There have been extraordinary developments in the field of neuroscience in recent years, sparking a number of discussions within the legal field. This book studies the various interactions between neuroscience and the world of law, and explores how neuroscientific findings could affect some fundamental legal categories and how the law should be implemented in such cases. The book is divided into three main parts. Starting with a general overview of the convergence of neuroscience and law, the first part outlines the importance of their continuous interaction, the challenges that neuroscience poses for the concepts of free will and responsibility, and the peculiar characteristics of a "new" cognitive liberty. In turn, the second part addresses the phenomenon of cognitive and moral enhancement, as well as the uses of neurotechnology and their impacts on health, self-determination and the concept of being human. The third and last part investigates the use of neuroscientific findings in both criminal and civil cases, and seeks to determine whether they can provide valuable evidence and facilitate the assessment of personal responsibility, helping to resolve cases. The book is the result of an interdisciplinary dialogue involving jurists, philosophers, neuroscientists, forensic medicine specialists, and scholars in the humanities; further, it is intended for a broad readership interested in understanding the impacts of scientific and technological developments on people's lives and on our social systems.

This is the definitive book on the legal and fiscal framework for civil society organizations (CSOs) in China from earliest times to the present day. Civil Society in China traces the ways in which laws and regulations have shaped civil society over the 5,000 years of China's history and looks at ways in which social and economic history have affected the legal changes that have occurred over the millennia.
This book provides an historical and current analysis of the legal framework for civil society and citizen participation in China, focusing not merely on legal analysis, but also on the ways in which the legal framework influenced and was influenced in turn by social and economic developments. The principal emphasis is on ways in which the Chinese people - as opposed to high-ranking officials or cadres -- have been able to play a part in the social and economic development of China through the associations in which they participate.
Civil Society in China sums up this rather complex journey through Chinese legal, social, and political history by assessing the ways in which social, economic, and legal system reforms in today's China are bound to have an impact on civil society. The changes that have occurred in China's civil society since the late 1980's and, most especially, since the late 1990's, are nothing short of remarkable. This volume is an essential guide for lawyers and scholars seeking an in depth understanding of social life in China written by one of its leading experts.

Divorce has long been viewed as a single phenomenon affecting two individuals without considering the framework conditions in which it occurs. Due to the increase of divorce rates in the past decades researchers have changed their perspective and have concentrated on the view of divorce as a personal experience that is greatly affected by the socials and economic environment. The aim of this thesis is to investigate divorce that has become a mass phenomenon in our present society. The assumption is that in order to understand the grounds for divorce and its consequences, we have to view divorce as a phenomenon that occurs at the intersection of personal, socio-economic and legal factors. Family disputes involve persons who have interdependent and continued relati- ships and arise in a context of distressing emotions. Separation and divorce affect all the members of the family, especially children. The study presents a comprehensive analysis of divorce as a psychological process that is situated within a social and a legal context. It presents a comprehensive view of divorce as a psychosocial, economic and legal phenomenon and contains a review of the research literature about divorce and its consequences for parents and children. Moreover, it describes divorce by proposing conceptual frames and explanatory models.

This anthology provides an in-depth analysis and discusses the issues surrounding nudging and its use in legislation, regulation, and policy making more generally. The 17 essays in this anthology provide startling insights into the multifaceted debate surrounding the use of nudges in European Law and Economics. Nudging is a tool aimed at altering people's behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any option or significantly changing economic incentives. It can be used to help people make better decisions to influence human behaviour without forcing them because they can opt out. Its use has sparked lively debates in academia as well as in the public sphere. This book explores who decides which behaviour is desired. It looks at whether or not the state has sufficient information for debiasing, and if there are clear-cut boundaries between paternalism, manipulation and indoctrination. The first part of this anthology discusses the foundations of nudging theory and the problems associated, as well as outlining possible solutions to the problems raised. The second part is devoted to the wide scope of applications of nudges from contract law, tax law and health claim regulations, among others. This volume is a result of the flourishing annual Law and Economics Conference held at the law faculty of the University of Lucerne. The conferences have been instrumental in establishing a strong and ever-growing Law and Economics movement in Europe, providing unique insights in the challenges faced by Law and Economics when applied in European legal traditions.

