The central question taken up by this essay collection is the degree to which judges have--or have not--served as protectors of human rights. Although the judiciary is nominally a part of the governing structure, it is also nearly always the case that it stands apart from the political actors who make and carry out policy. Thus, Gibney and Frankowski contend, judges have not designed or carried out the myriad human rights violations that are so common in the world today. The key question asked in this volume is to what extent have courts merely abided by egregious practices, or perhaps have even lent a cover of legitimation--or conversely, the degree to which courts have purposely attempted to bring about some change in stemming governmental abuses. No single volume could cover every country experiencing gross levels of human rights abuses. The effort here has been to provide a cross section of judicial systems throughout the world, and to focus on judicial systems that have become involved in addressing human rights issues.

This incisive book gives a comprehensive overview of the regulation of consumer credit in both the US and the UK. It covers policy, procedure and the dynamics of the consumer credit relationship to advocate for a balanced approach in achieving more effective consumer protection. Sarah Brown traces the development of the consumer credit relationship on both sides of the Atlantic, analysing the underlying rationale and policy themes that continue to inform the shaping of the regulatory agenda. The author compares the ways in which the consumer credit relationship is now managed, including supervisory frameworks and the roles of regulators, and provides new perspectives on current arguments in credit consumer protection. Important topical issues such as unfairness, over-indebtedness, predatory lending, vulnerability and questions of responsibility are addressed, before concluding with a recommendation for the best way forward based on a balance of interests. Researchers and students aiming to understand the processes and broader aspects of consumer credit regulation will find this book invaluable, particularly those with an interest in comparative analysis in this context. It will also prove useful to US and UK policy-makers considering future approaches and reform, as well as practitioners interested in frameworks of consumer credit protection.

‘A delightful and fresh approach to the comparative study of law.' (Jans Smits, Maastricht University, the Netherlands) (of the first edition). This textbook presents a clear and thought-provoking introduction to the study of comparative law. The book provides students with in-depth analyses of the major global comparative methodologies and theories. Written in a lively style, it leads the student through debates in comparative legal scholarship, both in the Western world and in the lesser studied jurisdictions, beyond Europe and North America. The second edition includes a revised structure to help the student understand the subject, an updated introductory chapter, and new material on legal transplants and globalisation. It also explores allied disciplines, including linguistics, history, and post-colonial studies giving students full context of the subject.

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

The book poses the fundamental question of what objectivity means in practical legal discourse and what is its role. By applying critical discourse analysis to the applications of the term "objectivity" in judicial discourse - based on cases from Poland - the book identifies a rich taxonomy of objectivity's uses that judges make of the concept of objectivity. The main results are that objectivity has a special meaning in the legal discourse based on legal authority, and that a case can be made for a stronger interconnection between objectivity and intersubjectivity. These results challenge the theoretical foundations of the debate on objectivity in the legal discourse and open new perspectives for the justification of this concept in modern societies.

This book presents the evolution of Italian administrative law in the context of the EU, describing its distinctive features and comparing it with other experiences across Europe. It provides a comprehensive overview of administrative law in Italy, focusing on the main changes occurred over the last few decades.Although the respective chapters generally pursue a legal approach, they also consider the influence of economic, social, cultural and technological factors on the evolution of public administration and administrative law.The book is divided into three parts. The first part addresses general issues (e.g. procedures and organization of public administrations, administrative justice). The second part focuses on more specific topics (e.g. public intervention in the economy, healthcare management, local government). In the third part, the evolution of Italian administrative law is discussed in a comparative perspective.

Menachem Mautner offers a compelling account of Israeli law as a site for the struggle over the shaping of Israeli culture. On the one hand, a secular, liberal group wishes to associate Israel with Western culture and to link Israeli law to Anglo-American liberalism. On the other hand, a religious group wishes to associate Israeli culture with traditional Jewish culture, and to found Israeli law on traditional Jewish law. The struggle between secular and religious Jews has been part of the life of the Jewish people in the past 300 years. It resurged in the 1970s with the rise of religious fundamentalism and the decline of the political and cultural hegemony of the Labor movement. The secular group reacted by shifting much of its political action to the Supreme Court which since the establishment of the state has been the state organ most identified with entrenching liberal values in the country's political culture. In a short span of time in the early 1980s the Court effected extensive changes in its jurisprudence, most strikingly adoption of sweeping judicial activism which is widely regarded as the most far-reaching in the world. The Court's activism provided the secular group with the means for intervening in decisions of the state branches over which the group had lost control. With Arabs being a fifth of the country's population, an additional divide in Israel is that between Jews and Arabs. Drawing on notions of multiculturalism, political liberalism and republicanism, Law and the Culture of Israel offers fresh insights as to how to manage Israel's divisive situation.

