This book sets out to explain the most foundational aspect of international law in international relations terms. By doing so it goes straight to the central problem of international law--that although legally speaking all States are equal, socially speaking they clearly are not. As such it is an ambitious and controversial book that will be of interest to all international relations scholars and students and practitioners of international law.

Constitutionalism is the permanent quest to control state power, of which the judicial review of legislation is a prime example. Although the judicial review of legislation is increasingly common in modern societies, it is not a finished project. This device still raises questions as to whether judicial review is justified, and how it may be structured. Yet, judicial review's justification and its scope are seldom addressed in the same study, thereby making for an inconvenient divorce of these two related avenues of study. To narrow the divide, the object of this work is quite straightforward. Namely, is the idea of judicial review defensible, and what influences its design and scope? This book addresses these matters by comparing the judicial review of legislation in the United Kingdom (the Human Rights Act of 1998), the Netherlands (the Halsema Proposal of 2002) and the Constitution of South Africa of 1996. These systems present valuable material to study the issues raised by judicial review. The Netherlands is of particular interest as its Constitution still prohibits the constitutional review of acts of parliament, while allowing treaty review of such acts. The Halsema Proposal wants to even out this difference by allowing the courts also to apply constitutional norms to legislation and not only to international norms. The Human Rights Act and the South African Constitution also present interesting questions that will make their study worthwhile. One can think of the issue of dialogue between the legislature and the judiciary. This topic enjoys increased attention in the United Kingdom but is somewhat underexplored in South African thought on judicial review. These and similar issues are studied in each of the three systems, to not only gain a better understanding of the systems as such, but also of judicial review in general.

Foundations of International Commercial Law provides a fresh analysis of both the contextual features of International Commercial Law and a range of different International Commercial Law instruments. This text covers the various elements which comprise International Commercial Law, the academic debates about the lex mercatoria and harmonisation, as well as a discussion of selected conventions and other instruments. International Commercial Law is concerned with commercial transactions which have an international dimension, for example contracts between parties from multiple jurisdictions. As an area of study, it is characterised by the interaction of a wide range of national and international legal sources which all shape the overall context within which international commercial contracts are made and performed. This book focuses on the international legal sources in particular. It first explores all the different elements which together comprise the context of international commercial transactions, before examining the process of making International Commercial Law. Specific instruments of International Commercial Law discussed in the book include the conventions on the international sale of goods, agency, financial leasing, factoring, receivables financing and secured interests in mobile equipment, together with the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts and documentary credits. There are separate chapters on private international law and international commercial arbitration, and a final chapter exploring the existing and potential impact of the digital economy on International Commercial Law. Offering a detailed overview of the main themes and key aspects of International Commercial Law, this book is for readers who are new to the subject, whether undergraduate or postgraduate students, legal scholars, practitioners or policymakers.

Foundations of International Commercial Law provides a fresh analysis of both the contextual features of International Commercial Law and a range of different International Commercial Law instruments. This text covers the various elements which comprise International Commercial Law, the academic debates about the lex mercatoria and harmonisation, as well as a discussion of selected conventions and other instruments. International Commercial Law is concerned with commercial transactions which have an international dimension, for example contracts between parties from multiple jurisdictions. As an area of study, it is characterised by the interaction of a wide range of national and international legal sources which all shape the overall context within which international commercial contracts are made and performed. This book focuses on the international legal sources in particular. It first explores all the different elements which together comprise the context of international commercial transactions, before examining the process of making International Commercial Law. Specific instruments of International Commercial Law discussed in the book include the conventions on the international sale of goods, agency, financial leasing, factoring, receivables financing and secured interests in mobile equipment, together with the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts and documentary credits. There are separate chapters on private international law and international commercial arbitration, and a final chapter exploring the existing and potential impact of the digital economy on International Commercial Law. Offering a detailed overview of the main themes and key aspects of International Commercial Law, this book is for readers who are new to the subject, whether undergraduate or postgraduate students, legal scholars, practitioners or policymakers.

As a fascinating study of global justice in Asia, this book presents a series of contributions reflecting upon the conditions of a greater involvement of East Asian traditions of thought in the debate on global justice. Including chapters on diverse issues such as global social inequalities, human rights practice and the functioning of international institutions, this book examines the political cultures of East Asia in order to help political theorists better appraise the distinctiveness of non-Western ideas of justice. Confirming the persistence of a strong social ethos, the contributions also demonstrate the long-lasting influence of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism in shaping East Asian public conceptions of justice. Bringing much needed non-Western voices to the global justice debate, this book will appeal to students and scholars of politics, law and philosophy, as well as activists involved in the global justice movement.

