Maintaining the importance of socio-economic issues in devising transitional justice mechanisms, this book examines the widespread practice of land grabbing in Afghanistan. On 3 September 2003, 100 armed police officers bulldozed around 30 homes in the Sherpur neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan, evicting over 250 people. Historically, the land was part of the property of the Ministry of Defense, of which a zone was allocated to the ministry's employees who had built homes and had lived there for nearly 30 years. After the demolition, however, the land was distributed among 300 high-ranking government officials, including ministers, deputy ministers, governors and other powerful warlords. Land grabbing in Afghanistan has become a widespread practice across the country. Based on over 50 semi-structured interviews with key informants and group discussions with war victims and local experts in Kabul, the current book examines the relevance of transitional justice discourse and practice in response to this situation. Following a critical criminological concern with social harm, the book maintains that it is not enough to consider a country's political history of violent conflict and the violation of civil and political rights alone. Rather, to decide on appropriate transitional justice mechanisms, it is crucial to consider a country's socio-economic background, and above all the socio-economic harm inflicted on people during periods of violent conflict. This original and detailed account of the socio-economic challenges faced by transitional justice mechanisms will be of interest to those studying and working in this area in law, politics, development studies and criminology.

In every Western democracy today, inheritances have a very profound influence on people's lives. This motivates renewed scholarship on inheritance law by philosophy and the legal sciences. The present volume aims to contribute to some ongoing areas of inquiry while also filling some gaps in research. It is organized in a highly interdisciplinary way. In the thirteen chapters of the book, written by outstanding philosophers and legal scholars, the following questions, among others, are discussed: What is the nature of the right to bequeath? What are the social functions of bequest and inheritance? What arguments concerning justice have philosophers and legal scholars advanced in favour or against practices of bequest and inheritance? How should we think about taxing the wealth transfers that occur in bequest and inheritance? In discussing these questions, the authors break new ground and offer much needed insight into several related domains, such as the philosophy of law; legal theory; general and applied ethics; social and political philosophy; theories of justice; and the history of legal, political, and economic thought. This book will be of great interest to scholars in these areas as well as policy-makers.

Fire Safety Law provides building-owners, managers, individual leaseholders, mortgage-lenders, landlords, and anyone involved in the purchase or sale of a flat situated within a multi-occupied block, with practical, yet comprehensive and well-researched information regarding the subject of fire safety and the associated responsibilities, obligations and rights. V. Charles Ward addresses in practical legal terms the responsibilities on building-owners to ensure that buildings are fire-safe for people who are living, working, or visiting those buildings and explains what protections are available to leaseholders faced with the costs of making their buildings fire-safe. The book begins with a summary of the lessons which have come from the Grenfell Inquiry, before providing a practical overview of current fire-safety legislation relating to residential and commercial buildings. This legislative overview will include not only the 2005 Fire Safety Order, as updated by the 2021 Fire Safety Act and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, but will also include associated and emerging legislation and official guidance in relation to fire safety, including gas and electrical safety regulation, as well as the Building Safety Act 2022. The book will then pull apart a typical long-residential lease within a high-rise block to identify who is directly responsible for fire safety and explain how the costs of making good the fire-risk from defective cladding might be shared out between the ground-landlord and individual residential leaseholders. Having assessed the legal situation as regards existing high-rise leaseholders, the book then addresses the additional 'due diligence' required by prospective purchasers of individual high-rise flats, as well as estate agents, mortgage lenders, landlords and conveyancing lawyers, to ensure that what they will be buying or lending money on is 'fire-safe' and that any associated costs are fully accounted for.

Written from an 'in house' perspective in response to the UK Government Housing White Paper released in February 2017, Housing Regeneration: A Plan for Implementation presents sustainable solutions to Britain's housing crisis and will be a useful practical guide for anyone involved in the process of regeneration. Taking as its starting point an idea for a housing regeneration scheme, it provides an overview of each of the issues to be considered and the options for addressing them. In clear and concise language, it explains the issues and work involved in a regeneration scheme, answering questions such as who is involved, how is it paid for, what options are available and, importantly, what are the risks. It will appeal to lawyers, councillors, town planners, surveyors, chief officers, finance officers, procurement officers, project managers and students, amongst others.

