|
|
Books > Law > Laws of other jurisdictions & general law > Financial, taxation, commercial, industrial law > Financial law > General
This book is the first book-length analysis of investor
accountability under general and customary international law,
international human rights law, international environmental law,
international humanitarian law, as well as international investment
law. International investment law is currently facing growing
criticisms for its failure to address corruption, abuse,
environmental damage, and other forms of investor misconduct.
Reform initiatives range from the rejection of international law as
a governing regime for investors, to the dramatic overhaul of
investment treaties that supposedly enable investor overprotection,
to the creation of a multilateral international instrument that
would enable the litigation of claims against errant businesses
before an international tribunal. Whether these initiatives succeed
in disciplining investors remains to be seen. What these
initiatives undeniably show however, is that change is warranted to
counteract this lopsided investors' international law. Each chapter
in the book addresses a different and underexplored dimension of
investor accountability, thus offering a novel and consolidated
study of international law. The book will be of immense assistance
to legal practitioners, academics and policy makers involved in the
design, drafting, application and reform of various international
instruments addressing investor accountability.
This is a topical area for the courts, which have moved to imply
various limitations or tests on decision makers powers and when
they can be challenged. This is made more difficult for lay users
and lawyers alike in that implied restrictions are (by definition)
not apparent from the words of the relevant contract itself. These
limits are applied by the courts not just to fiduciaries (such as
trustees or directors), but also to non-fiduciaries (eg banks and
employers). Recent case law includes: * Pitt v Holt (SC) - trustee
decisions (2013) * Braganza (SC) - contractual discretions (2015) *
Eclairs (SC) - directors powers: proper purposes (2015) * IBM UK
Holdings v Dalgleish (CA) - employer powers under pension plans
(2017) * British Airways (CA)- pension plan - proper purposes
(2018) The book reviews the relevant doctrines of: * Interpretation
rules * Proper purposes; * Due consideration of relevant factors *
Full perversity (no reasonable decision maker)
State pensions are the largest item in the UK social security
budget, costing GBP96.7 billion in 2017/18. In the same year, 45.6
million people were members of UK occupational pension schemes (out
of a total population of 66.4 million) and the total amount saved
into workplace schemes in 2018 was GBP90.4 billion. A consequence
of the pensions sector's large size has been that pensions law and
social security law have become increasingly specialised areas of
practice. Yet despite their social and economic importance and the
fascinating legal issues they generate, pensions have not been the
subject of sustained academic attention. This book starts to fill
this gap by initiating a dialogue between practitioners and
scholars working on pensions law and policy, groups who have much
to learn from one another.
|
|