This book discusses the role of private law as an instrument to produce financial and social inclusion in a context characterised by the redefinition of the role of the State and by the financialisation of society. By depicting the political and economic developments behind the popular idea of financial inclusion, the book deconstructs that notion, illustrating the existence and interaction of different discourses surrounding it. The book further traces the evolution of inclusion, specifically in the European context, and thus moves on to analyse the legal rules which are most relevant for the purposes of bringing about the financialisation of the citizen. Hence, the author focuses more on four highly topical areas: access to a bank account, access to credit, over indebtedness, and financial education. Adopting a critical and inter-disciplinary approach, The Financialisation of the Citizen takes the reader through a top-down journey starting from the political economy of financialisation, to the law and policy of the European Union, and finally to more specific private law rules.

The principle of legal certainty is of fundamental importance for law and society: it has been vital in stabilising normative expectations and in providing a framework for social interaction, as well as defining the scope of individual freedom and political power. Even though it has not always been fully realised, legal certainty has also functioned as a normative ideal that has structured legal debates, both at the national and transnational level. This book presents research from a range of substantive areas regarding the meaning, possibility and desirability of legal certainty in the context of a rapidly changing global society. It aims to address these issues by bringing together scholars from various jurisdictions in order to examine changes in the shifting meaning of legal certainty in a comparative and transnational context. In particular, the book explores some of the tensions that now exist between the conventional expectation of legal certainty and the various challenges associated with regulating highly complex, late modern economies and societies. The book will be of interest to lawyers concerned with understanding the transformation of core rule of law values in the context of contemporary social change, as well as to political scientists and social theorists.

This book examines how regulatory and liability mechanisms have impacted upon product safety decisions in the pharmaceutical and medical devices sectors in Europe, the USA and beyond since the 1950s. Thirty-five case studies illustrate the interplay between the regulatory regimes and litigation. Observations from medical practice have been the overwhelming means of identifying post-marketing safety issues. Drug and device safety decisions have increasingly been taken by public regulators and companies within the framework of the comprehensive regulatory structure that has developed since the 1960s. In general, product liability cases have not identified or defined safety issues, and function merely as compensation mechanisms. This is unsurprising as the thresholds for these two systems differ considerably; regulatory action can be triggered by the possibility that a product might be harmful, whereas establishing liability in litigation requires proving that the product was actually harmful. As litigation normally post-dates regulatory implementation, the 'private enforcement' of public law has generally not occurred in these sectors. This has profound implications for the design of sectoral regulatory and liability regimes, including associated features such as extended liability law, class actions and contingency fees. This book forms a major contribution to the academic debate on the comparative utility of regulatory and liability systems, on public versus private enforcement, and on mechanisms of behaviour control.

This book provides an accessible introduction to selected new issues in transnational law, and connects them to existing theoretical debates on transnational business regulation. More specifically, (i) it introduces the argument about the evolving character of contemporary international business regulation; (ii) it provides an overview of some of the main fields of law that are currently important for firms that operate across borders; and (iii) it sets out an interpretive framework for making sense of disparate developments occurring across a number of jurisdictions, among which are the form of regulation and style of enforcement, issues of legal certainty, and behavioural aspects of regulation. The selected topics are indicative of some key issues confronting businesses looking to operate across national borders, as well as policy makers seeking to introduce and enforce meaningful regulatory standards in an increasingly global society. Topics include: consumer law; product liability; warranty law and obsolescence; collective redress; alternative dispute resolution; corporate wrongdoing; corporate governance; and e-commerce. This timely work offers a novel perspective on transnational business law and examines a range of legal issues that preoccupy companies operating transnationally. This book is intended not only for law students looking for an introduction, overview or commentary on the contemporary state of international business law, but also for anyone looking for an introduction to the regulation of business in a global, inter-connected economy.

