The centre for comparative laws in Africa held its inaugural methodology workshop from 22 to 24 October 2012. Over 40 scholars from various universities in South Africa, Africa, Europe and the United States of America participated in plenary and panel discussions around comparative law in cultural, interdisciplinary and subject context, Western legal traditions and mixed jurisdictions in African comparative legal studies, traditional and informal law in Africa, religious law in Africa and its comparative implications and the role of African comparative legal studies in the development of law in Africa. Comparative law in Africa: Methodologies and concepts is the outcome of the workshop. Its aim is to contextualise comparative legal studies in the African continent, with the ultimate goal of paving the way for the development of a comparative methodology specifically addressed to Africa. The studies presented in this volume offer different views and perspectives around the main theme of how to methodologically approach comparative legal studies in Africa, and how to properly take into consideration all the different layers composing the African legal systems, in order to give them the proper role and the proper place. The diverse background of the different contributors to this volume enriches its continental approach and offers a stimulating voice to African comparative legal scholars to continue their research.

Capital gains taxes pose a host of technical and political design problems and yet, while the literature on the theory of capital gains taxation is substantial, little has been published on how governments have addressed these dilemmas. Written by a team of distinguished international experts, Capital Gains Taxation addresses the gap in the literature; it explains how a number of countries tax capital gains and the successes and pitfalls of these methods. Examining key issues in the theory and practice of capital gains taxation in a general context, this book also provides a detailed analysis of the tax systems of Australia, Canada, China, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK and the US. It questions whether capital gains should be taxed in the same way as ordinary income, considers the rate at which they ought to be taxed, if indeed they should be at all, and compares the taxation on realisation of capital gains versus on an accruals basis. Eloquent and astute, Capital Gains Taxation will be a crucial point of reference for students and scholars of tax law and policy. Its pragmatic approach will also benefit tax practitioners, policy-makers and tax authorities. Contributors include: R. Avi-Yonah, P. Baker, M. Bowler-Smith, D. Duff, C. Elliffe, S. Griffiths, E.C.C.M. Kemmeren, M. Littlewood, A. O'Connell, J. Roeleveld, D.P. Sengupta, D. White, Y. Xu, D. Zelik

Locating assisted suicide within the broader medical end-of-life context and drawing on the empirical data available from the increasing number of permissive jurisdictions, this book provides a novel examination of the human rights implications of the prohibition on assisted suicide in England and Wales and beyond. Assisted suicide is a contentious topic and one which has been the subject of judicial and academic debate internationally. The central objective of the book is to approach the question of the ban's compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights afresh; freed from the constraints of the existing case law and its erroneous approach to the legal issues and selective reliance on empirical data. The book also examines the compatibility of the ban on assisted suicide with rights which have either been erroneously disregarded or not considered by either the domestic courts or the European Court of Human Rights. Having regard to human rights jurisprudence more broadly, including in the context of abortion, the research and analysis undertaken here demonstrates that the ban on assisted suicide violates the rights of a significant number of individuals to life, to freedom from torture or inhuman or degrading treatment and to private life. Such analysis does not depend on a strained or contrived approach to the rights at issue. Rather, the conclusions flow naturally from a coherent, logical application of the established principles governing those rights. While the focus of the book is the Suicide Act 1961, the conclusions reached have implications beyond England and Wales, including for the other devolved jurisdictions and international jurisdictions. Beyond courts and legislators, it will be a valuable resource for students of human rights and medical law, as well as medical and legal practitioners and academics working in human rights and end-of-life care.

What does the right to the continuous improvement of living conditions in Article 11(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights really mean and how can it contribute to social change? The book explores how this underdeveloped right can have valuable application in response to global problems of poverty, inequality and climate destruction, through an in-depth consideration of its meaning. The book seeks to interpret and give meaning to the right as a legal standard, giving it practical value for those whose living conditions are inadequate. It locates the right within broader philosophical and political debates, whilst also assessing the challenges to its realisation. It also explores how the right relates to human rights more generally and considers its application to issues of gender, care and the rights of Indigenous peoples. The contributors deeply probe the meaning of 'living conditions', suggesting that these encompass more than the basic rights to housing, water, food, and clothing. The chapters provide a range of doctrinal, historical and philosophical engagements through grounded analysis and imaginative interpretation. With a foreword by Sandra Liebenberg (former Member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), the book includes chapters from renowned and emerging scholars working across disciplines from around the world.

