Near-earth space, with extends to geosynchronous orbits where satellites remain faithfully over a fixed spot on the ground, does not lend itself to romantic fantasies of science fiction. It is a working place from which services can be delivered with ease and efficiency. Meteorology, seismic and crop-yield predictions, environmental monitoring, communications of all sorts, guidance and navigation, medical and educational services, treaty verification and photographic reconnaissance, news-gathering, scientific observation across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, prospecting, remote sensing, and monitoring of human activities are all in a day's work for near-earth space. Global cellular telephony, only a few years ago the exclusive privilege of comic-book heroes, is becoming a space-based commonplace. Planes that land in fog and cars that find their way in the labyrinthine steels of Tokyo guided from space are beyond a near horizon. Space is delivering its promise. This volume describes many of these activities and their prospects for changing the way we live, communicate, and travel on this Earth.

This innovative book proposes a fundamental rethink of the consensual foundation of arbitration and argues that it should become the default mode of resolution in international commercial disputes. The book first discusses the most important arguments against this proposal and responds to them. In particular, it addresses the issue of the legitimacy of arbitrators and the compatibility of the idea with guarantees afforded by European human rights law and US constitutional law. The book then presents several models of non-consensual arbitration that could be implemented to afford neutral adjudication in disputes between parties originating from different jurisdictions' to offer an additional alternative forum in the doctrine of forum non conveniens or to save judicial costs. The first dedicated exploration into the groundbreaking concept of default arbitration, Rethinking International Commercial Arbitration will appeal to scholars, students and practitioners in arbitration and international litigation.

'History has a way of repeating itself in financial matters because of a kind of sophisticated stupidity,' John Kenneth Galbraith once wrote. In this superb new book, Ross Buckley suggests that the stupidity identified by Galbraith can be traced to the persistence of an inadequate legal system for the regulation of international finance − a system rooted in the failure of economists and investors to take the legal demands of real-world finance seriously. Everywhere, trade is glorified while finance tends to be taken for granted. Yet financial flows far exceed trade flows, by a factor of over sixty to one; international financial transactions represent a far greater proportion of the practice of most major law firms than do trade transactions; and international finance, when it goes wrong, brings appalling suffering to the poorest citizens of poor countries. In a powerful demonstration of how we can learn from history, Professor Buckley provides deep analyses of some of the devastating financial crises of the last quarter-century. He shows how such factors as the origins and destinations of loans, bank behaviour, bad timing, ignorance of history, trade regimes, capital flight, and corruption coalesce under certain circumstances to trigger a financial crash. He then offers well-thought out legal measures to regulate these factors in a way that can prevent the worst from happening and more adequately protect the interests of vulnerable parties and victims. In the course of the discussion he covers such topics as the following:A* the roles of the Bretton Woods institutions in the globalisation process;A* global capital flows;A* debtor nation policies;A* the effects of the Brady restructurings of the 80s and 90s;A* fixed versus floating exchange rates;A* the social costs of IMF policies;A* debt-for-development exchanges; andA* the national balance sheet problem.Professor Buckley's far-reaching recommendations include details of tax, regulatory, banking, and bankruptcy regimes to be instituted at a global level.As a general introduction to the international financial system and its regulation; as a powerful critique of the current system's imperfections; and most of all as a viable overarching scheme for an international finance law framework soundly based on what history has taught us, International Financial System: Policy and Regulation shows the way to amending a system that repeatedly sacrifices the lives of thousands and compromises the future of millions.

A comparative lega, economic and political analysis of the impact of constitutional law and of international economic law on the foreign trade laws and policies of the major trading countries. The countries covered include the United States, Japan, EC and EFTA countries, plus regional trade organizations such as the EEC and EFTA. Developments such as the Cadana-US Free Trade Agreement are also covered. As the benefits of constitutionalism and liberal trade do not depend on the nationalities of traders, producers and consumers, the contributions criticize the frequent "double standards" of "fair trade laws" and suggest "constitutionalism reforms" of international and domestic foreign trade laws and policies.