In this timely book, Walter E. Block uses classical liberal theory to defend private property rights. Looking at how free enterprise, capitalism and libertarianism are cornerstones of economically prosperous civilizations, Block highlights why private property rights are crucial. Discussing philosophy, libertarian property rights theory, reparations and other property rights issues, this volume is of interest to academics, students, journalists and all those interested in this integral aspect of political economic philosophy.

Recent years have seen a globalization of property rights as the Western conception of property over land has extended across the world. As formerly community-owned land and natural resources are privatized and titling schemes proliferate, Property Rights from Below questions the trend toward treating land as a commodity and explores alternatives to the Western model. As we enter an era of resource scarcity and as competition for land and associated natural resources increases, purchasing power cannot become the sole criterion for land allocation; and the law of supply and demand in increasingly financialized markets cannot become the sole metric through which the value of land is determined. Using a range of examples from around the world, Property Rights from Below demonstrates that alternatives to this model often emerge from social innovations supported by local communities and that there is an urgent need for a broader political imagination when it comes to land governance. This innovative cross-disciplinary perspective on the pressing problems surrounding global property rights will be of interest to academics, students and professionals with an interest in property law, development economics and land governance.

Property and Practical Reason makes a moral argument for common law property institutions and norms, and challenges the prevailing dichotomy between individual rights and state interests and its assumption that individual preferences and the good of communities must be in conflict. One can understand competing intuitions about private property rights by considering how private property enables owners and their collaborators to exercise practical reason consistent with the requirements of reason, and thereby to become practically reasonable agents of deliberation and choice who promote various aspects of the common good. The plural and mediated domains of property ownership, though imperfect, have moral benefits for all members of the community. They enable communities and institutions of private ordering to pursue plural and incommensurable good ends while specifying the boundaries of property rights consistent with basic moral requirements.

The degree to which the traditional concept of property can be adjusted in order to accommodate basic constitutional concepts such as freedom and social duty, is analysed by the author. The focus is placed on recent reforms in the land law of Germany and South Africa. Remarkable similarities in the history, structure and interpretation of German and South African property law and constitutional law are indicated and a link between private law, constitutional law, land reform and legal comparison is established. This is of particular significance for the implementation of the constitutional objectives of land reform by the South African judiciary and legislature. It furthermore provides an overview of the intricate system of constitutional property protection that has been developed in German law.

The Law Commission (of England and Wales) and the Scottish Law Commission were both established in 1965 to promote the reform of the laws of their respective jurisdictions. Since then, they have each produced hundreds of reports across many areas of law. They are independent of government yet rely on governmental funding and governmental approval of their proposed projects. They also rely on both government and Parliament (and, occasionally, the courts or other bodies) to implement their proposals. This book examines the tension between independence and implementation and recommends how a balance can best be struck. It proposes how the Commissions should choose their projects given that their duties outweigh their resources, and how we should assess the success, or otherwise, of their output. Countries around the world have created law reform bodies in the Commissions' image. They may wish to reflect on the GB Commissions' responses to the changes and challenges they have faced to reappraise their own law reform machinery. Equally, the GB Commissions may seek inspiration from other commissions' experiences. The world the GB Commissions inhabit now is very different from when they were established. They have evolved to remain relevant in the face of devolution, the UK's changing relationship with the European Union, increasing pressure for accountability and decreasing funding. Further changes to secure the future of independent law reform are advanced in this book.

This sociolegal study focuses on the political, legal and institutional problems and dilemmas of regulating land tenure. By studying the development of the Timorese formal land tenure system, this book engages in the larger debate about the role of state systems in addressing and aggravating social problems such as insecurity, poverty, inequality, destruction of nature, and cultural and social estrangement. Land tenure issues in Timor-Leste are complex and deeply shaped by the nation's history. Taking an insider's perspective based on the author's experience in Timorese state administration, and through the investigation of five analytical themes -political environment, lawmaking, legal framework, institutional framework, and social relationships and practices- this book studies the development of the Timorese formal land tenure system from independence in 2002 to 2018. It shows how political, legal, and administrative decisions on land administration are made, what and who influences them, which problems and dilemmas emerge, and how the formal system works in practice. The result is a portrait of a young nation grappling with the enormous task of creating a land tenure system that can address the needs of its citizens in the wake of centuries of socio-political tumult and huge fluctuations in resources. The book concludes by highlighting the importance of lawmaking and how abuses of power can be curbed by adequate administrative processes and laws. Finally, it argues that land administration is primarily a political matter. The political dimension of technical solutions must be considered if we aim to achieve fairer formal land tenure systems. The pertinence of the topics covered, the multi-disciplinary perspective, and the research methodology followed make this book appealing to a variety of readers, including international organizations, practitioners, academics and students engaged in land administration, post-colonial and -conflict issues, lawmaking, rule of law, public administration and issues of access and exclusion.

