This volume offers a comprehensive and empirically rich analysis of regional maritime disputes in the South China Sea (SCS). By discussing important aspects of the rise of China's maritime power, such as territorial disputes, altered perceptions of geo-politics and challenges to the US-led regional order, the authors demonstrate that a regional power shift is taking place in Asia-Pacific. The volume also provides in-depth discussions of the responses to Chinese actions by SCS claimants as well as by important non-claimant actors.

'In The ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement: The Regionalization of Laws and Policy on Foreign Investment, Julien Chaisse and Sufian Jusoh provide analysis --unmatched in scope and detail -- of ACIA's role in supporting the development of the ASEAN Economic Community. This contribution will serve as an invaluable resource for policymakers, business leaders, lawyers, and scholars interested in the development of investment law and policy in Asia.' - Mark Feldman, Peking University, China 'Julien Chaisse and Sufian Jusoh take up the formidable challenge of unpacking the ingredients of the Asian ''noodle bowl'', delivering a comprehensive book that synthesizes the convoluted investment legal standards pertaining to the ASEAN into an intelligible discourse. Throughout, they offer insight into the design and purpose of this model of economic integration, as well as its impact on the rights of investors from states neighbouring the ASEAN region. This volume serves as a reliable and practical guidebook that will edify any reader interested in the subject matter.' - Kyle Dickson-Smith, FCIArb., Canada/Australia The international law of foreign investment is one of the fastest growing areas of international economic law and policy which increasingly rely on large membership investment treaties such as the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA). This book comprehensively examines the role of this specific international treaty on investment and situates it in the wider global trend towards the regionalisation of laws and policy on foreign investment. Considering the state of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015 and its transformation until 2025, Julien Chaisse and Sufian Jusoh illustrate the pivotal role ACIA has to play in future international investment law negotiations and the benefits to ASEAN and third country investors and their investments. Collective commitment to a common standard contributes to depoliticize any potential conflict between individual investors and host states making the agreement particularly crucial to discussions involving ASEAN member states and between ASEAN and Dialogue Partners as well as to investment decisions including investment liberalization and investment facilitation. Offering the first detailed analysis of ACIA and its applications, this book will prove essential reading for legal practitioners in the field of international investment law as well as researchers and students studying the ASEAN Economic Community and its contemporary moulding.

With industrialization and globalization, corporations acquired the capacity to influence social life for good or for ill. Yet, corporations are not traditional objects of criminal law. Justified by notions of personal moral guilt, criminal norms have been judged inapplicable to fictional persons, who 'think' and 'act' through human beings. The expansion of new corporate criminal liability (CCL) laws since the mid-1990s challenges this assumption. Our volume surveys current practice on CCL in 15 civil and common law jurisdictions, exploring the legal conditions for liability, the principles and options for sanctioning, and the procedures for investigating, charging and trying corporate offenders. It considers whether municipal CCL laws are converging around the notion of 'corporate culture', and, in any case, the implications of CCL for those charged with keeping corporations, and other legal entities, out of trouble.

This book analyzes the modern trend in the Japanese M and A market. It reveals from different perspectives the process of convergence to a new monitoring model of the corporation: "the market for corporate control." The book contains a systematic survey of all relevant economic and legal information in this field.

Analysis of 17 recent cases of hostile takeover is presented.

The topic of harmonisation of European private law, and European contract law in particular, is rapidly gaining in importance. The topic is not only widely studied by academics and students all over Europe (and even beyond), it is also on the political agenda of the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the European Council. The most important achievement in this field is no doubt the Principles of European Contract Law (PECL), drafted by the Commission on European Contract Law. The European Commission considers the PECL to be a serious option for further harmonisation of European contract law within the European Union. This publication is the first to provide a systematic overview of the PECL in comparison with Dutch contract law as a whole. The book is concise and because of its structure it is easily accessible. Amongst the contributors there are many highly distinguished contract law specialists. It may be used at universities in courses on Comparative Law, European Private Law, and European Contract Law. It may also be used by international practitioners, foreign students, and academics interested in Dutch contract law who do not have access to Dutch contract law because they have no knowledge of the Dutch language. Last but not least, the book will be of interest to all jurists interested in the harmonisation of the European Private Law.

