Operations Management Business Plan

Operations Management Business Plan The Operation Management plays a major role in the organization. Operations management (OM) is the business action that plans, organizes, coordinates, and controls the assets bare to aftermath a companys appurtenance and services. Operations management is an administrative function. For example restaurant has different functions include purchasing, receiving, controlling, and requisition of raw material. Operations management deals with the architecture and administration of products, processes, and casework and accumulation chains. It considers the acquisition, development, and appliance of assets that firms charge to bear the appurtenances and casework their audience want. As the name suggests, the job of an operations manager in any alignment is to architecture and administer the activities in such a way, that the plan abundance of the advisers goes up as able-bodied as best appliance of the concrete assets of the alignment can be achieved. It is one of the capital responsibilities of an operations manager. One of the responsibilities of an operations Manager is to accommodate the advisers of the alignment with an able alive ambiance area adroitness can advance and aggregation spirit can develop the process. In my country Hotel is a major private sector what I observed. So I will discuss about the problems and challenges that are faced by the hotel industry. The main aim of the hotel industry is giving accommodation and food for the customers. There are different types of hotels depend upon the services provided to the customers. For example apartment hotel, commercial hotels, economy hotels, resorts, residential villas, etc. The Hotel industry is one of the most important industries for the country growth. The hotel industry is a complete industry apparent from acute competition. Market allotment increases about comes at a competitors expense. Industry-wide, a lot of advance occurs in the international, rather than the domestic, arena. Employees, customers, competitors, government, suppliers, are the main for the hotel business to grow and getting profits. The Taj Hotel The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) and its subsidiaries are collectively known as Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces and is recognized as one of Asias largest and finest hotel company. Incorporated by the founder of the Tata Group, Mr. Jamsetji N. Tata, the company opened its first property. Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces comprises 93 hotels in 55 locations across India with an additional 16 international hotels in the Maldives, Malaysia, Australia, UK, USA, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Africa and the Middle East. Literature Review/ Situation Analysis Operational management is regularly changing the new challenges for organization in the world. In the present century technology plays a very important role in the growth of every company. The world is shrinking because of technology, and the efficiency of all industries in the world has increased because of technology. In the same way the operation management is also developing with the advancement in technology. The direct result of this is the companies development, growth and increasing profits Operations Management has been recognized as an important agency in a countrys bread-and-butter growth. Operations Management was identified, as account area became added prominence. Rapid changes in technology have an Irish abundant opportunities and challenges, Rapid changes in technology have Irish abundant opportunities and challenges, which accept resulted in the accessory of manufacturing capabilities through new materials, facilities, techniques and procedures. Hence, managing an account arrangement has become an above claiming in the all-around aggressive environment. Operations management has been a key aspect in the advance and abundance in business around the world. In the Hotel scenario compare with operation management is goods in the terms of services like food, accommodation, like inputs to the customers and the outputs getting revenue to the hotel through customer paid money for the services received by the company. The Taj hotel is becomes one of the major 5 star category hotels in the world now. Generally the Taj hotel have different departments are present every where in the world. There are mainly two types of departments are exists in the hotel as follows Operational Department Administration Department These two department have again some branch departments are present as follows Operational Departments Food and Beverage Service Department Food and Beverage kitchen Department Housekeeping Department Front Office Department Administration Department Human Resource Department Security department Engineering and Maintenance department Sales and Marketing department Cost control department Provision department Finance and account department Food and Beverage Kitchen Department Kitchen is major department in the kitchen. In this department food will be cooked and maintained in hygiene way and will be served to the guest in the restaurant. In the Taj hotel kitchen they follow specific rules in the kitchen, the have different operation has to perform as it follows Get permission to use the kitchen. Wash your hands easily with soap and baptize afore starting your kitchen preparations. Continually ablution easily as bare like affecting the debris can or acrimonious up items from the floor. Re-read the cooking method several times. Accept all of the all-important ingredients. Put them out on the counter. Wash vegetables afore affable it. use the altered colors ample to anticipate aliment poisoning use apple-pie surfaces dont apprehend in the food dont accumulate meat so continued out of the freezer accumulate your accessories clean Get out all of the accessories like pans and barometer cups. Use oven pot holders if demography aliment in and out of the oven. Clean as you go along. Do NOT leave pots on the stove afterwards you are done application them. According to the designation cooks do their Operations in the kitchen. as follows Executive Chef: Executive chef is the person is responsible for the total actives in the kitchen. In ample operations, Executive Chef may accomplish authoritative duties alone and administer an amount of chefs. In operation, the Executive Chef or chef may both accomplish authoritative and assembly duties. in the kitchen (planning, conducting, training, hiring/firing).Responsible for Planning Menus (with restaurant mgr). Responsible for Recipe standardization, Has Knowledge and acquaintance in International and bounded cuisine. Sous chef: He is responsible for in the kitchen functions after executive chef. He will take care of the menu planning and briefing in the kitchen. Chef de partie: He is the in charge in the cooking in the staff food and head of the department. He will do roaster of the staff and records of food. Food and Beverage service Department This is sister department for the kitchen department. This department is having responsible room service, banquets, restaurants, lounges and pubs in the hotel. This department main aim is service food and beverages to guest in the hotel. Food is done in the kitchen and beverages made in the bar. They are different types of restaurants are present in the hotel like service restaurants, Fine dining restaurants, specialty restaurants, Food and beverage Manger: He is the in charge of all operations are held in the restaurant. He will do supervise of all the staff grooming, menu planning, The major Opeartion doing in the food and beverage service The major operation is serving the food and beverage in the restaurant or room service to the guest in the hotel. Making the cocktails and mock tails in front of the guest. Arrange the tables for the breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Making arrangements for the buffet service Communicate and co ordinate with the guest about food and beverages. Take feedback from the guest about food. Housekeeping Department This is backbone for the hotel industry. This is also one of the important departments in the hotel. The Main aim of the department is to keep the hotel premises and rooms in the hotel cleanly. The Major duty for the housekeeping staff is to clean the total areas in the hotel, rooms, staff areas, lockers in the kitchen. Beside that they are responsible for the decorating with the flowers in the rooms in the hotel. The major Operations are present in the housekeeping department as follows Guest Rooms: housekeeping department has to check the guest room before and after guest arrival and departure. Before the guest comes in the hotel they have to clean the room and keep all the amenities in the room and check all the fixtures are working properly or not. Once guest left the hotel they have to clean again room and any leftover by the guest they have to submit in the front office department in the hotel. Public areas: This public area includes lobby, Gym, lockers of staff, kids club etc. the public areas should clean regular basis in the hotel. Linen and laundry: This is place where all the clothes will be cleaned and given to the guest and staff of the hotel as well. So this place is the main for the hotel to keep it clean and fresh. Front Office Department This is the sister department for the housekeeping department. This department called public face department because once guest comes to the hotel he will see only front office people in the hotel. This department is centre of hotel functions. They have different operations has to perform in the hotel like guest receiving, welcoming, send guest in to room and explain the facilities in the room available in the hotel. Different Front Office people have to perform different operations doing in the hotel is as follows Executive Front office Manger: He is responsible person for the operation happening in the Front office department. He will prepare the duty roaster for the staff in the department. Prepare