This book provides a broad understanding of whether law plays a role in influencing patterns of sustainable consumption and, if so, how. Bringing together legal scholars from the Global South and the Global North, it examines these questions in the context of national, transnational and international law, within single and plural legal systems, and across a range of sector-specific issue areas. The chapters identify how traditional legal disciplines (e.g. constitutional law, consumer law, public procurement, international public law), sector-related regulation (e.g. energy, water, waste), and legal rules in specific areas (e.g. eco-labelling and packing) engage with the concept of sustainable consumption. A number of the contributions describe this relationship by isolating a national legal system, while others approach it from the vantage point of legal pluralism, exploring the conflicts and convergences of rules between multiple international treaties (or guidelines) and those between the rules of international and transnational law (or both) vis-a-vis national legal systems. While sustainable consumption is recognised as an important field of interdisciplinary research linking virtually all social science disciplines, legal scholarship, in contrast, has neglected the importance of the field of sustainable consumption to the law. This book fills the gap.

Against the backdrop of enormous technological strides, this book argues that the air transport industry must be constantly vigilant in its efforts to employ a legal regime that is applicable to the aeronautical and human aspects of the carriage by air of persons and goods. In this regard, safety and security are of the utmost importance, both in terms of safe air navigation and the preservation of human life. Although the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) addresses legal issues through its Legal Committee, many emerging issues that urgently require attention lie outside the Committee's purview. This book analyzes in detail the items being considered by ICAO's Legal Committee, considers the legal nature of ICAO, and discusses whether or not ICAO's scope should be extended. Since the limited issues currently addressed by ICAO do not reflect the rapidly changing realities of air transport, the book also covers a broad range of key issues outside the parameters set by ICAO, such as: the need to teach air law to a new generation of aviation professionals; combating cyber-crime and cyber-terrorism; the regulation of artificial intelligence; traveller identification; interference with air navigation; human trafficking; unruly passengers; climate change; air carrier liability for passenger death or injury; Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (drones); and the cabin crew and their legal implications.

The globalisation of markets has pushed static, territorially-bounded legal structures towards a more rapid and efficient adaptation to the globalised and regionalised reality. In addition, substantial modifications in the structure and activities of financial institutions have increased risks and the need for new regulatory responses. Efforts to harmonise commercial law within the global order have resulted in a fragmented and ad hoc process, constructed according to multiple different interests and in order to preserve public policies in the face of transnational challenges. This book is the first to systematically analyse the current state of commercial law from a global perspective. The author seeks to both identify the reasons that are fostering the harmonisation process and to explain the ways in which it is developing. Among the relevant elements examined in this thorough analysis are the following: how emerging countries are absorbing international standards (with a special case study of Brazil); the impact of corporate activities on legal systems; the role of the corporation in promoting the standardisation of laws; issues of social responsibility and corporate accountability; justifications for the regulation of the corporate world; free trade vs. "fair trade"; the impact of treaty reservations and different forms of treaty incorporation into national legal systems; interaction between regional trade agreements and the WTO system; how movements of capital are reflected in international initiatives as well as in regional legislation and regulation; co-operation among national financial authorities; the emerging new lex mercatoria; and, the role of professional associations such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

There is a wide-spread consensus that UTPs occur throughout the food supply chain. Unfair trading practices (UTPs) can be defined as practices which grossly deviate from good commercial conduct, are contrary to good faith and fair dealing and are unilaterally imposed by one trading partner on its counterparty. Some Member States, such as France, Belgium and the UK, have already adopted legislation specifically prohibiting such practices (in the food and/or non-food supply chain). In addition, various self-regulatory initiatives exist. In April 2019, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Directive (EU) 2019/633 on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain. A Commission Proposal of April 2018 (COM(2018) 173 final) was substantially amended. To improve farmers' and small and medium sized businesses' position in the food supply chain, the Directive bans certain unfair trading practices including late payments for perishable food products; last minute order cancellations; unilateral changes to contracts; refusal to enter into a written contract; returning unsold or wasted products; payment for buyer's marketing. Each Member State has to designate a competent authority to enforce these rules and these authorities must have the power to both launch investigations and fine operators who break the rules. The Member States now have two years to implement the Directive.