This book investigates whether legal reforms intended to create a market-friendly regulatory business environment have a positive impact on economic and financial outcomes. After conducting a critical review of the legal origins literature, the authors first analyze the evolution of legal rules and regulations during the last decade (2006-2014). For that purpose, the book uses legal/regulatory indicators from the World Bank's Doing Business Project (2015). The findings indicate that countries have actively reformed their legal systems during this period, particularly French civil law countries. A process of convergence in the evolution of legal rules and regulations is observed: countries starting in 2006 in a lower position have improved more than countries with better initial scores. Also, French civil law countries have reformed their legal systems to a larger extent than common law countries and, consequently, have improved more in the majority of the Doing Business indicators used. Second, the authors estimate fixed-effects panel regressions to analyze the relationship between changes in legal rules and regulations and changes in the real economy. The findings point to a lack of systematic effects of legal rules and regulations on economic and financial outcomes. This result stands in contrast to the widespread belief that reforms aiming to strengthen investor and creditor rights (and other market-friendly policies) systematically lead to better economic and financial outcomes.

This book develops John Rawls's theory of justice by adding reality-based analyses. This is accomplished by answering the question of who makes rules and how, and by providing new answers to three of today's most practical and critical issues. The question of who and how makes rules is discussed first; and group orientation instead of individualism, and a balance of negotiating power instead of a veil of ignorance are presented as new answers to this question. Based on this new understanding of rulemaking, three important practical rules are subsequently discussed: the rule of distribution of land and other natural resources, including the question of natural talent or who should bear the costs of children's education; the rule of distribution of products; and what motives support our acts of kindness. These rules are all dealt with from a shared perspective, viewing society as a single integrated construct. Equal distribution of land, not private but public payment of education fees, strengthening employees' bargaining power, and moving toward nobility-based kindness are put forward as central answers. By addressing critical questions on social rules and proposing answers, this book provides reliable principles to fall back on in our daily lives, and in our rapidly changing, globalized world.

This book is a provocative, interdisciplinary, and critical appraisal of civil justice, property, and the laws that shape and command them within capitalism. Dr. Herian's book is both a complementary and countervailing narrative to many mainstream legal accounts, one that critiques core and influential areas of legal knowledge and practice. Central to the book's thesis is a rich collaboration of ideas and perspectives that consider what is at stake from institutions, concepts, and practices of equity and civil justice tied to the subjective psychic life and the unconscious desires of capitalist stakeholders. The book aims to address several questions, including how capitalism has imagined and shaped equity and civil justice since the nineteenth century; how capitalism acts as a well-spring of desire for forms of justice that wrap-around and sustain complex frameworks of private property power and ownership; and how equity supports agile neoliberal strategies of justice and reason in the twenty-first century.

Brazil, experiencing its largest economic expansion in three decades, is increasingly at the centre of international trade negotiations. As the world grapples with one of the most severe financial recessions of all time, Brazil is using this opportunity to harness its authority regionally and globally. The country's already booming exports, recent offshore oil discoveries, macroeconomic stabilization, efficient government policies, and strategic ties to other emerging powers such as China are combining to transform Brazil into an economic superpower. Domestically, Brazil has almost instantaneously been given added political clout, which it can use as leverage in international bargaining. Brazil's growing prominence on the world stage, both as an investor and as a beneficiary of investments, merits attention to its behaviour regarding contingent protection measures and its strategically active use of WTO law and mechanisms. This book provides a thorough analysis of current Brazilian trade policy in regard to both the country's historical economic situation and its commitments as a member of the World Trade Organization. Among the aspects that come under analysis are the following: Brazil's use of antidumping, countervailing measures, and safeguards; the lingering tendency towards protectionism in Brazil's traditional industrial sector; interaction between trade and competition policies; the strategic partnership between Brazil and China; resolution of Sino-Brazilian trade disputes; Brazil's regional free trade agreements; measures taken by Brazil as an importing country; measures taken by other WTO members against Brazil; and investigations conducted by foreign trade investigating authorities involving Brazilian exports. Replete with case studies and analyses of relevant proposals and initiatives, this incomparable resource offers the most comprehensive treatment available in one place of Brazil's role and activity in the global trade regime. It is sure to be widely read not only by lawyers and legal academics but by the entire spectrum of those interested in the present and future of the world trade system.

