The author proposes that international law can be strengthened by incorporating and integrating multinational corporations more fully into the international legal system. The establishment of international norms of corporate responsibility and accountability under accepted international law could thereby lead to mutual benefits. Multinational corporations would enjoy de jure protections enhancing their global business activities; and countries where these corporations have considerable social, economic and environmental effect on their communities will have recourse to hold corporations accountable for harmful actions. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.
The author proposes that international law can be strengthened by incorporating and integrating multinational corporations more fully into the international legal system. The establishment of international norms of corporate responsibility and accountability under accepted international law could thereby lead to mutual benefits. Multinational corporations would enjoy de jure protections enhancing their global business activities; and countries where these corporations have considerable social, economic and environmental effect on their communities will have recourse to hold corporations accountable for harmful actions. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.
The principal aim of this work is to provide a forum for leading international lawyers with experience and interest in Africa to address a broad range of intellectual challenges concerning the contribution of African states and peoples to international law. As such, the volume addresses orthodox topics of international law - such as jurisdiction and intervention - but tackles them from an African perspective, and seeks to ask whether, in each case, the African perspective is unique or affirms existing arrangements of international law. The book cannot come at a more important time. While international legal discourse has been captured by the challenge of terrorism since September 11, 2001, there are clear signs that other issues are returning to the fore. Political interest in Africa has undergone a global revival, and the OAU has been transformed into the African Union. Infrastructural challenges, along with those taking place in regional contexts, have effectively mapped a new politico-legal landscape for Africa. This, and more, is explored, and the key normative questions are addressed in a series of essays by leading Africanist scholars. 'This is a remarkable collection of essays that clearly and concisely demonstrates that Africa has and will continue to play a major role in fashioning new norms of international law and policy and contribute to its progressive development by affirming existing norms. Professor Levitt is to be commended for having the vision, leadership and intellectual prowess to produce this excellent text. The book signals a major shift from the study of Africa as a basket case to a normative market place.' Akua Kuenyehia, Vice President, International Criminal Court 'Professor Levitt's work, Africa: Mapping New Boundaries in International Law, is pathbreaking in the true sense of that word. Through old and new voices, it excavates the singular contributions of Africa to a discipline that is marked by Eurocentrism and imperial aspirations. The authors, taking their cue from the indefatigable and insightful Professor Levitt, establish beyond a shadow of a doubt the enormity of the normative contributions that Africa has made to international law. The book must therefore be seen as a defining contribution to the multiculturalization of international law. It is for this reason that Professor Levitt is among the most important American academics working and thinking in international law today.' Makau Mutua, Interim Dean, SUNY Distinguished Professor, State University of New York Buffalo Law School
Public functions are increasingly being outsourced to the private sector. This includes activities that impact on human rights and security. Drawing on insights from various disciplines, this book looks at the costs and benefits of privatization and at whether there are limits to this trend.
The Asper Review of International Business and Trade Law provides reviews and articles on developments in the areas of international trade, business, & economy.
This volume offers a systematic overview of the different tools through which the human rights accountability of transnational corporations may be improved. It first examines the responsibility of States in controlling transnational corporations, emphasizing both the limits imposed by the protection of the rights of investors under investment treaties and the potential of the US Alien Tort Claims Act and other similar extra-territorial legislations. It then turns to self-regulation by transnational corporations, through the use of codes of conduct or international framework agreements. It then discusses recent attempts at the global level to improve the human rights accountability of corporations by the direct imposition on corporations of obligations under international law. Finally, it considers the use of public procurement policies or of conditionalities in the lending policies of multilateral lending institutions in order to incentivize TNCs to behave ethically. Altogether, the book offers a rigorous legal analysis of these different developments and critically appraises their potential.
The Oxford Handbook series is a major new initiative in academic publishing. Each volume offers an authoritative and state-of-the-art survey of current thinking and research in a particular subject area. Specially commissioned essays from leading international figures in the discipline give critical examinations of the progress and direction of debates. Oxford Handbooks provide scholars and graduate students with compelling new perspectives upon a wide range of subjects in the humanities and social sciences. The Oxford Handbook of International Investment Law aims to provide the first truly exhaustive account of the current state and future development of this important and topical field of international law. The Handbook is divided into three main parts. Part One deals with fundamental conceptual issues, Part Two deals with the main substantive areas of law, and Part Three deals with the major procedural issues arising out of the settlement of international investment disputes. The book has a policy-oriented introduction, setting the more technical chapters that follow in their policy environment within which contemporary norms for international foreign investment law are evolving. The Handbook concludes with a chapter written by the editors to highlight the major conclusions of the collection, to identify trends in the existing law, and to look forward to the future development of this field.
Fair and equitable benefit-sharing is a diffuse legal phenomenon in international law. The continued proliferation of benefit-sharing clauses can be explained by their appeal as an optimistic frame in addressing sustainability and equity concerns related to bio-based innovation, the use of natural resources, environmental protection, and knowledge creation. In principle, fair and equitable benefit-sharing serves to recognize, encourage, and incentivise sustainable human relationships with the environment by focusing on equity issues arising from the most intractable challenges of our time, such as loss of biodiversity, climate change, poverty, and global epidemics. Empirical evidence, however, indicates that, in practice, benefit-sharing rarely achieves its fairness and equity objectives, and ends up entrenching or worsening inequitable relationships with little to no benefit for the environment. Instead of focusing on fair and equitable benefit-sharing in sub-specialist areas of international law in isolation, Elisa Morgera assesses the phenomenon from a general international law perspective and through comparison-across international environmental law, international human rights law, international health law, and the law of the sea. Strengthened by insights from local-level case studies in different regions and sectors, this book looks toward overcoming the limitations inherent in individual international regimes and addressing the shortcomings in benefit-sharing implementation. Morgera's topical and comprehensive analysis reveals opportunities to advance fairness and equity in benefit-sharing through a mutually supportive interpretation of international biodiversity law and international human rights law, as well as opportunities to contribute to future research in areas such as international health law, international law on outer space, and international economic law. This is an open access title. It is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International licence. It is available to read and download as a PDF version on the Oxford Academic platform.
