This book brings together the expertise of two authors involved in initiating the development of Online Family Dispute Resolution (OFDR), while also examining the unique Australian system. The family arena generally comprises property or child-related disputes arising between parents, whether married or not, and whether the parties have lived together or not. A special feature of Australia's OFDR system is that it deals with children's issues rather than focusing on property distribution. The book first discusses how technological innovations have transformed dispute resolution services to families. It explores the need for OFDR and how such systems can potentially be implemented. In turn, the coverage shifts to screening tools used prior to a Family Dispute Resolution session to ensure that online systems are appropriate for the case under dispute and the people involved. Readers will then learn about the necessary training required - for administrators, practitioners and clients alike - for OFDR to be successful. In addition, the book offers a comprehensive evaluation of the system and reflects on the lessons learned to date. In closing, it suggests ways in which OFDR could be further developed and applied to family disputes around the world.

Small and developing states make up the majority of participants in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO), and Malaysia is one of these. The numerous previous studies on Malaysia's UNPKO are primarily historical narratives which focus on practical, policy-related issues and due process, making no attempt to synchronize the nexus between theory and policy analysis. Nor do they cover the theoretical aspect which can operationalize and address the question of the roles played by Malaysia's domestic actors (foreign policy executives, legislature, military, media, public opinion) in the respective decision-making processes as well as those of external level, such as international power politics and geopolitical considerations. In other words, they are predominantly a historical narrative of only several Malaysia's UNPKO. This book fills the critical gap. It deliberates on the respective national and international decision-making processes, especially from the Malaysian point of view, and analyses the theoretical and practical impacts of Malaysia's UNPKO in understanding international politics. Apart from providing a well-researched account of Malaysia's UNPKO across the globe for 50 years, i.e. 1960-2010, this book examines the determinants by using qualitative data, particularly key-informant interviews and documentary analysis. Thus, while most studies of Malaysia's UNPKO single out domestic imperatives as the most vital determinant, this book, on the contrary, comprehensively identifies the prevailing world security order as the most important determinant influencing Malaysia's UNPKO, followed by the domestic ones.

This book reviews for the first time some of the less frequently addressed actors in international investment law. Traditional studies concerning actors in international investment law have tended to focus on arbitrators, claimant investors and respondent states. This book explores transnational actors, such as UNCITRAL, the EU, international standardizing bodies, domestic and international courts and tribunals, etc., shedding light on their transnational activity and pluralistic role in international investment law.

This book takes a close look at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), challenging existing claims and answering previously unanswered questions, by considering all of its publicly available decisions, both in its entirety as a body of jurisprudence and on a case-by-case level. It also investigates the actors involved in adjudication before the CAS, both the parties that bring disputes before the CAS and the arbitrators that resolve them, and in so doing establish precedents that govern sports generally. While the book relies upon and includes more traditional legal theory and analysis, it combines this with an empirical analysis of a large portion of the CAS's decisions. Hereby it relies upon and relates to the theory of the development of a transnational legal order in sports, the lex sportiva. The publication is targeted at and will benefit those professionally working in or interested in the fields of sports law, arbitration law, transnational law, or empirical legal studies. Johan Lindholm is a Professor of Law at Umea University in Sweden.

This book makes a significant contribution to the comprehension of the law and practice of provisional measures issued by international courts and tribunals, including international commercial arbitration. After having analyzed the common features of provisional measures, it provides an overview of the peculiarities of these orders within the context of different international proceedings (e.g. the ICJ, the ITLOS, the CJEU, the ICC, human rights courts and investment arbitration). In this regard, the book is valuable in offering a broad and rigorous comparative analysis between the various forms of provisional measures. Owing to its original cross-cutting and case-driven approach, the book will be an essential tool for both scholars and practitioners dealing with the law of provisional measures in international adjudication. Indeed, this book will be an important novelty in international law libraries due to the broad range of regimes scrutinized and to a detailedanalysis of the general trends within the contemporary law of provisional measures. Fulvio Maria Palombino is Professor of International Law in the Department of Law at the University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy. Roberto Virzo is Associate Professor of International Law in the Department of Law, Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods (DEMM) at the University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy. Giovanni Zarra is Adjunct Professor of International Law in the Department of Law at the University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.

The information age provides novel tools for case management. While technology plays a crucial role, the way in which courts are structured is still critical in ensuring effective case management. The correlation between court structure and case management is a pivotal topic. The existing debate concentrates predominantly on the micro and case-specific aspects of case management, without further inquiry into the relationship between court structure, court management, and case management. The contributions within this volume fill this gap from a comparative perspective, undertaking a macro/structural and sub-macro perspective of procedure and case management.