This volume scrutinises the main challenges faced by States in their current international economic relations from an interdisciplinary perspective. It combines legal research with political and economic analysis and favours dialogue among scientific disciplines. Readers are offered a series of in-depth studies on a rich variety of topics: how to reconcile States' interest to benefit from economic liberalization with their need to pursue social goals (such as the protection of human rights or of the environment); recent developments under WTO law and regional integration processes; international cooperation in the energy sector; national regulatory developments in the banking sector, sovereign wealth funds and investor-State arbitration.

This book presents the development and reformation of economic law in China and explores the "three relationships" between the government and market, between reform and rule of law, and between the constitution and economic law. On this basis, it subsequently focuses on development theory, distribution theory, risk theory and crisis theory. Further, it addresses effective development, fair distribution, and prevention and resolution of related risks and crises, which are important functions of economic law. In order to achieve the above functions and objectives, the book argues, we must vigorously promote the integration of rule of law in economic law, and constantly refine the theory of economic rule of law employed in China.The book demonstrates that no matter how the "three major relationships" are adjusted or the relevant systems are reformed - i.e., regarding the implementation of the concept of coordinated development or the optimization of economic structures; the solution of distribution problems or the improvement of distribution systems; the prevention of risks or the response to crises - any such changes depend on economic rule of law. The above-mentioned theoretical discussion presents a "new horizon" of contemporary Chinese economic law theory, which will be of great value to the future development of economic law theory.

One of the hallmarks of the present era is the discourse surrounding Human Rights and the need for the law to recognise them. Various national and supranational human rights instruments have been developed and implemented in order to transition society away from atrocity and callousness toward a more just and inclusive future. In some countries this is done by means of an overarching constitution, while in others international conventions or ordinary legislation hold sway. Contract law plays a pivotal role in this context. According to many, this is done through the much-debated 'civilising mission' of the contract, a notion which itself constitutes the canon of the Western liberal principle of 'civilised economy'. The movement away from the belief in the absolute freedom of contract, which reached its zenith in the nineteenth century, to the principles of fairness and justice that underpin contract law today, is often deemed to be a testament to this civilising influence. Delving into the interplay between human rights policies, constitutional law, and contract law from both theoretical and practical perspectives, this first volume of a two-book collection offers a totally new reappraisal of the subject by gathering a collection of essays written by contract law scholars from Europe, South Africa, Canada, and Australia. Instead of providing the reader with a sterile compilation of positivistic norms and policies on the impact of fundamental rights and constitutional law issues on contract law's development, the authors build on their personal experience to analyse specific topics related to contracting that include a constitutional dimension. The book fills an important void in comparative law scholarship and in so doing represents the starting point for further debate on the subject.

An established trademark provides recognition valuable to trade and sales promotion, and acts as an indication of quality. These undeniable functions of the trademark must be coupled with adequate protection to avoid jeopardizing these essential aspects. The need for unification, at least at the European level, can no longer be disregarded. The Community Directive and Regulation are the response to this need. This commentary provides the texts of essential legislation and offers an analysis of the Directive and Regulation, also in their "historical" context, as seen through the eyes of leading European experts in the field. Issues such as grounds for refusal, entitlement, registration procedures, jurisdiction and procedure in legal actions and the impact of the Community Trade Mark on applicants from non-member countries are addressed. This commentary is intended for both practitioners and scholars, as well as marketing managers, for interpreting the Community provisions in this specialized and important area. Moreover, since the Council Directive and the Commission Regulations have been transformed into national laws in many Member States of the EU, this commentary should be of use in the interpretation and analysis of national European trademark laws. This work is neither too scholarly nor too elementary, but couples the strong theoretical background and practical experience of contributors stemming from diverse legal and practical cultures.

The linkages between WTO rules governing trade and energy security with a certain degree of focus on India are the main subject of this book. The edited volume brings together the views of academics, policymakers and experts with extensive experience covering WTO and international trade issues. The issues examined include mapping the linkages between trade and energy security in the WTO agreements, case law, accession and Doha negotiations; assessing the issues that could be raised by energy deficit or energy surplus countries at the WTO; analyzing the provisions of the ECT and NAFTA vis-a-vis the Indian policy framework and examining the trade regimes of selected OPEC members and other major suppliers of fossil fuels to India. While the Indian perspective is evident in the contributions, this book will also be of interest to an international audience, as trade, the WTO and energy security are global concerns and of relevance to all practitioners and academics working on these issues."