This book analyzes empirical data from three specific Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) designed to establish rules for the conservation and management of fish stocks in the ocean, in order to assess their effectiveness in converting science into policy for the recovery and maintenance of fishery populations. The three RFMOs discussed are the CCAMLR (Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources), the ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) and the CCSBT (Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna). The book seeks to understand when governments choose to listen to science, and establishes a framework to examine the institutional designs currently in place to accommodate RFMO policy suggestions and the conditions under which they are implemented successfully. The study will be of interest to academics and professionals broadly interested in global environmental governance and international relations, and will specifically appeal to policymakers, conservationists, and environmental researchers interested in fishery management and policy at the global and regional scale. Goncalves provides an accessible and comprehensive analysis of RMFOs. She offers valuable insights into the role of science and politics in shaping sustainable fisheries policies for the open oceans. ---Peter M Haas, Professor Department of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst As envisaged by the UN Decade of Ocean proclamation, this book is an important and sincere effort, hopefully to be accompanied by many others to come during this promising decade, that will help to build a common framework to ensure that ocean science can support countries and the international community in creating improved conditions for the sustainable development of our cherished Ocean. ---Fabio H. Hazin - Professor at Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Brazil

The perceived impact of WTO law on the domestic regulatory autonomy of WTO Members is increasingly becoming the subject of controversy and debate. This book brings together in an integrated analytical framework the main WTO parameters defining the interface between the WTO and domestic legal orders, and examines how WTO adjudicators, i.e. panels and the Appellate Body, have construed those rules. A critical analysis identifies the flaws or weaknesses of these quasi-judicial solutions and their potential consequences for Members' regulatory autonomy. In an attempt to identify a more proper balance between WTO law and regulatory autonomy, it develops an innovative interpretation of the National Treatment obligations in GATT and GATS, drawing upon compelling arguments from legal, logic and economic theory.

In the early 21st-century, companies pursue their goals with little regard for national borders. However, it remains true that business activity is regulated to a significant extent by each national jurisdiction. This is particularly true of mergers; as anyone knows who has ever been involved in a transnational merger in multiple jurisdictions, the knottiest problems and issues arise from variations in national competition and merger laws. This text offers an in-depth proposal for an international merger control regime that is firmly grounded in and supported by a framework of economic and legal theory. It arrives at its conclusions along three major avenues: a study of the concepts of global public good and consumer welfare that underlie the progress of globalization; detailed analyses of the two most important and highly developed merger law systems, those of the European Union and the United States; and a systematic and comprehensive review of the major existing proposals, both institutional and scholarly, for an international merger control regime. A special chapter is devoted to the complex custodial role of the World Trade Organization, both in its present activity and as it is envisioned in the various proposals.

Among the important elements of the problem (and its potential solutions) discussed in this book are the following:
- the strong influence of legal culture in the different Asian countries;
- the limits of IP harmonisation in Europe;
- the importance of understanding the political and cultural perceptions that prevail in the various Asian countries;
- the non-uniform approach of different Asian countries due in part to bilateral free trade agreements; and
- the experience of patent office cooperation and its potential as a model for smaller countries.

This book examines the development of the Spanish patent system in the years 1826 to 1902, providing a fundamental reassessment of its evolution in an international context. The Spanish case is particularly interesting because of this country's location on the so-called European periphery and also because of the centrality of its colonial dimension. Pretel gauges the political regulation and organisation of the system, showing how it was established and how it evolved following international patterns of technological globalisation and the emergence of the 'international patent system' during the late nineteenth century. Crucially, he highlights the construction and evolution of the patent system in response to the needs of Spain's technologically dependent economy. The degree of industrial backwardness in mid-nineteenth-century Spain set the stage for the institutionalisation of its modern patent system. This institutionalisation process also entailed the introduction of a new technological culture, social infrastructure and narrative that supported intellectual property rights. This book is important reading to all those interested in the history of patents and their role in globalisation.