the records and reports of the guest. Reception: This department will provide the information about hotel and different departments in the hotel. They will attend the calls from the guest and answer and advise them in the corrective manner. Bell service: He is the responsible for the guest luggage. He will escort the guest till the room and explain the facilities present in the room. He will full details of the safety and security plans also. Concierge: she is the accountable person for the guest complaints. She will suggest the solution for guest problems. She will advise the guest for the about services in the hotel means about arrange Transportation, Plan for outing, reservation for the table in the restaurant. Night Auditor: He is the most important back office person in the hotel. He will prepare records of guest accounts and review the revenue of the hotel regularly in the month basis. All operations aftermath articles and casework by alteration inputs into outputs application an input-transformation-output process. Put simply, operations are processes that yield in a set of ascribe assets which are used to transform something, or are adapted themselves, into outputs of articles and services. And although all operations accommodate to this accepted input-transformation-output model, they alter in the attributes of their speci ¬Ã‚ c inputs and outputs. Outputs INPUTS Transformation In the same way The Taj Hotel has also do the same process like Input-transformation-output. In the hotel industry various departments are present include food and beverage department, housekeeping, front office etc. The Taj hotel also has some of the Challenges and problems facing are as follows The different the Taj hotel has facing different challenges and problems during in the hotel. Materials: This is one of the major inputs for the hotel industry for every department. The Taj hotel also facing with supply of materials from suppliers. In the positive way In the Food and beverage department as in the kitchen department inputs like raw material means vegetable then they transform into the food. It is going to be served to the guest. If the guest likes the food he will have another order and automatically revenue increases. Information In The Taj hotel some times they are facing about information about guest as well as employees. And they dont have proper information other hotels revenue and occupancy. Front office staff has information about all the departments in the hotel and services available in the hotel. So Front office people can easily guide the guest in good manner. The guest also will feel happy to come again. The hotel will get reputed guest regularly. The hotel will get nice name as well. Customers: The Taj Hotel people say CUSTOMER IS GOD. So for this situation hotel does not have any difficulty about guest because they have reputed guest. In these manner customers has to satisfy by the hotel staff through services. Once the customer pleased with the staff then customers will advise to their friends to come to the hotel. So customer also one of the best for the hotel to improve the growth and revenue of the hotel. Facilities: The Taj Hotel provides several facilities for the customers and staff also. But some of the staff in the hotel feeling uncomfortable with the hotel facelifts. These facilities may vary from hotel to hotel. Generally The Taj hotel facilities include swimming pool, gym, kids club, Wi-Fi, pick up and drop, good ambience etc. The hotel revenue is depending upon the facilities given by the hotel to the customers. Staff: In the Taj hotel staff is very experience and more innovative people. And almost all the staff has staying since to many years in the Taj itself. All the operation is done by the hotel staff in the hotel. Every person has their own duties and responsibilities. Everyone has to coordinate and communicate each other for smooth running of the hotel business. Trained Staff will work efficiently to get the goals completed in the organization. Coordination This is major function followed in the Taj hotels. Some times there are not appropriate coordination between branches. In the hotel premises they follow exact coordination for get task done. This is also very important for the hotel to achieve desired goals in the hotel. Coordination is the act of organizing, authoritative altered humans or things plan calm for an ambition or aftereffect to accomplish adapted goals in an organization. Coordination is an authoritative action in which altered activities of the business are appropriately adapted and interlinked. In the hotel every coordination in need for employee to employee to get the task done. And also co ordination require between departments to departments also for the hotel. Communication Communication is plays vital role in the business. The Taj hotel has very good communication between employees as well departments. So thats way they become top most hotels in the world. In every department in the hotel must work with proper communication between employees and departments as well. Every operation or work needs corrective communication. The advice action is complete already the receiver has accepted the bulletin of the sender. Thus advice cans action beyond all-inclusive distances in time and space. Housekeeping Engineering and Maintenance Purchasing and cost control Finance and accounting Sales and Marketing Human Resource Front office and GRE Food and Beverage Operations Function Results and Analysis The Taj Hotel operations manager is amenable over the all-embracing circadian operations in a Hotel. The operations manager is ultimately the one amenable for authoritative abiding that aggregate in the hotel runs smoothly, that the The Taj Hotel is in acceptable adjustment and that the hotel is authoritative a profit. Some of the departments that a Hotel Operations Manager oversees cover the foreground desk, housekeeping, animal resources, and aliment service. The The Taj Hotel Operations Manager is as well in allegation of authoritative abiding that the guests accept a absolute acquaintance and will wish to break again. Part of this includes ambidextrous with guests alone including any complaints that arise The The Taj Hotel Operations Manager position is altered from added OM fields because it deals accurately with aspects in a hotel. This agency that the position can as well crossover into chump account and as well resources. Along with defective the authoritative and authoritative abilities archetypal of OM jobs, a Hotel Operations Manager will as well charge to be acceptable at ambidextrous with humans and a abundant communication. The Taj Hotel operations Manager Controls all the departments such as aliment production, aliment beverages, housekeeping, foreground appointment again alone one operations Manager could be appointed. Operations Manager is the one who handles in-charge all operation of the company. He is amenable of mission eyes of the company. His duties are to accredit who can handle the accomplishing of the assignment the arrangement of the operations to the subordinates. Overlooks the operations guides the arrangement in administration the assembly deliveries. The Taj Hotel Operations Managers are personalities who adore alive with people. They accept to adore affair the assorted guests and accouterment for their generally assorted needs. They accept to as well accept personality characteristics including the adeptness to adapt abounding altered operations, assay budgets, break problems and multitask. The The Taj Hotel operations Manager is amenable for authoritative abiding the hotel is authoritative money and alive aural its allotted budget. The operations Manager will generally be the one to accomplish the alarm on authoritative aliment and will sometimes accomplish added decisions that advice access the advantage of the hotel as a whole.The Taj Hotel operations managers are amenable for authoritative abiding hotel guests accept the best acquaintance accessible during their break in the hotel so that they may in about-face adjudge to book addition break at the hotel. The Taj Hotel operations managers will accomplish decisions that they anticipate will advance the all-embracing acquaintance for guests, including hotel adornment and staffing. Although all operations processes are agnate in that they all transform inputs, they do alter in an amount of ways. They are Volume Variety Variation Visibility Volume The volume has altered implications whether it is in a top or low. In the low levels of volume, the companys operations accept specific characteristics such as accepting low alliteration in the accustomed procedures, anniversary agents affiliate performs added than one job in added words they are multifunctional, beneath approach and top assemblage costs. In the top levels of volume, the companys operations accept its own specific characteristics such accepting top repeatability in the accustomed procedures, there will be specialization, systemization, added basic accelerated and low assemblage costs. It also important for the business. Variety The variety function has its own association as able-bodied whether it is top or low. In the top ancillary of the calibration there will be added adaptability in the procedure, complex, the aggregation will accomplish abiding to needs and of advance the assemblage amount will be high. If the aggregation is in the low ancillary of the calibration the procedures will be able-bodied defined, there will be routine, standardization, and of advance low assemblage cost. Variation The variation in appeal has abounding implications that can be apparent from the companys characteristics. If the aggregation is in the top levels of appeal aberration again it has alteration capacity, apprehension for what the chump ability demand, flexibility, in blow with appeal and top assemblage cost. While in the added ancillary of the scale, the aggregation would accept an abiding and anticipated demand, routine, top appliance of assets and low assemblage cost. Visibility The visibility function