Challenging the conventional narrative that the European Union suffers from a "democratic deficit," Athanasios Psygkas argues that EU mandates have enhanced the democratic accountability of national regulatory agencies. This is because EU law has created entry points for stakeholder participation in the operation of national regulators; these avenues for public participation were formerly either not open or not institutionalized to this degree. By focusing on how the EU formally adopted procedural mandates to advance the substantive goal of creating an internal market in electronic communications, Psygkas demonstrates that EU requirements have had significant implications for the nature of administrative governance in the member states. Drawing on theoretical arguments in favor of decentralization traditionally applied to substantive policy-making, this book provides insight into regulatory processes to show how the decentralized EU structure may transform national regulatory authorities into individual loci of experimentation that might in turn develop innovative results. It thus contributes to debates about federalism, governance and public policy, as well as about deliberative and participatory democracy in the United States and Europe. This book informs current understandings of regulatory agency operations and institutional design by drawing on an original dataset of public consultations and interviews with agency officials, industry and consumer group representatives in Paris, Athens, Brussels, and London. The on-the-ground original research provides a strong foundation for the directions the case law could take and small- and larger-scale institutional reforms that balance the goals of democracy, accountability, and efficiency.

The West's cherished dream of social harmony by numbers is today disrupting all our familiar legal frameworks - the state, democracy and law itself. Its scientistic vision shaped both Taylorism and Soviet Planning, and today, with 'globalisation', it is flourishing in the form of governance by numbers. Shunning the goal of governing by just laws, and empowered by the information and communication technologies, governance champions a new normative ideal of attaining measurable objectives. Programmes supplant legislation, and governance displaces government. However, management by objectives revives forms of law typical of economic vassalage. When a person is no longer protected by a law applying equally to all, the only solution is to pledge allegiance to someone stronger than oneself. Rule by law had already secured the principle of impersonal power, but in taking this principle to extremes, governance by numbers has paradoxically spawned a world ruled by ties of allegiance.

The Irish Yearbook of International Law supports research into Ireland's practice in international affairs and foreign policy, filling a gap in existing legal scholarship and assisting in the dissemination of Irish policy and practice on matters of international law. On an annual basis, the Yearbook presents peer-reviewed academic articles and book reviews on general issues of international law, as well as topics with significant interest for an Irish audience. Designated correspondents provide reports on international law developments in Ireland, Irish practice in international bodies, and the law of the European Union as relevant to developments in Ireland. This volume of the Yearbook includes contributions on international humanitarian law, including intersections with international human rights law and the law of state responsibility, the concept of due diligence in international law, and the exercise of international criminal jurisdiction with specific reference to Irish law.

The interaction between climate change and trade has grown in prominence in recent years. This Research Handbook contains authoritative original contributions from leading experts working at the interface between climate change and trade rules. Regional as well as international perspectives are taken into account to inform the complex questions that arise and redirect research efforts towards newly emerging issues. The Research Handbook on Climate Change and Trade Law discusses some of the most important challenges regarding conflicting interests at the intersection of trade, climate change and investment. The insightful chapters map from both regional and global perspectives the state of affairs in such diverse areas as: carbon credits and taxes, sustainable standard-setting, and trade in 'green' goods and services. This timely book redefines the interrelationship of trade and climate change for future scholarship and offers specific suggestions for much-needed research in topics such as energy, carbon taxes and credits, food, standardization, and investment. This Research Handbook will be essential reading for researchers and advanced students in international trade and investment law. It will also be an invaluable resource for practitioners and policymakers in this dynamic and highly significant area of law. Contributors include: M. Alder, P. Arnaiz, S. Bigdeli, J. Chaisse, T. Cottier, P. Delimatsis, A. Dimopoulos, F. Fleurke, A. Gourgourinis, A.H. Lim, J. McMahon, S. Melnyk, J. Munro, K. Nadakavukaren Schefer, R. Partain, T. Payosova, V. Pogoretskyy, D. Ramos, E. Reid, M. Rimmer, L. Tamiotti, J.P. Trachtman, A. vanDuzer, E. Vranes, M. Wu, M. Young, R. Zhang