This book uses the philosophy of Thomas Kuhn to provide a new vision of the development of European comparative law that will challenge and inspire scholars in the field. With the 'empathic' use of some ideas from Kuhn's theories on the history of science - paradigm, paradigm-shift, puzzle-solving research and incommensurability - the book rethinks the modern history of European comparative law from the late 19th century to the modern day. It argues that three major paradigms determine modern comparative law: - historical and comparative jurisprudence, - droit compare, and - post-World War II comparative law. It concludes that contemporary methodological trends are not signs of a paradigm-shift toward a postmodern and culturalist understanding of comparative law, but that the new approach spreads the idea of methodological plurality.

This book argues that insufficient recognition of new families is a legal problem that needs fixing in light of recent evolutions in family patterns and normative conceptions of 'family'. People increasingly invest in relationships falling outside the model of the marital family, such as non-conjugal unions of friends or relatives, polyamorous relationships and various religious-based families. Despite this, Western jurisdictions retain the marital family as the relevant basis for allocating family law benefits, rights and obligations. Part I of the book illustrates recent evolutions in family patterns and norms, and explores how law can accommodate multiple family grids without legal recognition involving normalisation. Part II focuses on courtroom litigation on the basis that courts nowadays are central avenues of social change. It takes non-conjugal families as a case study and provides an analysis of the most compelling argumentative strategies that non-conjugal families can mobilise to pursue legal recognition in Canada and the United States, and within the systems of the European Convention of Human Rights and the European Union. Through its comparative, interdisciplinary and critical legal method, the book provides scholars, activists and policymakers with conceptual tools to tackle the current invisibility of new families. Further, by advancing legal arguments to enhance the protection of non-conjugal families in courtrooms, the book illuminates the different approaches jurisdictions are likely to take and the hindrances thereof to overcome and debunk stereotypes associated with proper familyhood.

Principles of French Constitutional Law offers a concise and accessible account of the key principles and rules of constitutional law in the French legal system. With its particular historical background since the chaotic post-revolutionary period and current specific mechanisms, French constitutional law offers a fascinating object of study for anyone interested in public law and the broader area of comparative constitutional studies. This textbook will equip students with an understanding of the current Fifth Republic and how constitutional rules are adopted and applied, and affect other areas of law and politics. It offers a critical account of the 1958 Constitution's past, present and future by placing it in its political and socio-historical contexts and critically assessing contemporary developments and constitutional reforms. Given the growing expansion of this branch of law in the French legal system (in particular the case law on the priority preliminary rulings on the issue of constitutionality) and the growing relevance of comparative legal studies, the book will make a significant contribution to the knowledge exchange in teaching and learning. Principles of French Constitutional Law will be structured around the following main themes: (i) The bases of French constitutional law with theoretical developments about key notions of constitutional law such as the state, the constitution, as well as historical background of French constitutional law (ii) The Fifth Republic of France with coverage of the main powers, namely executive, legislative and judiciary with particular emphasis on constitutional review and justice and (iii) A practical part on legal education dealing with the emergence of French constitutional law as an academic subject of research and teaching, as well as with the method of teaching as illustrated by typical legal exercises.

Comparative legal history is generally understood to involve the comparison of legal systems in different countries. This is an experiment in a different kind of comparison. The legal world of the first Elizabethans is separated from that of today by nearly half a millennium. But the past is not a wholly different country. The common law is still, in an organic sense, the same common law as it was in Tudor times and Parliament is legally the same Parliament. The concerns of Tudor lawyers turn out to resonate with those of the present and this book concentrates on three of them: access to justice, in terms of both cost and public awareness; the respective roles of common law and legislation; and the means of protecting the rule of law through the courts. Central to the story is the development of judicial review in the time of Elizabeth I.