This unique publication offers a complete history of Roman law, from its early beginnings through to its resurgence in Europe where it was widely applied until the eighteenth century. Besides a detailed overview of the sources of Roman law, the book also includes sections on private and criminal law and procedure, with special attention given to those aspects of Roman law that have particular importance to today's lawyer. The last three chapters of the book offer an overview of the history of Roman law from the early Middle Ages to modern times and illustrate the way in which Roman law furnished the basis of contemporary civil law systems. In this part, special attention is given to the factors that warranted the revival and subsequent reception of Roman law as the 'common law' of Continental Europe. Combining the perspectives of legal history with those of social and political history, the book can be profitably read by students and scholars, as well as by general readers with an interest in ancient and early European legal history. The civil law tradition is the oldest legal tradition in the world today, embracing many legal systems currently in force in Continental Europe, Latin America and other parts of the world. Despite the considerable differences in the substantive laws of civil law countries, a fundamental unity exists between them. The most obvious element of unity is the fact that the civil law systems are all derived from the same sources and their legal institutions are classified in accordance with a commonly accepted scheme existing prior to their own development, which they adopted and adapted at some stage in their history. Roman law is both in point of time and range of influence the first catalyst in the evolution of the civil law tradition.

General Principles of EU Civil Law focuses on a rapidly developing but still highly controversial area of EU law: the emergence of general principles with constitutional relevance for EU civil law, guiding its interpretation, gap filling and legality control. This study brings to light seven principles in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Principles 1 to 3 on framed autonomy, protection of the weaker party and non-discrimination are now part of substantive EU law, mainly contract law. Principle 4 on effectiveness, together with the principle of equivalence, is an "old acquaintance" of EU law and has mostly to do with procedures but can also be extended to cover substantive and remedial matters. Principles 5 and 6 on balancing and proportionality are primarily concerned with methodological questions: the first has to do with judicial interpretation and application of EU civil law, the second with legal-political questions on the future of a (questionable) codified or optional EU civil law, in particular sales law. Finally, principle 7 on good faith is still an emerging principle but is gradually gaining importance. This book will allow the reader to understand and to assess the current evolution of EU civil law in days where its autonomous character is increasingly recognised in the case law of the Court, and where the Charter is having a growing impact on its constitutional foundations. About this book 'Professor Reich has written a book that is not merely rich and broad in ambition,but in fact genuinely ground-breaking. In identifying, explaining and analysing seven key principles of EU civil law, he has drawn us a map that will help scholars to find their way through the forbiddingly dense jungle populated by EU Treaty provisions, the legislative acquis and the Court's case law. And, in showing how proudly 'social' much of the EU's protective regulation affecting private parties truly is, he has set a tone that EU policymakers should embrace.' Stephen Weatherill, Jacques Delors Professor of European Law, University of Oxford 'For the private lawyer, probably the most interesting recent development in EU law is the emergence of principles of private law, developed by the European Court of Justice. This phenomenon unfolds in three strands. Firstly, the Court has developed general principles of EU law which are also relevant for private law. Secondly, since the entry into force of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (2009) a process of judicial interpretation has started which shows that not a few provisions have a significant impact on private law. In a third wave of innovations the ECJ seems to be willing to develop principles of civil law, in a more restricted sense, playing their role purely within the ambit of private law. In his new book, General Principles of EU Civil Law, Norbert Reich reaches out to these different categories of principles, combining them under one heading and systematising them in a new and original way.' Arthur Hartkamp, Professor of European Private Law, Radboud University, Nijmegen

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.

"Efficient breach" is one of the most discussed topics in the literature of law and economics. What remedy incentivizes the parties of a contract to perform contracts if and only if it is efficient? This book provides a new perception based on an in-depth analysis of the impact the market structure, asymmetry of information, and deviations from the rational choice model have, comprehensively. The author compares the two predominant remedies for breach of contract which have been adopted by most jurisdictions and also found access to international conventions like the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CiSG): Specific performance and expectation damages. The book illustrates the complexity such a comparison has under more realistic assumptions. The author shows that no simple answer is possible, but one needs to account for the circumstances. The comparison takes an economic approach to law applying game theory. The game-theoretic models are consistent throughout the entire book which makes it easy for the reader to understand what effects different assumptions about the market structure, the distribution of information, and deviations from the rational choice model have, and how they are intertwined.

This book deals with the contractual platform for arbitration and the application of contractual norms to the parties' dispute. Arbitration and agreement are inter-linked in three respects: (i) the agreement to arbitrate is itself a contract; (ii) there is scope (subject to clear consensual exclusion) in England for monitoring the arbitral tribunal's fidelity and accuracy in applying substantive English contract law; (iii) the subject-matter of the arbitration is nearly always a 'contractual' matter. These three elements underlie this work. They appear as Part I (arbitration is founded on agreement), Part II (monitoring accuracy), Part III (synopsis of the English contractual rules frequently encountered within arbitration). The book will be a useful resource to foreign lawyers or English non-lawyers, English lawyers seeking a succinct discussion, and to arbitral tribunals.

