivism rates. These exceptional courts were established to incorporate treatment of drug problems into America’s criminal justice system, handling offenders with drug abuse history for their addiction, and at the same time ensuring supervision, and sanctions where necessary, from these courts (O’Hear, 2009, p. 105). The need for these courts in sentencing drug offenders arose from the dawning reality that America’s method in combating drug abuse by law enforcement strategies continued to cause a significant challenge for the country’s criminal court system. Drug related crime has continuously been an enormous burden for the American society, one whereby supply reduction techniques have unsuccessfully eliminated. Since 1989, these courts have scattered throughout America, and their movement has reflected the desire to change the focus from attempting to address drug crimes by cutting off their supply, to combating drug demand through addiction treatment. Drug courts have used criminal justice system to combat drug addictions by an integrated set of legal and social services instead of dependence on sanctions through probation or incarcerati on (O’Hear, 2009, p. 128). Drug courts have achieved success, the principal one being recidivism reduction when offenders are in the program and after. Drug courts are centered on close monitoring of offenders, with increased drug testing. These courts generate savings due to reduced prison time, reduce criminal justice expenses and reduce criminality. Offenders who have passed through this program have reduced recidivism rates than those who have not. Drug courts have demonstrated the feasibility of hiring a team based, problem solving strategy to adjudicating drug offenders in a manner that improves public safety, and criminal behavior is also reduced tremendously when offenders participate in this program (David W. Neubauer, 2010, p. 284). Several components describe the operational procedure of Drug courts, but with variation on the population of the defendant background and legal issues. In their legal framework, there are two Drug court models; post adjudication program s and deferred prosecution programs. In deferred prosecution, defendants who meet particular qualification requirements are directed towards Drug court system before pleading to a particular charge. They are expected not to plead guilty, and the ones who complete the program are not prosecuted any further, but failure to finish the program leads to prosecution. In post adjudication, defendants are supposed to plead guilty, but their

Spirit Myth and Sacredness in Architecture Essay

Spirit Myth and Sacredness in Architecture - Essay Example Shortly after the Buddha's death, history records a scramble for his remains amongst monks from across the Indian subcontinent. His remains were finally divided into eight portions, each being placed in one of the twelve original Stupas that were built. Few of the original stupas still survive, but stupas continued to be built long after the Buddha's death with progressive modification of subsequent design as its meaning became more and more symbolic. However, the building of Stupas began long before the Buddha himself, as relic holding monuments of rulers. The symbolism was acquired at a much later date. To quote authors Thurman and Leidy (1997) : "Stupas began in pre-Buddhist India as hemispherical burial grounds that marked the remains of temporal rulers. At an early stage in the development of Buddhist art, they became symbols of the Buddha's continuing immanance as well as representations of his mind........the fourteen rings around the spire (that are seen in all "modern" stupas) are all that remainn of the royal umbrellas often found in earlier stupas. They symbolise the fourteen stages traversed in the attainment of buddhahood; the four tantric stages added to the ten bodhisattva stages." In its basic essence, a stupa represented the sitting posture of saints and the Buddha as shown in Figure 1, as it was customary for saints to be buried in a sitting posture. However, the Buddha wished to be cremated and his ashes to be distributed to eight kingdoms after his death to be housed in Stupas. Therefore the stupas were built according to a basic plan of the Buddha seated for meditation, to encourage generations afterwards to seek salvation through spiritual practice. Figure 1. The sitting Buddha However, after his remains were distributed to the eight kingdoms, the differences in Stupa architecture represented the eight different stages of his life as shown below in Figures 2. This was the original basis of symbolism based on the Buddha's life, but with time, the interpretations and further embellishments changed the architectural pattern of the Stupas. Figure 2. The eight original Stupa plans Deconstructing the Symbolism of the later Stupa All stupas are built basically according to the principles that govern the process of Enlightenment that takes place during the acquisition of the Buddha-mind. Figure 3 shows the basic philosophical interpretations of the elements that made up a Stupa in its Figure 3. Basic Stupa elements. entirety - (a) the ornamental pole of parasol or canopy, representing wind , (b) the cone or harmika , representing fire, (c) the hemispherical round dome representing water, (d) the square base, reprenting the earth, and (e) the parasol itself, representing space. At a higher order of understanding, these basic elements can be interpreted as Higher States of the Buddha mind as explained by the Buddhist master Dilgo Rinpoche :" These are the essential attributes of a fully realised human being: the base of the stupa signifies earth and equanimity; the dome, water and indestructibility; the spire, fire and compassion; above the spire, wind and all-accomplishing action; and at the very top, the jewel represents space and all-pervading awareness. The stupa is a mandala, or sacred arrangement, containing all of these enlightened qualities." However, the