This open access volume of the AIDA Europe Research Series on Insurance Law and Regulation offers the first comprehensive legal and regulatory analysis of the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD). The IDD came into force on 1 October 2018 and regulates the distribution of insurance products in the EU. The book examines the main changes accompanying the IDD and analyses its impact on insurance distributors, i.e., insurance intermediaries and insurance undertakings, as well as the market. Drawing on interrelations between the rules of the Directive and other fields that are relevant to the distribution of insurance products, it explores various topics related to the interpretation of the IDD - e.g. the harmonization achieved under it; its role as a benchmark for national legislators; and its interplay with other regulations and sciences - while also providing an empirical analysis of the standardised pre-contractual information document. Accordingly, the book offers a wealth of valuable insights for academics, regulators, practitioners and students who are interested in issues concerning insurance distribution.

This book examines the issue of foreign investor misconduct in modern international investment law, focusing on the approach that international investment law as it currently operates has developed towards foreign investor misconduct. The term 'misconduct' is not a legal notion, but is used to describe a certain phenomenon, namely, a group/class of actions. This term is convenient since it makes it possible to introduce and describe the phenomenon as such, without a division into concrete types of conduct, like 'abuse of process', 'violation of national law', 'corruption', 'investment contrary to international norms and standards', etc. The term 'misconduct' is intended to embrace various kinds of conduct on the part of foreign investors that the system of international investment law does not accept - such as that which it regards as illegal, against public policy, or otherwise inappropriate - and triggers legal consequences. Rarely, however, does international investment law clearly articulate what it considers unacceptable investor conduct, and certainly not in any systematic fashion. As such, this book addresses the following questions: What types of investors' conduct are legally unacceptable? What mechanisms are available to deal with unacceptable investors' conduct, and what are the legal consequences?

This book explains the causes, process, and results of group disputes in urban communities (the empirical experiences from Shanghai) in China. It explores the means and characteristics of as well as the differences in conflict resolution in various forms of state-society relations, particularly the ways of dealing with and resolving disputes concerning mass incidents involving government interests in China's current social transformation period. It also analyzes how people's mediation organizations interact with the local government when managing and defusing collective disputes. Combining the relevant theories and five conflict resolution measurement models created by Blake and Mouton (1964), this book explains the current interaction model and cooperation mechanism between the state and social organizations in China. To do so, it examines the role of the Lin Le People's Mediation Workroom in dealing with community collective disputes and the respective action strategies and constraints. The book argues that the current state-social relations in China are not centered on society or the state, but on "state-led social pluralism."

This book addresses the interactions between the domestic courts and the international investment arbitral tribunals, one of the most pressing issues confronting both domestic legal systems and the international legal system. It deals with the core issues inherent in the above interactions, especially with regard to countries outside the ICSID system. It contrasts this narrative with the position under classical international investment law, where national courts are assigned a very specific and minimalistic role in the process of investment disputes settlement. For this purpose, the book chooses India, which follows the non-ICSID model, as the major point of focus and considers both domestic judicial decisions and investment arbitral decisions for critical analysis. The ICSID Convention grants limited powers to domestic courts to issue provisional measures and to enforce ICSID awards. As the central theme of the book lies at the intersection of domestic law and international law, the work is indispensable for any scholar working in the areas of general international law, international investment law, international economic law, law and economics, international dispute settlement, or international law in domestic courts, as well as domestic judges and international arbitrators. Further, as the subject matter has great implications for both domestic and global governance, it will benefit civil servants, opinion leaders, policy planners and subject experts in economics, the political economy and regional studies, to name a few. Excerpt from the Foreword:"One of the great merits of this book is that... It looks at bilateral investment treaties themselves to probe more deeply into the role of national courts in investment arbitration... This masterful book fills a major void as a resource in Indian international arbitration law. But is also the prototype of what any serious inquiry into the judicial role in investor-State arbitration in any jurisdiction should look like..." - George A. Bermann, Walter Gellhorn Professor of Law and Jean Monnet Professor of European Union Law, Columbia Law School, USA

This book discusses how UNIDROIT principles are viewed and interpreted in different countries, presenting various perspectives and practical lessons learned. It also offers a detailed analysis of the use of the UNIDROIT principles to interpret and supplement domestic contract law. Written by experts in the field, it provides insights into how the principles are being used and applied in their respective countries. The findings are also summarized in a General Report that was presented at the 20th IACL General Congress in Fukuoka, Japan.