This book provides a comprehensive and systematic review of China's rule of law on cybersecurity over the past 40 years, from which readers can have a comprehensive view of the development of China's cybersecurity legislation, supervision, and justice in the long course of 40 years. In particular, this book combines the development node of China's reform and opening up with the construction of the rule of law for cybersecurity, greatly expanding the vision of tracing the origin and pursuing the source, and also making the study of the rule of law for China's cybersecurity closer to the development facts of the technological approach.

Investment treaty arbitration has a hybrid nature combining public international law (as regards its substance) with elements of international commercial arbitration (mainly as regards procedure). However, in essence and function it deals with a special, internationalised form of judicial review of governmental conduct that is more akin to the judicial control of governmental action provided for by national administrative and constitutional law than to either classic inter-state dispute resolution or international commercial arbitration. This has been recognised in some academic writing and several awards, where reference to national administrative law concepts and principles of international law-based judicial review of governmental action, such as international trade or human rights law, is used to help specify and apply the open-ended concepts of investment treaties. In-depth conceptualization is however often lacking. The current study is the first, pioneering effort to bring these under-developed ad hoc references to comparative and international administrative law concepts into a deeper theoretic and systematic framework. The book thus intends to develop a 'bridge' between treaty-based international investment arbitration and comparative administrative law on both a theoretical and practical level. The major obligations in investment treaties (indirect expropriation, fair and equitable treatment, national treatment, umbrella/sanctity of contract clause) and major procedural principles will be compared with their counterpart in comparative public law, both on the domestic as well as international level. That 'bridge' will allow international investment law to benefit from the comparative public law experience, which could enhance its legitimacy, its political acceptance, and its ability to develop more finely-tuned interpretations of central treaty obligations.

?'Rethinking?' legal reasoning seems a bold aim given the large amount of literature devoted to this topic. In this thought-provoking book, Geoffrey Samuel proposes a different way of approaching legal reasoning by examining the topic through the context of legal knowledge (epistemology). What is it to have knowledge of legal reasoning? At a more specific level the pursuit of this understanding is conducted through posing a number of questions that are founded on different approaches. What has legal reasoning been? What are the institutional and conceptual legacies of this history? What is the literature and textual heritage? How does it compare with medical reasoning and with reasoning in the humanities? Can it be demystified? In exploring these questions Samuel suggests a number of frameworks that offer some new insights into the nature of legal reasoning. The author also puts forward two key ideas. First, that the legal notion of an '?interest?' might perhaps be a very suitable artefact for rethinking legal reasoning; and, secondly, that fiction theory might be the most viable ?'epistemological attitude?' for understanding, if not rethinking, reasoning in law. This book will be of great interest to academics who are researching legal method and legal reasoning, as well as epistemology of the social sciences and aspects of comparative law. It will also be an insightful text for those interested in legal history and historical perspectives on legal reasoning.

Private persons often stand surety for a business debt incurred by family members, friends, or employers. These suretyships are commonly banking guarantees contracted by means of standard terms. Sometimes the guarantor signs the contract while he/she is not aware of the financial risk related to the guarantee. He or she may not even know what a suretyship is. But in other circumstances the guarantor may be well aware of the risk, but may nonetheless assume it because of strong emotional ties which exist between him/her and the main debtor. How, then, (if at all) does the law address the potential for 'unfairness' in such situations?
Some systems choose to rely on objective criteria, such as identification of a manifest disproportion between the guaranteed amount and the surety's income and assets, while others are more open to subjective inquiry. The key point is variation. Different jurisdictions in Europe operate different models with different priorities.
This book provides a comparative overview of the remedies against unfair obligations of non-professional guarantors available in 22 EU Member States, based on a questionnaire which has been completed by an expert in each particular jurisdiction and covering both legal rules and the economic context of different credit markets and banking practices.