This book presents the findings of the first comprehensive study on the most recent and most unique and innovative method of monitoring international human rights law at the United Nations. Since its existence, there has yet to be a complete and comprehensive book solely dedicated to exploring the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process. Women and International Human Rights Law provides a much-needed insight to what the process is, how it operates in practice, and whether it meets its fundamental aim of promoting the universality of all human rights. The book addresses the topics with regard to international human rights law and will be of interest to researchers, academics, and students interested in the monitoring and implementation of international human rights law at the United Nations. In addition, it will form supplementary reading for those students studying international human rights law on undergraduate programmes and will also appeal to academics and students with interests in political sciences and international relations.

The history of patent harmonization is a story of dynamic actors, whose interactions with established structures shaped the patent regime. From the inception of the trade regime to include intellectual property (IP) rights to the present, this book documents the role of different sets of actors - states, transnational business corporations, or civil society groups - and their influence on the structures - such as national and international agreements, organizations, and private entities - that have caused changes to healthcare and access to medication. Presenting the debates over patents, trade, and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement), as it galvanized non-state and nonbusiness actors, the book highlights how an alternative framing and understanding of pharmaceutical patent rights emerged: as a public issue, instead of a trade or IP issue. The book thus offers an important analysis of the legal and political dynamics through which the contest for access to lifesaving medication has been, and will continue to be, fought. In addition to academics working in the areas of international law, development, and public health, this book will also be of interest to policy makers, state actors, and others with relevant concerns working in nongovernmental and international organizations.

The Cold War, the Space Race, and the Law of Outer Space: Space for Peace tells the story of one of the United Nations' most enduring and least known achievements: the adoption of five multilateral treaties that compose the international law of outer space. The story begins in 1957 during the International Geophysical Year, the largest ever cooperative scientific endeavor that resulted in the launch of Sputnik. Although satellites were first launched under the auspices of peaceful scientific cooperation, the potentially world-ending implications of satellites and the rockets that carried them was obvious to all. By the 1960s, the world faced the prospect of nuclear testing in outer space, the placement of weapons of mass destruction in orbit, and the militarization of the moon. This book tells the story of how the United Nations tried to seize the promise of peace through scientific cooperation and to ward off the potential for war in the Space Age through the adoption of the Outer Space Treaty, the Rescue and Return Agreement, the Liability Convention, the Registration Convention, and the Moon Agreement. Interdisciplinary in approach, the book will be of interest to scholars in law, history and other fields who are interested in the Cold War, the Space Race, and outer space law.

Two major factors brought about the establishment of the Netherlands Yearbook of International Law in 1970: demand for the publication of national practice in international law, and the desirability for legal practitioners, state representatives and international lawyers to have access to the growing amount of available data, in the form of articles, notes etc. The documentation section of the NYIL contains an extensive review of Dutch state practice from the parliamentary year prior to publication, an account of developments relating to treaties and other international agreements to which the Netherlands is a party, summaries of Netherlands judicial decisions involving questions of public international law (many of which are not published elsewhere), lists of Dutch publications in the field and extracts from relevant municipal legislation. Although the NYIL has a distinctive national character, it is published in English and the editors do not adhere to any geographical limitations when deciding upon the inclusion of articles.

This book presents a rounded critique of the conventional wisdom about the legality of nuclear weapons by experts in international and constitutional law. Part I addresses the status of nuclear weapons under international law. Scholars on one side of the question draw upon treaties and international custom to argue that most uses of nuclear weapons are illegal and that even mere possession of such weaponry is legally unjustifiable. Others argue that law cannot be imposed on the nuclear weapons states without their consent and that nuclear weapons provide deterrence that binds the superpowers in a peaceful balance of power. Part I concludes with a comprehensive bibliography on nuclear weapons and international law. Part II, the section that focuses on nuclear weapons and American constitutional law, offers widely divergent approaches and conclusions. Although there is no explicit prohibition of such weapons in the United States Constitution, several contributors suggest that the advent of nuclear weapons has so changed the milieu in which constitutional institutions operate that many accepted conclusions must be reexamined. Part III explores the effects of nuclear weapons on the environment and the medical consequences of nuclear war.