which is the clue his or her adjustment through its altered stages has its implications whether it is top or low. If it is top the barter accept abbreviate cat-and-mouse tolerance, achievement absolute by chump perception, chump acquaintance abilities are bare and actual important and the accept array is absolutely high. And if it is low, the time lag amid assembly and consumption, there will be standardization, the chump acquaintance abilities will not be actual important or needed, the aggregation accept to accept a top agents appliance and centralization. A The Taj Hotel operations Manager is amenable for ambidextrous with any complaints guests may accept about their break in the hotel. The operations Manager will allege with guests about issues they may accept and plan with them against the best resolution to the both eration for both parties. Operations management leads the way for the organizations to accomplish its goals with minimum effort. The role of operations management is to transform a companys inputs into the  ¬Ã‚ nished appurtenances or services. Inputs cover assets (such as workers and managers), accessories and processes as able-bodied as materials, technology, and information. Outputs are the appurtenances and casework an aggregation produces. The set of communal administration activities, which are complex in accomplishment assertive products, is alleged as assembly management. If the aforementioned abstraction is continued to casework management, then the agnate set of administration activities is alleged as operations management .Another above cold of operating systems is to advance assets for the accomplishment of customer wants effectively. Inefficient use of assets or bare chump service leads to bartering abortion of an operating system. Operations management is anxious about with the utilization of resources, i.e. obtaining maximum aftereffect from assets or minimizing their loss, beneath utilization of waste. The admeasurements of the utilization of the resources abeyant ability are bidding in agreement of the admeasurements of available time acclimated or occupied, amplitude utilization, levels of activity, etc. Each admeasurements indicates the admeasurements to which the ambient or accommodation of such assets is utilized. This is referred as the cold of resource utilization In all of operations managements absolute and aberrant activities there is a charge to acquaint both with centralized agents and with alien customers, suppliers and the broader community. How abundant of a branch managers time is spent on altered activities, and how the accent of anniversary is changing. Consulting and communicating with operations agents acutely takes up an ample bulk of these operation managers time to ensure that the concrete and the assets of the alignment are able to aftermath the appropriate superior and bulk of appurtenances and casework at the appropriate time and cost, so that chump expectations and requirements can be met. Leadership and administration of assets and humans active is cardinal to the role of an operations manager, which as well involves advancing the affairs budgets, managing the programs, authoritative the employees plan and assuredly evaluating the agent performance. The Operational Manager needs to accept the achievement requirements of the process. The operational Manager is amenable to advise action operators how to accomplish the processes. The operational Manager is amenable to actualize advance accomplishments to abide the achievement. The Operational Manager needs to accept the achievement requirements of the process. The operational Manager is amenable to advise action operators how to accomplish the processes. The operational Manager is amenable to actualize advance accomplishments to abide the achievement issues that are particular during their assay of the action and Action Operator achievement data. The hotel operations Manager works anon with staff, affective them to do the best job accessible and accommodate abundant account to hotel guests. A The Taj Hotel operations Manager will as well generally authority training sessions with agents to advice them become acquainted with hotel behavior and actuate them to advice the hotel succeed. The Taj Hotel operations managers are not appropriate to accept any specific educational or acquaintance background. Most beyond The Taj Hotels will appoint managers with several years acquaintance alive in the hotel industry. Preference for jobs is about accustomed to those who accept a amount in accommodation administration or a affidavit in hospitality. Conclusion and References To sum it up all it is clearly says that the Operational Management is plays very important role in the every business in the world. Operational manager is main key for entire business operations. He is the person The Taj hotel is run by the operational departments. These operational departments are only main source of the revenue of the hotel. In every department has different functions has to perform. So the manager played a vital role in the operation in the hotel industry. The Manager wills responsibility for the entire operation done in the hotel. He is the person control and manage all operations performed in the hotel. They follow every same operation in every hotel in all over the world. With help of operation Management the Taj hotel make easy their operations in the business.

The Stereotypical Old-West Hero :: American Culture Essays

The Stereotypical Old-West Hero Gunsmoke is a 1950's western series played on CBS radio station during the Vietnam war. It is about a U.S. Marshall named Matt Dillon who is in charge of keeping the law and respect in a town called Dodge City. Each episode has Matt Dillon dealing with problems such as murders, brawls, and gunfights that occur in the Wild West. Matt Dillon is personified as being inquisitive, independent, and not very emotional as a U.S. Marshall. He gives a view of the stereotypical old-west hero. In the series Gunsmoke, Matt Dillon had a very inquisitive nature. Everything that was talked about or anyone that he talked with always was confronted with questions to find out exactly what was going on. He questioned a lot concerning people he did not like. It seemed like when ever a problem or situation came to his attention, or if someone seemed suspicious he would start inquiring more. For example, in the first episode, Matt Dillon is confronted with a person he does not like called Web. He asks his sidekick, Chester, to gather more information about him concerning his past history. As the episode progresses listeners find out that another man wanted to kill Web. On the next story Dillon has to look for an ex-killer in another town. Before he goes on the mission he asks a lot of question such as, "What does this man look like", "When is the last time he was seen", etc. Questioning seems very typical of lawmen back than, and even today. Weather the questions were to start a figh t, or solve a dilemma questioning was a lawmen's best friend. Another point that was noticeable in Gunsmoke was the independence of Dillon. As the listeners hear the stories they cannot help but notice how Mat Dillon only has one partner named Chester. It also seems like Chester is more like Dillon's conscience, bringing up points or making suggestion depending on the circumstances. Near the end of the first story Matt Dillon suggest that Web leave town for a few days. As Chester and Dillon enter the saloon called Long Horn, Dillon turns and tells Chester to wait at the door as he goes after Web. Near the end of the second story Dillon leaves Chester to go tell a woman about her dead husband. In the third story Dillon leaves Chester, and goes after a man called, Pat, to arrest him.

response to Naomi Wolf :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What modern society dictates women should look like has had a great impact on commonplace women and how they feel they should look and act. I have no doubt a huge problem exists in society as a result of this. I think it has resulted in women being put to the side in terms of advancement. It also evokes a sense of low self-esteem. Little girls everywhere are brought up in front of an image they can never achieve. A truly ideal woman is one who has the confidence in herself to know that she is beyond that image. The key word there is confidence. Unfortunately, the magazine cover industry breaks confidence with its portrayals of thin, tall women. The ideal magazine cover woman is an unattainable fallacy. However, there is no guilty party to be blamed for this fact. Faulting the companies putting that image to use is unjust. The idea that women are subjected to an unfair amount of pressure as a result of the fashion world and other media outlets is hardly new, but Naomi Wolf takes this claim to a new and absurd level. Her essay is as unorganized as it is impractical. Her ideas are presented in a smorgasbord of flawed logic. Particularly disturbing is what she calls the â€Å"beauty myth.† What I disagree with is the word myth. According to Wolf, women in magazines and advertisements have approximately 20% less body mass than that of the average woman, creating an unattainable standard. This fact in no way supports her claim of a â€Å"beauty myth.† The existence of a myth suggests something to be untrue in nature. Magazine companies and advertisement agencies are not in the business of showing an average woman. They are in the business of selling a product. Of course they are going to use beautiful people. These companies completely regard the fact that most women do not in fact look like t his, but they know that their product would be less appealing if they displayed average or unattractive women. Therefore, they do not deserve scrutiny over the fact that they do not present a typical woman. They in fact do the same for men. Wolf says, â€Å"The beauty myth is not about women at all. It is about men’s institutions and institutional power† (page 485, first new paragraph). How does one begin to say how warped this impression is?