Among the specific issues researched and analysed here are:
- the U.S.-led return to a unilateralist and interventionist approach to global problems;
- the importance of the rules-based WTO system to developing nations as a crucial alternative to power politics;
- the failure to achieve enhanced access to developed world markets for agricultural products, textiles, clothing, and footwear;
- the relevance of GATS and TRIPS to the developing world;
- internal WTO governance issues, including the important role of the Secretariat as negotiator and mediator;
- the implementation phase of the dispute settlement understanding;
- the continuing resistance to linking trade and environment;
- the place of human rights in the international trading system; and
- the likely impact of the double scourge of AIDS and terrorism on flows of trade, capital, people, and knowledge.

"This book offers a well-argued and insightful critical assessment of the shortcomings of international trade and competition rules in tackling interventionist State measures in the context of an economic crisis. Dawar offers an evidence-rich account of the challenges that State protectionism creates for international trade liberalisation and for the protection of competition in international markets. Her insights will be particularly interesting in the context of current events leading to another surge of State economic interventionism, both for academics and for policy-makers with an interest in international trade." Dr Albert Sanchez-Graells, University of Bristol Law School "This book bursts the bubble of the self-congratulatory attitude that existing institutions, which were set up to discipline governments from a race to the bottom on economic policy, worked well after the financial crisis. These institutions may have prevented tariff wars, a big achievement compared to the time of the Great Depression. But they went along with the subsidies and state aid that governments put in place after 2007. Such flexibility on economic policy is essential in turbulent times. But these institutions are undermined if flexibility comes with a race to the bottom that shifts money away from policies for the more marginalized sections of society. At a time when the left behinds are changing the political landscape of the world, Kamala's book debunks the myth of the success of existing institutions in containing the economic fallout of the global financial crisis. It gives a sobering warning of what might unfold when institutions deal with economic challenges by turning a blind eye to their own rules for checking unfair competition." Dr Swati Dhingra, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economics, London School of Economomics 'An impressive contribution to our understanding of the financial crisis. Dawar's reading of bailouts and buy national through the lens of competition law and government procurement law and policy is inspirational.' Professor Mary E Footer, University of Nottingham School of Law 'The diplomatic fiction that during the crisis years regional and global trade rules ensured a level commercial playing field is skewered by Dawar's trenchant legal analysis.' Professor Simon Evenett, University of St Gallen This book examines the international regulation of crises bailouts and buy national policies. It undertakes this research with specific reference to the crisis years 2008-2012. The book includes a comparative analysis of the regulation of public procurement and subsidies aid at both multilateral and regional levels, identifying the strengths and weakness in the WTO legal framework and selected regional trade agreements (RTAs). Ultimately, the aim of this work is to provide options for improving the consistency of these laws and the regulation of these markets. This is of immediate relevance for good economic governance, as well as for managing future systemic financial crises in the interests of citizens: as tax payers and consumers.

This book addresses the legal and contractual obligations of sea carriers regarding due care for the cargo under a contract of carriage. While the general framework employed is the leading international liability regime, the Hague-Visby Rules, the discussions in each chapter also account for the possible future adoption of a new regime, the Rotterdam Rules. The subject matter concerns the standard for the duty of care for goods as codified in the Hague-Visby Rules, but the work also touches upon a wide range of related topics found both in law and in practice, providing valuable commercial, technical and historical links as well as various solutions that have been found at the national and international level to address challenges arising in this specialised area of law. The book is divided into six chapters, which gradually reveal the complexity of the topic. Chapter 1 provides a thorough introduction to the two main transport documents in use, and to the basic logic behind shipping, sea-going trade and related national and international legislation. In turn, Chapter 2 presents an overview of the relevant provisions of the Hague-Visby Rules. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 examine the problems arising out of the insertion of a FIOS(T) clause in the contract of carriage; the carriage of goods on deck; and the carriage of goods in containers, respectively. Lastly, Chapter 6 provides an overall conclusion on the legal status quo and current practice, as well as future prospects. The book was written with a number of potential readers in mind and is intended to open up the topic to a broader audience. It is suitable both for readers who wish to advance their learning (e.g. professionals, practitioners and postgraduates) and for readers with little or no prior knowledge of the topic (e.g. students and researchers).