The involvement of the EU in regulating private conduct and relationships between individuals is increasing. As a result, EU law affects the scope of private autonomy in ever wider contexts, sparking tensions with fundamental concepts of national private law systems. This volume offers a descriptive and normative account of the involvement of EU law in private law relationships. The recurring theme in the collected papers is the scope of policy objectives which are apt to legitimise the European Union's as yet unsystematic tendency to serve as a source of restrictions of private autonomy. The nature and purpose of the involvement of European Union law in private law relationships is investigated by the authors from both the substantive and the constitutional perspective. The papers look at such sectors regulating private law relationships as consumer law, labour law, competition law, equal treatment law and the law of remedies. While focusing on private law relationships the authors investigate more general concepts of EU law, such as the Internal Market freedoms and general principles of law, and the different modes of ensuring the effective application of EU secondary law.

This book presents a comprehensive analysis of the existing nature of India's groundwater laws. In the backdrop of the gravity of groundwater crisis that threatens to engulf the country, the book examines the correlation between the imperfections in the law and water crisis and advocates a reform agenda to overhaul the legal framework. It accomplishes this objective by examining how some of the States and Union Territories regulate and manage groundwater through the legal instrumentality against the backdrop of the two conflicting paradigms: the "elitist" and the "egalitarian." The book's fundamental premise is that despite being an extraordinarily critical resource that supports India's burgeoning population's ever-increasing water demands, groundwater is abused and mismanaged. The key argument that it posits is that the elitist paradigm must give way to an egalitarian one where groundwater is treated as a common property resource. To place this message in perspective, the book's introduction explains the dichotomy between the two paradigms in the context of groundwater. This sets the stage, after which the book is divided thematically into three parts. The first part deals with some of the general groundwater management concerns brought to the fore by the operation of the elitist paradigm. Since water is constitutionally a State subject, the second part analyses the groundwater legislations of different States and Union Territories set against their unique circumstances. As these laws do not dismantle the elitist paradigm that interlocks groundwater rights to land rights, the next part articulates the legal reform agenda where a case is made to re-engineer groundwater laws to reflect a more sustainable basis. The findings and arguments resonate with the situation in many developing countries around the world due to which the book is a valuable resource for researchers across disciplines studying this area, and also for policy makers, think tanks, and NGOs. Groundwater Management-Inter-state Water Conflicts-Aquifers-Water Markets-Water Security-Water Law Reform-Groundwater Law-Water Law-Sustainable Development-Hydrology

This book looks at codification from a broad, international perspective, discussing general themes as well as various legal fields. Since codification is a subject of intense current interest in East Asia, this second volume on codification is dedicated to the sub-theme of codification and legal transplant in this area, focusing on China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. It includes two papers that discuss development of codification in East Asia and Korea in particular.It is also comprised of two reports that draw comparative lessons from Japan, India and Indonesia. In addition, this volume consists of four general reports and 19 national reports that guide readers through the knowledge of codification of commercial law, administrative law, civil law and private international law in East Asia.

This book is developed from papers presented at the 2012 Thematic Conference of the International Academy of Comparative Law. "

This book adds a critical perspective to the legal dialogue on the regulation of 'smart urban mobility'. Mobility is one of the most visible sub-domains of the 'smart city', which has become shorthand for technological advances that influence how cities are structured, public services are fashioned, and citizens coexist. In the urban context, mobility has come under pressure due to a variety of different forces, such as the implementation of new business models (e.g. car and bicycle sharing), the proliferation of alternative methods of transportation (e.g. electric scooters), the emergence of new market players and stakeholders (e.g. internet and information technology companies), and advancements in computer science (in particular due to artificial intelligence). At the same time, demographic changes and the climate crisis increase innovation pressure. In this context law is a seminal factor that both shapes and is shaped by socio-economic and technological change. This book puts a spotlight on recent developments in smart urban mobility from a legal, regulatory, and policy perspective. It considers the implications for the public sector, businesses, and citizens in relation to various areas of public and private law in the European Union, including competition law, intellectual property law, contract law, data protection law, environmental law, public procurement law, and legal philosophy. Chapter 'Location Data as Contractual Counter-Performance: A Consumer Perspective on Recent EU Legislation' of this book is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com.