Ethical Issues In Contractors Tendering Practices Construction Essay

Ethical Issues In Contractors Tendering Practices Construction Essay Ethics examine the morality of human conduct; it studies the basic principles of moral behaviour and is concern with the right or wrong of human behaviour. Every rational human being has an idea of what it is for something to be right or wrong, although sometimes it is difficult to evaluate what is wrong or right depending on the circumstance of such action (Etim, 1999). Business ethics is therefore a collection of moral principles or a set of values dealing with what is right or wrong, good or bad in business transactions. Such sets of values are being shared within the business community as well as the society as a whole. Moral ideas are considered to be inappropriate for everyday business dealings and some actions are disregarded due to the strong desire to make profit. Some have argued that ethics and business do not mix, and that the two are in direct conflict with each other. In fact, it has been said that companies that are truly ethical are going out of existence. Construction contracts can be obtained by negotiation or by competitive tendering (Shash, 1993; Ashworth, 2001). In competitive tendering, an owner invites a selected number of contractors to compete for the project. This method of tendering is considered as the most common means by which building and engineering contracting firms obtain works, and the dominant mechanism for allocating construction contracts (Ward, 1979; Yusif and Odeyinka, 2000; Ashworth, 2001; Hiyassat, 2001; Harris and McCaffer, 2001; Shen et al, 2004). The business of tendering for construction contracts has a large ethical component. Ethical principles in tendering are formally prescribed in the codes of conduct related to tendering process. The codes are designed to delegate responsibilities to both competing contractors and the client and to minimize the potentials for unethical practices. This work intends to examine cover pricing, collusive tendering and rate loading among other unethical practices which construction contractors sometimes engage in during tendering. Cover pricing in construction tendering Fu, Drew and Lo (2004) observe that contractors tendering behaviour is subject to their winning intent. It is however known that winning may not be the only objective in tendering. Although the tendering codes stipulates that tenderers shall only bid where they intend to carry out the work if successful, some contractors for some reasons sometime decide to submit tenders based on cover-price. Cover prices are tender prices which have been provided at rates specifically designed to lose the tender but which may appear to be competitive. Despite attempts to prevent this practice, several instances of cover pricing sometimes called non-serious tenders have been reported. When a contractor with a reasonable workload receives a set of tender documents from a reputable client and consulting organizations, the contractor has to decide what to do: first whether to do nothing, to return the tender documents or to submit a tender. A tender may be submitted in one of three ways: by obtaining a cover price, by preparing a tender based on accurate estimate, and by preparing a tender based on approximate estimate. The option to do nothing is not considered suitable due to the potential harm such a course of action might cause to the reputation of the contractor with the client, consultants and their business contacts. Also the option of returning the tender documents may be perceived by the contractor as unsatisfactory because it might mean exclusion from future tender list, although this should not be the case according to the code of procedure for tendering. Some reasons for the issuing of cover price by contractors to include: little interest in the contract; lack of resources to competently complete the work; shortage of time to compile tender; desire to remain considered for future contracts; and little chance of winning due to the large number competing contractors for the same contract. It is reported in Skitmore and Runeson (1999) that clients often give the perception that a failure to tender will prejudice a contracting firm in the future tendering exercise, and the consequence of this is the so called cover price which cannot easily be distinguished from a genuine competitive tender. Also, Runeson (1988) remarks that some tenders are based on cover prices not intended to win the contract and therefore above the expected price, and submitted to recover deposit moneys or to keep faith with the client or consultants. However, Lowe and Parvar (2004) provide a different perspective to cover pricing. They submit that tendering options available to a contractor are simply acceptance or rejection of the tendering opportunity, although, rejection does not mean that the contractor does not submit a tender. Unsatisfactory past experience with a particular client or consultants regarding personality or payment, high cost of tendering and inadequate information often resulted in inflation of the tender price (cover price) rather than a refusal to tender. Cover price can ruin the competitiveness of a tendering process and can also lead to collusion among tendering contractors. However, despite its unethical nature and illegality in some countries, there are some arguments in its favour. The shortage of time to compile a bona fide tender could compel a contractor to submit tenders based on cover price. The recognition of this fact may have prompted the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) in its Code of Procedure for Competitive Tender to state that: time allowed for completion of tender should relate to the scope of project. Adequate tendering time allows tenderers to obtain competitive quotations and thus, ensure the return of most competitive prices with least mistakes (Clause 4.2.1) Lowe and Parvar (2004) believe that only few contractors will actually decline an invitation to tender. However, it appears that contractors react differently to the perceived fear that the option of returning tender documents might exclude them from clientsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ future tender process The report of a survey of some Nigerian building contractors indicate that when they receive a set of tender documents at a time their firms have a reasonable workload, they return the tender documents to the clients or their representatives with an apology for their firmsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ inability to tender. Only a few contractors admit to engaging in the practice of cover pricing. Contractors who admit to using cover pricing in tendering reveal that their action is mostly driven by little or no interest in the contract under consideration and the desire to remain considered for future contracts and tendering process. Some contractors cited other reasons such as the personality of the cl ient, risk and unpredictability of the construction period as well as heavy workload as some reasons why cover pricing may be an option for their firms. Whether or not a cover price is provided with good intention, the fact remains that it results in lessening real competition of tenders. Collusion in Tendering Chen et al (2005) submit that one purpose of the standard tendering procedures is to reduce potential for collusion and manipulation of pricing. According to Ray et al (1999), collusion is a method of pricing control by contractors to substantially lessen competition. Collusive tendering occurs where several contractors have been invited to tender and the contractors agree among themselves either not to tender, or to tender in such a manner as not to be competitive with the other contractors. It has the effect of substantially lessening competition. The main reasons for this practice among contractors are that it provides: an even distribution of construction work for all the contractors involved a means of entering what is an apparently bona fide tender a means for discussion and agreement over illicit profit making such as amounts for cover price, and unsuccessful tendering fee. The practice, or possibilities for the practice of collusion is a factor among several other issues related to ethical tendering, and it is contrary to the ideals of competition. It only benefits those parties to the agreement at the expense of those outside, including clients and other contractors. Sheldon cited in Ray et al (1999), while examining collusion in the UK, holds that collusion agreement are seen as an attractive means of maintaining a steady flow of work and achieving higher, risk-adjusted, discounted profit. The tender codes of some countries clearly prohibit unethical practices such as collusion on tenders, inflation of prices to compensate unsuccessful tenderers or any such secret arrangements. The very fact that tendering contractors communicate with each other can be taken to be a form of collusive behaviour under competitive tendering process. Though, little evidence of collusive tendering seems to be available in Nigeria construction industry, it is pertinent for industry practitioners and clients to be aware of the possibility of such unethical practice. Rate loading Usually, a construction tender is priced in such a way that the prices of each item comprise the cost of that item plus a uniform percentage allowed as profit and overheads. This is not always the case. Contractors may mark up the bill items by different percentages to create some element of rate-loading in order to create a favourable cash flow. Two aspects of rate loading are front-end loading and claims loading. Construction contracts only become self-financing towards the completion of the project. Therefore contractors are required to engage a considerable amount of their own capital in the execution of the work, at least in the early stage. In an attempt to minimize the involvement of their capital and make the project self-financing at an early stage, they resort to price manipulations. Items which the contractor expects to be executed early in the project have prices which contain a disproportionately large content of overheads and profits and items to be executed in the later stage of the project have their prices reduced accordingly to maintain competitiveness (Fellows et al, 2002). This pricing strategy in construction tenders is referred to as front-end loading. Due to the time-value of money, the situation further benefit contractors but place a cash flow burden and greater risk on clients. There is also the practice of claims loading where contractors insert higher profit margin into unit rates related to those work items which they expect to be increased through variation orders during the execution of the contract (Xu and Tiong, 2002). Conclusion Unethical tendering practices such as cover pricing, collusive tendering and rate loading have the potential of reducing real competition and eroding the benefits of competitive tendering. They can also place enormous financial burden on client. Construction consultants therefore have a duty to carefully examine tenders for construction contracts to identify any such practice and possibly caution or sanction contractors who may have engage in these practices.