This book explores the possibilities and scope of facilitating innovation and transfer of the environmentally sound technologies in the Post-Paris climate era. The possibilities to be explored by the book will first focus on the roles of the climate finance and technological cooperation mechanisms in innovation and transfer of environmentally sound technologies. Secondly, the book will focus on role of the 'flexible mechanism' (i.e. indirect financial mechanisms), which has been re-introduced by the Paris Agreement as 'voluntary cooperation' or 'sustainable development' mechanism in innovation and transfer of environmentally sound technologies. Thirdly, the book will contain a comparative analysis regarding efficiency of the technology transfer mechanism under global climate regime in comparison with technology transfer mechanism that exists under other multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). In addition to the above, since the issues of trans-boundary technology transfer is also a matter of concern for international trade, the book will discuss to what extent the international trade related laws e.g. intellectual property laws, investment related laws governed by the World Trade Organizations (WTO) can play role in facilitating transfer of the environmentally sound technologies. Another important aspect that this book will cover is potential roles which private sectors can play in innovating and transferring environmentally sound technologies under above-mentioned instruments of international law. In short, this book will be based on the argument that if global climate regime and the international trade regime collaborate each other in creating enabling environment and attracting private sector to invest in the field of environmentally sound technologies, the global challenges of innovation and transfer of the environmentally sound technologies to the developing and least developed countries can be fulfilled in more efficient manner. From conceptual perspectives, discussions and analyses of the book will be made in the light of the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC) - two main guiding principles of the international laws on climate change. This book will be of great interest to scholars of climate change, technology transfer, intellectual property and sustainable development. Besides, national and international level policy makers dealing with climate change and sustainable development will be greatly benefitted from this book.

This book discusses theoretical issues, standards, and professional considerations arising when legal and health practitioners undertake legal capacity assessments in the context of wills, enduring powers of attorney and advance health directives. The potential loss of cognition can erode autonomy as individuals lose the ability to make their own legally recognised decisions. This is an inescapable problem with significant legal, social, health and policy repercussions. This work synthesises and critically analyses the existing literature, including some of the best assessment models and guiding principles internationally, to generate a new methodology and understanding of what capacity assessment best practice means. This includes the impact of assessments on individual autonomy - the ideal method building upon respect for both autonomy as well as fundamental human rights. The triggers to assess capacity, who to involve in the assessment process, as well as how to conduct that assessment process are discussed. The crucial relationship between the legal and health professionals involved in assessments, including growing concerns around practitioner liability, is also explored. This analysis is undertaken through the innovative use of a therapeutic jurisprudence lens, the effect of which is to contribute new knowledge to this complex field.

The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies was founded in 1947, although the idea for a national law library and centre for research was conceived over 50 year before this. Since its foundation, the IALS has developed a library of international standing and has been able to foster and promote legal research not only in Britain but around the world. It performs a unique role in the United Kingdon and the Commonwealth and an increasingly important one in Europe. To commemorate the Institute's jubilee and the inaurgation of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies, the present Director has assembled a series of papers which not only trace the Institute's development into an institution for the advancement of legal research of world-class standing, but also illustrate the depth of spport that it enjoys.

This book collects and integrates Abbott and Snidal's influential scholarship on indirect global governance, with a new analytical introduction that probes the role of indirect governance techniques in the universe of global governance arrangements. The volume presents the Governance Triangle, a now widely-used figure that demonstrates and helps to assess the proliferation of private and public-private standard-setting organizations, along with new forms of intergovernmental institutions, over recent decades. It then analyzes how intergovernmental organizations, regulatory bodies, and other "global governors" enlist and work through those organizations as intermediaries, so as to govern more effectively and gain knowledge, influence and legitimacy. It demonstrates Abbott's and Snidal's groundbreaking concept of orchestration, a mode of indirect governance in which influential governors catalyze, support, and steer intermediary organizations through wholly voluntary relationships. It also considers their more recent innovations in the theory of indirect governance. These include additional modes of governance, such as co-optation, delegation and trusteeship, as well as the pervasive "Governor's Dilemma" trade-off between a governor's control of its intermediaries and the intermediaries' competence. This book will appeal to scholars and students in multiple disciplines, including international relations, global governance, law, and regulatory studies.