The Contract is the core tool of governance in a free market economy. An EU Contract Law Code is now on the political agenda because all three legislative bodies in the EU and most member states favour it in principle. In its communication of July 2001, the Commission proposed three major options: to enhance the existing EC Contract Law by eliminating inconsistencies; introducing a European Code which substitutes national laws; and introducing a European code which only supplements national laws. This book achieves three things: For the first time, European academia is discussing these three options in an extensive and systematic way - with pros and cons, in a transparent and systematic way, along broad lines and often also important details. The book contains the views of all protagonists - from all those who really drafted the models to all those who illustrated the potential of decentralized rule-making and invented the very idea of an Optional Code. And it is the first book in which the optional Code, which is the alternative most likely to come, is thoroughly analysed at all. The book also contains a full map of design possibilities. It is the executive summary of what European academia thinks of the future of European Contract Law and a European Code. It is the Academic Green Paper on European Contract Law.

International criminal justice has undergone rapid recent development. Since the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 1993, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in the following year, the field has changed beyond recognition. The traditional immunity of presidents or heads of government, prime ministers, and other functionaries acting in an official capacity no longer prevails; the doctrine of superior orders is inapplicable except, where appropriate, as in mitigation; and the gap between international armed conflict and non-international armed conflict has closed. More generally, the bridge has been crossed between the irresponsibility of the state and the criminal responsibility of the individual. As a result, the traditional impunity of the state has practically gone. This book, by one of the former judges of the ICTY, ICTR, and the International Court of Justice, assesses some of the workings of the ICTY that have shaped these developments. In it, Judge Shahabuddeen provides an insightful overview of the nature of this criminal court, established on behalf of the whole of the international community. He reflects on its transformation into one of the leading fora for the growth of international criminal law first-hand, offering a unique perspective on the challenges it has faced. Judge Shahabuddeen's experience in international criminal justice makes this volume essential reading for those interested in, or working with, international criminal law.

Environmental conflicts over sustainability, environmental impact assessment (EIA), biodiversity, biotechnology and risk, chemicals and public health, are not necessarily legalistic problems but land use problems. Edward Christie shows how solutions for these conflicts can be found via consensual agreement using an approach that integrates law, science and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and reframes the role of law and science. This book assesses the key unifying principles of environmental and administrative law in Australia, the UK/EU and USA, together with accepted scientific concepts for environmental management and protection. By doing so it provides a cross-disciplinary approach to collaborative problem-solving and decision-making, using ADR processes to resolve environmental conflicts, and will be valuable to environmental professionals. The book also promotes the use of Indigenous traditional knowledge for resolving conflicts over sustainability, biodiversity and the EIA process. The book has been written to meet the requirements of any environmental professional - lawyer, scientist, engineer, planner - who directly, or indirectly, may be involved in development or planning conflicts when the environment is an issue. For the lawyer, this book, with its focus on understanding and integrating unifying legal principles and scientific concepts, consolidates opportunities for assessing and resolving environmental conflicts by negotiation. For the environmental professional, the book provides opportunities for managing environmental conflicts. In addition, opportunities are identified for resolving environmental conflicts by negotiation, but in quite specific situations i.e. when the interpretation and application of questions of law are not in issue and only factual (scientific) issues are in dispute. It will of course be of great interest to academics and researchers of environmental studies and environmental law. It will also appeal to the Indigenous community, environmental groups and local communities who are seeking more direct and effective inputs into finding sustainable solutions for environmental conflicts.

Wielded by major economic powers, linkages between trade and such issues as environmental protection and human rights have become a widely used and controversial policy instrument. This volume provides a comprehensive and authoritative analysis, across issue-areas, of the European Union's deployment of trade to advance its normative goals.' - Miles Kahler, Council on Foreign Relations'The EU treaties call for the EU to promote its core values internationally. Trade is one instrument to do so: linking preferential access to the large EU market to convergence towards EU or internationally agreed norms. The volume offers an insightful discussion of the scope for, and the effectiveness of, EU trade linkage strategies to influence the labour, environmental and human rights-related policies of selected trade partners. It advances the state of our knowledge on a controversial and important subject.' - Bernard Hoekman, EUI and CEPR, Italy A 'new generation' of EU trade policies aims to advance public goods such as promoting sustainable development, protecting human rights and enhancing governance in third states. The pursuit of these objectives raises important questions regarding coherence, effectiveness, legitimacy and extraterritoriality. In Global Governance through Trade leading scholars from different disciplines address these topical questions. The book contains a comprehensive analysis of the concept of governing through trade and investigates how the EU 'exports' regulation through conditional market access regulation, bilateral trade agreements and unilateral trade policy. Several case studies complement the general analysis and provide an in-depth assessment of the European Union's new trade policies. This multidisciplinary book will be an enlightening read for a wide-ranging audience encompassing academics, policymakers, policy analysts and students of, amongst others, trade law and policy, global governance, sustainable development, human rights and labor standards. Contributors: L. Bartels, L. Beke, N.A.J. Croquet, C. Damro, D. Geraets, N. Hachez, M. Koekkoek, J. Larik, R. Leal-Arcas, A. Marx, P.C. Mavroidis, B. Natens, C. Ryngaert, J. Soares, G. van Calster, C.M. Wilmarth, J. Wouters, J. Yap