Regional legal action to environmental problems has become increasingly important for national and international approaches. This important new study provides profound discussions of the state of affairs of regional approaches across the world and points at many remaining challenges regarding not only regulatory approaches, particularly in the field of transboundary waters and climate change, but also human rights instruments. It should be required reading by all interested in the further development of environmental law from a sustainable development perspective.' - Marjan Peeters, University of Maastricht, the NetherlandsThis perceptive work presents a unique comparative legal analysis, ascertaining how regional environmental law can contribute to the prevailing pursuit of global sustainable development. The book provides an introduction to and analysis of the environmental law adhered to by each regional organization in an accessible and discerning discussion. Regional Environmental Law analyzes the manner in which four distinct regional organizations the European Union (EU), Organization of American States (OAS), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the African Union (AU) facilitate cooperation concerning regional environmental law in order to promote sustainable development. The fundamental environmental issues that require regional cooperation are considered: human rights and the environment, climate change and shared watercourses. Leading scholars critically analyze how states may pool sovereignty, pursuant to finding solutions to these salient environmental problems. The book puts forward conclusive thoughts about how to work towards the sustainable development agenda through both specific regional action and collaborative efforts. Researchers and students interested in international and environmental law will benefit from the comparative analysis of the respective regional organisations and their contribution to the sustainable development commitment. Practitioners and policy makers will find practical insight from the conclusions drawn. Contributors: M. Barnard, L. Bhullar, B. Boer, J.T. Calasans, J. de Cendra de Larragan, C.S. de Windt, B. Garcia, K. Kheng-Lian, L. Kramer, W.D. Lubbe, O. McIntyre, A. Meijknecht, M.A. Orellana, D.M. Pallangyo, W. Scholtz, H. Strydom, J. Verschuuren

Complicity in International Law aims to analyze questions arising from a state’s complicity in conflict with another state or an international organization. On the basis of international legal provisions, a state that assists the illicit fact of another state or an international organization in turn commits an offense if it is aware of the main fact and is bound by the same obligation. International law offers adumbrates the outcome of a codification process undertaken by the International Law Commission. The practice and its consequences, and the reflections of the doctrine, have matured with regard to the original hypothesis. Several cases of participation in the unlawful conduct of others, for example in facilitating the illicit use of the armed force, or of financial support to states responsible for human rights violations, have been recorded since the period immediately following World War II. International doctrine has long shown great interest in the theme of competition of several subjects in an international illicit act. This is a new phenomenon, given that until recently the issue had been the subject of in-depth analysis in a small number of works, few of which have been monographic in nature. Complicity in International Law will address the issue comprehensively.

Tensions between China and Taiwan are not likely to abate in the foreseeable future. The question of Taiwan's sovereignty is the major point of friction, and the continuing impasse between China and Taiwan is worrisome. Zagoria presents perspectives from Washington, Beijing, and Taipei on cross-strait tensions, exploring ways to break the current standoff. Tensions between China and Taiwan are not likely to abate in the foreseeable future. The question of Taiwan's sovereignty is the major point of friction, and the continuing impasse between China and Taiwan is worrisome. Should critical political negotiations falter, relations are likely to take on stronger military overtones, and the PRC may well develop a sense of urgency about Taiwan drifting towards independence.

These, at least, are the broad conclusions drawn from the ongoing dialogues among top U.S., Chinese, and Taiwanese figures, sponsored by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. This Track II project provides a forum for top policy analysts from each country to discuss trilateral relations in a frank and constructive manner, and is an effort to explore means of peacefully resolving the current impasse. Among the more significant findings is that the more serious risks of conflict will probably occur in the distant future, hinging on whether economic integration can gradually lead to a reduction of political tensions, and that the United States should continue to oppose any declaration of independence by Taiwan and any use of force by China.

This book provides original, diverse, and timely insights into the nature, scope, and implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI), especially machine learning and natural language processing, in relation to contracting practices and contract law. The chapters feature unique, critical, and in-depth analysis of a range of topical issues, including how the use of AI in contracting affects key principles of contract law (from formation to remedies), the implications for autonomy, consent, and information asymmetries in contracting, and how AI is shaping contracting practices and the laws relating to specific types of contracts and sectors. The contributors represent an interdisciplinary team of lawyers, computer scientists, economists, political scientists, and linguists from academia, legal practice, policy, and the technology sector. The chapters not only engage with salient theories from different disciplines, but also examine current and potential real-world applications and implications of AI in contracting and explore feasible legal, policy, and technological responses to address the challenges presented by AI in this field. The book covers major common and civil law jurisdictions, including the EU, Italy, Germany, UK, US, and China. It should be read by anyone interested in the complex and fast-evolving relationship between AI, contract law, and related areas of law such as business, commercial, consumer, competition, and data protection laws.

