Sustainable development remains a high priority in international politics and commerce. This timely book explores how the contours and facets of economic, environmental and social sustainability are reflected in the legal norms that govern trade, investment and finance. Examining a range of issues arising from private initiatives, national conduct and international organisations, the chapters interrogate the role of powerful global actors in the pursuit of sustainable development: China, the United States and the EU are all recognised as significant actors in a wider context of global partnership. The authors identify and investigate challenges to the realisation of a coherent sustainable development policy, engaging with the complex interactions of international, regional and national mechanisms that pose significant problems for the future of the planet, its people and their prosperity. Offering interdisciplinary insights on legal frameworks through the lens of sustainability, this discerning book will appeal to a range of academics interested in sustainability, trade, investment and finance, while also offering crucial insights for policy-makers into specific areas of regulation.

This monograph was originally developed as a direct response to the claim made by members of the 'Employers Group' at the 2012 International Labour Conference, namely that the right to strike is not protected in international law, and in particular by ILO Convention 87 on the right to freedom of association. The group's apparent aim was to sow sufficient doubt as to the existence of an internationally protected right so that governments might seek to limit or prohibit the right to strike at the national level while still claiming compliance with their international obligations. In consequence, some governments have seized on the employers' arguments to justify new limitations on that right. The Right to Strike in International Law not merely refutes this claim but is the only complete and exhaustive analysis on this subject. Based on deep legal research, it finds that there is simply no credible basis for the claim that the right to strike does not enjoy the protection of international law; indeed, the authors demonstrate that it has attained the status of customary international law.

This book examines international and European protection of the right to strike. In particular, it focuses on the extent to which the International Labour Organisation, the Council of Europe and the European Union have set standards designed to protect those who organise or participate in industrial action.

In a time of controversy over the relevance and utility of industrial action, this book outlines the case for protection of a right to strike. It argues that such a right can be viewed as civil, political and socio-economic in nature, depending upon one's conception of 'good governance' and 'democratic participation' at the national level. This has consequences for what is perceived to be the appropriate scope of the right and the extent of any legitimate exceptions.

This important volume steps beyond conventional legal approaches to sustainability to provide fresh insights into perhaps one of the most critical global challenges of our time. Offering analysis of sustainability at land and sea alongside trade, labour and corporate governance perspectives, this book articulates important debates about the role of law. From impacts on local societies to domestic sustainable development policies and major international goals, it considers multiple jurisdictional levels. With original, interdisciplinary research from experts in their legal fields, this is a rounded assessment of the complex interplay of law and sustainability-both as it is now and as it should be in the future.

Concerns associated with globalisation of markets, exacerbated by the 'credit crunch', have placed pressure on many nation states to make their labour markets more 'flexible'. In so doing, many states have sought to reduce labour standards and to diminish the influence of trade unions as the advocates of such standards. One response to this development, both nationally and internationally, has been to emphasise that workers' rights are fundamental human rights. This collection of essays examines whether this is an appropriate or effective strategy. The book begins by considering the translation of human rights discourse into labour standards, namely how theory might be put into practice. The remainder of the book tests hypotheses posited in the first chapter and is divided into three parts. The first part investigates, through a number of national case studies, how, in practice, workers' rights are treated as human rights in the domestic legal context. These ten chapters cover African, American, Asian, European, and Pacific countries. The second part consists of essays which analyse the operation of regional or international systems for human rights promotion, and their particular relevance to the treatment of workers' rights as human rights. The final part consists of chapters which explore regulatory alternatives to the traditional use of human rights law. The book concludes by considering the merits of various regulatory approaches.