The Yearbook of International Sports Arbitration is the first academic publication aiming to offer comprehensive coverage, on a yearly basis, of the most recent and salient developments regarding international sports arbitration, through a combination of general articles and case notes. The present volume covers decisions rendered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and national courts in 2017. It is a must have for sports lawyers and arbitrators, as well as researchers engaged in this field. It provides in-depth articles on current issues raised by international sports arbitration, and commentaries by esteemed academics and experienced practitioners on the most important decisions of the year by the CAS and national courts. Dr. Antoine Duval is Senior Researcher at the T.M.C. Asser Instituut in The Hague and heads the Asser International Sports Law Centre. Prof. Antonio Rigozzi teaches international arbitration and sports law at the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland, and is the partner in charge of the sports arbitration practice at Levy Kaufmann-Kohler, a Geneva-based law firm specializing in international arbitration.

This book discusses how technological innovations have affected the resolution of disputes arising from electronic commerce in the European Union, UK and China. Online dispute resolution (ODR) is a form of alternative dispute resolution in which information technology is used to establish a process that is more effective and conducive to resolving the specific types of dispute for which it was created. This book focuses on out-of-court ODR and the resolution of disputes in the field of electronic commerce. It explores the potential of ODR in this specific e-commerce context and investigates whether the current use of ODR is in line with the principles of access to justice and procedural fairness. Moreover, it examines the major concerns surrounding the development of ODR, e.g. the extent to which electronic ADR agreements are recognized by national courts in cross-border e-commerce transactions, how procedural justice is ensured in ODR proceedings, and whether ODR outcomes can be effectively enforced. To this end, the book assesses the current and potential role of ODR in resolving e-commerce disputes, identifies the legal framework for and legal barriers to the development of ODR, and makes recommendations as to the direction in which practice and the current legal framework should evolve. In closing, the book draws on the latest legislation in the field of e-commerce law and dispute resolution in order to make recommendations for future ODR design, such as the EU Platform-to-Business Regulation on Promoting Fairness and Transparency for Business Users of Online Intermediation Services (2019) and the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (2018), which provide the legal basis for ODR's future development.

This book presents a comprehensive and systematic study of the principal aspects of the modern law of international commercial transactions. Based on diverse sources, including legislative texts, case law, international conventions, and a variety of soft-law instruments, it highlights key topics such as the international sale of goods, international transport, marine insurance, international finance and payments, electronic commerce, international commercial arbitration, standard trade terms, and international harmonization of trade laws. In focusing on the private law aspects of international trade, the book closely analyzes the relevant statutes, case law and the European Union (EU) and international uniform law instruments like the Rome I Regulation, the UN Convention on the Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), UNCITRAL Model Laws; non-legislative instruments including restatements such as the UNIDROIT Principles on International Commercial Contracts, and rules of business practices codified by the ICC such as the Arbitration Rules, UCP 600 and different versions of the INCOTERMS. The book clearly explains the key concepts and nuances of the subject, offering incisive and vivid analyses of the major issues and developments. It also traces the evolution of the law of international trade and explores the connection between the lex mercatoria and the modern law. Comprehensively examining the issue of international harmonization of trade laws from a variety of perspectives, it provides a detailed account of the work of major players in the field, including UNCITRAL, UNIDROIT, ICC, and the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). Adopting the comparative law method, this book offers a critical analysis of the laws of two key jurisdictions-India and England-in the context of export trade. In order to stimulate discussion on law reform, it explains the similarities and differences not only between laws of the two countries, but also between the laws of India and England on the one hand, and the uniform law instruments on the other. Given its breadth of coverage, this book is a valuable reference resource not only for students in the fields of law, international trade, and commercial law, but also for researchers, practitioners and policymakers.

This book re-constructs the evolution of the border conflict between Croatia and Slovenia. The aim is to reveal the processes at work, the historical and contemporary circumstances, and the strategies and motives of the actors involved. The book highlights the roles of the European Union and of judicial third parties in the management of the conflict. Further, it considers the precedent-setting value of the Slovenian-Croatian conflict, the attempts at its resolution, and what they mean for the ongoing and prospective EU enlargement in South East Europe. Internal documents and interviews are at the heart of this process-tracing analysis, which discusses the third-party roles of the European Commission and the EU Council Presidency in 2008/2009 as a mediator-facilitator in the drafting stages of the arbitration agreement, and the judicial work of the arbitration tribunal and the EU Court of Justice. Lastly, the book offers policy recommendations on how to strengthen dispute resolution and solve current bilateral issues in the EU accession process.