Property enhances autonomy for most people, but not for all. Because it both empowers and disables, property requires constant vigilance. A Liberal Theory of Property addresses key questions: how can property be justified? What core values should property law advance, and how do those values interrelate? How is a liberal state obligated to act when shaping property law? In a liberal polity, the primary commitment to individual autonomy dominates the justification of property, founding it on three pillars: carefully delineated private authority, structural (but not value) pluralism, and relational justice. A genuinely liberal property law meets the legitimacy challenge confronting property by expanding people's opportunities for individual and collective self-determination while carefully restricting their options of interpersonal domination. The book shows how the three pillars of liberal property account for core features of existing property systems, provide a normative vocabulary for evaluating central doctrines, and offer directions for urgent reforms.

- Clear and accessible, the book is Ideally suited for undergraduates who prefer a pedagogically informed style of text. - Can be used as a core text as well as helping students with revision. - Covers all the latest caselaw and debates. - The new edition features a revised website with a range of features, including multiple choice questions to assist students who may take the Solicitor Qualifying Exam in later years.

The discipline of law and economics has earned a reputation for developing plausible and empirically testable theories on the social functions and the impact of legal institutions. Property rights are a field in which this has been very successful. In this book, economic property rights theories are applied to case law in order to examine the practice and solution of real life conflicts. The author examines the economic problems which are dealt with in these cases and evaluate the courts' decisions from an economic angle. Cases are examined from across the UK, the US, Germany, Belgium and Canada to allow international comparisons to be made. These comparisons reveal that, regardless of the legal system, many legal issues have similar economic roots and therefore similar models of economic analysis can be applied. The analysis of these cases also shows that the discipline of law and economics is not only successful in developing explanatory models but also useful to generate better considerations and solutions for legal conflicts in individual cases. This book aims to bridge the gap between the academic and professional literature and demonstrate the benefits of the economic analysis of property rights cases to all those who are interested in law and economics.

The New Urban Agenda (NUA), adopted in 2016 at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in Quito, Ecuador, represents a globally shared understanding of the vital link between urbanization and a sustainable future. At the heart of this new vision stand a myriad of legal challenges - and opportunities - that must be confronted for the world to make good on the NUA's promise. In response, this book, which complements and expands on the editors' previous volumes on urban law in this series, offers a constructive and critical evaluation of the legal dimensions of the NUA. As the volume's authors make clear, from natural disasters and resulting urban migration in Honshu and Tacloban, to innovative collaborative governance in Barcelona and Turin, to accessibility of public space for informal workers in New Delhi and Accra, and power scales among Brazil's metropolitan regions, there is a deep urgency for thoughtful research to understand how law can be harnessed to advance the NUA's global mission of sustainable urbanism. It thus creates a provocative and academic dialogue about the legal effects of the NUA, which will be of interest to academics and researchers with an interest in urban studies.

Law schools are failing both their staff and students by requiring them to prize reason and rationality and to suppress or ignore emotions. Despite innovations in terms of both content and teaching techniques, there is little evidence that emotions are effectively acknowledged or utilised within legal education. Instead law schools are clinging to an out-dated and erroneous perception of emotions as at best, irrational, and at worst dangerous. In contrast to this, educational and scientific developments have demonstrated that emotions are a fundamental, inescapable part of learning, teaching and skills development. Harnessing these emotions will therefore have a transformative effect on legal education and enable it to adapt to the needs and demands of the twenty-first century. This book provides a theoretical overview of the role played by emotions in all aspects of the life of the law school. It explores the relationship emotions have with key traditional and contemporary approaches to legal education, the ways in which emotions can be conceptualised, their interaction with the politics and policies of legal education and their role within teaching and learning. The book also considers the importance of emotional wellbeing for both law students and legal academics Overall, this book argues for a more holistic form of legal education in which emotions play a valuable (and valued) role. This requires a new vision for law schools, in which emotions are acknowledged and embedded at all levels, institutional and personal.