This book sheds new light on the potential application of EU law to situations arising outside EU territory, and its consequences. In today's globalized world, EU law and the ECJ's decisions have been calling for exceptions and defining new connecting elements that make the traditional approach of EU law, based on the territoriality principle, less straightforward. This is the case with e.g. the effects doctrine in the context of EU competition law, as was fully recognized after the ECJ's Intel case. Moreover, recently approved rules concerning the EU's internal market, EU environmental law and EU data protection law have made it more difficult to define the application of EU law in terms of a pure link to the territoriality principle. The book examines these and other problems from the perspectives of various branches of EU economic law. With regard to EU competition law it presents, among others, studies on the evolution of the effects doctrine in the US and the EU; extraterritoriality of competition law; global cartels; merger control; state aid and cooperation between NCAs. Furthermore, it includes several studies concerning extraterritorial issues in trade relations between the EU and China; EU screening regulation of foreign direct investments; EU trade agreements; EU investment law and EU financial services. The twenty-one contributing authors are internationally respected experts on EU law.

This volume analyzes international agreements from a political economy perspective. In four essays, it raises the question of whether domestic institutions help explain if countries join international agreements, and in case they do, what type of international organization they join. The book examines how specific democratic design elements channel and mediate domestic demands directed at politicians, and how under certain circumstances entering international agreements helps politicians navigate these demands to their benefit. The volume also distinguishes between different types of international instruments with a varying expected constraining effect upon member states, and empirically tests if this matters for incentives to join. The volume addresses scholars, students, and practitioners interested in a better understanding of how the shape of domestic institutions affects politicians' incentives to enter into binding international agreements.

The sexual abuse of children and teens by rogue priests in the U.S. Catholic Church is a heinous crime, and those who pray for a religious community as its ministers, priests and rabbis should never tolerate those who prey on that community. The legal disputes of recent years have produced many scandalous headlines and fuelled public discussion about the sexual abuse crisis within the clergy, a crisis that has cost the U.S. Catholic Church over $3 billion. In The Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis and the Legal Responses, two eminent experts, James O'Reilly and Margaret Chalmers, draw on the lessons of recent years to discern the interplay between civil damages law and global church-based canon law. In some countries civil and canon law, although autonomous systems of law, both form part of the church's legal duties. In the United States, freedom of religion issues have complicated how the state adjudicates both cases of abuse and who can be held responsible for clerical oversight. This book examines questions of civil and criminal liability, issues of respondeat superior and oversight, issues with statutes of limitations and dealing with allegations that occurred decades ago, and how the Church's internal judicial processes interact or clash with the civil pursuit of these cases.

The Encyclopedia is the definitive reference work on international economic law. This comprehensive resource helps redefine the field by presenting international economic law in its broadest, real-world context. Organized thematically rather than alphabetically, the subject is split into four principal sections: the foundations and architecture of international economic law, its principles, its main regulatory areas, and the future challenges that it faces. Comprising over 250 entries written by leading scholars and practitioners, traditional international economic law subject matter is supplemented by coverage of newly developing areas. Thus, the concepts and rules of trade, investment, finance and international tax law are found alongside entries discussing the relationship of international economic law with environmental protection, social standards, development, and human rights. The concise entries present an accessible and condensed overview of each topic within its legal context. Contributors offer insight into how institutions interact with each other and other legal systems, in addition to providing individual overviews of their history, structure, principles and procedures. Selected references follow each entry, suggesting directions for further detailed exploration of the topic. This Encyclopedia is an invaluable resource for both practitioners and academics. It acts as a handy reference to all areas of international economic law, and provides the ideal starting point for any research journey. Key features: valuable reference tool for scholars, students and practitioners organised thematically, covering newly developing areas of international economic law concise, structured entries from the top experts in the field selected references for further study.