Legal practitioners, academics and energy industry representatives from several European countries contribute towards an appreciation of current and proposed EC energy legislation and policy. Legal and policy issues of EC energy regulation are considered and their practical implications, particularly for the oil and gas industry, highlighted. The increasing role of industry is discussed in the light of current key commercial issues facing the oil and gas industry such as abandonment and the current and future role of novel forms of energy financing. Finally, important considerations in North Sea Joint Operating Agreements and EC gas contracts are analyzed in depth.

This is the first book to provide an inside account of how a United Nations human rights treaty body actually works. At the same time it is an introduction to the international law of racial discrimination. The book focuses on the practical operation and implementation of the International Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, emphasising throughout the relationship between the law and politics. The book takes account of current issues in international race relations - from the process of dismantling apartheid in South Africa to recent horrors and genocides in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Michael Banton's latest work will be crucial reading for anyone interested in eliminating racial discrimination on an international level. About Michael Banton: Michael Banton is Chairman of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 1996-98.

In an attempt to reduce barriers to international trade, public procurement agreements have evolved during the last three decades of the 20th-century at both global and regional levels. These agreements give rise to a number of complex, topical issues. Yet apart from studies on European Union procurement rules, there are few books on public procurement, particularly covering regional procurement agreements. This study provides an assessment of these agreements, focusing on the problem of protectionism in government procurement, long recognized as a major barrier to international trade. Procurement lawyers, experts and officials; international economic law professors; public international lawyers; and international organizations should all appreciate this guide to understanding international procurement agreements, including the new tendering rules they impose. It also features coverage of all types of international public procurement regimes, multilateral, regional and bilateral.

In order to understand international economic regulations, it is essential to understand the variation in competing corporations' interests. This book's theoretical findings open a 'black box' in the literature on international political economy and elucidate a source of regulatory differences and similarities. Its counter-intuitive case studies reveal how business and governments actually interact.

By exploring powerful corporations' investment profiles and regulatory strategies, this book explains why globalization sometimes results in a 'race to the bottom', sometimes in higher common regulations, and sometimes in regulations that differ between countries. Uniquely, it then explains which regulatory outcome is likely to occur under specified conditions. The explanation incorporates economics, political science, studies of regulatory capture, and examinations of transaction costs, firms' regulatory strategies, and the roles international institutions.

This title poses a challenge to the consensus on the best way to reform legal systems in order to attract and support foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries. Using detailed examples from Sri Lanka, it shows that the "ideal paradigm" approach to legal reform espoused by multilateral development organizations and bilateral aid donors is not only fundamentally flawed, but misconceived for reasons that we may not fully understand. The author recommends a shift in emphasis from the "global" legal reform agenda to a country-specific approach, based on a rigorous formulation of the common ground where the expectations of investors and the countries in question meet. The crux of this "ideal paradigm" approach resides in the generally accepted belief that a Western-style market-oriented, rule-bound legal system is the sine qua non of successfully attracting and supporting FDI. However, through a wide-ranging survey of Sri Lankan and foreign business people, lawyers, non-legal advisers, NGO workers, diplomats, development workers, and government officials, Perry shows that this is far from the case. Investors are generally insensitive to the nature of the host state legal system when making the decision to invest, and their perceptions and expectations of the host state legal system may be significantly affected by such factors as their nationality, export orientation and size. Perry suggests that the conclusions drawn from this detailed analysis from Sri Lanka, applied on a global scale, have the potential to greatly improve the quality of many developing countries' participation in the world economy. The positive and forward-looking thesis of this book will be of great value to policymakers in international organisations and donor government agencies, to law firms handling international business transactions, and to academics in development and other areas of international finance, as well as to investors everywhere.