This thesis provides a new approach to the Ethiopian Land Law debate. The basic argument made in this thesis is that even if the Ethiopian Constitution provides and guarantees common ownership of land (together with the state) to the people, this right has not been fully realized whether in terms of land accessibility, enjoyability, and payment of fair compensation in the event of expropriation. Expropriation is an inherent power of the state to acquire land for public purpose activities. It is an important development tool in a country such as Ethiopia where expropriation remains the only method to acquire land. Furthermore, the two preconditions of payment of fair compensation and existence of public purpose justifications are not strictly followed in Ethiopia. The state remains the sole beneficiary of the process by capturing the full profit of land value, while paying inadequate compensation to those who cede their land by expropriation. Secondly, the broader public purpose power of the state in expropriating the land for unlimited activities puts the property owners under imminent risk of expropriation.

This edited volume examines two recent Central European recodifications of civil law. The contributors present and discuss the regulation and the fundamental changes related to the new Civil Codes in each country. They also highlight the novelties and some of the issues of great debate of the new regulation. The papers investigate specific parts of the two Civil Codes. Coverage reviews default rules of legal persons and companies, key issues of the new regulations of property law, and the topic of intellectual property. The contributors also consider the law of obligation, unforeseeable changes in circumstances in contracts, family law and law of succession, and more. Hungary and Romania connect to each other by their special historical and cultural background, which serves as a solid basis of great cooperation. This volume shows how the two countries view civil law. It offers readers straightforward and practice-oriented knowledge on the subject.

This book investigates the regime of consumer benchmarks in the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and explores to what extent this regime meets each of the goals of the Directive. In particular, it assesses whether the consumer benchmarks are suitable in terms of achieving the three goals of the Directive: achieving a high level of consumer protection, increasing the smooth functioning of the internal market, and improving competition in the market as such. In addition to providing a thorough analysis of the consumer benchmarks and their relationship to the goals of the Directive, at a more practical level, the book provides insight into the working and consequences of the benchmarks that can be used in the evaluation of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and its application by the CJEU. This assessment is important because the Directive, while promising to regulate unfair commercial practices in a way that achieves the Directive's goals, has removed the possibility for Member States to regulate unfair commercial practices themselves.

This book introduces the press release work carried out by Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China in 2019. It is divided into four parts, each arranged chronologically. The first part contains the records of Li Ganjie, Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, who attended the press conference on "Promoting Ecological Civilization and Building a Beautiful China". The second part contains the records of Minister Li Ganjie's attendance at the press conference of the National People's Congress and the Chinese Political Consultative Conference as well as the "Minister channel". The third part contains the records of four press conferences on ecological and environmental protection held by the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China. The fourth part contains the records of 12 regular press conferences held by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

This book contributes to an understanding of the dynamic complexities involved in the design of e-justice applications that enable online trans-border judicial proceedings in Europe. It provides answers to critical questions with practical relevance: How should online trans-border judicial proceedings be designed in order to deliver effective and timely justice to European citizens, businesses and public agencies? How can the circulation of judicial agency across Europe be facilitated? Based on extensive research, the book explores and assesses the complex entanglements between law and technology, and between national and European jurisdictions that emerge when developing even relatively simple e-services such as those supporting the European small claims procedure and European payment orders. In addition to providing a strong theoretical framework and an innovative approach to e-justice design, this book includes case studies that are based on a common methodology and theoretical framework. It presents original empirical material on the development of e-government systems in the area of European justice. Finally, it introduces the design strategies of Maximum Feasible Simplicity and Maximum Manageable Complexity and, based on them, it proposes architectural and procedural solutions to enhance the circulation of judicial agency.

This book consists of 7 parts and 1,260 articles, each part in turn being the General Provisions, Real Rights, Contracts, Personal and Personality Rights, Marriage and Family, Succession, Tort Liability, and the By-laws, which came into force on January 1, 2021. The codification of the Civil Code is a comprehensive and systematic compilation and revision of the existing civil legal norms of China, which were formulated in different periods of time. The Civil Code of the People's Republic of China is recognized as a declaration and guarantee of civil rights in China. This book is characterized by the addition of article-by-article purpose on the basis of legal articles, systematically indicating the main content of each article, so that readers can easily and clearly understand the content of the articles.

The book provides in-depth analysis of the new perspectives on codifications, and of the related reforms, that give recognition to new ideas, new needs, and new techniques. The contributions from several jurisdictions collected in this book provide a much needed evaluation of the current impact of codification on the law and are a first, essential reference for assessing the importance of civil law codifications in the contemporary world.

