Legendary Lycurgus the Lawgiver of Sparta

Athens had its Solon, the law-giver, and Sparta, its Lycurgus—at least thats what we like to believe. Like the origins of the reforms of Lycurgus, the man himself is wrapped in legend. Plutarch on Lycurgus Rise to Power Plutarch tells the story of Lycurgus as if he had been a real person, albeit an eleventh-generation descendant of Hercules, since the Greeks generally ascribed genealogy that went back to the gods when writing about important figures. In Sparta there were two kings who jointly shared the power. Lycurgus, according to Plutarch, was the younger son of one of these two kings. His older brothers wife was pregnant when both Lycurgus brother and father died, and so, the unborn would have become king—assuming it was a boy—in time. Lycurgus sister-in-law proposed to Lycurgus, saying she would do away with the child if he would marry her. In that way both she and Lycurgus would maintain power in Sparta. Lycurgus pretended to agree with her, but instead of having the child killed after birth, as was a Greek custom, Lycurgus presented the child to the men of Sparta, naming the child and saying that he was their future king. Lycurgus himself was to act as guardian and advisor until the baby came of age. Lycurgus Travels to Learn About Law When slander about the motives of Lycurgus got out of hand, Lycurgus left Sparta and went to Crete where he became familiar with the Cretan law code. Plutarch says Lycurgus met Homer and Thales on his travels. Recalled to Sparta, Lycurgus Institutes His Laws (Rhetra) Eventually, the Spartans decided they needed Lycurgus back and persuaded him to return to Sparta. Lycurgus agreed to do so, but first he had to consult with the Delphic Oracle. The advice of the oracle was so well respected that it would add authority to whatever was done in its name. The oracle said that the laws (rhetra) of Lycurgus would become the most famous in the world. Lycurgus Changes Spartas Social Organization With the oracle on his side, Lycurgus instituted changes in the Spartan government and provided Sparta with a constitution. In addition to changes to the government, Lycurgus altered the economy of Sparta, banning ownership of gold or silver and useless occupations. All men were to eat together in common mess halls. Lycurgus reformed Sparta socially, too. Lycurgus started the state-run education system, including the training of women, the peculiar non-monogamous Spartan marriages, and the role of the state in deciding which newborn was fit to live. Lycurgus Tricks the Spartans Into Keeping His Laws When it appeared to Lycurgus that all was being done according to his suggestions and that Sparta was on the right track, he told the Spartans that he had one more important mission. Until he returned, they were under oath not to change the laws. Then Lycurgus left Sparta and disappeared forever. That is the (condensed) story of Lycurgus, according to Plutarch. Herodotus also says the Spartans thought the laws of Lycurgus came from Crete. Xenophon says Lycurgus made them up, while Plato says the Delphic Oracle provided them. Regardless of their origin, the Delphic Oracle played an important role in the acceptance of the laws of Lycurgus. The Great Rhetra Heres a passage from Plutarchs Life of Lycurgus on his obtaining an oracle from Delphi about the establishment of his form of government: When thou has built a temple to Zeus Syllanius and Athena Syllania, divided the people into phylai, and divided them into obai, and established a Gerousia of thirty including the Archagetai, then from time to time appellazein between Babyka and Knakion, and there introduce and repeal measures; but the Demos must have the decision and the power.

