Constitutional Amendments

Constitutional Amendments

Author: Richard Albert

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2019-07-15

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 0190640499

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Constitutional Amendments: Making, Breaking, and Changing Constitutions is both a roadmap for navigating the intellectual universe of constitutional amendments and a blueprint for building and improving the rules of constitutional change. Drawing from dozens of constitutions in every region of the world, this book blends theory with practice to answer two all-important questions: what is an amendment and how should constitutional designers structure the procedures of constitutional change? The first matters now more than ever. Reformers are exploiting the rules of constitutional amendment, testing the limits of legal constraint, undermining the norms of democratic government, and flouting the constitution as written to create entirely new constitutions that masquerade as ordinary amendments. The second question is central to the performance and endurance of constitutions. Constitutional designers today have virtually no resources to guide them in constructing the rules of amendment, and scholars do not have a clear portrait of the significance of amendment rules in the project of constitutionalism. This book shows that no part of a constitution is more important than the procedures we use change it. Amendment rules open a window into the soul of a constitution, exposing its deepest vulnerabilities and revealing its greatest strengths. The codification of amendment rules often at the end of the text proves that last is not always least.


Constitutional Change in Singapore

Constitutional Change in Singapore

Author: Jaclyn Neo

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-12-09

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 1351666614

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Once a ceremonial position modelled after the constitutional monarchy in the United Kingdom, the office of the President of Singapore was transformed from an appointed to an elected one in 1991. As the head of state, but not the head of government, the elected President was to have additional discretionary powers involving the spending of financial reserves, appointment of high-ranking public servants, and certain ministerial powers to detain without trial. In 2016, a constitutional commission was convened to consider further reforms to the office and the elections process. This book explores Singapore’s presidency, assessing how well it has functioned, discussing the rationales for an elected presidency, and evaluating the constitutional commission’s recommendations for reforms, including the need for minority representation in the office. In doing so, the book provides important reflections on how the constitutional reform process raises crucial questions about the rule of law and the practice of constitutionalism in Singapore.


Maritime Piracy and the Construction of Global Governance

Maritime Piracy and the Construction of Global Governance

Author: Michael J. Struett

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-05-07

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 1136278893

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Piratical attacks have become more frequent, violent, costly and increasingly threaten to undermine order in the international system. Much attention has focused on Somalia, but piracy is a problem worldwide. Recent coordination efforts among states in South East Asia appear to have helped in the area, but elsewhere piracy has expanded. Interestingly, international law has long recognized piracy as a crime and provided tools for universal suppression, yet piracy persists. In this book, a handpicked group of leading experts in the field of International Relations use maritime piracy as a means to expose the incongruities in our understanding of global governance. Using broadly constructivist approaches to understand international actors’ responses to the challenges created by maritime piracy, the contributors question a number of myths and misconceptions around piracy and analyze the various ways that international law and organizations channel actors’ understandings of maritime piracy and their efforts to respond to it. In doing so, they expose some shaky foundations for IR theorists: how do we conceive of governance and legitimacy when they are delinked from the territorial aspect of the modern nation-state? What happens to prospects for cooperation when we get to the nitty-gritty questions of practice related to paying for trials, imprisoning and maintaining captured pirates, bearing the burden of policing sea-lanes, or even determining what constitutes a pirate? Does anyone have a monopoly on the legitimate use of force at sea, and how is that legitimacy constructed? Maritime Piracy and the Construction of Global Governance offers an improved theoretical understanding of the response of the international community to maritime piracy and broadens our understanding of the complex and sometimes countervailing motivations of all the actors involved, from international organizations and states down to the pirates themselves.