With issues such as immigration and globalization triggering social and legislative adjustments in all major legal systems, labor and employment law is particularly susceptible to change. In this special issue of the "Comparative Law Yearbook of International Business", practitioners who are specialized in labor and employment law provide reports on developments in national systems such as Australia, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Japan, and New Zealand and examine selected issues in the Czech Republic (termination of employment), Latvia (transfer of undertakings), the United States (ranging from sexual harassment in the work place and the ability of partners and share holders to sue employers to employee dress code), and Ukraine (hiring and dismissal procedures).

This book offers guidelines for the upcoming discussions on reform, representing an attempt to work out conceptions for a better international competition order on the basis of the scientific approach 'law and economics'. It presents the dominant concepts of competition policy as a basis for an international competition order and formulates a synthesis. The result is a new neo-ordoliberal approach. Anti-dumping-measures are analysed of the effects on international competition and resource allocation, and alternatives and improvements are suggested. From national forms of competition policy a synthesis of international competition policies are derived. Currently reforms of the international competition order are heavily discussed and here a selection of the most important suggestions are presented, compared, and evaluated. Finally, this book offers strategies that might serve as second-best solutions, and though they may not be optimal for competition policy, they are politically feasible and an improvement on the current competition regulations. They would be a back-up in case the WTO competition regulations aren't realizable.

This volume contains papers presented in a workshop of international experts in September 2008 in Berlin. The experts discussed how environmental consequences of EU legislation can be incorporated in a more effective way. In other words, this contribution focuses on the question of which measures can strengthen the cons- eration of environmental effects in the EU impact assessment procedure and in the subsequent legislative decision-making process. This allows drawing conclusions for the impact assessment process in Germany. This volume begins with an introductory paper (Bizer/Lechner/Fuhr) which served as the basis for discussion in our workshop. The questions raised in this paper are addressed by the authors of the subsequent chapters. Stephen White (DG Environment, EU-Commission) discusses the impact assessment from an int- nal perspective within the Commission. Pendo Maro (European Environmental Bureau) reviews the impact assessment practice from the perspective of an en- ronmental NGO. Martin Schmidt et al. discuss the potential for more formalism to strengthen environmental issues within impact assessments and favour a checklist."

The law of international trade raises questions of great intellectual depth. In Principles of Law Relating to International Trade, the author draws from his practical and teaching experience to give a comprehensive introduction to the key areas of law that apply in international business. For the benefit of readers unfamiliar with the English legal system and the many associated branches of English civil law, the book includes a brief introduction to, among other topics, constitutional, criminal, and employment law. The branches of law directly related to international trade, such as contract, insurance, competition, carriage of goods, and sale of goods, are concisely covered in the main text. Case studies and examples are used to clarify the issues for the non-specialist, making international trade law accessible to those taking professional examinations in this field, as well as business executives. The extensive use of footnotes and inclusion of case commentaries bring into clearer focus the many facets of this complicated subject and would be of benefit to the international trade law specialist.

There is a fundamental reason, the authors of this text contend, why national financial systems falter and collapse: the failure of central banks and other supervisory authorities to deal promptly and decisively with insolvent banks. In "Preventing Financial Chaos" Ramsey and Head, both well-known to the international banking community for their restructuring services in developing and transitional economies, take a no-nonsense attitude and show exactly how to usher a problem bank out of the financial system in any country. Their clearly defined rules and procedures build disciplined, competent action that activates political will and successfully curtails systemic chaos.

This book discusses how UNIDROIT principles are viewed and interpreted in different countries, presenting various perspectives and practical lessons learned. It also offers a detailed analysis of the use of the UNIDROIT principles to interpret and supplement domestic contract law. Written by experts in the field, it provides insights into how the principles are being used and applied in their respective countries. The findings are also summarized in a General Report that was presented at the 20th IACL General Congress in Fukuoka, Japan.

Now more than ever, indigenous peoples' interests in their cultural heritage are in the spotlight. Yet, there is very little literature that comprehensively discusses how existing laws can and cannot be used to address indigenous peoples' interests. This book assesses how intangible aspects of indigenous cultural heritage (and the tangible objects that hold them) can be protected, within the realm of a broad range of existing legal orders, including intellectual property and related rights, consumer protection law, common law and equitable doctrines, and human rights. It does so by focusing on the New Zealand Maori. The book also looks to the future, analysing the long-awaited Wai 262 report, released in New Zealand by the Waitangi Tribunal in response to allegations that the government had failed in its duty to ensure that the Maori retain chieftainship over their tangible and intangible treasures, as required by the Treaty of Waitangi, signed between the Maori and the British Crown in 1840.