This open-access book brings together international experts who shed new light on the status of social enterprises, benefit corporations and other purpose-driven companies. The respective chapters take a multidisciplinary approach (combining law, philosophy, history, sociology and economics) and provide valuable insights on fostering social entrepreneurship and advancing the common good. In recent years, we have witnessed a significant shift of how business activities are conducted, mainly through the rise of social enterprises. In an effort to target social problems at their roots, social entrepreneurs create organizations that bring transformative social changes by considering, among others, ethical, social, and environmental factors. A variety of social enterprise models are emerging internationally and are proving their vitality and importance. But what does the term "social enterprise" mean? What are its roots? And how does it work in practice within the legal framework of any country? This handbook attempts to answer these questions from a theoretical, historical, and comparative perspective, bringing together 44 contributions written by 71 expert researchers and practitioners in this field. The first part provides an overview of the social enterprise movement, its evolution, and the different forms entities can take to meet global challenges, overcoming the limits of what governments and states can do. The second part focuses on the emergence of benefit corporations and the growing importance of sustainability and societal values, while also analyzing their different legal forms and adaptation to their regulatory environment. In turn, the last part presents the status quo of purpose-driven companies in 36 developed and emerging economies worldwide. This handbook offers food for thought and guidance for everyone interested in this field. It will benefit practitioners and decision-makers involved in social and community organizations, as well as in international development and, more generally speaking, social sciences and economics.

Multi-owned properties make up an ever-increasing proportion of commercial, tourist and residential development, in both urban and rural landscapes around the world. This book critically analyses the legal, social and economic complexities of strata or community title schemes. At a time when countries such as Australia and the United States turn ever larger areas into strata title/condominiums and community title/homeowner associations, this book shows how governments, the judiciary and citizens need to better understand the ramifications of these private communities. Whilst most strata title analysis has been technical, focusing on specific sections of legislation, this book provides higher level analysis, discussing the wider economic, social and political implications of Australia's strata and community title law. In particular, the book argues that private by-laws, however desirable to initial parties, are often economically inefficient and socially regressive when enforced against an ever-changing group of owners. The book will be of particular interest to scholars and legal practitioners of property law in Australia, but as the Australian strata title model has formed the basis for legislation in many countries, the book draws out lessons and analysis that will be of use to those studying privately-owned communities across the world.

This book is a very useful reference guide on how de jure and de facto standards are being developed and how these standards compete against each other. The book also looks at how FRAND commitments are being determined across countries, how these disputes have played out, especially in Asia, and how they can be better dealt with in future globally. The book gives a broad overview of the business model of dominant SEP patentees and analyzes some standards for FRAND licensing of SEPs which are converging in major Asian jurisdictions. It highlights the need for ex ante regulation in the FRAND licensing of SEPs and suggests how we can reconcile conflicts which may arise from different legal standards. This book provides detailed and comprehensive analysis of recent SEP cases with an emphasis on Asia and will interest anyone who wishes to have more insight into the legal, policy, industrial and economic implications of such issues.

Affectedness and Participation in International Institutions looks at the growing involvement of affected persons in global politics, such as young climate activists, indigenous movements, and persons affected by HIV/AIDS. Since the early 2000s, international organisations within various policy areas have increasingly recognised and involved affected persons' organisations. This has promised to address long-standing legitimacy and democracy deficits of international policy making and norm setting. Yet, the powerful do not easily cede the terrain: Some major states, classic NGOs, and intergovernmental organisations seek to curtail the influence of the newcomers. The authors within this collection study these contestations from an interdisciplinary political science and international law perspective. Based on evidence from a broad range of policy areas, we address some of the crucial questions: What does it mean to be affected? How can affected groups meaningfully participate in international negotiations? Whose voices do still remain excluded? Ultimately, the authors chart whether the rising involvement of the 'most affected' will re-shape global politics and social struggles on the ground. Taking a dual political science and international law perspective, Affectedness and Participation in International Institutions will be of great interest to scholars of civil society in global governance, international law, and international institutions. This book was originally published as a special issue of Third World Thematics.