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.

The regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) continues to generate controversy. On the one hand, they are actively promoted by the biotechnology industry as vital to ensuring food security. Yet, on the other hand, consumer resistance persists, not least in the European Union, and such lack of confidence extends not just to GM food itself but also to the regulatory regime, where legal issues are inextricably linked with economics and politics.
This edited collection provides a novel contribution to the ongoing debate, recognizing that the legislative environment is complicated by forces as varied as national public opinion and world trade commitments.
The book is divided into four parts. The first of these addresses the influence in this context of both civil society and economic imperatives. The second part is directed more specifically to the measures that have been implemented in the European Union, considering multi-level governance, wider aspects of food law, co-existence with conventional and organic crops, and environmental liability. The third part is comparative in focus, with chapters covering the diverse regimes implemented in Africa, Australia, North America and South America. The book concludes with chapters on world trade and international considerations, including analysis of the Biotech case.

A remarkable reversal in popular satisfaction with antitrust law has occurred: Germany--once the classic land of cartels--now enforces an antitrust law vigorously and subject to little meaningful opposition, while the United States--itself the home of antitrust law--enforces its antitrust law erratically and against significant criticism. Whatever may be the precise measure of support in each country for antitrust laws, even the most cursory observation discloses a criticism of antitrust law in the United States not matched in kind or degree in the Federal Republic of Germany. This work investigates aspects of some of the many possible explanations--legal, social, and economic--for this remarkable turnaround. It considers perhaps the most obvious question: How do the two antitrust laws differ? In partial answer, it suggests that certain principal criticisms of American antitrust law reflect dissatisfaction as much with the legal methods by which that law is applied as with the law itself. German cartel law, Maxeiner suggests, utilizes different legal methods which avoid or mitigate many of the problems encountered in American antitrust law.

This book offers a compelling and persuasive framework for understanding the German constitutional system. It argues that it can only be fully understood as a dual structure combining two layers with little in common. The first layer is the basic administrative institutional structure, comprised of federal institutions. The second layer is that of parliamentary democracy. It is the interplay between the two, as mediated by the chancellery, the major political parties and the Federal Constitutional Court, which lies at the heart of the German constitutional arrangement. This innovative hybrid perspective allows for a better understanding of the current challenges of parliamentary government and its potential long-term development. An updated translation of its impactful German edition, this provides one of the most brilliant introductions to governmental systems of one of the world's most influential states.

Transnational Litigation in Comparative Perspective: Theory and Application is the only casebook that examines the principal issues in transnational litigation from a comparative perspective. Each chapter focuses on a particular core problem that all legal systems must address. The first half of each chapter is devoted to exploring the theoretical context of the issue, thereby enabling students to appreciate the complexity of the problem and to see how achieving a resolution requires balancing competing interests. The second part of each chapter then focuses on how different systems deal with these challenges. Topics covered include protective measures, personal jurisdiction, forum non conveniens, forum selection clauses, state immunity, state doctrine, service of process, gathering evidence abroad, choice of law, and recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.
Distinctive Features
*Uses a comparative approach that better prepares future lawyers for international litigation that may be initiated in countries other than the U.S.
*Offers a hypothetical at the beginning of each chapter to introduce the fundamental issue; the hypotheticals raise questions that are diagnostic rather than prescriptive, leading to many "right" answers
*Accommodates different types of courses--professors who employ a less theoretical approach can use the hypotheticals to ground class discussions
*Considers issues unique to arbitration as they arise in connection with the various topics studied