Research Proposal- Are Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse Essay

Childhood sexual abuse is a subject that is not researched very deeply. One issue is traumatizing the victims even more by studying them on a long-term base. There are questions that researchers want to answer but designing the right study to achieve the answers is sensitive work. One such question is â€Å"Are victims of childhood sexual abuse more likely to engage in sexual activity at earlier ages than non-abused†? Research is lacking in the area of childhood sexuality and without this research psychologists are unable to adequately study the negative effects of sexual abuse of children. I will conduct a developmental study using the sequential design in order to answer the question: Are victims of childhood sexual abuse more likely to engage in sexual activity at earlier ages than non-abused? I am conducting this study to gain a greater understanding of how violation of trust and body may or may not cause a child to engage in sexual activity at an earlier age than non-abused children. The available literature on childhood sexual abuse is insufficient on many levels and lack adequate methodologies for approaching treatment or study of victims of childhood sexual abuse. Research Proposal: Are Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse More Likely to Engage in Sexual Activity at Earlier Ages than Non-Abused Introduction Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a subject that is not researched very deeply. One issue is traumatizing the victims even more by studying them on a long-term base. There are questions that researchers want to answer but designing the right study to achieve the answers is sensitive work. One such question is â€Å"Are victims of childhood sexual abuse more likely to engage in sexual activity at earlier ages than non-abused†? Research is lacking in the area of childhood sexuality and without this research psychologists are unable to adequately study the negative effects of sexual abuse of children. When someone you trust or even someone you do not know takes something from you is devastating to say the least. When that something is an experience you do not understand and have not experienced under normal circumstances the devastation is unimaginable. When an adult or older person violates a child in a sexual manner it introduces feelings that the child is not ready to have, and it causes confusion in the child; this is known as traumatic sexualization. Traumatic sexualization refers to an evolvement in which a child’s sexuality is formed in a developmentally improper and interpersonally dysfunctional ways. Human sexuality develops in stages and if forced to experience a stage before the body is ready it will hinder the body’s ability to cope. Sex and sexually explicit behaviors are not intended in childhood. Humans do not enter puberty until adolescence and still are not sure how to cope with the feeling, but if molested or raped before ever experiencing any of the feelings naturally the children may never be able to know what they truly feel in regard to sex. Every survivor copes with sexual abuse in different ways. Some may become promiscuous, exhibit sexualized behaviors, and some become abuser themselves. This study’s focus is promiscuity. CSA has a variety of definitions including but not limited to: attempted intercourse, oral genital contact, fondling of genitals directly or through clothing, and exhibitionism or exposing children to adult sexual activity or pornography. For the purpose of this research the following is the definition; CSA is the involvement of a child in sexual activity above the child’s cognitive developmental understanding and above the child’s developmental maturity. As a coping mechanism some sexual abuse survivors may become sexually active with multiple partners. Promiscuity is not a coping mechanism that any therapist would recommend to a survivor, but it is one path some survivors take. Research has shown a correlation between the severity of the abuse and the number of partners a survivor will have. A number of factors determine the severity of the abuse encompassing the relationship between victim and perpetrator, whether or not there is physical force or threats, whether penetration takes place, and the number of occurrences. My step-grandfather raped me at the age of nine. He told me that if I struggled or refused he would just go to my three-year-old sister because she would not be able to refuse. I would cringe when his bath water started to run because I knew what was coming. He would force me to perform oral sex on him until he climaxed and I had to swallow it he would then penetrate me. I spit it at him once, but by the time that night was over I knew to never do that again. He was extremely violent when penetrating me that night. I could not wear shorts for a week because the bruises would show. Anytime we were alone he would touch me and make me touch him. As the summer continued his boldness progress to the point that he would fondle me under a blanket on the couch while, watching movies with my grandmother and little sister. As I grew he would try to be alone with me but I knew what he wanted, and would not be alone with him. Over the years he did molest me a handful of times but that summer was the only time there was penetration. I tried blocking the summer out but that only made it worse for me so I decided to make sex meaningless because up to the time he ripped it from me I thought it was special and only for marriage. I cannot say that had this not happened I would not have become sexually active but I truly believed in waiting. A year after having the option ripped from me and trying to hide the pain I broke down and started having sex with friends interested in sex. By the time I was 16 the number of partners I had been with was 6. I always wondered if I used another coping mechanism would I still have such a high number. I have been with my husband for 20 years and have just begun to truly feel the intimate connection I should have felt from the beginning. I am conducting this study to gain a greater understanding of how violation of trust and body may or may not cause a child to engage in sexual activity at an earlier age than non-abused children. The available literature on childhood sexual abuse is insufficient on many levels and lack adequate methodologies for approaching treatment or study of victims of childhood sexual abuse. Review of the Literature Over the past years CSA has received much public attention however, majority of research has focused on the victims as children; comparatively little work has been published on the long term consequences. CSA researchers are faced with a number of challenges. The definition of CSA is a reason to why there is lack of research. As there is no universal definition researcher’s definitions can differ, and as a result depending on the definition used in the study findings can vary. The lack of research in the effects of CSA is also due to the difficulties in establishing casual connections between the abuse and the later affects years after the abuse. Effects found in survivors are not always exclusive to the childhood sexual abuse and may reflect other underlying issues. Conducting studies in sensitive areas such as CSA has proven to be difficult; therefore research in such fields may be limited. A study conducted on the ethical issues in research on sensitive topics noted that, participants who had experienced child abuse were more likely to report distress after participating in research, due to remembering the past. However, researchers also found that these participants were more likely to report that participation was helpful. Another difficulty in assessing the effects of childhood sexual abuse is that through the repression of the trauma, or dissociation, survivors of such abuse may possibly not consciously remember the abuse experience. Therefore findings gathered from research could be effected, interfering with the validly and reliability of the study. Research has documented that CSA survivors are more prone to suffer from social, emotional and behavioral problems than non survivors; difficulties include, however are not limited to, anxiety, depression, guilt, difficulty with interpersonal relationships, self-destructive behaviors, lowered self-esteem, and promiscuity. According to research evidence, early sexual experiences often have an influence on later sexual behavior. When initial sexual experience is abusive, it could elicit explicit effects on ensuing sexual behaviors. Research has found that survivors of CSA engage in risky sexual behavior at higher rates than individuals who have not experienced such abuse. A number of studies furthered Costas and Landreth’s findings and reported that risky sexual behavior in adults previously abused was exhibited in many forms; having many sexual partners, failing to use condoms during intercourse increasing the risk of sexually transmitted infections and having anal sex. Meston and Lorenz provided an explanation as to why some adults with a history of CSA may participate in risky sexual behavior. Sexual abuse could result in the abused to disregard their own humanity therefore, perform sexual acts in a more promiscuous way. A survivor’s childhood experience could cause him or her to be incapable of separating sex from affection, which then leads to promiscuity or impaired arousal. Sexual promiscuity was a way for me to take control of my feelings and be able to keep the abuse from totally consuming me. Method Population, Procedure, Instruments, and Data Analysis I will conduct a developmental study using the sequential design in order to answer the question: Are victims of childhood sexual abuse more likely to engage in sexual activity at earlier ages than non-abused? The study would need to have 50 participants (25 male, 25 female) in the 10-15 age group during the first phase. The same 50 would come back in 10 years, and one last time in another 10 years. During each phase the participants will fill out the same questionnaire and the collected data will be analyzed. After the final phase each participant’s results will be reviewed for changes. The collected data will be compared among the varying age groups as well as for individual changes each decade. Discussion I am conducting this study to gain a greater understanding of how violation of trust and body may or may not cause a child to engage in sexual activity at an earlier age than non-abused children. The available literature on childhood sexual abuse is insufficient on many levels and lack adequate methodologies for approaching treatment or study of victims of childhood sexual abuse. The data collected will hopefully answer this question and proved helpful information on how to cope with this specific effect of CSA. As a survivor of CSA, I know promiscuity was my coping strategy, but wish that I had chosen a safer strategy. With more knowledge and a better understanding of how to help CSA survivors; therapists may save future survivors from engaging in promiscuous behavior. References: Allan, J. A., & Lawton-Speert, S. (1993). Play Psychotherapy of a Profoundly Incet Abused Boy: A Jungian Approach. International Journal of Play Therapy, 2(1), 33-48. Retrieved September 2013 Alpert, J. L., Brown, L. S., & Courtois, C. A. (1998). Symptomatic Clients and Memories of Childhood Abuse: What the Trauma and Child Sexual Abuse Literature Tells Us. