National energy security, parallel with the ultimate goal of emissions reductions, is of utmost priority for the Chinese government. In order to comply with the requirements set by the Kyoto Protocol, the Chinese government announced, on November 25, 2009, that 2020’s CO2 emissions would be reduced by 40%-45% in accordance with the data collected from 2005. Said goal was met three years ahead of schedule. Even in light of such an accomplishment, however, commentators suggest that the overall nationally determined contributions (NDCs) made by the Parties belonging to the Paris agreement are not enough to reduce global warming by even 2°C.
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Climate change is a global phenomenon. Therefore, globalization is the necessary hermeneutical horizon to develop an analysis of the metamorphosis climate change could cause at a political, social, and economic level. Within this horizon, this Article shows how the relationship between the concept of the Anthropocene epoch and the request for justice allows for framing a climate-justice and intergenerational equity–focused political interpretation of the effects of climate change. In order to avoid reducing such an interpretation to merely an ideological critique of capitalism, the conception of climate justice needs to be grounded in a rational, ethical model. This Article proposes that the ethics of responsibility, inspired by Hans Jonas’s well-known philosophy, could work as a promising rational foundation for climate justice. The ethics of responsibility also align with the principles established by the study and analysis of the relationships between science, technology, and society.
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Methane hydrates (hereinafter, MH), for many reasons, are widely recognized as a form of sustainable energy due to their environmentally friendly nature. MH, while burning, produce fresh water, which could in turn offer one possible solution to worldwide shortages of water. MH also maintains the capacity to change the landscape of the global energy supply. According to recent scientific evaluations, the potential global supply of MH is even higher than the total storage of traditional crude oil and conventional natural gas. However, its offshore extraction process could be linked to both catastrophic and non-catastrophic events that may contribute to global warming and climate change, cause harm to human health and life, endanger the flora and fauna, and threaten the very global environment as a whole. Therefore, from a legal viewpoint, an efficient and effective system of civil liability rules seem crucial to control the risks, and to compensate the victims to which damages may occur. This article takes into consideration China’s legal framework in assessing the risks connected to MH offshore extraction. Such a choice for examination is justified by China’s leading position for implementing the technology necessary for extracting MH. This analysis shows that China’s current legal instruments are still far from fully equipped to prevent the risks associated with the offshore extraction of MH, as well as to offer effective remedies for the victims once any damages have occurred. Therefore, more efficient measures and remedies should be considered (or even imposed) to address the specific risks of offshore methane hydrate extraction. Indeed, in the past few decades, China’s environmental protection laws and regulations have mainly focused on the environmental risks that may occur during the process of extracting conventional resources; however, they do not address methane hydrates specifically. This presents a legal challenge for environmental protection laws. The potentially catastrophic events that may occur as a result of the offshore MH extraction processes in particular present a legal challenge for environmental protection laws in China and across the globe. Thus, this article focuses on how to prevent these risks before they even occur, followed by a careful attempt to address compensation efforts for any damages caused by said catastrophes.
Read moreConsidering the fact that its existence is abundant while maintaining the ability to generate freshwater while burning, methane hydrates have been classified as sources of sustainable energy. China currently maintains an international role in developing technology meant to explore offshore methane hydrates buried under the mud of the seabed, their primary laboratory being the South China Sea.However, such a process does not come without its hazards and fatal consequences ranging from the destruction of the flora and fauna, the general environment, and – the greatest hazard of all – the cost of human life. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (hereinafter ‘UNCLOS’), being an important international legal regime and instrument, has assigned damage control during the exploration of methane hydrates as being the responsibilities, and liability, of individual sovereign states and corporations. China adopted the Deep Seabed Mining Law (hereinafter the DSMLaw) on 26 February 2016, which came into force on the 1 of May 2016, a regulation providing the legal framework also for the Chinese government’s role in methane hydrate exploratory activities. This article examines the role of the DSM Law and its provisions, as well as several international documents intended to prevent transboundary environmental harm from arising as a result of offshore methane hydrate extraction. Despite the obvious risk of harm to the environment as a result of such activities, the DSM Law has made great strides in regulating exploratory activities so as to meet the criteria of the UNCLOS. However, this article argues that neither the UNCLOS nor the DSM Law are adequately prepared to address transboundary harm triggered by the exploitation of offshore methane hydrates. In particular, the technology of such extractionis still at an experimental stage, and potential risks remain uncertain – and even untraceable - for cross-jurisdictional claims. The article intends to seek available legal instruments, or models, to overhaul the incapacity within the current governing framework, and offers suggestions supporting national and international legislative efforts towards protecting the environment during methane hydrate extraction.