This new work provides a timely and in-depth examination of the interface between the recast Brussels I Regulation and international commercial arbitration. The nature of the exclusion of arbitration from the original Brussels I Regulation on the recognition and enforcement of judgments, and subsequent decisions of the CJEU in cases such as West Tankers, resulted in the use of delaying tactics by parties wishing to avoid arbitration agreements. The recast Brussels I Regulation sought to remedy the situation by clarifying the extent of the arbitration exclusion and providing further detail on the relationship between arbitration and the Regulation, with the aim of promoting the efficient resolution of international disputes within the European Union. While the recast Brussels I Regulation has gone some way to remedy the situation, problems remain for those engaged in international disputes in EU member states. Key features of this book include: Comprehensive analysis of the interface between the recast Brussels I Regulation and international commercial arbitration Examination of the dilatory tactics which may be employed to avoid arbitration such as forum shopping, commencing parallel proceedings and obtaining conflicting decisions Guidance on how these tactics are addressed in national and international law Assessment of the EU, international and national laws that apply to these tactics. Practitioners working within the fields of international commercial arbitration, civil litigation and private international law will find this work a valuable resource, providing a unique and detailed treatment of this important and technical subject.

Economic globalization and Compliance with International Environmental Agreements is an innovative and in depth consideration of the challenges economic globalization poses for the effective application of multilateral environmental accords. The introductory part of the book examines particular challenges of economic globalization. Part II tackles the interrelationship of global and regional environmental agreements and free trade regimes. It first looks at trade and other economic measures mandated by various environmental agreements, then at environmental measures in economic agreements. The third part of the book turns to compliance, analyzing the potential positive and negative impact of multilateral institutions, states, and transnational corporate activity. The last chapter considers the impact on compliance of modern dispute avoidance and dispute settlement mechanisms.

This book analyses the egalitarian foundations of equality law from a classical liberal perspective by asking two central questions: does justice ideally demand equality? Are differences in abilities among people in some sense unfair? The book examines these questions in the context of racial diversity. Racial justice as a component of social justice is often considered to be so emotionally and morally compelling that its implications for economic freedom are rarely subjected to critical scrutiny. In defending the classical ideal of formal equality in contexts of racial diversity this book questions the ethical status of egalitarian social and moral ideals. Economic Freedom and Social Justice argues that egalitarian ideals, like all subjective value judgements, must be subjected to critical intellectual inquiry rather than treated axiomatically. Drawing upon the legal framework in the UK and other common law jurisdictions, this book shows some of the ways in which egalitarian ideals, in addition to resting on false premises, are costly, harmful, and ultimately inimical to justice and liberty. The book argues that legal entitlements and policy guidelines constructed upon notions of racial equity are wrongly constituted as the main prism through which liberal market democracies govern private relationships, including the employment relationship. Written in a clear and forthright style, this book will be of interest to students and scholars in law, economics, philosophy and political economy.

This book presents selected papers from the 23rd Eurasia Business and Economics Society (EBES) Conference, held in Madrid, Spain. While the theoretical and empirical papers presented cover diverse areas of economics and finance in different geographic regions, the main focus is on the latest research concerning international trade, public economics, and regional studies. The book also includes studies on the economics of innovation, inequality and tourism.