Persuasive Essay On Gun Control - 702 Words

â€Å"He’s dead, he’s dead† Katie Medley who was 9 months pregnant at the time, is crouched behind a chair. She hears bullets flying, people screaming, but nothing is as terrifying as when she sees her husbands bloody face, and she realizes he isn’t breathing (Susan). This tragic event took place at a movie theater in Aurora Colorado and it is just one of the many instances that feed into the American gun control epidemic. Gun violence has become a major issue in America and as a nation, we need to do something about it. We should ban guns because of the extreme mass public shootings which killed so many innocent people and has caused so much unnecessary tragedy. Banning guns would also decrease accidental shootings, and crime rates. If we†¦show more content†¦The other day there was a shooting in California and the shooter,† was not supposed to have guns† (CNN). Major shootings and massacres will be reduced when America decides to i ncrease and improve their current background checks. Hunting is one of Americas greatest past times, and this upcoming weekend is going to be the annual opening weekend for gun hunting. Even if a person has no intentions to harm other people with a firearm, accidents do still happen. In the US, over 1,000 people are accidentally injured or killed in hunting accidents each year (Lin). This is far too many and something needs to be done about it. Guns have proven to be a danger in society and the final step to prevent any negative gun scenarios would be to ban firearms all together. Many people have very strong opinions about this topic and while speaking to a hunter, he stated,† banning guns would completely go against the 2nd amendment, and people would start to riot with the banning of guns.† Many people may disagree with this new law however it would without a doubt save thousands of lives. Guns give people the power to kill, and that is a responsibility that America can not handle. Gun control is something that many Americans do not take seriously. But this is a problem that is causing thousands of deaths each year, and that number will keep goingShow MoreRelatedPersuasive Essay : Gun Control798 Words   |  4 PagesPersuasive Essay Did you know that in the United States almost 100,000 people are shot or killed with a gun in one year? 10,527 people die a year in handgun related incidents in the United States. This number, by far, outweighs the number of gun related deaths in countries such as Sweden, Great Britain, and Japan, which number 13, 22, and 87, respectively. What is the reason for such drastic differences in numbers? Sweden, Great Britain, and Japan are all countries that have stricter gun controlRead MorePersuasive Essay On Gun Control1753 Words   |  8 PagesPersuasive Essay Rough Draft The United States of America has a problem that is growing worse every day. American laws are not protecting its citizens from injury or death. You may think the mass shootings in America the guns used were bought illegally, but â€Å"since 1982, there have been at least 62 mass shooter carried out with firearms across the country, with the killings unfolding in 30 states from Massachusetts to Hawaii. Of the 139 guns possessed by the killers, more than three quarters wereRead More Persuasive Articles on Gun Control Essays607 Words   |  3 PagesPersuasive Articles on Gun Control Persuading an audience can be done in several different fashions, one of which is Hugh Rank’s Model of Persuasion. Rank’s model states that two major strategies are used to achieve the particular goal of persuasion. These strategies are nicely set into two main schemas; the first method is to exaggerate an aspect of something, known as â€Å"intensify.† While the second is to discredit it, which is referred to as â€Å"downplay.† Al Franken, Jeffrey SnyderRead MorePersuasive Essay On Gun Control1018 Words   |  5 PagesImagine, an America where no citizen, law abiding or not, has the legal ability to own guns. Three gunmen with fully automatic rifles walk into a crowded city and begin firing. No law abiding citizen can defend themselves. It’s hopeless. This future can only be prevented if Americans continue to keep the second amendment. We should keep the current gun control laws, but revise them to make them even better. Most gun own ers are responsible under the current laws, however, I think some laws need to beRead MorePersuasive Essay On Gun Control1245 Words   |  5 Pagesand time again. Due to recent tragedies involving firearms, the view of guns and peoples rights to own and operate firearms have been frowned upon and viewed in a bad light due to Media. News sources have cherrypicked pictures of tragedies and stories about bad instances of gun usage in order to fight for Gun Control and the suppression of Americans rights. Due to the recent Vegas shooting, the argument for Gun Control has never been more intense, and Media outlets are having a field day onRead MorePersuasive Essay On Gun Control1637 Words   |  7 Pagesbecomingly increasingly unsure of where the line is drawn on being able to have a gun and what prevents people from using them for harm. Some people have argued that even though the Second Amendment does protect our individual rights to have the option to own arms, that it should give the government authority to ban high-crime communities from using handguns. Gun violence embraces every town in the United States. 