This book discusses the use of the compromissory clause in international investment agreements (IIAs) for interstate dispute resolution. It puts forward the possibility of using state-to-state arbitration based on the compromissory clause in IIAs as an alternative means of resolving investment disputes in light of the global debate on the shortcomings of investor-state arbitration. The book's main conclusion is that state-to-state arbitration may be used as an alternative to currently popular investor-state arbitration by resolving procedural hurdles which impede its acceptance. It becomes more important with the removal of investor-state arbitration as an option in certain recent IIAs, which then elevates state-to-state arbitration as the sole option for binding third party dispute resolution in the treaty. Even then, it is unlikely to replace investor-state arbitration completely due to its inherent shortcomings, such as the risk of re-politicising disputes and a lack of direct control over the process for the affected investors. Nevertheless, the availability of an alternative forum will benefit all parties involved, as they will no longer be wholly dependent on investor-state arbitration, which can be affected by events such as denunciation from the ICSID Convention or the refusal of a host state to enforce an arbitration award.

This book discusses the reform and improvement of Chinese legislation on Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects (PFIPs), the goal being to help its implementation in China satisfy international standards. In this regard, current Chinese laws are found to be insufficient when it comes to reducing risks to PFIPs, due to certain shortcomings. Therefore, the corresponding legislation must be reformed and improved.The Legislative Guide and Model Provisions drafted by UNCITRAL are discussed as the international standards that can effectively guide this reform; other countries' laws on PFIPs provide supplementary reference material.Given the rapid rise in the use of PFIPs in China, this book offers a strong theoretical basis for improving Chinese legislation. It also provides general suggestions that can be applied to the reform of laws on PFIPs in any country.

This collection critically discusses the increasing significance of Asian States in the field of international investment law and policy. Consisting of contributions authored by a leading team of scholars and practitioners of international investment law, this volume contains analyses of both national and multilateral investment law rule-making in Asia, including a critical discussion of certain States' approaches to balancing the different tension between investment protection and the preservation of States' regulatory sovereignty. It also contains thematic chapters on cutting-edge developments which are of relevance to Asia as well as the global community, such as investors' obligations of due diligence, additional transparency in treaty-based investment arbitration responses by ASEAN member States to transboundary haze pollution, and the relevance of human rights obligations in international investment law. It also contemplates future possibilities for investor-State dispute settlement, including the use of investor-State mediation in view of the Singapore Convention on Mediation.

This book presents a creative synthesis of two ostensibly disparate fields of law - arbitration and human rights. More specifically, it focuses on various legislative approaches to excluding the annulment of arbitral awards (setting-aside proceedings) at the seat of arbitration and evaluates the compatibility of such approaches with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), in particular the right to a fair trial under Article 6(1). The book first assesses the applicability and impact of the ECHR, in particular Article 6(1), on international commercial arbitration. It then analyses a number of legislative approaches to excluding setting-aside proceedings, focusing on two synergetic phenomena - exclusion agreements and the total lack of setting-aside proceedings in national arbitration law. Lastly, the book investigates to what extent the lack of setting-aside proceedings in national arbitration law may lead to a violation of arbitrating parties' right to a fair trial under Article 6(1), and puts forward certain de lege ferenda recommendations on how to best approach the regulation of setting-aside proceedings in national arbitration law from the standpoint of compliance with the ECHR.

This book examines the impact of EU trade and investment agreements on public services, a topic that continues to be the subject of heated political debate. It surveys a broad range of EU agreements and provides a comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of the rules and disciplines of such agreements that can affect the provision of public services. Going beyond the existing literature, it asks whether the treatment of public services in EU trade and investment agreements is coherent with the special status of public services in "internal" EU law, specifically internal market law, while also challenging the notion that trade and investment agreements automatically pose serious threats to public services. The book will be of keen interest to legal scholars and students specialising in EU and/or international economic law together with national and international policy-makers. Luigi F. Pedreschi is affiliated to the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, and currently works as a Research Associate at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, also located in Florence.