This edited collection is the culmination of a comparative project on 'Voices at Work' funded by the Leverhulme Trust 2010 - 2013. The book aims to shed light on the problematic concept of worker 'voice' by tracking its evolution and its complex interactions with various forms of law. Contributors to the volume identify the scope for continuity of legal approaches to voice and the potential for change in a sample of industrialised English speaking common law countries, namely Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, and USA. These countries, facing broadly similar regulatory dilemmas, have often sought to borrow and adapt certain legal mechanisms from one another. The variance in the outcomes of any attempts at 'borrowing' seems to demonstrate that, despite apparent membership of a 'common law' family, there are significant differences between industrial systems and constitutional traditions, thereby casting doubt on the notion that there are definitive legal solutions which can be applied through transplantation. Instead, it seems worth studying the diverse possibilities for worker voice offered in divergent contexts, not only through traditional forms of labour law, but also such disciplines as competition law, human rights law, international law and public law. In this way, the comparative study highlights a rich multiplicity of institutions and locations of worker voice, configured in a variety of ways across the English-speaking common law world. This book comprises contributions from many leading scholars of labour law, politics and industrial relations drawn from across the jurisdictions, and is therefore an exceedingly comprehensive comparative study. It is addressed to academics, policymakers, legal practitioners, legislative drafters, trade unions and interest groups alike. Additionally, while offering a critique of existing laws, this book proposes alternative legal tools to promote engagement with a multitude of 'voices' at work and therefore foster the effective deployment of law in industrial relations.

This monograph was originally developed as a direct response to the claim made by members of the 'Employers Group' at the 2012 International Labour Conference, namely that the right to strike is not protected in international law, and in particular by ILO Convention 87 on the right to freedom of association. The group's apparent aim was to sow sufficient doubt as to the existence of an internationally protected right so that governments might seek to limit or prohibit the right to strike at the national level while still claiming compliance with their international obligations. In consequence, some governments have seized on the employers' arguments to justify new limitations on that right. The Right to Strike in International Law not merely refutes this claim but is the only complete and exhaustive analysis on this subject. Based on deep legal research, it finds that there is simply no credible basis for the claim that the right to strike does not enjoy the protection of international law; indeed, the authors demonstrate that it has attained the status of customary international law.

Concerns associated with globalisation of markets, exacerbated by the 'credit crunch', have placed pressure on many nation states to make their labour markets more 'flexible'. In so doing, many states have sought to reduce labour standards and to diminish the influence of trade unions as the advocates of such standards. One response to this development, both nationally and internationally, has been to emphasise that workers' rights are fundamental human rights. This collection of essays examines whether this is an appropriate or effective strategy. The book begins by considering the translation of human rights discourse into labour standards, namely how theory might be put into practice. The remainder of the book tests hypotheses posited in the first chapter and is divided into three parts. The first part investigates, through a number of national case studies, how, in practice, workers' rights are treated as human rights in the domestic legal context. These ten chapters cover African, American, Asian, European, and Pacific countries. The second part consists of essays which analyse the operation of regional or international systems for human rights promotion, and their particular relevance to the treatment of workers' rights as human rights. The final part consists of chapters which explore regulatory alternatives to the traditional use of human rights law. The book concludes by considering the merits of various regulatory approaches.

Remedies lie at the heart of European legal systems. They both reflect and shape the balance of power between states and individuals and between state and supranational institutions. These profound political implications can be better understood by thinking about the functional roles and institutional histories of remedies. These implications,roles and histories are considered in this volume of challenging and original essays on remedial systems in Europe. This book explores the lively and often controversial dialogues between courts, national and supranational, on remedies. In so doing, it addresses the adequacy of these dialogues in the light of perceived systemic goals, both in an overall institutional sense and as regards specific sectoral objectives or institutional actors' aspirations. In particular, the book looks at the way in which remedies in the EC legal order interact with those in other legal orders such as the Council of Europe and private international law. It also identifies problems of interaction between different Council of Europe mechanisms under the Convention on Human Rights and the Social Charter. The book also examines the contribution of courts to remedial systems by considering other methods of formulating and redressing claims. Contributors: Claire Kilpatrick, Takis Tridimas, Leo Flynn, Antonio Lo Faro, Carol Harlow, Steve Weatherill, Bernard Ryan, Miguel Poiares Maduro, Henry G.Schermers, Angela Ward, Paul Beaumont, Robin White, Phil Syrpis, Tonia Novitz, Richard Rawlings.