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This is a staggering amount of firearms in the U.S. which our forefathers would ve never imagined when writing the 2nd Amendment. The 2nd Amendment states that â€Å"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right ofRead MorePersuasive Essay On Gun Control1687 Words   |  7 Pagesayehu Yitbarek Levell English 121-325/S25 04/20/2017 Gun Control Gun control is a controversial and important issue all over the world. A gun, as a weapon for defense and protection, has been misused by many resulting in unlawful acts. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dedicated protect public health and safety, in 2010, there were roughly 31,670 gun-related deaths in the U.S. About 11,100 were homicides (35%) and about 19,400 (61%) were suicides (Jim). Every day, a lotRead MorePersuasive Essay On Gun Control1656 Words   |  7 Pages Gun control has been a huge issue lately, but the focus needs to be on the person handling the gun. We need to make stronger background checks to stop all this unnecessary violence going on in todays society. There has been strong supporters on both sides with very well known support groups, almost all of the people that vote towards stricter gun laws and banning guns have never been in a situation to need one and don’t understand that different guns serve different purposes. There are three different

Company Law Incorporated Company in Singapore

Question: Describe about the Company Law for Incorporated Company in Singapore. Answer: Introduction In the given situation, The Everything Possible Lah Pte Ltd is an incorporated company in Singapore that has independent directors and is therefore governed by the Companies Laws and legislations that are prevalent in Singapore. Profits were being made by the company and in this scenario, three directors of the company made three comments regarding their future course of action. These three statements made by the directors shall be taken into account for discussion in the given matter and advice shall be provided on the relevant penalties that arise from non-compliance. Director Arsene Director Arsene said that there was no necessity of providing details of accounting to the shareholders as long as the organization is earning profits. Sections 199 to 204 of the Companies Act clearly lay down the duties of the directors. It has been provided that directors need to comply with their financial reporting obligations which entails them to maintain financial reports and statements, laying down the accounts for profits and losses made by them, maintaining accurate balance sheets and also presenting the director's report in front of the shareholders and members in the Annual General Meeting of the company and simultaneously, it is expected that they should report on the state of the affairs of the company and provide members with copies of statements providing all the requisite financial details ("Ch.17 Corporate Finance and Securities Regulation", 2016). A failure by the directors to observe this requirement exposes them to criminal liability and fines may be imposed on t hem for making breach of duty under the Act. The amount of fine may be up to S$15,000 and in certain cases, there might also be an imprisonment for up to three years (Halsbury's laws of Singapore, 2006). Case precedents like (Lim Weng Kee v PP, 2002) can be taken into account here. The directors failed to comply with the auditing requirements and the shareholders though they received a share of their yearly dividends, yet the failure on the part of the directors to show the accurate books of audit was held to be a valid ground for considering breach of duties by the directors and hence civil penalties and criminal charges were levied against them. It should be noted that in the given instance, though the company is making profits, it cannot be said that just because of this reason, the shareholders do not have a right to access the books of accounts of the company (Shorewala Vasumitra, 2015). It is a statutory duty of the directors to show the correct books of accounts to all the shareholders and hence, they cannot err from this duty. Thus, it can be said that the proposal of Director Arsene is not a sound one and if the breach of duty is proved against them, all the three directors can become liable for civil and criminal penalties. Director Mourinho Subsequently, Director Mourinho stated that since the government had provided relaxation with auditors, and at the same time, regulatory burden has been reduced to the companies, there is no necessity for the company to appoint another auditor for them and they can manage their work with the appointment of Ah Seng from the accounts department under the shoes of their auditor. This could have been said to be a sound option if this was a small listed company with only one director and much lesser annual profit turnover. It should be noted that all companies in Singapore should be registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority and at the same time, should abide by the requirements of the Companies Act. The present company is a private limited company (Vita