This is the definitive book on the legal and fiscal framework for civil society organizations (CSOs) in China from earliest times to the present day. Civil Society in China traces the ways in which laws and regulations have shaped civil society over the 5,000 years of China's history and looks at ways in which social and economic history have affected the legal changes that have occurred over the millennia.
This book provides an historical and current analysis of the legal framework for civil society and citizen participation in China, focusing not merely on legal analysis, but also on the ways in which the legal framework influenced and was influenced in turn by social and economic developments. The principal emphasis is on ways in which the Chinese people - as opposed to high-ranking officials or cadres -- have been able to play a part in the social and economic development of China through the associations in which they participate.
Civil Society in China sums up this rather complex journey through Chinese legal, social, and political history by assessing the ways in which social, economic, and legal system reforms in today's China are bound to have an impact on civil society. The changes that have occurred in China's civil society since the late 1980's and, most especially, since the late 1990's, are nothing short of remarkable. This volume is an essential guide for lawyers and scholars seeking an in depth understanding of social life in China written by one of its leading experts.

Why do law reforms spread around the world in waves? In the dominant account of diffusion through technocracy, international networks of elites develop orthodox policy solutions and transplant these across countries without regard for the wishes of ordinary citizens. But this account overlooks a critical factor: in democracies, reforms must win the support of politicians, voters, and interest groups. This book claims that laws spread across countries in very public and politicized ways, and develops a theory of diffusion through democracy. I argue that politicians choose to follow certain international models to win domestic elections, and to persuade skeptical voters that their ideas are not radical, ill-thought-out experiments, but mainstream, tried-and-true solutions. This book shows how international models generated domestic support for health, family, and employment law reforms across rich democracies. Information that international organizations have endorsed certain reforms or that foreign countries have adopted them is valuable to voters. Public opinion experiments show that even Americans respond positively to this information. Case studies of election campaigns and legislative debates demonstrate that politicians with diverse ideologies reference international models strategically, and focus on the few international organizations and countries familiar to voters. Data on policy adoption from many rich democracies document that governments follow international organization templates and imitate the policy choices of countries heavily covered in national media and familiar to voters. Benchmarks from Abroad provides a direct defense to a major criticism international organizations and networks face: that they conflict with domestic democracy. Even presumptively weak international efforts, such as the development of soft law and best practices, can increase voter support for major reforms. Instead, international and European Union negotiations to establish binding legal obligations can be costly and protracted, resulting in "too little, too late. " However, the book also explains how electoral calculations do not favor the spread of successful policies that happen to originate in small and remote states.

Within the Middle East there are a wide range of minority groups outside the mainstream religious and ethnic culture. This book provides a detailed examination of their rights as minorities within this region, and their changing status throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The rights of minorities in the Middle East are subject to a range of legal frameworks, having developed in part from Islamic law, and in recent years subject to international human rights law and institutional frameworks. The book examines the context in which minority rights operate within this conflicted region, investigating how minorities engage with (or are excluded from) various sites of power and how state practice in dealing with minorities (often ostensibly based on Islamic authority) intersects with and informs modern constitutionalism and international law. The book identifies who exactly can be classed as a minority group, analysing in detail the different religious and ethnic minorities across the region. The book also pays special attention to the plight of minorities who are spread between various states, often as the result of conflict. It assesses the applicable domestic legislative instruments within the three countries investigated as case studies: Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, and highlights key domestic remedies that could serve as models for ensuring greater social cohesion and greater inclusion of minorities in the political life of these countries.

A comprehensive overview of the field of comparative administrative law, the specially commissioned papers in this landmark volume represent a broad, multi-method approach combining history and social science perspectives with more strictly legal analyses. Comparisons of the United States, continental Europe, and the British Commonwealth are complemented by contributions that focus on Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The work aims to stimulate comparative research on public law, reaching across countries and scholarly disciplines. Beginning with historical reflections on the emergence of administrative law over the last two centuries, the volume then turns to the relationship of administrative and constitutional law, with an additional section focusing on the key issue of administrative independence. Two further sections highlight the possible tensions between impartial expertise and public accountability, drawing insights from economics and political science as well as law. The final section considers the changing boundaries of the administrative state - both the public-private distinction and the links between domestic and transnational regulatory bodies such as the European Union. In covering this broad range of topics, the book illuminates a core concern of administrative law: the way individuals and organizations across different systems test and challenge the legitimacy of the modern state. This extensive, interdisciplinary appraisal of the field will prove a vital resource for scholars and students of administrative and comparative law. Historians of the state looking for a broad overview of a key area of public law, reformers in emerging economies, donor agencies looking for governance options, and policy analysts with an interest in the law/policy interface will also find this work a valuable addition to their library.