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 4(4), 941-995. Retrieved September 2013 Cohen, J. N. (2008). Using Feminist, Emotion-Focused, and Developmental Approaches to Enhance Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Related to Childhood Sexual Abuse. Psycholotherapy Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 45(2), 227-246. doi:10.1037/0033-3204.45.2.227 Costas, M., & Landreth, G. (1999). Filial Therapy with Non-Offending Parents of Children Who Have Been Sexually Abused. International Journal pf Play Therapy, 8(1), 43-66. Retrieved September 2013 Finkelhor, D. (1990). Early and Long-Term Effects of Child Sexual Abuse: An Update. Proessional Psychology: Research and Practice, 21(5), 325-330. Hopton, J. L., & Huta, V. (2013). Evaluation of an Intervention Designed for Men Who Were Abussed in Childhood and are Experiencing Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 14(3), 300-313. doi:10.1037/aoo29705 Kendall-Tackett, K. A., Williams, L. M., & Finkelhor, D. (1993). Impact of sexual abuse on children: A review and synthesis of recent empirical studies. Psychological Bulletin, 113(1), pp. 164-180. Merrill, L. L., Guimond, J. M., Thomsen, C. J., & Milner, J. S. (2003). Child Sexual Abuse and Number of Sexual Patrners in Young Women: The Role of Abuse Severity, Coping Style, and Sexual Functioning. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71(6), 987-996. Meston, C. M., & Lorenz, T. A. (2013). Physiological Stress Responses Predict Sexual Functioning and Satisfaction Differently in Women Who Have and Have Not Been Sexually Abused in Childhood. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 5(4), 350-358. doi:10.1037/a0027706 Shapiro, J. P. (1991). Interviewing Children About Psychological Issues Associated with Sexual Abuse. Psychotherapy, 28(1), 55-66. Retrieved September 2013 Talbot, N. L. (1997). Women Sexually Abused as Children: The Centrality of Shame Issues and Treatment Implications. Psychotherapy, 23(1), 11-18. Retrieved September 2013 Tharinger, D. (1990). Impact of child sexual abuse on developing sexuality. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 21(5), pp. 331-337. Van de Putte, S. J. (1995). A paradigm for working with child survivors of sexual abuse who exhibit sexualized behaviors during play therapy. International Journal of Play Therapy, 4(1), 27-49. Wolf, E. K., & Alpert, J. L. (1991). Psychoanalysis and Child Sexual Abuse: A review of the Post-Freudian Literature. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 8(3), 305-327. Retrieved September 2013

Issues, concerns, and challenges in environmental adjucation in the philippine court system Essay

Introduction The court system is an integral part of environmental enforcement in the Philippines and has made many important contributions to the field. However, environmental cases do not always progress smoothly through the judicial system. This paper is intended to identify important legal issues in the judicial system that affect or limit environmental adjudication. 2 The issues are divided between access to and competency of justice, and legal procedures. While many of these issues could be analyzed further, this paper will highlight the ones to which attention should be paid in any more comprehensive study of Philippine environmental case law. 3 This paper will also use examples and case studies from the United States to illustrate important legal points, since the U. S. and Philippines have similar legal systems. II. Issues A. Legal Procedure and Rules of the Court Because of their unique and complex nature, environmental cases are sometimes hindered by legal mechanisms and rules of procedure designed for non-environmental cases. These include rules on standing and class action suits that often do not take into account the fact that environmental damage impacts all citizens. Furthermore, the nature and science of environmental violations often means that statutes of limitations, evidentiary rules, and burdens of proof are not suitable. Some of these issues can be handled internally by the judicial system by instructing lower courts to apply rules liberally. The impact of all of these issues, and how many actually present problems for plaintiffs, is crucial. 1. Standing of Plaintiffs and Citizens Suits In environmental cases, a plaintiff may not necessarily be legally injured in the traditional sense by an act of environ-mental destruction to impair his livelihood. For example, plaintiffs cannot recover damages for fish killed by pollution because they lack standing, despite the obvious economic loss they suffered. 4 While the destruction of natural aesthetic beauty is a moral outrage that indirectly harms all citizens, under traditional legal standing person no would have standing to sue. 5 Furthermore, environmental laws are designed to prevent catastrophic harm that is often not imminent or contained to one geographic area, as opposed to the narrow, immediate harms that provide the basis of most standing requirements. 6 Strict rulings on standing could stifle environmental enforcement, especially since the Philippines lacks sufficient enforcement capacity and personnel. The Philippine Supreme Court has held that standing requires: Such personal stake in the outcome of the controversy as to assure that concrete adverseness which sharpens the presentation of issues upon which the court depends for illumination of difficult constitutional questions. 7 The plaintiff himself must have some cognizable and redressable injury. Litigating for a general public interest, or â€Å"mere invocation†¦ of [plaintiff’s] duty to preserve the rule of law†¦ is not sufficient to clothe it with standing†¦. †8 However, the standing requirement is considered a technicality that courts may waive if the case concerns a â€Å"paramount public interest. †9 In its dictum in Oposa v. Factorum, the Court said that children might even have intergenerational standing to sue to prevent the destruction of forests for future generations. 10 There are questions as to the strength of these to reduce the standing threshold for environmental plaintiffs. While courts may waive technical standing provisions when a case deals with a paramount public interest, it is not required to do so. 11 Furthermore, judges may reasonably differ on what constitutes a â€Å"paramount public interest† since there is no overriding theme o define it. For example, in Kilosbayan, the Court found that determining the legality of an online lottery system fell within this definition, whereas in Integrated Bar, it held that determining whether deploying marines for crime deterrence violates the Constitution does not. 12 The Court did reduce some of this ambiguity in Oposa by declaring that the right to a balanced and healthful ecology â€Å"concerns nothing less than self-preservation and self-perpetuation,† presumably a â€Å"paramount public interest. †13 However, because the Court’s discussion on standing in Oposa was dictum, neither this claim nor the right to intergenerational standing is binding law upon the lower courts. 14 Without further guidance from the Court, it is likely that many lower court judges would be reluctant to act boldly by declaring that a particular issue is a â€Å"paramount public interest† and would deny standing. Congress tried to reduce the standing threshold with citizen suit provisions in environmental statutes, but these have been of limited use thus far. First, only the Philippine Clean Air and Ecological Solid Waste Management Acts contain citizen suit provisions;15 notably, the Philippine Clean Water Act, enacted after these two laws, does not. 16 Second, citizens still bear the risk of paying a winning defendant’s attorney’s fees, which could be costly enough to discourage even valid suits. Most importantly, these suits are still subject to the â€Å"actual controversy† requirement of the Constitution. 17 What this means in the context of citizen suits has not yet been heavily litigated in the Philippines. However, lower court judges often require plaintiffs to show actual injury in the narrow or traditional legal sense. 18 Likewise, when prosecutors deputize citizens to enforce a suit, judges sometimes insist that such deputization is only valid for a single case or even invalid under the Rules of the Court. 19 As a result, citizens suit provisions have been largely unused. 20 Standing under environmental laws is hotly contested in the U. S. 21 The U. S. has put citizens’ suit provisions into almost all of its environmental laws. 22 Plaintiffs are required to show 1) an injury in fact, 2) causation between the injury and the defendant’s actions, and 3) redressability in court. 23 NGOs can sue upon a showing that any of their members would have had standing to sue. 24 The focus is not on the injury to the environment, but rather the injury to the plaintiff or NGO representing him. However, the injury can be economic or non-pecuniary, including aesthetic or recreational value. 25 The Court also held that civil penalties payable to the U. S. Treasury serve as redress as they deter polluters. 