This book addresses the basic theory of criminal procedure in China, together with recent reforms. Balancing the powers of public security and judicial organs with the rights of individual citizens, it assesses the nature of Chinese criminal proceedings. In the basic theoretical research section, the author, drawing on the latest findings from the legal community, systematically and comprehensively presents the current trends, main research topics and the main problems that should be explored in future research into criminal procedure law in China; further, the author explains the basic thinking behind the revision of criminal procedure law, and the allocation of judicial resources in criminal procedure and criminal justice. The policy, basic theory and operation problems of judicial power, procuratorial power, police power, defense power and judicial reform are subsequently explained and evaluated. The general writing style used is intentionally straightforward, making the book easily accessible for the readers. Based on the author's substantial working experience in the area of criminal law, it offers a highly intuitive reading experience.

There is a vast body of international and national law that regulates cultural heritage. However, the current regulation remains quite blind to the so called "transnational heritage". This is heritage where there is no community recognized in law that it can be directly attributed to and that can be responsible for its safekeeping and preservation. It can also be items of heritage where the claim of ownership is disputed between two or more peoples or communities. Transnational heritage challenges the idea of monolithic, mono-cultural, ethno-national states. There are a number of examples of such cultural heritage, for instance the Buddhist Bamiyan statutes in Afghanistan, Palmyra in Syria, the Jewish heritage of Iraq, or various items that are currently housed in large, often Western, museums, as a result of colonial practices. This book explores the regulation of transnational heritage. By discussing many cases of transnational heritage and the problems that arise due to the lack of regulation the book analyses the manifestations of memories and constructions of communities through heritage. It focuses particularly on the concept of community. How are communities constructed in cultural heritage law and what falls outside of the definitions of community? The book underlines that the issues surrounding transnational heritage involve more than a communal right to culture. It is argued that transnational heritage also directly affects wider matters of law such as citizenship, human rights, sovereignty, as well as the movement of people and cultural goods.

This book will discuss the legal tools offered by international law that can support foreign direct investment (FDI) in the renewable energy sector in the Global South. Promoting and increasing investment in the renewable energy sector is crucial for limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 DegreesC and addressing energy poverty in the Global South. In this volume, Avidan Kent explores the various home-country measures (HCMs) offered by international law that support FDI in the renewable energy sector. This book provides a bird's eye evaluation of HCMs from fields such as trade law, investment law, environmental law, development law and more. It reveals that while international law indeed offers many legal tools to support investors' needs, the current legal framework is fragmented; most legal instruments were designed in isolation and the potential for mutually supportive, synergetic policies has been explored only to a limited extent. This fragmented reality is in contradiction to the notion of Policy Coherence for Development, which is increasingly gaining support in leading institutions in Europe and elsewhere. This book will provide recommendations on the manner in which HCMs can be connected in order to maximise their potential and boost investment in renewable energies in the developing world. International Law and Renewable Energy Investment in the Global South will be of great interest to scholars, students and practitioners of international law, energy studies, development studies and IR more broadly.

This volume addresses the role of the judge and the parties in civil litigation in mainland China, Hong Kong and various European jurisdictions. It provides an overview and an analysis of how these respective roles have been changed in order to cope with growing caseloads and quality demands. It also shows the different approaches chosen in the jurisdictions covered.

Mainland China is introducing far-reaching reforms in its system of civil litigation. From an inquisitorial procedure, in which the parties play a relatively minor role, the country is changing to a more adversarial system with increased powers for the parties. At the same time, case management and the role of the judge as it is understood in mainland China remains different from case management and the role of the judge in Western countries, mainly as regards the limited powers of individual Chinese judges in this respect. Changes in China are justified by the ever-increasing case load of the Chinese courts and the consequent inability to deal with cases in an adequate manner, even though generally speaking Chinese courts still adjudicate civil cases within a relatively short time frame (this may, however, be problematic when viewed from the perspective of the quality of adjudication).

Growing caseloads and quality concerns may also be observed in various European states and Hong Kong. In these jurisdictions the civil procedural systems have a relatively adversarial character and it is some of the adversarial features of the existing systems of procedure which are felt to be problematic. Therefore, the lawmakers have opted for increasing the powers of the judge, often making the judge and the parties mutually responsible for the proper conduct of civil cases.

Starting from opposite directions, mainland China and the various European states and Hong Kong could meet half way in their reform attempts. This is, however, only possible if a proper understanding is fostered of the developments in these different parts of the World. Even though in both China and Europe the academic community and lawmakers are showing a keen interest in the relevant developments abroad, a study addressing the role of the judge and the parties in civil litigation in both China and Europe is still missing. This book aims to fill this gap in the existing literature.