This work examines trade and development from the point of view of developing countries, it provides a rare opportunity to understand - and benefit from - the perspectives of the developing world. Developing nations comprise two-thirds of the membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) so a work produced by an array of experts from those countries provides an important window on the intersection of trade and development.
This timely and useful resource will examine each of the following topics:
Part I. The WTO, Multilateral and Regional Frameworks for Trade. 1. Development and the World Trade Organization: Proposal for the Agreement on Development Facilitation and the Council for Trade and Development in the WTO, Yong-Shik Lee. 2. A Reflection on the South-South Coalition in the Last Half Century from the Perspective of International Economic Law-making, An Chen. 3. The WTO, Democracy, and Development: A View from the South Bhupinder Chimni. 4. Liberalization of Trade in Services and Trade Negotiations, Alejandro Jara and M del. Carmen Dominguez. 5. One Year Since the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Conference: Developing Countries Re-claim the Development Content of the WTO Doha Round, Faizel Ismail. 6. Trade Diplomacy and Development Clubs: The Interaction in the Americas, Diana Tussie. Part II Trade and Development: Cases of Seven Developing Countries. 7. Export Promotion and Economic Development: Korea's Experience, Jai S. Mah and Jae-hee Kang. 8. The Evolution of China's International Trade Policy: Development Through Protection and Liberalization, Jiangyu Wang. 9. Liberalizing Border Trade: Implications for Domestic Agricultural Markets in India, Rajesh Chadha, DevenderPratap, and Anjali Tandon. 10. Legal Reforms and International Economic Development: Iran's Economic Development from a Global Perspective, Ali Z. Marossi. 11. EU Maritime Rules and Transport Sector Policy Reform in Turkey, Subidey Togan. 12. Trade Liberalization for the Second Largest Country in Europe: Going East, West, Or Can It Be Both?. Oleg Riabokon. 13. How Far Can LDCs Benefit from Duty Free and Quota Free Market Access?: The Case of Uganda, Francis Mangeni.

This book presents the very first, interdisciplinarily grounded, comprehensive appraisal of a future "Common European Law on Investment Screening". Thereby, it provides a foundation for a European administrative law framework for investment screening by setting out viable solutions and evaluating their pros and cons. Daimler, the harbour terminal in Zeebrugge, or Saxo Bank are only three recent examples of controversially discussed company takeovers in Europe. The "elephant in the room" is China and its "Belt and Road Initiative". The political will in Europe is growing to more actively control investments flowing into the EU. The current regulatory initiatives raise several fundamental, constitutional and regulatory issues. Surprisingly, they have not been addressed in any depth so far. The book takes stock of the current rather fragmented regulatory approaches and combines contributions from leading international academics, practitioners, and policy makers in their respective fields. Due to the volume's comprehensive approach, it is expected to influence the broader debate on the EU's upcoming regulation of this matter. The book is addressed to participants from academia as well as to representatives from government, business, and civil society.

Numerous international legal regimes now seek to address the global depletion of fish stocks, and increasingly their activities overlap. The relevant laws were developed at different times by different groups of states. They are motivated by divergent economic approaches, influenced by disparate non-state actors, and implemented by separate institutions such as the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Margaret Young shows how these and other factors affect the interaction between regimes. Her empirical and doctrinal analysis moves beyond the discussion of conflicting norms that has dominated the fragmentation debate. Case-studies include the negotiation of new rules on fisheries subsidies, the restriction of trade in endangered marine species and the adjudication of fisheries import bans. She explores how regimes should interact, in fisheries governance and beyond, to offer insights into the practice and legitimacy of regime interaction in international law.

Despite an increasing global awareness of environmental concerns, setting internationally binding and ambitious commitments has proven exceedingly complex. As states are seeking alternative methods to support global environmental protection, this book takes a closer look at the possibility of using national trade measures that make market access conditional on the environmental impact of the production process abroad. Inspired by accepted practice in other fields of law, Barbara Cooreman illustrates that the extraterritorial character of these environmental trade measures is not necessarily inconsistent with WTO law by proposing an extraterritoriality decision tree for trade measures targeting foreign production processes. Identifying key challenges through varied case studies, the author demonstrates that states can indeed use their market to further environmental progress, when the state's environment is affected and where a minimum level of international legal support exists for the environmental concern at issue. The book shows that current WTO laws leave more room for action than often thought and concludes that WTO law is no excuse for environmental inaction. Practical and comparative, this book will appeal to scholars of both environmental and trade law. It also offers a valuable tool to aid judges and lawmakers alike in determining the lawfulness of a measure.