26 Causation is often the more difficult element to prove, which will be discussed below in  § 4. In New Zealand, the Environment Court has taken a more radical approach. It has eliminated formal standing provisions, requiring only that a plaintiff have a greater interest than the public generally in a controversy or that he represents a relevant public interest. 27 This makes citizen enforcement very easy. However, one might also be concerned about whether this would overburden the court; granting standing is a fine balance between permitting valid environmental claims and risking frivolous litigation. 2. Class Actions and Large Number of Plaintiffs As the notorious mudslide at Ormoc in 1991 and Marcopper mine tailings in Marinduque show, injuries from environmental damage can be grave, costly, and affect a huge number of persons. 28 Even in less publicized events, the number of injured persons may often make individual litigation burdensome and complex. Furthermore, some members of an injured class may be too poor to prosecute their claims individually. Class action suits can facilitate litigation of such situations by providing for: [T]he protection of the defendant from inconsistent obligations, the protection of the interests of absentees, the provision of a convenient and economical means for disposing of similar lawsuits, and the facilitation of the spreading of litigation costs among numerous litigants with similar claims. 29 Other studies have shown that class action suits can provide important social benefits and encourage citizen enforcement to supplement agency regulation. 30 Class actions may the discourage attorney disloyalty that encourages lawyers to plea bargain for less than the actual injury. As happened in the Chinese poachers case in Palawan, lawyers or prosecutors may not seek full compensation for the damage caused because they have an incentive to expend less time and money on a small case. 31 However, because class actions provide aggregate incentives for lawyers, and fees and settlements undergo higher judicial scrutiny, such â€Å"disloyal† settlements are less likely to occur. 32 While the Philippine Rules of the Court provide for class action suits,33 judges will sometimes be reluctant to certify classes and instead treat the injuries of plaintiffs as separate, despite any common questions of law or fact. In Newsweek, Inc. v. IAC, the Supreme Court ruled that a defamatory remark directed at 8,500 sugar planters do not necessarily apply to every individual in a group, and therefore are not actionable as a class action. 34 Likewise, a judge might refuse to certify a class of pollution victims because they suffer different types of physical injuries, even if the source was the same pollution. In a more litigated legal system, there would be more case law to guide judges on the appropriateness of class actions. However, in the Philippines, this does not yet exist. Add to this the high cost for lawyers, and class actions become even less feasible for most Philippine plaintiffs. 35 In the U. S. , it is much easier to litigate environmental class action suits. The Supreme Court has clearly instructed courts to construe its class action rules liberally and encourage class action suits. 36 This limits judicial discretion in refusing to certify classes to only extreme situations. Furthermore, the rules allow plaintiffs to join by default rather than affirmatively. 37 For environmental cases, the courts will look at the potential number of plaintiffs or the size of the estimated areas that a pollutant has infected to see if plaintiffs have met the numerosity requirement, but they are not required to meet a certain minimum number. 38 For the Philippines, which, unlike the U. S. , has too few environmental class action suits, adopting some of these mechanisms may create a more efficient adjudication process for plaintiffs, defendants, and the courts. 3. Statute of Limitations and Delayed Injuries Unlike a traditional tort or crime, many environmental injuries are not discrete events but only manifest themselves after many years. Pollutants may build up in soils, waters, or human bodies for years without reaching a dangerous level. Cleanup of such sites can take even longer. For example, when the U. S. military left Subic Bay in 1992, it left behind hazardous waste sites with contaminated water that continue to poison the land over a decade later. 39 However, for environmental torts, the statute of limitations is four years, a relatively brief time. This could preclude the litigation of injuries from pollutants with an onset delayed for many years. Thus far statutes of limitation issues have not been a significant factor in environmental litigation. The Philippine Supreme Court addresses similar problems in other fields of law with the discovery rule, allowing the statute of limitations to run when the plaintiff actually or should reasonably have discovered the injury. 40 However, as the courts handle more brown environment cases, it will have to address the tensions between punishing past violators and protecting defendants from time-barred claims. 41 U. S. courts have adopted the due diligence discovery rule, particularly for Clean Water Act and wetlands violations. Because immediate detection of pollution or illegal fill into a wetlands is almost impossible, applying a statute of limitations strictly would defeat the remedial purpose of the act. 42 Courts try to effectuate the Congressional purpose of the statute with the due diligence discovery rule and giving the government a chance to file action against the polluter once the violation is reported to the EPA. 43 Some courts44 realize that a statute of limitation may be inappropriate for cases when pollution continues to cause problems over time. These courts argue that a: Defendant’s unpermitted discharge of dredged or fill materials into wetlands on the site is a continuing violation for as long as the fill remains. Accordingly, the five-year statute of limitations †¦ has not yet begun to run. 45 The statute of limitation will not run for as long as the pollution remains. Many courts will also treat common law tort nuisances as continuing violations. 46 This approach has the added benefit of allowing the government to fine violators for each day the pollution remains, capturing the more of the costs of environmental destruction. 47 Much of U. S. case law regarding the effect of statutes of limitations on environmental issues comes from ambiguities in the statute of limitation for complex processes, particularly the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (â€Å"CERCLA†), or Superfund law. 48 Because Congress anticipated the complexity and long-term nature of site cleanups, it structured the statute of limitations in a flexible manner, allowing the court hear an initial cost recovery action prior to issuing a declaratory judgment to avoid letting the statute run. It also allows the plaintiff to file subsequent cost-recovery actions to recapture further response costs incurred at the site. 49 However, the law’s different statutes of limitation for remedial and removal actions phases of the cleanup has led to confusion over how the phases are defined. Courts often defer to EPA determinations in characterizing the type of action due to its technical expertise, rather than making that judgment itself. 50 4. Meeting the Burden of Proof In environmental cases, there may be no line of direct evidence from the perpetrator to the harm. In pollution cases it is often impossible to prove that the plaintiff’s harm was caused by his exposure to the toxic material. 51 For example, if several factories dump pollution into Manila Bay, it is impossible to determine which caused a particular environmental harm. Furthermore, the courts cannot expect absolute scientific certainty on the effects of a health risk such as electro-magnetic fields from power cables. 52 Given these problems, the traditional burden of proof standards, preponderance for civil cases and beyond a reasonable doubt for criminal,53 may prove to be prohibitively high. Philippine courts employ liability-shifting mechanisms to manage this difficulty in environmental cases. For example, pursuant to the Fisheries Code, courts use reverse burden of proof to place the burden of exculpation on defendants found with high-explosive or cyanide fishing gear. 54 Furthermore, the courts have begun to experiment with the precautionary principle, placing the constitutional rights to health and safety above development. 55 The courts also employs res ipsa loquitor in tort suits,56 although this has not been a prominent feature of environmental litigation. Plaintiffs may also hold multiple defendants jointly and severally liable for an act of environmental destruction that cannot be traced to a single defendant company, such as the pollution in Manila Bay. 57 Until recently, Philippine lawmakers did not see a need to introduce a strict liability58 regime into environmental laws. 59 Strict liability was employed in other fields, but not environ-mental laws. More recent anti-pollution laws such as the Clean Air and Solid Waste Management Acts establish that a violation of the standard is actionable through citizen suits. 60 In U. S. , because of its common law tradition, courts are more willing to employ strict liability. Generally, when a defendant, â€Å"though without fault, has engaged in [a] perilous activity †¦, there is no justification for relieving it of liability. †61 Such â€Å"perilous activities† include operating explosives, nuclear energy, hydropower, fire, high-energy explosives, poisons, and other extremely hazardous materials. 62 For citizens suits under environmental statutes, plaintiffs need only show that the law was violated, not prove fault or any actual or threatened harm, without regard to mens rea. 63 When it is impossible to determine the proportion of fault of a large number of defendants, U. S. courts may approximate fault through other indicators, including market share and production output. For example, in Hymowitz v. Eli Lilly ; Co. , the New York Court of Appeals calculated the size of each defendant drug company’s market share for DES to determine their fault in the injuries caused by the drug. 64 This also allows courts to address injuries sustained in the past by approximating past fault through data available in the present. The Environment Court in New Zealand has adopted an even more radical approach and done away with formal burdens of proof. It focuses instead on obtaining the best possible evidence for a case. This makes it easier for plaintiffs appealing to the court to dislodge an unfavorable opinion from a lower court. 