Any talk of the advancement of international law presupposes that two objections are met. The first is the 'realist' objection which, observing the state of international relations today, claims that when it comes down to the important things in international life-war and peace, and more generally power politics among states-no real advancement has been made: international society remains a society of sovereign states deciding matters with regard solely to their own best interests and with international law all too often being no more than a thin cloak cast over the precept that 'might is right'. Against this excessive scepticism stands excessive optimism: international law is supposedly making giant strides forward thanks especially to the tremendous mass of soft law generated by international organisations over the past sixty years and more. By incautiously mixing all manner of customs, treaties, resolutions and recommendations, a picture of international law is painted that has little to do with the 'real world'. This book is arranged into three sections. The first purports to show from the specific example of international investment law that the past half-century has seen the invention of two genuinely new techniques in positive law: state contracts and transnational arbitration without privity. This is 'advancement' in international law not because the techniques are 'good' in themselves (one may well think them 'bad') but because they have introduced legal possibilities into international law that did not exist heretofore. The second section examines the theoretical consequences of those new legal techniques and especially the way they affect the theory of the state. The third widens the field of view and asks whether European law has surpassed international law in a move towards federalism or whether it represents a step forward for international law. These reflections make for a clearer theoretical understanding of what constitutes true advancement in international law. Such an understanding should give pause both to those who argue that hardly any progress has been made, and to those who are overly fanciful about progress.

Here is a deeply researched and very detailed book that explores, as thoroughly as has ever been done whether competition law can combat oligopolistic markets. Drawing on the two bodies of law -- U.S. and EC -- that offer the widest range of experience, US and EC Oligopoly Control assesses whether, by the rule of law, the destructive economic trend that is becoming more and more characteristic of today's global economy can be countered by means of applying the core competition provisions. Among the crucial legal concepts examined in the book in depth are the following:
- abuse of a collective dominant position;
- facilitating practices;
- substantial lessening of competition; and
- non-coordinated unilateral effects.

In the legal areas of contractual claims and tax claims, various requirements exist in EU law and in applicable conventions for the recognition and enforceability of foreign titles of execution, judgments and decisions. Besides the requirements that a foreign title of execution should fall under its particular scope of application, territorial scope, scope of claims, and scope in time, there are often additional requirements and limitations that give rise to possibilities and restrictions, and play an important role in determining the enforceability or non-enforceability of claims. Consequently, an early analysis related to these provisions is a crucial step in assessing the possibility of success or risk of failure. Also, this book focuses on preventive security arrangements and precautionary measures that offer the creditors the widest possible assurance of obtaining an enforceable cross-border title of execution and recovering claims in the event of non-payment by the debtor - all while adhering closely to such guiding principles as efficiency, legal certainty, predictability, and the establishment of a proper balance between the interests of the claimant and the defendant. The author pays close attention to relevant factors as the following: the debtor's privacy interest, the creditor's efficiency interest, legal principles of non-discrimination, proportionality, territoriality, universality, and mutuality; the legal historical background aimed at facilitating an understanding of the developments resulting in the present legal solutions; the role of regulated enforcement and recovery agents; a foreign State's immunity against civil execution measures; recognition and enforceability of titles of execution; grounds of non-recognition or refusal and other obstacles to enforcement or recovery and interim measures; periods of limitation and the enforcement of a contested claim; appeals, costs, repayment and referral provisions to national laws; access to information for enforcement purposes in the international context; the possible alternative to cross-border enforcement of claims, international insolvency. The analysis considers the provisions of applicable EU law and Conventions in the areas of the enforcement of contractual claims, maintenance claims in family matters, the recovery of tax and social security claims and claims related to criminal matters and on insolvency. Case law of the ECHR and the ECJ is drawn on liberally.

This book probes the depths of libertarian philosophy and highlights the need for laws that protect all individuals in society. This book defines libertarianism as a theory of what is just law, it is predicated upon the non-aggression principle (NAP). This legal foundation of the libertarian philosophy states that it should be illicit to threaten or engage in initiatory violence against innocent people. Ultimately, this book presents the notion, defend the "undefendable." This book defines that as; any person, institution, professional, worker, which is either reviled by virtually everyone, or prohibited by law, and does not violate the NAP. Weaved throughout, this book uses political philosophy to present three fundamental premises to explain this libertarian point of view. Firstly, this book defines the non-aggression principle (NAP). Secondly, demonstrates the importance and relevance of private property rights in this context. This book uses practical examples to demonstrate the theoretical application of freedom rights using libertarianism principles.

This book offers a comprehensive assessment of the successes and failures in China's current legal system construction. It systematically and comprehensively examines the development of China's rule of law policy since the reform and opening up, as well as future trends. The main areas covered include: The course, achievements and motivation behind China's construction of law-based administration; Development, status quo and general characteristics of administrative legislation; Reform of the administrative examination and approval system and the administrative licensing system; The relationship between social security system reform, beneficial administration and service government; The development of administrative law in China; Origin of the concept of due process, experiences with and development trends concerning China's administrative legislative procedure; The importance of government information, open practices, problems and development trend; History, current situation, reform mechanism of the emergency management system and the improvement of the legal system for emergency requisitions; The course, practical problems in and reasons for the enhanced approach of administrative reconsideration system; The course, achievements in, current situation and enhanced approach of administrative litigation system; The course of the national compensation system; and the construction of responsible government and administrative accountability system.