This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of unbundling and, in particular, ownership unbundling policies from the perspective of international economic law. It does so by focusing on the prominent example of the EU's energy sector and its Third Energy Package. Unbundling has become an increasingly crucial competition instrument in network-bound industries worldwide. It is designed to ensure access to bottleneck infrastructures on fair and non-discriminatory terms and thus to suppress the anti-competitive potential deriving from vertical integration in natural monopoly situations. While promoting important public policy objectives, unbundling policies have also raised a number of legal issues. This book analyzes how international economic law limits the adoption and maintenance of unbundling and related measures and also outlines how international trade law can play a 'positive' role in this field. As a result, it provides a valuable reference for academics, practitioners and policy-makers.

This text makes detailed analyses and comments on the MAI from the perspective of a Chinese scholar. The author believes that the "behind closed doors" process of MAI negotiations is unacceptable for developing countries, NGOs, and civil societies, and is inadvisable for any future negotiations on investment rules. The substantive contents of the MAI which include the definition of investor and investment, treatment of foreign investors and investments, treatment for investment protection, and the dispute settlement mechanism are of high standards that render them unreachable and unacceptable for developing countries. The nine chapters of the book include: an introduction; An analysis of the background of the MAI negotiations which briefly reviews the process and results of the negotiations and makes the author's comments on the negotiations; an analysis and evaluation of the main features of MAI provisions and the approaches adopted by the MAI; An exploration of the scope of application of the MAI through the analysis of the respective definition of investor and investment in the MAI, and points out that the purpose of broad definition is to broaden the MAI's scope of application; An analysis and comment on the MAI's general principles of treatment accorded to foreign investors and their investments, and points out that the MAI's provisions in this regard have negative impacts on developing countries; An introduction to the MAI's specific rules of treatment accorded to foreign investors and their investments in such new areas of international investment as performance requirements, investment incentives, key personnel, privatization, as well as monopoly, state enterprises and concessions. There is also: an analysis and commentary on the MAI's treatment provisions on investment protection, that is, the fair and equitable treatment and full and constant protection and security treatment as the general treatment, and the specific treatment with regard to expropriation and compensation, protection from strife and transfers; an introduction to and evaluation of the MAI's dispute settlement mechanism: the state-state procedure and the investor-state procedure, and; a conclusion.

This book analyzes how today's system of international trade law and international economic relations has evolved over the last six decades. Focusing on the major innovations that came with the inception of the World Trade Organization (WTO) with its various agreements in 1994, it also provides in-depth commentary on the intense debate over important matters that remain unsettled. Topics covered include the WTO dispute settlement mechanism; the General Agreement on Trade in Services (OATS); the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMS); intellectual property rights - the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS); areas still covered by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1947; the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) concept; special provisions relating to agriculture and textiles; sanitary and phytosanitary measures; technical barriers to trade; pre-shipment inspection; and import licensing procedures. The book would be an excellent resource for scholars as well as practitioners working in the field of international arbitration and trade laws.

Much has been written on the human rights relevance and impacts of the policies and activities of the World Bank and IMF --or International Financial Institutions (IFIs). However while many of the human rights-based critiques of the Bank and Fund purport to link broadly defined reforms with obligations under international human rights law,rarely has this been carried out through a rigorous and in-depth application of international legal rules governing the proper interpretation of the institutions' mandates, and rarely have the policy consequences and practical possibilities for human rights integration been explored in any detail. These are the principal gaps that the present book aims to fill, by reference to a sample of the IFIs' most important and controversial contemporary activities.

