This blog entry is based on a talk delivered at the University of Amsterdam in the framework of the SHARES (shared responsibility) project. It discusses how responsibility is shared between the UN and member-States for the adoption and implementation of UN sanctions under Chapter VII of the Charter.

This paper contests Brian Simpson's claim that HLA Hart's book, The Concept of Law, is that of a 'hedgehog,' that is, a monistic thinker. It is not. Hart's work is pluralist both in its explanatory concepts and in its evaluative background. Some conjectures are offered as to why Simpson so misunderstood Hart, and as to why analytic legal philosophy is misunderstood, or distrusted, more generally.

This paper explores moral limits on state action: their sources, character, and stringency. It explains what is special about the liberal tradition: there must be a protected sphere of action, and governments must respect legality. It argues, against Patrick Devlin, that the possible absence of absolute moral reasons against intrusion in a sphere is consistent with justified absolute positive limits on government intrusion. It argues, against John Finnis, that the fact that some associations (e.g. churches or marriages or universities) have intrinsically valuable ‘common goods’ does not entitle them to immunity from government regulation. It concludes by suggesting why certain ‘natural law’ moralities have been considered unreasonably intrusive, for they neglect the significance of moral fallibility for limited government.

Two conceptions of the value of political freedom are popular. According to one, freedom serves autonomy, creating one’s own path through life. According to the other, freedom serves authenticity, keeping faith with an identity one did not choose. This paper bridges the gap between these views in several ways. It shows that autonomy embraces some of the unchosen aspects of life that authenticity stresses, and that authenticity is consistent with scope for choice within an unchosen identity. It is also shows that both views share a stake in a neglected value, self-knowledge. Partisans of authenticity cannot keep faith with their identity if they do not know what it truly is. Partisans of autonomy cannot choose a path in life without knowing what the options are for them, and these options can be affected instrumentally and constitutively by their identity, which they therefore have a stake in knowing. Of course, there can be more than one sound argument in favor of freedom. But contrary to what many suppose, autonomy and authenticity are complementary, not competing, in making that case. The differences between them are matters of nuance and degree.

Analysis of decision of Supreme Court in Rubin v Eurofinance and New Cap v Grant.

ISBN: 03062945

Analysis of decisions of French Supreme Court and of Russian Supreme Court on efficacy of one-sided jurisdiction agreements

ISBN: 0306 2943

Comment on one, but important, aspect of the judgments in Jones v Kernott, pointing out the flaw in the application of the maxim that equity follows the law in the law of co-ownership of land.

ISBN: 0023 933X

This note explains the significance of the Supreme Court decision in Mexcfield v Berrisford

Text of a course on the nature and role of comity in private inernational law derived from lectures given at the Hague Academy in June 2011

ISBN: 9789004227286

DOI: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTNWDR2013/Resources/825

This is a background paper for the World Development Report 2013. It aims to provide a literature review of legal and other instruments aimed at addressing labour market discrimination in developing countries,. The analysis takes place in the context of the understanding of jobs as providing the hinge connecting the three identified transformations at the centre of economic development: living standards, productivity gains and social cohesion. As Juan Somavia, ILO Director -General stated in June 2001: „Every day we are reminded that, for everybody, work is a defining feature of human existence. It is the means of sustaining life and of meeting basic needs. But it is also an activity through which individuals affirm their own identity, both to themselves and to those around them. It is crucial to individual choice, to the welfare of families and to the stability of societies.‟ Yet many people are unable to access decent work because of their gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, age or poverty. Disadvantage in the labour market is disproportionately concentrated among women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, older or younger people and poor people. The report deals with a brief discussion of de jure equality; anti-discrimination laws; the informal sector; and implementation (including affirmative action) in a range of countries: among low income countries, the briefing note considers Kenya, Bangladesh and Nepal; among lower middle income countries, it examines India, the Philippines and Zambia; and among upper middle income countries, it examines South Africa, Botswana, Brazil, Jamaica and the Czech Republic. The countries were chosen to reflect a spread of different cultural, regional, historical and developmental factors, as well as the availability of literature in English. .

This is an empirical research project funded by the New Zealand law foundation, examining how child protection experts experience the adversarial criminal trial system as compared with the more inquisitorial family court system,and the factors which inhibit them from choosing to become involved in expert testimony work. The Nuffield Foundation has invited the researchers to resubmit a funding proposal for a companion study of UK experts, which we will probably do following the conclusion of the New Zealand study, which should result in at least one Journal article.

A Report prepared for the KROC Institute's Sanctions and Security Research Program, assessing reforms to the 1267/1989 sanctions regime of the Security Council against the standards required by European Courts, including the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights.

DOI: 10.2838/82208

The aim of this study is to compare and contrast anti-discrimination and equality laws in the US, Canada, South Africa and India, with a view to inform future development of EU anti-discrimination laws. Comparative law is of great value, particularly in the equality field, where there is increasing cross-pollination across different jurisdictions. At the same time, comparative law carries with it important challenges, as the harmonising project of the EU has itself demonstrated. The four jurisdictions to be examined here share English as a common language as well as, in varying degrees, a common law heritage. However, there are significant differences in historical, socio-economic and political contexts as well as in legal institutions. The challenge is therefore to illuminate universalisableconceptions while at the same time recognising context specificity.

ISBN: ISBN 978-92-79-23769

An examination of freedom of religion or belief as upheld in the constitutions of Commonwealth Member States and why the Commonwealth should hitherto acknowledge freedom of religion or belief more fully as part of the spectrum of Commonwealth concerns.

This is the Preliminary Report of the Study Group on Principles on Engagement of Domestic Courts with International Law. It sets out the Study Group's underlying considerations and seeks to distill a set of principles which guide domestic court engagement with international law. It will be used by the Study Group as guidance for the completion of a number of national and thematic studies, which will then feed into the Study Group's final report.

The drafting of the Commission’s current proposal for a CESL is analysed and assessed. Recommendations for improving the drafting are made. The most important recommendation is to allow for sufficient time during the legislative process in order to avoid the technical mistakes that can be found in the proposal in its current form.