"The Lisbon Treaty states that national Parliaments shall contribute to a better functioning of the EU. Can they really do it and therefore enrich the European democracy? How far can they extend their original sovereignty without distorting political responsibilities that should be geared upon the European Parliament? The authors analyze the experience of the Italian Parliament under the light of these crucial questions and their exhaustive answers are greatly helpful to the readers of all over Europe." Giuliano Amato, Judge of the Italian Constitutional Court. This important new collection explores the role of the Italian Parliament in the Euro-national parliamentary system as an example of an increased role for national parliaments within the composite European constitutional order. It illustrates how parliamentary interactions within the European Union are highly systematic, with integrated procedures and mutual interdependence between the various institutions and stakeholders. The book argues that this dynamic is vital for both the functioning and the future equilibrium of democracy in the EU. This is significant, particularly given the challenges posed to democracy within the EU institutions and the Member States. Notwithstanding its peculiarities (a symmetrical bicameral system in which both Houses are directly elected, hold the same powers and are linked through a confidence relationship with the government), the Italian Parliament deserves specific attention as a lively active player of the European polity. The grid for its analysis proposed by this collection may also be applied to other national parliaments, so contributing to the development of comparative research in this field.

The book reviews globalisation by identifying causes behind the discontent it has produced in recent years. It variously engages in economics, political economy, development and policy discourses to study experiences of countries and institutions in managing and adjusting to globalisation. Extending the analysis to latest global developments, including the remarkable advance of technology and digitalisation, and political and economic upheavals caused by COVID19, the book collects varied academic perspectives and reflects on the present as well as future. Comprising chapters written by distinguished academics and policy experts, the book is a rare collection of cross-disciplinary objective evaluations of globalisation.

Water covers some 75% of the earth's surface, while land covers 25%, approximately. Yet the former accounts for less than 1% of world GDP, the latter 99% plus. Part of the reason for this imbalance is that there are more people located on land than water. But a more important explanation is that while land is privately owned, water is unowned (with the exception of a few small lakes and ponds), or governmentally owned (rivers, large lakes). This gives rise to the tragedy of the commons: when something is unowned, people have less of an incentive to care for it, preserve it, and protect it, than when they own it. As a result we have oil spills, depletion of fish stocks, threatened extinction of some species (e.g. whales), shark attacks, polluted and dried-up rivers, misallocated water, unsafe boating, piracy, and other indices of economic disarray which, if they had occurred on the land, would have been more easily identified as the result of the tragedy of the commons and/or government ownership and mismanagement. The purpose of this book is to make the case for privatization of all bodies of water, without exception. In the tragic example of the Soviet Union, the 97% of the land owned by the state accounted for 75% of the crops. On the 3% of the land privately owned, 25% of the crops were grown. The obvious mandate requires that we privatize the land, and prosper. The present volume applies this lesson, in detail, to bodies of water.

This book explores the role of expectations within the modern capitalist system. Through looking at how they are formed and develop, the impact of events that lead to a collapse in expectations, such as a major financial crisis, is examined to highlight the precarious and unstable nature of the economic system. With a particular focus on the UK and USA, it is also considered how public policy and institutions can shift the balance away from speculation and back towards enterprise. This book aims to conceptualise instability and highlight how economic and regulatory policy can limit it. It will be relevant to researchers and policymakers interested in economic policy and regulatory reform.

It is widely recognised that international order is undergoing transformative change and the old norms no longer apply. This collection looks at how the EU, specifically its judicial wing, is responding to these new challenges. It looks both externally at those internationally shared problems of unequal societies, the rise of populism and the migrant crisis and internally at Brexit, the differences between the EU centre and peripheries and the division of competences. Taking a multifaceted approach, it draws on voices from academia and the judiciary to suggest how the EU might respond effectively to the challenges faced.

This book investigates the legitimacy deficits of two potentially conflicting legal systems, namely Public and Islamic international law. It discusses the challenges that Public international law is being presented within the context of its relationship with Islamic international law. It explores how best to overcome these challenges through a comparative examination of state practices on the use of force. It highlights the legal-political legacies that evolved surrounding the claims of the legitimacy of use of force by armed non-state actors, states, and regional organizations. This book offers a critical analysis of these legacies in line with the Islamic Shari'a law, United Nations Charter, state practices, and customs. It concludes that the legitimacy question has reached a vantage point where it cannot be answered either by Islamic or Public international law as a mutually exclusive legal system. Instead, Public international law must take a coherent approach within the existing legal framework.