With the creation of a single global market in financial services, the effective regulation of banks at the international level has become essential. This work offers a comprehensive examination of the development and structure of the provisions for the control of international financial markets. It explores the background to the major financial crises of the late 20th-century and the nature of the global response, beginning with the collapse of the Bretton Woods system of managed exchange rates and the resulting establishment of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in 1974. The author describes the structure and operation of the Committee and examines both the content of its core supervisory papers and the development of its more general regulatory programme. The emergence of increasingly complex international banking and financial conglomerates has required a fundamental revision of the traditional sector-based methods of supervision and regulation. The book examines the difficulties associated with the cross-border and cross-sector regulation of such groups and assesses the international response to these problems. Financial crises in Asia and elsewhere during the late 1990s generated further anxiety concerning the stability of the international financial market place. The causes of the crises are accordingly examined and the various responses adopted as part of an international financial architecture analysed in detail. This book addresses all the major factors involved in international banking supervision, conglomerate control and financial stability together in a single text. It should prove a useful reference and analytical tool for all those specializing in international banking and financial market control.

The book reflects on the issues concerning, on the one hand, the difficulty in feeding an ever- increasing world population and, on the other hand, the need to build new productive systems able to protect the planet from overexploitation. The concept of "food diversity" is a synthesis of diversities: biodiversity of ecological sources of food supply; socio-territorial diversity; and cultural diversity of food traditions. In keeping with this transdisciplinary perspective, the book collects a large number of contributions that examine, firstly the relationships between agrobiodiversity, rural sustainable systems and food diversity; and secondly, the issues concerning typicality (food specialties/food identities), rural development and territorial communities. Lastly, it explores legal questions concerning the regulations aiming to protect both the food diversity and the right to food, in the light of the political, economic and social implications related to the problem of feeding the world population, while at the same time respecting local communities' rights, especially in the developing countries. The book collects the works of legal scholars, agroecologists, historians and sociologists from around the globe.

Why, and how, do states obey international law? This engaging book tackles this very question head on via its examination of the conflicting and conciliating processes of the Chinese approach to litigation and the Western approach to legal orientation in the field of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.The authors examine the normative framework of WTO rule implementation in a globalised international economic order. They further explore the notion of the rule of law in China's Confucian system, and how it interacts with a rule-based world trading system. Topics discussed include theorising the WTO implementation regime, the Chinese approach to law, China and the WTO dispute settlement system, and Chinese Confucianism and compliance. With its focus on international economic law and political science, this book will be accessible to students, policy makers, practitioners and academics looking to understand China and the rule of law in a global context

This year's volume of the "Comparative Law Yearbook of International Business" deals with the subject of Product Liability Law. This is a growing area, in which, manufacturers and suppliers are finding themselves more and more responsible for the quality of their products and for the consequences flowing from any defect therein. This book discusses a wide variety of topics, which come under the umbrella of product liability, ranging from liability for injuries caused by the use of asbestos and other toxic substances to the responsibility of air carriers in hijack situations. There is a growing amount of litigation throughout the world tackling the problems arising from the safety of products. These laws take into account the manufacturing process, the transportation, storage and delivery of goods, the intended use of products, their fitness for such purpose, and any warnings or instructions as to use given to consumers and end users. This publication also covers the question of jurisdiction in product-related litigation, particularly in crossborder transactions. In many instances, a plaintiff will attempt to bring his action in the United States, due to the large amount of damages, especially punitive damages, awarded there by juries in civil actions. Defendants, on the other hand, seek to counter this by raising issues such forum non conveniens. There also is the question of state versus federal jurisdiction within the United States, as well as a discussion focusing on the possible growth of federalism within the European Union and its impact upon product liability nationally and at a European level. A comparison of the divergent cultural attitudes towards property in China and the United States, including the different emphases placed upon the ownership and role of property in society, demonstrates the different views of product liability. Another aspect of defective goods dealt with here is liability for the recall of a dangerous product. There is a chain of responsibility stretching from the manufacturer, trough various levels of suppliers, to the final retailer of goods, which is obviously important when attempting to remove dangerous products from the market as quickly as possible, before they can cause widespread injury to consumers. This has been shown to be particularly relevant in cases involving automobiles and food products. Overall, therefore, Product Liability Law is a vital part of the general law protecting consumers, both on a national and international basis, which makes this book a very interesting and useful read for anyone involved in this area.