Chernobyl :: Ukraine Disaster History Essays

Chernobyl 1986 was a year of several meaningful worldwide events, some of which included the Voyager 2 got details and pictures of Uranus, the space shuttle Challenger exploded on takeoff, and Haley’s comet soared past Earth (infoplease.com). Perhaps the event that alarmed the world the most, however, was the major nuclear accident that occurred at the nuclear power plant Chernobyl. The nuclear disaster that occurred at Chernobyl in 1986 (Lecture 4/1/02), has forever changed the way that nuclear power plants are viewed by the world. Chernobyl is now an abandoned city in north Ukraine because at 1:23 am on April 26th (Chernobyl.com), during an â€Å"unauthorized test of one of the plant's four reactors, engineers initiated an uncontrolled chain reaction in the core of the reactor after disabling emergency backup systems† (infoplease.com). The type of reactor used at Chernobyl was a graphite-water reactor (Lecture 3/25/02). This means that the moderator of the reactor is graphite, and the coolant is water (Lecture 3/25/02). According to Chernobyl.com, technicians allowed the power level in the fourth reactor to fall to an extremely low level, causing a core meltdown. An explosion ripped the top off the containment building, expelling radioactive material into the atmosphere for over ten days (Chernobyl.com). More was then released in a fire that followed, due to a second explosion that allowed air to rush into the reactor (world-nuclear.org). It was only after Swedish instruments detected a problem from the explosion that Soviet authorities admitted that an accident had occurred (infoplease.com). The reactor core was sealed off by air-dropping a cement mixture which included 5,000 tons of boron, dolomite, sand, clay and lead, but not before eight tons of radioactive material had escaped into the atmosphere (infoplease.com). It is estimated that all of the xenon gas, about half of the iodine and caesium, and at least 5% of the remaining radioactive material in the Chernobyl reactor core was released in the accident (world-nuclear.org). Over twenty firefighters died instantly from overexposure to radioactivity, while hundreds suffered from severe radiation sickness (infoplease.