The Mekong: A Socio-legal Approach to River Basin Development

The Mekong: A Socio-legal Approach to River Basin Development

Author: Ben Boer

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-12-22

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 1317657780

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An international river basin is an ecological system, an economic thoroughfare, a geographical area, a font of life and livelihoods, a geopolitical network and, often, a cultural icon. It is also a socio-legal phenomenon. This book is the first detailed study of an international river basin from a socio-legal perspective. The Mekong River Basin, which sustains approximately 70 million people across Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, provides a prime example of the socio-legal complexities of governing a transboundary river and its tributaries. The book applies its socio-legal analysis to bring a fresh approach to understanding conflicts surrounding water governance in the Mekong River Basin. The authors describe the wide range of uses being made of legal doctrine and legal argument in ongoing disputes surrounding hydropower development in the Basin, putting to rest lingering caricatures of a single, ‘ASEAN’ way of navigating conflict. They call into question some of the common assumptions concerning the relationship between law and development. The book also sheds light on important questions concerning the global hybridization or crossover of public and private power and its ramifications for water governance. With current debates and looming conflicts over water governance globally, and over shared rivers in particular, these issues could not be more pressing.


Maritime Cross-Border Insolvency under the UNCITRAL Model Law Regime

Maritime Cross-Border Insolvency under the UNCITRAL Model Law Regime

Author: Jingchen Xu

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-12-10

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 1509935983

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This book covers the pressing issues of cross-border cases involving admiralty and bankruptcy law. For example, what should happen when a shipowner files an insolvency proceeding in one country, while at the same time facing an in rem action against its vessel in another country? Should the in rem action arising in one country be stayed or dismissed because of the existence of insolvency proceedings in another country? The book discusses the relevant issues regarding the treatment of maritime creditors throughout insolvency proceedings, the determination of the 'centre of main interest' of an offshore shipping company, and the scope of a debtor's assets. The author uses a comparative law analysis, selecting four leading shipping countries – Australia, the UK, the US, and Singapore – and examines their approaches to the above three problems when applying the UNCITRAL Model Law regime. The book also proposes a solution to help eliminate the ambiguity arising from maritime cross-border insolvency cases under the UNCITRAL Model Law regime, with a view to enhancing the development of the shipping industry.


The Legal Regime of Straits

The Legal Regime of Straits

Author: Hugo Caminos

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014-12-22

Total Pages: 531

ISBN-13: 1107003768

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An account of the legal regime of straits and the allocation of rights and duties relating to transit passage.


International Law and the Genetic Resources of the Deep Sea

International Law and the Genetic Resources of the Deep Sea

Author: David Kenneth Leary

Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 9004155007

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Deep-sea genetic resources and the interest of the biotechnology industry in their exploitation are emerging as a significant challenge for international oceans governance. This book is the first comprehensive examination of this issue and explores its relationship with marine scientific research and other activities in the deep sea. As well as a detailed survey of the state of industry interest in this new field of biotechnology it also sets out proposals for future sustainable management of these resources utilizing many existing international law and policy regimes.


Maritime Terrorism and the Role of Judicial Institutions in the International Legal Order

Maritime Terrorism and the Role of Judicial Institutions in the International Legal Order

Author: Md Saiful Karim

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2016-10-05

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 9004329293

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In Maritime Terrorism and the Role of Judicial Institutions in the International Legal Order, Md Saiful Karim offers a critical analysis of the role of judicial institutions in combating maritime terrorism. This book comprehensively examines the existing international legal framework for combating maritime terrorism and argues for a an updated framework to tackle modern threats. In particular, Karim highlights the important task of national courts in the prosecution of suspected maritime terrorists as well as the settlement of disputes arising from maritime terrorism. It fills in important gaps in the existing literature and proposes a path for the influence of international juridical institutions.


Transboundary Environmental Governance

Transboundary Environmental Governance

Author: Simon Marsden

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-02-24

Total Pages: 397

ISBN-13: 1317008057

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Effective protection of the marine and terrestrial environment increasingly requires cooperation between neighbouring States, international organizations, government entities and communities within States. This book analyses key aspects of transboundary environmental law and policy and their implementation in Asia, Australasia and Australian offshore territories, and surrounding areas beyond national jurisdiction including Antarctica. It discusses the potential for implementing key transboundary environmental mechanisms such as the 1991 Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention) and its 1997 Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (Kiev Protocol) in Australia and Asia drawing on experience from other regions and the potential application of these agreements to all UN member states. The book makes an innovative contribution to research in the area of transboundary environmental governance particularly as it applies to Asia, Australasia and international areas, supplementing similar research which has predominantly focused on Europe and North America.