This book provides a critical evaluation of the ways in which EU law engages with minority rights protection: at its core is an analysis of EU law and minority rights. Unlike the UN or ECHR, the EU has no competence to set standards on minority protection and this has been a point of disappointment for minority rights advocates. Indeed, this book will demonstrate that, in EU law, binding standards really only exist in the sphere of non-discrimination and are at their strongest in the field of employment. As such, binding standards within EU law affect only a small proportion of the canon of minority rights. However, the EU does have competence to promote diversity and facilitate redistribution of power and resources across the EU. According to a broad understanding of minority rights protection, acts of promotion and facilitation -alongside those of standard-setting - constitute essential underpinnings for minority protection. The EU's existing competences do therefore play a key role in minority protection. In order to support these conclusions, the book undertakes a comprehensive examination of the impact of EU law on minority rights protection. The book examines a broad range of the EU's legal provisions and principles which may affect minority protection, before undertaking in-depth analyses of the examples of minority cultural rights and minority linguistic rights. In addition, the final substantive chapter of the book contextualises the impact of EU law within the perspective of the overall needs of a specific group - the Roma minority. The concluding chapter draws together the EU's contribution to minority rights. In short, the EU can be seen as a promoter, but not a protector, of minority rights. Although not ideal, especially from the perspective of minorities, it is worth at least exploring such a view. Such an exploration would enable the EU most easily to build upon its existing competences and regulatory capacities. This book will be of interest to lawyers and activists concerned with minority rights and Roma rights protection within the EU. It will also be of relevance to those interested in understanding the dynamics between the EU and the international law community in overlapping areas of rights protection, and exploring how this informs our perception of the capacity of the EU to be a central actor in the field of rights protection.

This edited collection, the result of an international seminar held at the International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Onati, Spain in 2010, explores the potential legal and criminological consequences of climate change, both domestically and for the international community. A novel feature of the book is the consideration given to the potential synergies between the two disciplinary foci, thus to encourage among legal scholars and criminologists not only an analysis of the consequences of climate change from these perspectives but to bring these fields together to provide a unique, inter-disciplinary exploration of the ways in which climate change does, or could, impact on our societies. Such an inter-disciplinary approach is necessary given that climate change is a multifaceted phenomenon and one which is intimately linked across disciplines. To study this topic from the point of view of a single social science discipline restricts our understanding of the societal consequences of climate change. It is hoped that this edited collection will identify emerging areas of concern, illuminate areas for further research and, most of all, encourage future academic discussion on this most critical of issues.

Timely and engaging, this topical book examines how Brexit is intertwined with the concepts of justice and injustice. Legal scholars across a range of subjects and disciplines utilise a multitude of case studies from consumer law, asylum law, legal theory, public law and private law, in order to explore the impact of Brexit on our ideas of justice. The book as a whole aims to engage with the methodology, lexicon and explicitness of analytical perspectives in relation to Brexit. The EU is the epitome of a globalised world: an organisation with a huge number of members, partners and collaborators, seeking to further common goals, with pooling of resources to address shared concerns. Much attention has been paid to justices or injustices in relation to the impact that they have on beginning or increasing global relations, and in turn on individuals or groups. This thought-provoking book analyses the reverse: what justice is brought about by withdrawal therefrom? On Brexit will be of great interest to students and academics working on EU law and politics and global relations due to its interdisciplinary nature. It will also be a key resource for both UK and EU governments and policy actors seeking to broaden their perspective on Brexit. Contributors include: T. Ahmed, S. Bardutzky, D. Collins, J. Corkin, S. Douglas-Scott, E. Fahey, S. Germain, J. Grogan, D. Kostakopolou, D. Kukovec, L. McDonagh, P. O'Connell, J. Odermatt, P.R. Polak, A. Powell, D. Seymour, N. Skoutaris, E. Xanthapoulou, A. Yong