Regulating subsidies in international trade is crucial to the efficient and equitable allocation of resources and ultimately to global welfare. Much of the serious instability that persists in today's interdependent world may be traced to government interventions that dilute or defy such regulation. In this in-depth analysis of subsidies and State aids, Gustavo Luengo details the regulatory elements that reveal how governments undertake the granting of support to their national industries. Although in theory such support is aimed at two overriding economic objectives - the elimination of harmful distortions, and the correction of market failures - he shows that in practice it is political contexts that determine the principles and objectives of the regulation of subsidies. The analysis focuses on two mature regulatory systems, those of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the European Communities (EC). The author describes both legal frameworks, and then proceeds to examine the differences and conflicts between the two systems, along with their reasons, consequences, and possible solutions. Significant aspects of the regulation of subsidies that emerge from the analysis include the following: the role of 'countervailing measures'; the EC notion of 'State aid' as developed by the European Commission and the European Court of Justice; procedures for controlling subsidies under both systems and the consequences of granting subsidies in violation of applicable rules; the elements of 'financial contribution' and 'benefit' under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM); actionable and non-actionable subsidies; agricultural subsidies in both systems; and, the role of WTO dispute settlement procedures. Both for its clear and comprehensive overview of the regulation of subsidies and State aids and for its insightful recommendations, this book will be welcomed as a major contribution to the field of international economic law. Practitioners, policymakers, officials, and academics will all find it enormously valuable for its analytic depth and its direct applicability to the need to develop fair and enforceable regulation of subsidies and State aids.

Understanding Investment Law in Zambia deals with both the domestic law and international legal norms pertaining to foreign direct investment. A wide array of topics is covered in this book, including the contractual, legislative and treaty-based protections available to investors as they consider entrusting their capital to another jurisdiction. These protections are considered through the prism of the Zambian investment climate, and give a glimpse into both historical and current issues.

Theodor Meron is probably the world's most important author on issues of international humanitarian law. This book is a collection of his essays on war crimes and related areas, together with a new concluding chapter, from which the book takes its title, which brings together the themes explored in the essays.

In Autonomy and Cooperation, noted legal scholar Dimitris Liakpolous explores the content of powers attributed by the Statute of Rome to United Nations Security Council. It begins by investigating the power to activate the investigations of the prosecutor before examining the power to suspend judicial activity. The book then defines the characteristics of Security Council intervention in the context of cooperation and judicial assistance and examines prerogatives regarding the crime of aggression. The study concludes with an appreciation of the effect of Security Council action on the jurisdictional activity of the International Criminal Court. Final considerations aim to examine the relevance of the possible coordination models of the action of the two bodies, proposed during this introduction, in defining the forms that the interactions between the two bodies.

This work is based on papers presented at a conference entitled "The Sex of Labour Law in Europe/Le Sexe du droit du travail en Europe", which was held at the European University Institute in Florence. The contributors argue that law in general, and especially social and labour law, is not asexual, and that law has been written from a male point of view. As a consequence, many rules and regulations do not take into account a typical female point of view and therefore appear to disregard the position of women, which leads in many cases to sexual inequality. The contributors give a detailed account of the position of women in labour law in their own jurisdiction. The text should be of interest to academics and practitioners involved in labour law, human rights, gender studies and women's studies.

There is no question that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) greatly enhanced trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico. Still, despite the Agreement's title, a sizeable portion of trade between the three countries is not 'free' at all. Likewise, notwithstanding successive multilateral trade deals and dozens of bilateral free trade agreements concluded individually by the NAFTA countries with other countries, a great deal of trade between the NAFTA countries and non-NAFTA countries remains subject to various restrictions. These restrictions include trade remedies, i.e. antidumping duties, countervailing duties, and safeguards. The aim of this timely book is to bring together in a single detailed work the law and practice of trade remedies in all three NAFTA countries, including the role of legal and economic analysis in trade remedy determinations, in light of the relevant international trade rules at the bilateral, NAFTA and WTO levels and their economic and political underpinnings.

Providing an overview of the various legal responses to conflicts involving the use of water resources, this text analyzes the continuous development of water law in the face of new threats of water shortages. The book is a result of the conference "Scarcity of Water, International, European and National Legal Aspects" held at the faculty of Law of the Erasmus University, Rotterdam in October 1995. It contains a selection papers presented at the conference and several additional contributions on the issues of water law and policy.

In this volume 21 experts from all over the world examine the UNIDROIT Principles from the perspective of their respective countries, focusing, among others, on the similarities and differences between the UNIDROIT Principles and domestic law, and the use of the UNIDROIT Principles in actual practice (contract negotiation, arbitration proceedings, model for law reform projects, etc.). These national reports are critically analysed in the General Report by Professor M.J. Bonell, Chairman of the Working Group for the preparation of the UNIDROIT Principles.