This book employs scholarly analysis to ground practical tools for applying the EU Trade Mark law (EUTM) functionality refusal grounds to address business needs when registering trade marks consisting of product characteristics. The study comprehensively examines the absolute grounds for a refusal of registration of functional signs under EUTM. It interprets the functionality refusal grounds through objective tests, focusing on the pro-competition rationale of denying trade mark exclusivity on product features that are technically or aesthetically important for competitors’ ability to trade in alternative products. The work takes a comparative approach looking at the US trade dress functionality doctrine, and a law and economics perspective on the role of trade marks and brands in the marketplace. It explores how competition rules related to market definition and the substitutability of products, as well as marketing and design findings related to branding and aesthetics, could be integrated into the legal assessment of EUTM functionality. The volume will be of interest to academics and researchers working in the areas of Intellectual Property Law, Trade Mark and Design Law, EU Law, Comparative Law, and Branding.

This book critically analyses how the law has facilitated, or hindered, the recognition of same-sex family formations in Ireland, and how it might be reformed to provide greater parental rights for same-sex couples. The book covers four key issues facing same-sex couples: - Civil partnerships: the first chapter analyses the pragmatic and symbolic effects of registered civil partnership, and compares Ireland's decision to discontinue this alternative form of relationship recognition with the UK's recent move towards extending civil partnership laws. - Cohabitation: chapter 2 assesses whether the cohabitation model introduced in Ireland might be effective in other jurisdictions where there are calls for cohabitation law reform. - Marriage equality: chapter 3 explores the initial move to prohibit marriage equality in Ireland, and critiques the subsequent route towards the 2015 referendum, with comparison to the more recent move towards marriage equality in Australia. - Parental rights: the fourth chapter focuses on the legal position of same-sex couples who are parenting children born via Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ARTs), such as donor-assisted human reproduction and surrogacy. In particular, it explores shortcomings in the existing legislation and proposes a viable method of regulating these ARTs via future legislation, partly based on models in operation elsewhere. The book concludes by assessing the impact, or lack thereof, of the European Convention on Human Rights on same-sex relationship recognition, same-sex parenting, and marriage equality, in order to determine whether it could promote increased legal recognition for same-sex families in Ireland.

This book analyses the principle of equality from three perspectives: public international law, private international law and EU law. It is the first book in English providing a comprehensive overview of this principle in these areas of law and showing the current trends and issues concerning its application. Its main goal is to understand whether and to what extent the principle of equality has been affirmed in public and private international law, as well as EU law, and what - if any - the common core of this principle is.The analysis carried out in this contributed volume starts from general analyses of the principle of equality in the areas of the law covered by the book and then discusses the principle in more specific areas, such as human rights law, international adjudication (including investment law) and the law of international organizations. The book is intended to become a benchmark for academics dealing with matters of equality in public international law, private international law and EU law. It will be a useful tool for practitioners too, the collected chapters being based on the relevant case law dealing with the principle of equality. Daniele Amoroso is Professor of International Law in the Department of Law of the University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy. Loris Marotti is Assistant Professor of International Law in the Department of Law at the Federico II University of Naples, Italy. Pierfrancesco Rossi is Postdoctoral Fellow in International Law in the Department of Law of Luiss University, Rome, Italy. Andrea Spagnolo is Professor of International Law in the Department of Law of the University of Turin, Turin, Italy. Giovanni Zarra is Professor of International Law and International Litigation in the Department of Law at the Federico II University of Naples, Italy.

This book expands on established doctrine in legal history and sets out a challenge for legal philosophers. The English medieval village community offers a historical and philosophical lens on the concept of custom, which challenges accepted notions of what law is. The book traces the study of the medieval village community from early historical works in the nineteenth century through to current research. It demonstrates that some law-making can and has been 'bottom-up' in English law, with community-led decision-making having a particularly important role in the early common law. The detailed consideration of law in the English village community reveals alternative ways of making and conceiving of law which are not dependent on state authority, particularly in relation to customary and communal property rights. Acknowledging this poses challenges for legal theory: the legal positivism that dominates Western legal philosophy tends to reject custom as a source of law. However, this book argues that medieval customary law ought to be considered 'law' if we are ever going to fully understand law - both then and now. The book will be a valuable resource for researchers and academics working in the areas of Legal History, Legal Theory, and Jurisprudence.