This book introduces readers to the press release work carried out by Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China in 2018. It is divided into 3 parts, and each part is arranged in chronological order. The first part contains the records of Li Ganjie, Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, who attended the press conference of the two conferences and the "Ministerial Channel". The second part contains the record of Special Representative of China's Climate Change Affairs, Xie Zhenhua, who attended the "China's Policies and Actions on Climate Change 2018 Annual Report" press conference, and Zhao Yingmin, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, who attended the "Three-year Action Plan to Win the Blue Sky Defense War" policy briefing. The third part contains the records of 12 regular press conferences of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment throughout the year.

Colonialism led to the importation, or better still imposition, of European administrative systems on the indigenous people of Africa. France specialized in this, practicing direct rule and an assimilation policy in their colonies up to the time of independence. In Cameroon, French administrative law ("droit adminstratif") became part of the national legal system. In this highly original new book, Cameroonian legal scholar Moye Godwin Bongyu explores the intersection of public administration and the state, colonization and administrative systems, public and private laws, rule of law, and comparative administrative law. He then addresses laws relating to administrative organization in Cameroon. Part Three of the book deals with laws governing administrative resources. Part Four describes practical administrative action and the civil procedure. Part Five focuses on the control to administrative action, examining the submission of the administration to specific law, as well as the history, rules, and procedures of administrative justice in Cameroon.

This book approaches environmental, climate, and social justice comprehensively and interlinked. The contributors, predominantly from the Global South and have lived experiences, challenge the eurocentrism that dominates knowledge production and discourses on environmental and climate [in] justices. The collection of works balances theoretical, empirical, and practical aspects to address environmental and climate justice challenges through the lens of social justice. This book gives voice to scholars of the Global South and uses an interdisciplinary approach to show the complexity of the problem and the opportunities for solutions, making this book a powerful resource in teaching, research, and advocacy efforts. The innovativeness of this approach stems from the use of narratives, scientific explanation, and thematic analysis to present the arguments in each chapter of this edited book. Overall, each chapter of this book acts as a powerful resource in teaching, research, and advocacy efforts. This book fills a gap in the Global South production of environmental, climate, and social justice. It provides in-depth knowledge to the readers and raises their critical thinking about key elements/discussions of justice issues of environmental conflicts and climate change. The book is a useful read to a general audience interested in the topic of climate, environment, and development politics.

This volume serves to provide an international overview of personal injury compensation in different geographical areas (15 countries already included), with a special focus on the methods used to ascertain the injury and the related damages. It also goes on to clarify the logical and methodological steps required for a sequential, in-depth ascertainment of any traumatic event and the related personal damage, both pecuniary and non-pecuniary. Personal injury is a legal term for an injury to the body, mind or emotions suffered by the plaintiff under tort and/or civil law regulations. Damages related to the injury can be pecuniary or non-pecuniary in nature. Although several comparative studies and research projects on tort and civil law and personal injury claims aimed at developing new tools for promoting harmonization of private law have been performed at an international level, heterogeneity and divergences still exist in the definition and compensation of personal injury and damage across different national legislative systems. The starting point for any awarding procedure should be a medical, or rather a medico-legal, assessment to gain evidence on the trauma or event causing the injury, the mechanism of injury, the pre-existing health status of the injured party, and the health consequences of the injury (temporary and permanent impairment, work incapacity, etc.). In order to pursue the ultimate goal of an international harmonization of personal injury compensation, it is of upmost importance to define the quality requirements for the medico-legal ascertainment methodology, which are essential for guaranteeing the objectivity, rigor, and reproducibility of the data and the evidence collection procedure. Currently, there are no supra-national medico-legal guidelines dealing with the ascertainment methodology of personal injury and damage under tort and civil law.

This book discusses the intensification of international transport services as the consequence of an increasingly capillary economic integration. In particular, in some European countries, such as Belgium, the Rhine area of Germany, and Denmark, the application of the Geneva Convention on the carriage of goods from the case law point of view is even more thorough than that of national law. Even though this is not the case for all countries, the Geneva Convention is a core text both for the scientific debates on the issue and for commercial operators. Therefore, proposing an up-to-date reading of the Convention is of utmost importance from the practical point of view, especially considering that, thanks to the consistent application of the International Carriage of Goods by Road contract, the Convention has become an essential prerequisite for the development of traffic. In ten chapters, this book reviews the Convention's structure and considers the case-law approaches and trends of most countries belonging to the European Union. It covers contracts and different negotiating models as well as compensation, liability of the carrier, and damages.