This important new book deals with the changing nature of war in the post-Cold War era and the emergence of new forms of warfare in which warlords, mercenaries and terrorists play an increasingly important role.

In the modern era, warfare came to play a crucial role in the formation of states, whereas the new wars emerging at the beginning of the 21st century have mostly gone together with the failure or collapse of states. The author draws out the key shifts involved in this process: from symmetrical conflicts between states to asymmetrical global relationships of force; from national armies to increasingly private or commercial bands of warlords, child soldiers and mercenaries; from pitched battles to protracted conflicts in which there is often little fighting and most of the violence is directed against civilians. Changes in weapons technology have combined with complex economic factors to make the prospect of endlessly simmering wars a real danger in the years to come.

Against this background, the author outlines the rise of a novel form of international terrorism, conceived more as a political method of communication than as an element in a military strategy. The resulting challenges faced by Western governments, and the costs and benefits associated with any response, are taken up in a concluding section that contrasts the characteristic European and American approaches and examines the implications for the future of international law.

This book will be of important to students of political science, international relations, war and peace studies, conflict studies and peace studies. It will also appeal to the general reader with an interest inthis topical subject.

This book provides a clear outline of the key principles underlying property valuation and the current techniques and issues in the practice of valuation for the major sectors of the Australian real estate market. Formerly titled Valuation Principles and Practice, this entirely new third edition comprises Australia's leading advanced valuation textbook. The first part of the book, Principles of valuation, comprises chapters written by globally recognised academics and specialists on the principles of law, economics, planning, policy and finance, all in the context of property valuation. The second part of the book, Practice of valuation, comprises chapters written by acknowledged expert valuers on the practice of valuation for key property sectors including residential, retail, commercial, industrial, leisure and rural. Further, chapters also cover valuations for purposes including lending, insurance, rating, taxation and financial reporting. The most up to date valuation text for the Australian market, this book will appeal to both valuation practitioners and undergraduate/postgraduate students as well as to accountants, lawyers and professionals dealing with property valuation issues.

Global Finance in the 21st Century: Stability and Sustainability in a Fragmenting World explains finance and its regulation after the global financial crisis. The book introduces non-finance scholars into the wider debate regarding the conduct and regulation of finance to encourage broader discussion on important societal issues that relate to finance. The book also explores the ineffectiveness of the current approach to global prudential governance and places this discussion within the more expansive context of global governance and nationalism in the twenty-first century. The book argues that fragmentation and the growing trend of promoting informality and voluntarism has facilitated a return to nationalism as a primary form of global governance that acts contrary to post-crisis reforms that seek to promote stability and sustainability in the conduct of finance. As a remedy, Kourabas suggests that we need more, not less, of what we have traditionally conceived as international law - treaties and treaty-based international organisations. In the field of finance, this means not only pursuing financial liberalisation through free trade and investment treaties, but also the inclusion of provisions in these treaties that promotes systemic financial stability and sustainable development objectives. Of interest to legal and non-legal academics and students, legal professionals and policy-makers, this book offers a nuanced defence of international law as an approach to global governance in finance and beyond, as well as reform of international law to meet the needs of twenty-first century society.

The study of contemporary forms of racism has expanded greatly over the past four decades. Although it has been a focus for scholarship and research for the past three centuries, it is perhaps over this more recent period that we have seen important transformations in the analytical frames and methods to explore the changing patterns of contemporary racisms. The Routledge International Handbook of Contemporary Racisms brings together thirty-four original chapters from international experts that address key features of contemporary racisms. The Handbook has a truly global orientation and covers contemporary racisms in both the western and non-western geopolitical environments. In terms of structure, the volume is organized into ten interlinked parts that include Theories and Histories, Contemporary Racisms in Global Perspective, Racism and the State, Racist Movements and Ideologies, Anti-Racisms, Racism and Nationalism, Intersections of Race and Gender, Racism, Culture and Religion, Methods of Studying Contemporary Racisms, and the End of Racism. These parts contain chapters that draw on original theoretical and empirical research to address the evolution and changing forms of contemporary racism. The Handbook is framed by a General Introduction and by short introductions to each part that provide an overview of key themes and concerns. Written in a clear and direct style, and from a conceptual, multidisciplinary and international perspective, the Handbook will provide students, scholars and practitioners with an overview of the most pressing issues of Racisms in our time.