65 While the Philippine Supreme Court may not wish to go this far, the court could more strict liability for hazardous materials and market share liability tools. 5. Damages and Remedies Even if a plaintiff wins damages from a defendant, if the defendant keeps polluting or cutting trees, the damage will continue. 66 In the Philippines, this is particularly problematic as the fines and penalties imposed under law are often not enough to change a company’s behavior. In order to encourage development, Congress prohibited temporary restraining orders against government projects. 67 Since government infrastructure projects can cause massive damage to ecosystems, this prohibition is significant. Some courts try to avoid this loophole by claiming that the prohibition cannot violate a person’s constitutional right to health or safety. 68 The extent of this loophole is unclear. Finally, even if a plaintiff or prosecution wins its case, most of the time the true costs of the defendant’s actions will not be reflected in the award. Damages in civil cases and punishments in criminal cases generally capture the costs of any suffering caused to humans, not animals or plants. While some settlements may include forcing a defendant to install pollution-control equipment or contribute money to conservation programs, this still likely does not recoup the full extent of damage to the environment. It is difficult to regenerate natural forest, coral reefs, or populations of endangered animals. The judicial system does not have much power to remedy this problem. The decision on the purpose of environmental laws and how much plaintiffs recover is for the Congress. However, it is important for judges to understand that environmental cases deal with only a fraction of the true costs of environmental damage. This may convince some judges to be more sympathetic toward environmental cases. While punishments for defendants may seem exorbitant, understanding the unaccounted costs of environmental damage puts these into perspective. B. Access to and Competency of Justice Aside from the legal issues described above, in any country, there are a host of practical and logistical issues that impede the judicial system’s ability to handle environmental cases. This includes the lack of financial resources of plaintiffs, particularly in poorer parts of the Philippines. Plaintiffs and their lawyers must also feel safe from physical and financial harassment while litigating their case. On the other hand, both courts and lawyers are often unfamiliar with environmental laws and science, limiting their ability to adjudicate in the field. Finally, court dockets are often congested, and environmental cases are not given priority. The judicial system’s role in addressing these issues ranges from fairly involved to almost no role. Yet, in attempting to understand environmental adjudication in the Philippines, it is crucial to recognize the role these practical realities play. 1. Financial Costs of Adjudication In any legal system, filing and litigating a case takes an enormous amount of time and money. Philippine courts impose a filing and transcript fee, although these are waived for citizens suits. Reflecting on his experiences, famous environmental attorney Antonio Oposa suggested that these costs were the greatest inhibitions for most plaintiffs. 69 Furthermore, for injunctive remedies, plaintiffs must post a bond to cover the defendant’s potential damages, which may be too large for a poor plaintiff with livestock and property as his only assets. 70 Most Philippine lawyers do not use a contingency fee system, so plaintiffs must be able to pay for legal services up front and over the lengthy litigation process. 71 On top of this, there is the risk of financially crushing harassment suits from defendants, or Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP). Even the logistics of feeding and housing witnesses, and their lost time from work, poses significant problems for predominantly poorer plaintiffs. In the U. S. , NGOs often receive enough donations to allow them to engage in litigation and have staff lawyers. More importantly, plaintiffs’ attorneys often work on a contingency basis, allowing poorer plaintiffs to avoid large financial risk. Furthermore, NGOs and environmental groups seeking injunctive remedies are often required only to pay a nominal bond or may be exempted completely. 72 While some might worry this makes litigation in the U. S. too easy, it drastically improves poor people’s access to justice. Pursuant to the Constitution’s emphasis on the poor, the Supreme Court of the Philippines has taken some efforts to alleviate this problem. Poorer plaintiffs are exempted from paying docket, transcript, and other fees and are granted free legal counsel. Furthermore, the Court provides an annual grant to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines’ Free Legal Aid Program. 73 However, not all environmental plaintiffs qualify as poor, particularly NGOs, even though they often have limited financial resources. Furthermore, even though the amount of the bond is under the discretion of the judge, judges are reluctant to do this because they worry about being accused of abusing their discretion. 74 2. Harassment of Plaintiffs and Lawyers Because of the high stakes involved in environmental cases, defendants may go to extraordinary means to intimidate and harass plaintiffs and their lawyers. It is not uncommon for defendants to lodge harassment or SLAPP suits against environmental plaintiffs or DENR prosecutors to attempt to force them to drop their charges. 75 Enforcers who confiscate the equipment of criminals are often sued for robbery. 76 Some defendants take even more extreme means such as physical violence or even murder. 77 Such dangers were recently illustrated by the murder of environmental advocate Elpidio de la Victoria and death threats against attorney Oposa. 78 This makes lawyers unwilling to take on difficult environmental cases. To stifle SLAPP suits, the courts should promptly apply the anti-SLAPP provisions in the Philippine Clean Air and Ecological Solid Waste Management Acts when applicable. 79 This means dismissing any harassment suits as quickly as possible. However, plaintiffs relying on other laws have less protection. 80 Congress must expand the use of anti-SLAPP provisions to other environmental laws. Furthermore, law enforcement must vigorously prosecute any defendants who resort to violence. In short, to facilitate environmental cases, the court must protect the ones bringing the cases. 3. Technical Knowledge Among Judges and Attorneys Judges must decide questions of science as well as law in order to dispose of most environmental cases. This is particularly true for brown issues, which involve uncertain science regarding the exact effects of a pollutant. In the U. S. , scientific understanding of pollutants led to new classes of trespass and tort suits that held emitters liable for their actions. 81 However, both sides in a case will try to use any scientific uncertainty to their advantage, or even create scientific uncertainty even when it does not exist in order to confuse the court. Judges must understand what scientific evidence should be admitted and what is not valid. 82 Judges and lawyers need to understand the science well enough to determine which arguments are unfounded and which are plausible. Because general the courts have general jurisdiction and are not specialized in environmental issues, this problem will have to be addressed by providing judges and lawyers with supplemental training in environmental sciences and law. PHILJA and other organizations are already successfully doing this. 83 Eventually, however, this problem may be resolved through a change in the adjudication system. If the Philippines moves toward environmental courts or administrative adjudication84 (as is being considered), judges would be trained specifically to handle environmental cases. 4. Obtaining and Preserving Evidence For green issues, preserving evidence may be difficult. After an illegal logger or fisher is captured, DENR can confiscate the logs and fish. These goods rot or deteriorate over time. Proper procedure requires taking pictures of the logs and fish for admission into court. Specially trained fish examiners prepare reports on the cause of death of fish. When done correctly, this preserves the evidence for use at court. However, some areas may not have fish examiners on hand or the prosecution may not properly prepare the pictures for admissible evidence. It is not uncommon for custodians of the confiscated items to lose track of them over time. Because cases take so long in the court system, this can be a real problem. 85 It is also difficult for enforcement agents to find and confiscate the equipment and vehicles used in environmental crimes, as the boats and trucks perpetrators use are highly mobile. Despite the inconvenience it may cause defendants, such equipment must be held as evidence and to prevent further environmental damage. The accused, or unindicted conspirators, will often petition for the release of their equipment. 86 Unfortunately, sympathetic lower court judges may sometimes grant these requests, despite the contravening case law. 87 Moreover, prosecutors must have the vehicles stored in a safe area despite the lack of storage space. Finally, it is important for enforcers to determine the location of violators, particularly close to the boundaries of natural parks. Community enforcers may not be trained in determining the exact location of where they apprehended the violators. Wealthier units can use GPS, but often the location of apprehension is disputed. 88 Any doubt in this area can destroy the prosecution’s case. 5. Docket Congestion In many countries, including the Philippines, courts are overburdened with cases. Yet, the Philippines’ forests and animals are already disappearing quickly. Irreversible damage to ecosystems can occur much more quickly than the many years it may take the court system to resolve a case. As Prof. La Vina noted, the environment cannot wait for the court system. 