Examining the role of 'open remedies' in human rights adjudication, this book provides a new perspective informing comparative constitutional debates on how to structure institutional relationships over fundamental rights and freedoms. Open remedies declare a human rights violation but invite the other branches of government to decide what corrective action should be taken. Open remedies are premised on the need to engage institutions beyond courts in the process of thinking about and acting on human rights problems. This book considers examples across the United States, South Africa, Canada, and internationally, emphasising their similarities and differences in design and the diverse ways they could operate in practice. he book investigates these possibilities through the first systematic legal and empirical study of the declaration of incompatibility model under the United Kingdom Human Rights Act. This new model provides a non-binding declaration that the law has infringed human rights standards, for the legislature's consideration. By design, it has the potential to support democratic deliberation on what human rights require of the laws and policies of the State, however, it also carries uncertainties and risks. Providing a lucid account of existing debates on the relative roles of courts and legislatures to determine the requirements of fundamental rights commitments, the book argues that we need to look beyond the theoretical focus on rights disagreements, to how these remedies have operated in practice across the courts and the political branches of government. Importantly, we should pay attention to the nature and scope of legislative engagement in deliberation on the human rights matters raised by declarations of incompatibility. Adopting this approach, this book presents a carefully argued view of how courts have exercised this power, as well as how the UK executive and Parliament have responded to its use.

This book examines the extent to which Brexit has impacted upon the operation of the British constitution, prompting in turn consideration of how some of the factors which contributed towards the outcome of the 2016 referendum, as well as the event of Brexit itself, might inform debates surrounding constitutional reform moving forward. The work seeks to make sense of the constitutional implications of Brexit and to revisit some of the key debates to have taken place in respect of particular constitutional reform proposals in order to assess the extent to which recent Brexit related developments inform the perspectives which are taken upon their merits and prospects. The book is divided into two parts. The first provides some context for the substantive treatment of the potential impact of Brexit on constitutional reform debates which is to be found in part two. Part two centres on various specific constitutional reform themes or issues, which are explored further within the context of Brexit. For each such issue, the main parameters of the debates which have taken place are sketched out before moving on to consider how it has informed, or may come to be informed, by the phenomenon of Brexit. By so doing, it looks to some future directions for constitutional reform which take account of the factors driving the discourses which gave rise to the referendum outcome and subsequent developments, as well as offering meaningful responses to these. The book will be of interest to academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the areas of constitutional law, constitutional politics, philosophy and history.

The American prosecutor plays a powerful role in the judicial system, wielding the authority to accept or decline a case, choose which crimes to allege, and decide the number of counts to charge. These choices, among others, are often made with little supervision or institutional oversight. This prosecutorial discretion has prompted scholars to look to the role of prosecutors in Europe for insight on how to reform the American system of justice.
In The Prosecutor in Transnational Perspective, Erik Luna and Marianne Wade, through the works of their contributors coupled with their own analysis, demonstrate that valuable lessons can be learned from a transnational examination of prosecutorial authority. They examine both parallels and distinctions in the processes available to and decisions made by prosecutors in the United States and Europe. Ultimately, they demonstrate how the enhanced role of the prosecutor represents a crossroads for criminal justice with weighty legal and socio-economic consequences.

This book arises from a research project funded in Australia by the Criminology Research Council. The topic, bail reform, has attracted attention from criminologists and law reformers over many years. In the USA, a reform movement has argued that risk analysis and pre-trial services should replace the bail bond system (the state of California may introduce this system in 2020). In the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia, there have been concerns about tough bail laws that have contributed to a rise in imprisonment rates. The approach in this book is distinctive. The inter-disciplinary authors include criminologists, an academic lawyer and a forensic psychologist together with qualitative researchers with backgrounds in sociology and anthropology. The book advances a policy argument through presenting descriptive statistics, interviews with practitioners and detailed accounts of bail applications and their outcomes. There is discussion of methodological issues throughout the book, including the challenges of obtaining data from the courts.

This book analyzes China's attitude to international law based on historical experiences and documents, and provides an explanation of China's approaches to international legal issues. It also establishes several elements for a possible framework of Chinese theory on international law. The book offers researchers, university students and practitioners valuable insights into how China views international law and why it does so in the way it does.