This volume fills a gap in the literature regarding questions around the interactive dynamics between law and diplomacy on international trade and investment. It brings together lawyers and political scientists from Europe and Asia in an interdisciplinary effort at tracing the respective roles of law and diplomacy in the relations of the European Union (EU) with its trade and investment partners in Asia. Focusing on trade and investment relations with Asia, the EU presents a particularly interesting case as it has been a strong proponent of a rules-based international economic order for years and a frequent user of the formal procedures established in international treaties in case of disputes. At the same time, it has kept diplomatically active to adjust dispute management and international agreements to the needs and demands of the partners involved. Furthermore, not only is this region of crucial importance due to the presence of both vigorous emerging economies, like China, India and Vietnam, and more established partners, like Japan, EU-Asia relations also present a broad set of economic disputes and recent negotiation efforts analyzed in the contributions to this volume. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of international trade/economic law, EU politics, EU external relations (law), international relations, diplomacy and more broadly to international relations and Asian studies.

Land Tax in Australia demonstrates how land tax operates and is administered across State and local governments in Australia. International expert Vincent Mangioni reviews the current status and emerging trends in these taxes in Australia and compares them with the UK, USA, Canada, Denmark and New Zealand. Using substantial original research, the author sets out what Australia must do through practice and policy to reform and bring this tax into the 21st Century. The need for fiscal reform and strengthening the finances of Australia's sub-national government is long overdue. These reforms aim to minimise the taxpayer revolts encountered in previous attempts at land tax reform, while improving tax effort in line with other advanced OECD countries. This book provides an essential resource for all property professionals working in development, valuation, law, investment, as well as accountants, tax economists and government administrators. It is highly recommended for students on property, taxation, legal and social science courses.

This book examines the FinTech revolution from a data privacy perspective. It analyzes key players on the FinTech market and the developments in various market segments. Particular attention is paid to an empirical analysis of the privacy statements of 505 German FinTech firms and how they were adapted after the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) entered into effect in May 2018. The analysis also includes 38 expert interviews with relevant stakeholders from supervisory and regulatory authorities, the financial and FinTech industry, leading consulting firms and consumer protection agencies. By adopting this approach, the book identifies key regulatory needs, offers a valuable asset for practitioners and academics alike, and shares intriguing insights for lawyers, economists and everyone interested in FinTech and data privacy.

No society can function without judicial institutions. At a minimum, conflict must be regulated and the criminal law enforced. Ironically, though, modern political science has tended to ignore the role of courts in advanced industrial societies, so much so that even basic information has often been unavailable. This book covers three important bases. First, it provides, for the first time, up-to-date material about the court systems - their structures, their personnel, their jurisdictions - of the major democratic nations. Second, it places the courts in their political context, eschewing legalism and stressing their linkages with other institutions and their role in the policy process. Third, there is an attempt to assess the direction of contemporary change, especially how it relates to broader themes of other types of political change.

Through an in-depth legal analysis by leading scholars, this book searches for the exact legal causes of land-related disputes in Asia within the histories, legal systems and social realities of the respective countries. It consists of four main parts: examining the relationship between law and development; land-taking in developmental stages; common ownership; and proposals for new approaches to land law and dispute resolution. With a combination of orthodox legal interpretations and the empirical approach of legal sociology, the contributors undertake an extensive comparative legal analysis across common and civil law traditions. Most importantly, they propose pathways forward for legal transformations in the pursuit of sustainable development in Asia. This book is vital contribution to the study of comparative law, and especially property law, in East and Southeast Asia.

This book explores the dynamics and trajectories of change in international politics through an English School analysis of primary institutions including international law, sovereignty and diplomacy, with particular reference to the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The study argues that it serves as an important indicator and model for redefining international politics, particularly through its impact upon three major institutions as prescribed by the English School: international law, sovereignty and diplomacy. The author explores three major areas: the ICC's contribution to the consolidation of the individual as a subject of the international law; the significance of the Court and its jurisdiction in terms of the state sovereignty; and the strong and determinative role of non-state actors active on global level during the diplomatic process upheld for the making of the norms and rules during the creation of the ICC. These three fields of change, point out to the redefinition and reconstruction of international politics, heralding a solidarist vision of international society. The book will be of particular interest to researchers in the field of the IR, as well as graduate students interested in IR theory, international law, and international organizations.

The book provides an overview of how international law is today constructed through diverse macro and microprocesses that expand its traditional subjects and sources, with the attribution of sovereign capacity and power to the international plane (moving the international toward the national). Simultaneously, national laws approximate laws of other nations (moving among nations or moving the national toward the international) and new sources of legal norms emerge, independent of states and international organisations. This expansion occurs in many subject areas, with specific structures: commercial, environmental, human rights, humanitarian, financial, criminal and labor law contribute to the formation of post national law with different modes of functioning, different actors and different sources of law that should be understood as a new complexity of law.

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.