Providing perspectives from a range of experts, including international lawyers, political scientists, and practitioners, this book assesses current theory and practice of economic sanctions, discussing current legal and political challenges faced by the international community. It examines both the implementation of sanctions by major powers - the United States, the European Union, and Japan - as well as assessing the impact of those sanctions through case studies of Russia, Iran, Syria, and North Korea. Balancing theoretical analysis of legal considerations with national and regional level empirical analysis, it also includes coverage of sanctions issues by the UN Security Council and the EU, as well as the extraterritorial application of sanctions. A valuable reference for academics and practitioners, Economic Sanctions in International Law and Practice will be useful to those working in the fields of international law, diplomacy, and international political economy.

This book contributes new theoretical insight and in-depth empirical analysis about the relationship between transnational legality, state change and the globalisation of markets. The role of transnational economic law in influencing and reorganising national systems of governance evidences the constitutional dimensions of global capitalism: the power to institute new rules and limits for national states. This form of new constitutionalism does not undermine the state but transforms it by eroding national capacities and implanting global alternatives. While leading scholars in the field have emphasised the much-needed value of case studies, there are no studies available which consider the cumulative impact of multiple axes of transnational legal ordering on the national state or its constitution. This monograph addresses this empirical gap, whilst expanding the theoretical scope of the field. Mongolia's recent transformation as a mineral-exporting country provides a rare opportunity to witness economic and legal globalisation in process. Based on careful empirical analysis of national law and policy-making, the book traces the way distinctive processes of transnational legal ordering have reorganised and reframed the governance of Mongolia's mining sector, specifically by redistributing state power in relation to the market, sub-national administrations and civil society. The book investigates the role of international financial institutions, multinational corporations and non-governmental organisations in normative transmission, as well as the critical role of national actors in embedding transnational investment norms within the domestic legal and policy environment. As the book demonstrates, however, the constitutional ramifications of transnational legal ordering extend beyond the mining regime itself into more fundamental questions of the trajectory of state transformation, institutionally and ideologically. The book will be of interest to scholars of international law, global governance and the political economy of development.

This book examines Taiwan's judicial reform process, which began three years after the 1996 transition to democracy, in 1999, when Taiwanese legal and political leaders began discussing how to reform Taiwan's judicial system to meet the needs of the new social and political conditions. Covering different areas of the law in a comprehensive way, the book considers, for each legal area, problems related to rights and democracy in that field, the debates over reform, how foreign systems inspired reform proposals, the political process of change, and the substantive legal changes that ultimately emerged. The book also sets Taiwan's legal reforms in their historical and comparative context, and discusses how the reform process continues to evolve.

There has been little or no study on trademark laws in Asia on a cross-jurisdictional level. This book aims at filling the existing gap and provides a comprehensive overview of trademark laws of eight major Asian jurisdictions and their most-updated trademark case law. The book analyses six of the principal issues that best reflect Asian features in trademark law and trademark development. The cases in the book are principally the most authoritative decisions, usually the first to deal with certain new emerging issues, or the first to apply particular statutory provisions in the respective jurisdiction. Also included are a small number of direction-changing, outlying or even controversial decisions. Each case report is divided into six sections: summary, legal context, facts, reasoning of the court, legal analysis, and commercial or industrial significance. Readers will find this book useful in both its overview of the legal context and how those cases are to be interpreted legally and commercially.

Much has been written on specific religious legal systems, yet substantial comparative studies that strive to compare systems, identifying their analogies and differences, have been relatively few. This absence undermines the capacity to understand religions and becomes particularly serious when the faithful of these religions live together in the same geographical space, as happens today with increasing frequency. Both interreligious dialogue and dialogue between States and religions presuppose a set of data and information that only comparative research can provide. This book seeks to address this gap in the literature by presenting a comparative analysis of Christian, Jewish, Islamic and Hindu laws and traditions. Divided into five parts, the first part of the book offers the historical background for the legal analysis that is developed in the subsequent parts. Part II deals with the sources of law in the four religions under discussion. Part III addresses the dynamics of belonging and status, and Part IV looks at issues relating to the conclusion of marriage and its dissolution. The fifth and final part discusses how each religion views the legal other. Each part concludes with exploring what we can learn from a comparative examination of the topic that is dealt with in that part. Written by leading experts in the field, this book presents a clear and comprehensive picture of key religious legal systems along with a substantial bibliography. It provides a state of the art overview of scholarship in this area accompanied by a critical evaluation. As such, it will be an invaluable resource for all those concerned with religious legal systems, multiculturalism and comparative law.