Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject Law - Comparative Legal Systems, Comparative Law, grade: 62%, Cardiff University (Grossbritannien; Law School), course: English Legal System, language: English, comment:, abstract: The most important piece of British legislation with regard to Human Rights is undoubtedly the Human Rights Act 1998. The Act, in force since 2 October 2000, incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights1 into British law and constitutes one of the most controversial legislative creations enacted by the Westminster Parliament in its impressive history. Rancorous opponents have described the Act as a "plot to undermine Parliament and make Britain subservient to the European Union," nothing more than a "complainers charter" and a "bonanza for lawyers."2 Proponents counter and say that the 1998 Act will advance the cause of liberty and check the power of Britain's over-mighty executive.3 Whatever the reader considers to be true, it is indisputable that the Human Rights Act 1998 is a huge constitutional innovation with a crucial impact on Britain's legal system. Consequently, the present Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine of Lairg, called it "a constitutional landmark" which "would be a point of reference for generations to come."4 This essay will identify and analyse the most significant affects of Britain's new human rights legislation. For that purpose it is first necessary to outline the historical development of human rights in the United Kingdom and to describe how these rights could have been enforced before the Human Rights Act 1998 came into force (Part A.) When considering this, attention will also be drawn to Britain's political environment and its role in the development of international human rights instruments. Part B of this paper is then concerned with the question, of the approach taken by the British government in incorporating the ECHR, and how the concept of the Human Rights Act 1998 works in practice. The most signi

Essay from the year 2003 in the subject Law - Comparative Legal Systems, Comparative Law, grade: 67%, Cardiff University (Grossbritannien; Law School), course: Comparative Contract Law, language: English, abstract: The UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts1 have been published in May 1994 by the Rome-based International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), an intergovernmental organisation established in 1926. The Working Group on the UNIDROIT Principles was found in 1980 and consisted of independent legal scholars of all major legal systems of the world. The UNIDROIT Principles are not binding law. Most legal writers agree that they can be characterised as a restatement of the law of international commercial contracts2 and despite the controversial issue about the very existence, scope and content of a lex mercatoria - the possibility of applying supranational law to international legal relationships- most authors agree that it exists and that the UNIDROIT Principles are a significant part of it3. The object of this paper is to examine the UNIDROIT Principles' approach to hardship laid down in Chapter 6, Section 2 and to compare it with its equivalent provision in the German Civil Code (Burgerliches Gesetzbuch, hereinafter BGB), 3134. For this purpose it is firstly necessary to define the term "hardship." Thereafter I will consider the respective provisions in detail and highlight differences and similarities

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject Law - Civil / Private / Trade / Anti Trust Law / Business Law, grade: 74% with Distinction, Cardiff University (Grossbritanien; Law School), course: Competition Law (Wettbewerbsrecht), language: English, abstract: In 2002 around 100,000 main dealers1 were involved in the distribution of 14 million new registered passenger cars2 throughout the European Union. This impressive fact describes only a small part of one of the biggest industries in the EU. The European car industry is described as a "national champion" among EU competition law experts. However, even the best industry is nothing without an efficient distribution system. Distribution of motor cars in the EU has been governed for nearly 20 years by the legal device of block exemption regulations. The latest block exemption, Regulation 1400/023, came into force on 01 October 2002 and brought fundamental changes. This essay intends to analyse these changes and to predict their likely impact on the car distribution sector. For that purpose it is first necessary to describe the present distribution systems used by car manufacturers throughout the EU (A.I.), to outline the approach of EC competition law towards these specific distribution systems and to explain the Commission's general policy of granting block exemptions (A.II.). Part B of this paper is concerned with specific issues regarding the new block exemption. Major changes are highlighted and compared with the former regulation. The likely impact of the new regime on the distribution systems in the EU will be evaluated in part C. By taking into account current available data and trends in the motor industry I will give a projection of what outcome the new regulation may lead to

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject Law - Comparative Legal Systems, Comparative Law, grade: 75% (=With Distinction), Cardiff University (Grossbritannien; Law School), course: Comparative Contract Law, language: English, abstract: The question as to whether a third party can be granted rights or protection based on a contract between two other parties to which the third party is a mere stranger is as old as the legal scholarship of contract law itself. Over centuries, quite different approaches to the issue have been evolved and embedded in different legal systems, each with its own characteristics and features. This essay intents primarily to analyse and compare the approaches of English1 and German Law to third party rights arising from bilateral contracts, particularly with regard to contracts for the benefit of a third party and the new Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999. However, despite this main focus, some other features related to third party involvement in mutual contracts will be considered too. In the first and the second part of this essay I will describe the modus operandi of English and German law with regard to third party rights and highlight differences and similarities. The third part of this paper concerns the approach of that what is sometimes called an international restatement of contract law, namely the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts,2 to the rights of third parties. A comparison of the English and German system with the restatement will illustrate to what extent elements of these two national legal systems have been implemented and considered in an international project of unification of law

Essay from the year 2003 in the subject Law - Civil / Private / Trade / Anti Trust Law / Business Law, grade: 68%, Cardiff University (Grossbritannien; Law School), course: Competition Law, language: English, comment:, abstract: The aim of this paper is to present and to clarify the current approach of EC Competition Law to merger cases, in particular with regard to the problem of collective dominance. I will outline the problems arising from collective dominance in the context with the significant case Airtours plc v. EC Commission, recently dealt with by the European Court of First Instance. Firstly, I will give briefly the relevant facts of the Airtours case (I.). Secondly I will analyse the case with regard to the criticism made by legal experts (II.) and then give an ove rview on which measures are proposed in the future to eliminate the errors made (III., IV.). Lastly, I will interpret these measures and give an answer to the question whether or not these measures are sufficient to solve the present problems in context with the current EC Merger Regulation (V.)