Bringing together the current international body of knowledge on key issues for educating for well-being in law, this book offers comparative perspectives across jurisdictions, and utilises a range of theoretical lenses (including socio-legal, psychological and ethical theories) in analysing well-being and legal education in law. The chapters include innovative and tested research methodologies and strategies for educating for well-being. Asking and answering the question as to whether law is special in terms of producing psychological distress in law students, law teachers and the profession, and bringing together common and opposing perspectives, this book also seeks to highlight excellent practice in promoting a positive professional identity at law school and beyond resulting in an original contribution to knowledge, and new discourses of analysis.

The most comprehensive treatment of key elements of original surveys, and the research required to find them, which is an important issue in retracement surveys that has never been fully explored. It will help surveyors become familiar with the proper identification and requirements and find the appropriate evidence using proper procedures. The most comprehensive treatment of key elements of original surveys and the research required to find original surveys, is an important issue in retracement surveys that has never been fully explored. It emphasizes the importance and the necessity of determining the creation of the title and its sources along with its accompanying survey or location. The case studies included in the book discuss the consequences when investigators do not follow complete research procedures, and act upon less information, even though the law requires otherwise. This is a practical guide for surveyors to become familiar with the proper identification and requirements and find the appropriate evidence using the right procedures. This book is intended for the practicing surveyor and will be useful to the legal profession, historical researchers, federal land departments, and others interested in surveys. Features This is the first book that focuses on identifying original surveys, written by one of the top consultants in the United States, who brings real case examples of both successes and failures Explains land separation techniques when more than one has been used previously. Includes numerous case examples providing context for surveyors and attorneys Discusses the relation between title creation and their transfer Addresses federal versus private surveys, their differences, and similarities

Written by an experienced textbook author and former lecturer at the University of the West Indies This new edition has been thoroughly revised to include all new relevant updates to the law, and also features expanded coverage of estates and equity. Also now includes a question and answer section at the end of the book to support student's understanding of the material.

Written by an experienced textbook author and former lecturer at the University of the West Indies This new edition has been thoroughly revised to include all new relevant updates to the law, and also features expanded coverage of estates and equity. Also now includes a question and answer section at the end of the book to support student's understanding of the material.

For more than a century, property rights to land in Molo in the Kenyan highlands have been subjected to diverse reforms and desires. Colonial and independent state administrations have restructured land tenure systems to establish and maintain authority or alleviate landlessness. Meanwhile, people on the ground have developed their own ideas about property rights, place, and people. Via a detailed political ethnography, Ulrika Kolben Waaranpera uncovers the heterodox notion of property rights that has emerged as land has been redistributed, settlement schemes established, electricity lines drawn, and electoral violence mobilized. The book makes an important contribution to the study of land and politics in Kenya and beyond by drawing attention to how conceptions of property rights are shaped by and constitutive of relations of belonging and authority. This relational view challenges the universal definition of property rights undergirding most contemporary land reforms. Instead, property rights are situated within the political and rendered legible for both definitional and distributional debates. In effect, land reform is posited as a fundamentally political undertaking.

The stirrings of reform or more of the same? U.S. Housing Policy, Politics, and Economics shares a stark and urgent message. With a new president in the White House and the economy emerging from its peak pandemic lows, the time is right for transformative federal housing legislation-but only if Congress can transcend partisan divides. Drawing on nearly a century of legislative and policy data, this briefing for scholars and professionals quantifies the effects of Democratic or Republican control of the executive and legislative branches on housing prices and policies nationwide. It exposes the lasting consequences of Congress' more than a decade of failure to pass meaningful housing laws and makes clear just how narrow the current window for action is. Equal parts analysis and call to arms, U.S. Housing Policy, Politics, and Economics is essential reading for everyone who cares about affordable, accessible housing.