China's food safety system is in crisis. Egregious scandals, as varied as the sale of liquor laced with Viagra and the distribution of fake eggs, reveal how regulatory practices have been stretched to their limit in the world's largest food production system. On Feeding the Masses focuses on the oft-cited but ultimately overlooked concept of scale to identify the root causes of China's regulatory failures in food safety. The 'politics of scale' framework highlights how regulators disagree on which level of government is best suited to regulate ('the scale of governance'), struggle to address multilevel tensions ('multidimensional scale integration'), and fail to understand how policies at one level of government can affect other levels of government in unexpected and costly ways ('scale externalities'). Drawing from over 200 interviews with food safety regulators and producers, the study provides one of the most comprehensive accounts of China's food safety crisis to date.

The collapse of the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh (2013) is one of many cases to invoke critical scrutiny and moral outrage regarding the conditions under which consumer goods sold on our markets are produced elsewhere. In spite of abiding moral concerns, these goods remain popular and consumers continue to buy them. Such transactions for goods made under deplorable production conditions are usually presumed to count as 'normal' market transactions, ie transactions that are recognized as valid consumer-contracts under the rules of contract law. Minimum Contract Justice challenges this presumption of normality. It explores the question of how theories of justice bear on such consumer contracts; how should a society treat a transaction for a good made under deplorable conditions elsewhere? This Book defends the position that a society that strives to be minimally just should not lend its power to enforce, support, or encourage transactions that are incompatible with the ability of others elsewhere to live decent human lives. As such, the book introduces a new perspective on the legal debate concerning deplorable production conditions that has settled around ideas of corporate responsibility, and the pursuit of international labour rights.

La legislation alimentaire europeenne poursuit les objectifs de la protection de la sante des personnes et des interets des consommateurs. L'information des consommateurs joue un role important pour atteindre ces objectifs. Sur la base de l'information qui leur est fournie, les consommateurs operent un choix en connaissance de cause. Ils deviennent donc responsables de la protection de leur sante, ainsi que de leurs interets legitimes par la voie de la liberte du choix. La transparence est fondamentale pour l'accomplissement des objectifs generaux de la legislation alimentaire. Si la transparence n'est pas suffisante, les consommateurs sont amenes a choisir sur la base d'informations incompletes, ce qui empeche d'atteindre ces objectifs et, de plus, opere une responsabilisation des consommateurs. Le caractere suffisant de la transparence, afin d'accomplir les objectifs de la legislation alimentaire, fait l'objet d'une etude approfondie dans cet ouvrage compose de deux parties. La premiere partie est consacree a l'analyse de la transparence sur les denrees alimentaires, car elle permet notamment la protection des interets des consommateurs. La deuxieme partie porte sur la transparence concernant les risques alimentaires, qui rend possible la protection de la sante des consommateurs.

This book provides a broad conspectus on the application of EU and international regulation of the food sector on English law. It is aimed at practitioners and students of this vital and emerging branch of law, which has become an important part of current political and legal debate. It is written not just for lawyers as a statement of current law, but is also aimed at all those involved or interested in the food industry who wish to familiarise themselves with how the law is applied practically in this jurisdiction. The book commences with a short conceptual framework for the study of food law. It then provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of current English law, explaining fully the detailed processes by which both international and national law and EU decision making have impacted upon most aspects of the production, sale and consumption of food in England. The book explains and assesses the operation of the current law by describing in detail the roles of Government, the Food Standards Agency and local enforcement authorities in the making and enforcing of laws concerning food. The work contains full outlines of the developments in the most significant areas of food law. It concentrates specifically on topics such as food labelling and advertising, quality and compositional requirements, geographical food names, genetic modification, organic production, animal welfare and also the role of law in tackling poor health, obesity, and diet-related disease. The book, though primarily designed as a law text, goes beyond the usual confines of such works. It sets out to explain and describe the impact of successive food crises, such as BSE and the use of horsemeat in beef products, on food safety and transparency requirements. The book considers and assesses how the existing rules on the chemical and biological safety of food impact on our law, and concludes with a review of the developing legal issues concerning the environmental impacts of current and proposed food law, in particular the relationship between food law, climate change and food security.