For upper-level undergraduate and MBA students enrolled in an international business law course. August emphasizes the diversity and similarity of how firms are currently regulated and governed around the world.

Hit by the European financial and economic crisis in 2008, several Member States of the European Monetary Union (EMU) were unable to refinance their public debt through the financial markets. As a result, they asked for financial assistance from international institutions and European financial assistance mechanisms. That assistance often came at a high price for citizens, cuts in pensions and social assistance, and controversial reforms in public healthcare. These far-reaching reforms were, in many cases, experienced as violations of people's human rights. National constitutional courts, the Court of Justice of the EU, and the European Court of Human Rights issued a series of rulings on the conformity of the reforms in social protection initiated during the Eurozone crisis. This book offers a holistic analysis of the specific reforms in social protection introduced during the European financial crisis and their implications for constitutional law. Focusing on the social reforms of nine European countries that were greatly affected by the financial crisis, the volume seeks to address the legacy of the financial crisis on the application of constitutional law and the welfare state. The book will act as a helpful tool to legal academics interested in the challenges of constitutional and social law initiated by financial assistance conditionality, to advocates in quest of sound legal bases for the protection of individuals affected by social security reforms, and to national and international judges who are confronted with cases that question the legality and legitimacy of the crisis-related reforms.

Do independent boards of appeal set up in some EU agencies and the European Ombudsman compensate for the shortcomings of EU Courts? This book examines the operation of EU judicial and extra-judicial review mechanisms. It confronts the formal legal rules with evolving practices, relying on rich statistical data and internal documents. It covers detailed institutional arrangements, the standard of review, the types of cases and litigants, and the activity of the parties in the process. It makes visible the diverse but complementary ways in which the mechanisms enhance the authority of EU legal acts and processes. It also reveals that scarce resources and imprecise rules restrict the scope of review and hinder independent empirical investigations. Finally, it casts light on how a differentiated system of judicial and extra-judicial review can accommodate various kinds of technical and political discretion exercised by EU institutions and bodies.

The Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law comprises a collection of articles written mostly by Hungarian authors, covering developments in the field of international law and EU law, and progress in the domestic implementation and application of these fields of law. The thematic part of the volume centers around the issues of environmental protection on the national, European and international level. The Yearbook also contains numerous articles on Hungarian state practice, case notes and book reviews. The Yearbook offers a comprehensive picture of the state of application and implementation of international law and EU law in Hungary.

The issue of competence division is of fundamental importance as it reflects the 'power bargain' struck between the Member States and their Union, determining the limits of the authority of the EU as well as the limits of the authority of the Member States. It defines the nature of the EU as a polity, as well as the identity of the Member States. After over six years since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, it is high time to take stock of whether the reforms that were adopted to make the Union's system of division of competences between the EU Member States clearer, more coherent, and better at containing European integration, have been successful. This book asks whether 'the competence problem' has finally been solved. Given the fundamental importance of this question, this publication will be of interest to a wide audience, from constitutional and substantive EU law scholars to practitioners in the EU institutions and EU legal practice more generally.

This book presents the results of extensive international comparative research into the effects of the economic and financial crisis on democratic institutions and social cohesion policies. The collected studies describe and analyse the measures (often referred to as "reforms") adopted to counter the crisis and the effects of these measures.It investigates three areas: the impact on the functioning of institutions, with respect to the relationship between representative institutions and governments, and the organisational structure of administrations at national and local levels; the impact that the austerity policies on public spending have on social rights; and the impact on traditional instruments of public action (administrative simplification, public services delivering, the use of common assets).The general findings highlight the effect of reducing the administrative and government capacity of the democratic institutions: the public sector, rather than being innovative and made more effective, declines, offering increasingly poor public services and making bad decisions, fuelling substantive or formal privatisation solutions, which in turn cause further weakening.

Ffrench's book offers a way out of the pervasive confusion that has frustrated efforts of companies attempting to deal with foreign regulatory practices. Designed as a practical, comprehensive guide, it is the only work to present securities law and regulation for all of North, Central, and South America. In addition it provides details concerning various nations' business organizations, regulatory institutions, anti-trust laws, foreign investment laws, laws of insider trading, and labor laws. The author includes complete coverage of the intricate statutory regulations and case law of the United States and Canada, and he advances reform proposals that would simplify take-over and merger regulation in these and other countries.

How are rights and freedoms best protected? The American model of constitutional protection and judicial review has been adopted in a number of countries,most recently in the United Kingdom. Increasingly, rights are the province of the judiciary. But how much judicial review do we need? How do we resolve conflicts between liberty, equality, and democracy? What are group rights, and how strong is their claim to protection? What guidance can the decisions of the UN Human Rights Committee provide? These are some of the questions discussed in this collection of essays, which explores a range of contemporary issues in jurisdictions including the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Contributors include Justice Antonin Scalia of the United States Supreme Court, Justice Ian Binnie of the Supreme Court of Canada, Justice Eddie Durie of the High Court of New Zealand; James Allan, Andrew Butler, Hilary Charlesworth, Scott Davidson, Elizabeth Evatt, Murray Hunt, Andrew Sharpe, and Jeremy Waldron.