Health Laboratories Pte Ltd Ors v Pang Seng Meng, 2004). The key requirements for setting up this company are that it should have at least one shareholder, one resident director, one company secretary, initial paid -up capital of at least S$1 and a physical office address in Singapore (Company law in Singapore, 2008). Appointment of an auditor is mandatory for this company because it has been made compulsory that all Singapore incorporated companies should appoint one auditor within three months from the date of which it is incorporated. Unless and until the particular company is exempt from the auditing requirements, appointment of an auditor is necessary and this cannot be avoided. To get the exemption from the auditing requirements, the company should fulfill certain criteria. One of them is that the company should have less than 20 individual shareholders and there should be none of them who are a corporate shareholder. Second requirement under this criterion is that the annual turnover of the company must be less than S$5 million ("Form a Singapore Private Limited Company", 2016). However, in the given situation, the company that is being discussed does not satisfy these requirements and hence, it is not exempt from auditing requirements. Thus, it is necessary to appoint an independent and di stinct auditor for the company. If this is not done, then the company is liable to become responsible for breach of statutory requirements and thus, penalties might be imposed on the company (Soderquist Gabaldon, 2011). Director Klopp The third statement was made by Director Klopp who opined that it was not necessary for the company to issue a prospectus because it is not listed on the stock exchange. Considering the present recommendations of the working committee, it can be said that the opinion of Director Klopp is a valid one and the company in fact does not need to issue a prospectus at this time if it has not yet planned to list itself on the stock exchange. The issue of a prospectus becomes necessary whenever an offer of securities is being made and this is not an excluded or exempt offer that is being taken into consideration. Moreover, issuing a prospectus also becomes important if the company issues units in collective investment schemes. However, the present business structure is not under any of these criterion and hence, it is not necessary for them to issue prospectus at the present time (Yeo, 2011). Had the company been involved in any business for which issuing a prospectus is mandatory and even th en it fails to issue the prospectus, then criminal as well as civil liabilities would have been imposed on the directors for breach of statutory duties. Prospectus is basically a document that is designed in such a way that the investors get an idea of the business, assets and nature of the company so that they can make informed decisions regarding whether they wish to invest or purchase the securities or not. However, since the present company in question is not involved in any business of this kind, nor is it listed on the stock exchange at present, it is exempt from the requirement of issuing a prospectus and there is no requirement under the law for this company to mandatorily issue a prospectus. The nature of business of the company is not misleading in any way and hence there is no question of deceiving the creditors or the shareholders (Guide to company law in Malaysia Singapore, 1990). Moreover, it also has shown compliance with all other requirements as specified under the laws and thus it automatically becomes immune from the liability of issuing a prospectus. Lastly, as far as the general interest of the public is concern ed, since there has been no reporting of any kind, the company is not mandated to issue prospectus at present. Conclusion It can thus be stated in the given situation that the Companies Act as well as the Securities and Futures Act are powerful tools that determine whether the statements made by the directors in the meeting are justified or not. The analysis as presented above indicates that for having made such statements, the law can impose civil and criminal penalties on the directors in the majority of the instances. References Ch.17 Corporate Finance and Securities Regulation. (2016).Singaporelaw.sg. Retrieved 5 October 2016, from https://www.singaporelaw.sg/sglaw/laws-of-singapore/commercial-law/chapter-17 Company law in Singapore. (2008). Singapore. Form a Singapore Private Limited Company. (2016).Singapore Company Incorporation | Registration and Work Visa. Retrieved 5 October 2016, from https://www.singaporecompanyincorporation.sg/how-to/incorporate/a-beginners-guide-how-to-form-a-singapore-private-limited-company/ Guide to company law in Malaysia Singapore. (1990). [Singapore]. Halsbury's laws of Singapore. (2006). Singapore. Lim Weng Kee v PP, 2 SLR (R) 848 (2002). Shorewala, K. Vasumitra, V. Comparing Takeover Laws in the UK, India and Singapore.SSRN Electronic Journal. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1753341 Soderquist, L. Gabaldon, T. (2011).Securities law. New York, N.Y.: Foundation Press Thomson/West. Vita Health Laboratories Pte Ltd Ors v Pang Seng Meng, 4 SLR 162 (2004). Yeo, V. (2011).Commercial applications of company law in Singapore. [Singapore]: CCH Asia.