This book analyses a selection of challenges in the implementation and application of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), focusing on several areas: international organizations, fisheries, security, preserving marine biodiversity, dispute settlement, and interaction with other areas of international law. UNCLOS has been described as the Constitution for the Oceans. It sets out the fundamental rights, obligations and jurisdictions of States regarding the access to, uses and management of the oceans and seas and their resources. It balances States' diverse and sometimes conflicting interests, such as conflicting uses of space, against navigational interests and the protection of the marine environment. UNCLOS is the first global treaty to include comprehensive obligations on the protection and preservation of the marine environment, including the conservation of living marine resources. These are often common or cross-border challenges, which can only be addressed through international cooperation. The book is divided into three thematic parts. The first concerns the role of international organizations in ocean governance. It includes twelve chapters covering a very diverse set of issues, both materially and geographically, that demonstrate the importance of coordinated actions on the part of multiple States for obtaining harmonized solutions regarding the pursuit of activities in maritime spaces (in connection with e.g. navigation, fisheries or maritime security). The second part concerns the relevance of dispute settlement mechanisms for understanding the international law of the sea and the international legal framework within which the actions of the great maritime powers take place. It is composed of three chapters, examining stakeholders' role in dispute settlement, the position taken by China and the Russian Federation regarding international litigation in maritime spaces, and how the South China Sea Award may be relevant to the debate on the international legal concepts of rock and island. In turn, the third part addresses current discussions on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Its seven chapters report on the status quo of the ongoing negotiations for a new international legal regime of the high seas, and the establishment and operationalization of environmental regimes for international maritime spaces.

This work is the first systematic discussion of arbitration from a constitutional perspective, covering the most important types of arbitration, including domestic arbitration in private law, international commercial arbitration, investment treaty arbitration, and state-to-state arbitration. Victor Ferreres Comella argues for the recognition of a constitutional right to arbitration in the private sphere and discusses the constraints that the state is entitled to place on this right. He also explores the conditions under which investment treaty arbitration is constitutionally legitimate, and highlights the shortcomings of international adjudication from a constitutional perspective. The rich landscape of arbitration is explained in clear language, avoiding unnecessary technical jargon. Using examples drawn from a wide variety of domains, Ferreres bridges the gap between constitutional and arbitral theory.

This book brings together articles from leading experts in the field of international dispute resolution. The main focus is on the situation in Asia, though the European perspective also plays an important part. Accordingly, the focus on the Asian dispute resolution market with a distinctly American and European "touch" is one of the book's most unique features. The dispute resolution market is rapidly transforming, and dispute resolution law is changing with it -especially in Asia. This book highlights recent advances and outlines future trends in this area. Emphasis is especially placed on International Commercial Arbitration Law on the one hand; and on International Investment Arbitration Law on the other. Two dedicated sections address these two topics, while another is dedicated to a quite new phenomenon in the field of international dispute resolution, the emergence of International Commercial Courts not only in Asia, but also in other regions of the world (e.g. in the Netherlands). This raises a host of interesting legal questions, which the book addresses. The book's final section investigates general trends in dispute resolution (e.g. the rising cost problem in arbitration in general).

This book comprehensively examines various issues regarding the scope of Most-Favoured Nation (MFN) Clauses in International Investment Agreements (IIAs), and addresses the reform, interpretation, and enforcement of IIAs with a specific focus on the MFN clause. The book begins with a study of the history and evolution of the MFN. It then presents a substantive analysis focusing on the drafting style and how it affects the scope of the MFN; rules of interpretation and arbitral case law on the scope of the MFN, procedural prerequisites to arbitration and jurisdiction of arbitral tribunals, and the implications of adopting an expansive approach to the MFN clause. The book's argument centres on the need for arbitral tribunals to interpret the MFN in a manner that reflects the expressed intent of the parties. This requires taking into consideration the text of the MFN, its purpose, and the overall context of the IIA, rather than relying on values and assumptions that have nothing to do with the original intent of the parties. In making this argument, the book draws on Articles 31 and 32 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and other interpretative rules. What sets the book apart is its comprehensive coverage of issues concerning the interpretation and application of the MFN in IIAs. At the same time, it addresses issues in connection with an expansive interpretation of MFN clauses, as well as concerns regarding the legitimacy crisis in investor-state arbitration. Accordingly, it contributes to future Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) reform, while also offering a wealth of theoretical and practical insights for future treaty drafters, arbitrators, and policymakers.

The first issue of the Balkan Yearbook of European and International Law (BYEIL) focuses on international commercial and investment arbitration as one of the fastest developing fields of law in Southeast Europe. Covering a range of topics, the contributions analyze transparency and confidentiality in international commercial and investment arbitration in national, EU and international contexts. In addition, it compares the commercial arbitration laws and rules in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the international developments in this area.The papers published in the permanent sections on European Law and International Law explore contemporary challenges in public and private law disciplines, offering new perspectives on old concepts.