The United States is the world's largest producer, consumer, and exporter of remanufactured goods. Remanufacturing is an industrial process that restores end-of-life goods to original working ("like new") condition. Remanufacturing occurs across a diverse range of industry sectors in the United States, but is more common in sectors making capital-intensive, durable products that have relatively longer product life cycles. The sectors that account for the majority of remanufacturing activity in the U.S. include aerospace, consumer products, electrical apparatus, heavy-duty and off-road (HDOR) equipment, information technology (IT) products, locomotives, machinery, medical devices, motor vehicle parts, office furniture, restaurant equipment, and retreaded tires. This book provides an overview of remanufactured goods activities, sector studies and global markets.

Los consumidores son cada vez mas exigentes en relacion con sus alimentos. Para enfrentar esa situacion, un conjunto importante de normas ha sido adoptado durante las ultimas decadas. Estas conciernen a todos los actores involucrados en el sector. En la actualidad, dichas normas conforman una red amplia y compleja. En ese tejido sobresalen las disposiciones promulgadas por las instituciones europeas, cuya posicion relevante inspira directamente las reglas aplicables en los Paises Miembros de la Union Europea. Pero su aplicacion se extiende tambien fuera de Europa, a todos aquellos actores atraidos por el mercado europeo. De ahi la importancia de conocer estas normas y la necesidad de comprender su alcance y estructura. Para facilidad del lector, en este codigo se presentan las disposiciones siguiendo un orden sistematico. Los aspectos mas relevantes han sido tomados en cuenta: La seguridad, los aditivos, la informacion al consumidor, las declaraciones, las etiquetas, la biotecnologia, los alimentos especificos, entre otros. El codigo se realizo en el marco del Programa "Lascaux," programa europeo de investigacion sobre el Derecho Agroalimentario (http: //www.droit-aliments-terre.eu). La version original en frances de la presente obra, asi como su traduccion al ingles, han sido publicadas por la editorial Larcier bajo su sello "Bruylant." La presente edicion, encargada al Instituto de Investigacion en Derecho Alimentario (INIDA), se pone a la disposicion del publico hispanohablante europeo y americano.

This is a time of extraordinary change: technology is transforming interpersonal and business communication, including marketing and advertising to consumers. Products are evolving as a result of innovation. Even the way consumers are paying for goods and services is being revolutionised, as electronic payment systems serve up new and inventive ways to exchange money. Increasingly, people of all ages are using wireless phones and devices for communicating, for information gathering, and for entertainment- in all types of locations. And, as new wireless technologies are introduced, so too are new and expanded ways to get information and be entertained via your wireless phone or device. This book examines ways to adapt consumer protection strategies to ensure that all consumers, including the vulnerable, are equally well served. Applying existing policies and creating new ones is also looked at to address emerging challenges regarding new technologies and products that may be unfamiliar to consumers. This book also discusses how the ever-expanding number of marketing channels in the world-wide marketplace will be monitored for instances of deception of unfairness and finally, the collaboration with law enforcers from around the world will be examined to protect consumers in the global marketplace.

All modern legal systems within advanced economies must address the question of how to respond to the needs of insolvent consumers whose burden of debt greatly exceeds their capacity to repay within a reasonable time frame. This study surveys comparatively the insolvency regimes currently in place or likely to be adopted in the foreseeable future in Canada, the United States, Australia, England and Wales, Scotland, Scandinavia and a representative group of Western countries on the continent of Europe. Modern legal systems have two basic alternatives in providing relief for over-committed consumers. The first, which involves restricting the enforcement of individual creditor remedies is a method with which this study is not concerned. Where the consumer is seriously insolvent and owes money to many creditors, a different approach is required - a collective solution to debtor's problems - and this, the solution provided by modern insolvency systems, is the focus of this study.

This third edition of the only work to focus on damages under the CISG maintains its purpose as the primary reference source for this topic. Addressing global judicial and arbitral decisions, the book demonstrates the differences between uniform international instruments and domestic laws, and comparatively analyses the calculation of damages under civil and common law systems under the United Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). A new chapter on penalty clauses examines the impact of recent cases in England (Cavendish Square Holding BV V Makdesi) and Australia (Paccioco v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd) concerning the interpretation of penalty clauses and their relationship with the CISG. Further new material includes: an expanded discussion of the question of good faith; new approaches relating to attorneys' fees; consideration of states that have recently ratified the CISG; and an examination of the developments in the EU in relation to the attempt to introduce a new harmonised contract law.