This timely collection of essays examines the legal and regulatory dynamics of energy transitions in the context of emerging trends towards decarbonisation and low-carbon energy solutions. The book explores this topic by considering the applicable energy law and policy frameworks in both: (i) highly industrialised and major economies such as the US, EU, China and Australia; (ii) resource-rich developing countries such as Nigeria and regions like Southern Africa. Comprising 16 chapters, the book delves into the tradeoffs and regulatory complexities of carbon-constraints in conventional energy supply systems, while maintaining a reliable and secure energy system that is equally sustainable (ie decarbonised). It highlights the importance of ensuring affordable access to energy services in developing economies as the energy transitions unfold and explores the potentials of emerging technologies such as hydrogen networks, power-to-gas and Carbon Capture and Storage. Additionally, the book also considers the international investment law implications of energy decarbonisation. Focusing on the nexus between law, regulation and institutions, it adopts a contextual approach to examine how and to what extent institutions can effectively facilitate more reliable, sustainable and secure energy supply systems in the twenty-first century. This book portrays the conventional hydrocarbon-based energy supply industry in a largely international and interconnected context. It highlights the costs, benefits and losses that may arise as the transition towards decarbonisation unfolds depending on the pathways and solutions adopted. With chapters written by leading experts in energy law and policy, the reader-friendly style and engaging discussions will benefit an international audience of policymakers, academics, students and advisers looking for a more incisive understanding of the issues involved in energy transitions and the decarbonisation of energy systems.

When the first edition of Professor Butler's book was published in 1999 it was hailed as the first systematic account of Russian law and the Russian legal system since the demise of the Soviet Union. The second edition built on his examination of Russian law in the context of other legal systems and made a thorough examination of the country's legal institutions and procedural and substantive law. In this third edition the author reviews the law reform of Putin's era, including the impact of decisions of the European Court of Human Rights as sources of Russian Law, a new chapter on insurance law and the essentials of local government law. The book has been updated throughout to include the latest legislation since the last edition, including reform of the law of intellectual property, competition, foreign investment, the legal status of foreigners, treaties, securities, pledge and mortgage, State corporations, the legal profession and the penal system, labor law, taxation, procedure, international arbitration, the judicial system and procuracy, justices of the peace, State structure, and environmental and natural resource law.
Butler's emphasis is on post-Soviet law reform and on the creation of a democratic, market-oriented legal framework which seeks to attract foreign investment. Chapters such as those on entrepreneurial law, securities regulation, banking and insurance, taxation, and the status of foreigners and foreign investment law make this volume an essential purchase for those advising potential investors in Russia and the CIS.
For those with a more academic interest in Russian law there are also chapters on Russian legal history and legal theory, together with a detailed guide to relevant publications and materials.
This authoritative work will be embraced by practicing lawyers, the investment community, government legal advisors, and scholars seeking a comprehensive and practical introduction to the Russian legal system.

This is a practical guide to the problems which arise when litigation has a foreign element, for example:
. The defendant is resident abroad: do the English courts have jurisdiction?
. Is it best to bring proceedings in England or in another country?
. How do you enforce a foreign judgment in England?
. Can you get security for costs because the defendant is resident abroad?
. When do the English courts apply foreign law?
This area is a minefield. It may require navigating through complex EU instruments -the Judgments Regulation, the Brussels or Lugano Conventions - and working out how they relate to each other and to the traditional common law rules. Difficult tactical points may arise, such as whether to ignore foreign proceedings on the basis that a foreign default judgment may be unenforceable in England. Practical issues may include how to serve process in any particular foreign country - can you do it by post, or through agents? Must you serve through official channels?
This book deals with these matters in a practical non-academic way, with detailed guidance to procedure. It sets out the jurisdictional rules in alphabetical order based on the type of claim - contract, insurance, land etc - and clearly explains the inter-relation of the different regimes. It addresses controversial issues such as whether the English courts can ever decline to exercise jurisdiction derived from the EU instruments. It has a focused treatment of specialist areas such as insolvency, employment and shipping. It makes extensive use of tables, flow charts and examples."

What is the future of constitutionalism, state and law in the new technological age? This edited collection explores the different aspects of the impact of information and technology revolution on state, constitutionalism and public law. Leading European scholars in the fields of constitutional, administrative, financial and EU law provide answers to fascinating conceptual questions including: - What are the challenges of information and technological revolution to sovereignty? - How will information and technology revolution impact democracy and the public sphere? - What are the disruptive effects of social media platforms on democratic will-formation processes and how can we regulate the democratic process in the digital age? - What are the main challenges to courts and administrations in the algorithmic society? - What is the impact of artificial intelligence on administrative law and social and health services? - What is the impact of information and technology revolution on data protection, privacy and human rights?