89 According to Justice Nazario, the Philippines needs over 300 trial court judges to fill the vacancies and resolve pending cases. 90 Low pay discourages the few who are qualified. Many of these vacancies are in remote parts of the country, such as Nueva Ecija, Occidental Mindoro, and Surigao Norte, where much of the fishing and forestry violations occur. Furthermore, the Supreme Court is burdened by the large amount of cases granted review each year, including the automatic review for death penalty cases. 91 Given this burdensome congestion, environmental cases are not given any special treatment on their own merits. Criminal environmental cases may be somewhat more expedited because they involve criminal punishments, but most judges and lawyers show no urgency with regard to environmental cases. 92 The Supreme Court attempted to alleviate this problem with Administrative Order No. 150B-93, setting up special courts to handle illegal logging, but these remain underutilized. 93 Until cases can move through the court system more quickly, the enforcement of environmental law will be delayed. III. Conclusion This paper has highlighted important legal and practical issues preventing efficient adjudication of environmental cases in the Philippines. However, due to logistical and budgetary constraints, this paper focused mostly on case law from the Supreme Court and the personal experiences of lawyers. In order to fully understand environmental adjudication throughout the court system, further research should ideally analyze environmental cases from all Municipal and Regional Trial Courts, Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court. It is important to see how cases area actually treated, particularly with respect to the issues examined in this paper. Furthermore, there may be important regional variations, particularly between areas with more natural resources and more urban areas. Even before such a study is undertaken, the courts can apply several lessons from this paper in the near future. First, while the courts have already taken commendable steps to waive filing fees and other costs for paupers, as mentioned above the definition of pauper may be under inclusive by not including NGOs. The courts should consider other definitions to reflect the realities of environmental NGOs. 94 Second, the Supreme Court should instruct the courts to dismiss SLAPP suits expeditiously. While the natural resource laws may not have anti-SLAPP provisions, Congress clearly did not intend to encourage such suits and there is nothing legally preventing the courts from dismissing them faster. Finally, the courts can address standing for citizens and class action suits. In particular, it should set out a clear position on standing in environmental cases. Other challenges will require long-term planning for the courts. Reducing the docket congestion is critical to expedite justice, although doing this will likely take years and require more judges. Likewise, the ongoing effort to train judges and lawyers in environmental law and science must continue, particularly as new judges and lawyers enter the judicial system. The courts should also familiarize themselves with the legal mechanisms available to them, particularly in shifting the burden of proof. However, this will be most useful in pollution cases as they become more common in the future. Ultimately, the challenges described above will require multifaceted solutions from various stakeholders in the Philippine legal system. For example, Congress must work to improve standing and citizens suit provisions in other environmental laws. To reduce the financial risk of brining a suit, law firms could move toward a contingency fee system. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of DENR and environmental agencies to ensure that evidence is properly recorded and preserved. Finally, as the Philippine grows and wealth spreads, more plaintiffs will be able to undergo the financial costs of adjudication. Eventually, the best solution to these challenges may come not from within the courts but from a new adjudication system. The U. S. has worked successfully with administrative adjudication for environmental issues in the EPA and Department of Interior. Other countries have set up independent environment courts. Based on the results of further studies and the needs of the country, the Philippines may move to adopt one of these models. This would allow expert adjudicators to handle cases under rules that make sense for environmental issues. Finally, it is important for judges at all levels of the judicial system to understand the severity of environmental degradation in the Philippines. The only redress environmental plaintiffs or prosecutors may have is in their court. Thus, they should not be reluctant to grant standing or award large damages, when appropriate, because doing so will ensure that both humans and the environment have their proper day in court.

Business Environment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Environment - Coursework Example There are several types of economic systems but this paper will only concentrate on theses three namely, planned economy, participatory economy, and barter economy. In planned economy such as state socialism where the economy behaves like a hands on economy in which people follow the state laws of economy. In participatory economy, people guide the production and distribution of goods through participating in the system. While in barter trade, traders exchange goods for other goods directly. These three economic systems attempt to allocate resources effectively by helping in making decisions regarding how, what, and for whom to produce (Gitman and McDaniel, 2008:101). For instance, in planned economic system, the state owns the scarce resources whereby it allocates them to the public by setting up production targets and rate of growth according to how it views the public’s wants. In this system, the overall income and distribution of wealth falls in the hands of the state auth orities. As such, the amount of resources an individual can access depends on his income and the resource depends on the value of market. Barter economic system entails of exchanging goods for other goods. In this case, these economic systems allocate resources effectively and accordingly depending on need and availability. Factors of production Factors of production contribute to scarcity of production in that, the more people produce, the more they are utilizing the available resources. Scarcity takes place following the inadequate availability of resources in spite of the fact that people require resources to produce. Factors of production include the natural resources such as land, water, air, and minerals among others. There is labor, which entails about the human effort used during production of goods whereby it involves marketing expertise and technical skills. There is also capital stock whereby these are human made goods or means of production in which people use them to produce other goods (Kurtz and Boone, 2009:52). With this sense, factors of production such as land contribute towards scarcity of resources since it is a natural resource and humans cannot control that by structuring another land upon using the first one. It is available, but has no alteration or effort on the part of humans. Out of the three econo mic systems listed above, I think the most appropriate one is the planned system of economy. This is because, planned system of economy bases on the process of accumulating capital. Simultaneously, it also seeks to direct or control the process of accumulating capital via corporative ownership or state ownership. By so doing, this economic system ensures stability and encourages equality among different people as well as expanding the power of decision-making (Kurtz and Boone, 2009:69). In addition, with planned system of an economy, the public, the state, and corporative all carry out production with view of attaining maximum profits. In this system, the market players are responsible for making decisions concerning investment and as such, they are able to assess which means of production are competent in the market. As a result, this system of economy is appropriate since it coordinates production directly to satisfy the economic

Analysis of an argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analysis of an argument - Essay Example great delineation of the book gathering contention where Tannen characterizes agonism as a ritualized position for instance in a verbal confrontation whereby the contending gatherings are allotted positions and one gathering wins, instead of contention coming about because of the two gatherings regular contradiction. The book has been developed focused around the impacts and parts of agonism in legislative issues, news coverage, and law. An essential issue tended to in this book is the wild agonism in the scholarly world. Numerous issues concerning scholastics are agonistics in nature, for instance, when instructors and teachers set up the academic papers, they take after a structure that is in a position to contradict another person work, which they demonstrate not right. In this present books setting agonism is clarified by the way that instructors and teachers prepare their scholars and normally dont permit them to think and strive to question thoughts because they dole out them w ith looked into insightful lives up to expectations. This encourages intolerance and self-importance around the scholars and this does not actualize the principal objectives of instruction (Tannen). Tannen in her book investigates the contrasts between a level headed discussion and exchange in class to clarify the Agonism society profoundly. In the classroom, if understudies are occupied with a verbal confrontation, few of them will partake in a civil argument, some will give careful consideration, however, a large number of the learners will, in fact, get turned off. Those learners who are contending will have a tendency to disentangle their focuses and keep away from the unpredictability in considering. They deliberately decline to yield a point climbed by their adversaries, regardless of the possibility that they are mindful that it is legitimate, because such a concession might render them as uncompetitive in the civil argument. In the event that a class captivates itself in