This book gathers national and international reports from around the globe on key issues in the field of antitrust and intellectual property. Its first part discusses to what extent competition law should be concerned with differences in prices, terms and conditions, or quality that suppliers offer different purchasers. A detailed international report explores the major trends and challenges in this field and provides an excellent comparative study on this complex and challenging subject. In turn, the second part examines whether there should be legal restrictions on the ability of persons who claim, without sufficient justification, to hold IP rights that have been infringed on, to bring, or to threaten to bring, legal proceedings based on such claims against their competitors or others. In this regard, the book brings together the current legal responses across a number of European countries and elsewhere in the world, all summarised and elaborated on in an international report. The book also includes the resolutions passed by the General Assembly of the International League of Competition Law (LIDC) following debates on each of these topics, which include proposed solutions and recommendations. The LIDC is a long-standing international association that focuses on the interface between competition law and intellectual property law, including unfair competition issues.

Providing a thorough, well-researched investigation of the socio-legal issues surrounding medically assisted death for the past century, this book traces the origins of the controversy and discusses the future of policymaking in this arena domestically and abroad. Should terminally ill adults be allowed to kill themselves with their physician's assistance? While a few American states-as well as Holland, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg-have answered "yes," in the vast majority of the United States, assisted death remains illegal. This book provides a historical and comparative perspective that not only frames contemporary debates about assisted death and deepens readers' understanding of the issues at stake, but also enables realistic predictions for the likelihood of the future diffusion of legalization to more countries or states-the consequences of which are vast. Spanning a period from 1906 to the present day, Dying with Dignity: A Legal Approach to Assisted Death examines how and why pleas for legalization of "euthanasia" made at the beginning of the 20th century were transmuted into the physician-assisted suicide laws in existence today, in the United States as well as around the world. After an introductory section that discusses the phenomenon of "medicalization" of death, author Giza Lopes, PhD, covers the history of the legal development of "aid-in-dying" in the United States, focusing on case studies from the late 1900s to today, then addresses assisted death in select European nations. The concluding section discusses what the past legal developments and decisions could portend for the future of assisted death. Provides comprehensive, well-researched, and accessible information on a timely and controversial topic Presents a socio-legal explanation rather than a simple description of the emergence and evolution of the legal concepts involved with medically assisted death Offers invaluable historical perspective for academics in the fields of sociology, criminal justice, law, and related disciplines as well as practitioners who deal with end-of-life decision-making and lay readers

Through a comparative analysis involving 15 countries from around the world this book provides an invaluable assessment of women's equality at the global level. This book explores the constitutional protection of equality and women's rights in 15 countries drawn from Africa, America, Asia, and Europe. The work focuses on formal constitutional provisions as well as the substantial level of protection women's equality has achieved in the systems analysed. The investigations involve looking at the relevant gender-related legislation, the participation of women in the institutional arena, and the constitutional interpretation made by constitutional justice on gender issues. Furthermore, the book highlights women's contribution in their roles as judges, parliamentarians, activists and academics, thus increasing the visibility of women's participation in the public sphere. The work will be of interest to academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the areas of Constitutional Law, Human Rights Law and Women's and Gender Studies.

This book addresses historical issues of colonialism and race, which influenced the formation of multicultural society in Mauritius. During the 19th century, Mauritius was Britain's prime sugar-producing colony, yet, unlike the West Indies, its history has remained significantly under-researched. The modern demographic of multi-ethnic Mauritius is unusual as, in the absence of an indigenous people, descendants of colonists, slaves and indentured labourers constitute the majority of the island's population today. Thus, it may be said that the Mauritian nation was "assembled" during the period in question. This work draws on an in-depth examination of the two labour systems through which the island came to be populated: slavery and indenture. In studying the relevant laws, four legal events of historical importance within the context of these two labour systems are identified: the abolition of the slave trade, the abolition of slavery, private indentured labour migration and state-regulated indenture. This book is notable in that it presents a legal analysis of core historical events, thus straddling the line between two disciplines, and covers both slavery and indentured labour in Mauritian history. Mauritius, as an originally uninhabited island, presents a rare case study for inquiries into colonial legacies, multiculturalism and race consciousness. The book will be a valuable resource to scholars worldwide in the fields of slavery, indenture and the legal apparatus of forced labour.