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Public ownership is closely bound to the need of the government to protect and guarantee the well-being of its citizens. Where the market cannot, or does not want to, provide goods and services, the State uses different tools to intervene, influence, and control some aspects of the private sphere of expression of its citizens in the name and interest of the collectivity. Although, in the past century, this behavior was accepted as one of the expressions of the public authority and part of the social contract, this perception has shifted partially in accordance with the wave of privatization programs initiated in the 1980s and the advent of economic neoliberalism. The aim of the present research is to examine and understand how International Economic Law addresses public ownership. This paper is structured as follows. After the introductory remarks, Section II covers the relationship between public ownership and international economic law. Section II expounds the existing and historical regulatory framework on a state’s interference into the market and the more recent impetus to regulate State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in bilateral and regional Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Section III moves the analysis to China and highlights the challenges to international economic law and WTO Law brought on by Chinese SOEs and the lack of regulation in this context. Lastly, the article analyzes the increase in the use of SOEs to counteract the COVID-19 pandemic and assesses how the relationship between the state and the market will likely change as a result. We argue that in light of the severity of existing global challenges, the “social function” of public ownership and a more proactive role of the State in the economy could enable a more just transition, where the balance between economic development, social values, and a healthy and clean environment will be struck.
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Human societies have witnessed great developments in the last couple of centuries for many reasons, including the use of energy in particular conventional energy resources such as oil and gas. Such developments have resulted in a situation where each state has been seeking to ensure the existence of sufficient and constant energy supplies that allow the functioning of its society, the constant economic growth and the protection of national security. This has been the case where nations with great energy supplies have had the upper hand in geopolitics and in determining the market price. This is why numerous countries that lacked such energy supplies have adopted a strategy of ensuring good relations with the nations exporting conventional energy resources. Particularly, in the last couple decades,these nations have simultaneously started investing in alternative energy sources such as nuclear and renewable energies to reduce dependency on conventional energy sources. Additionally, while some nations have succeeded in using alternative energy sources to reduce such dependency, others have failed despite the huge investments made in this context. Even worse, many nations who have a huge amount of energy reserves have witnessed the so-called resource curse as the populations of these countries did not benefit at all from the exploitation of the natural resources. Yet, regardless of all these realities, energy is still considered as the main element that allows the development and progress of any nation, which is why the focus is on ensuring energy security by any means possible.
Read moreThe ongoing economic instability in several countries and regions throughout the world, along with the volatility of the market and job losses, has lead to an increase in protests that are currently reaching the highest possible levels of conflict against the so-called establishment. Additionally, the growing of political discourse and public opinion regarding the migration crisis and the global fight against terrorism are also providing momentum to some relevant segments of this variegated civil society movements which have continued to express dismay and anger towards human, social, and environmental consequences of the global expansion of world trade and of the monetary and commercial translation of all interpersonal transactions. Majority votes favoring Brexit and other political turmoil happening around European countries, in the United States, and in different parts of the world are just some of the most critical examples on how the existing systems are failing. Specifically, global governance and law with borderless globalization are to blame for the inability to find appropriate solutions to face the challenges of a constantly changing society. Unfortunately, this inability creates a risk that leaves behind an increasing part of the population who are unable to benefit from such globalization. The related fear of the people toward the risks of a world without barriers are very real and concrete. Additionally, the proposed solutions to face these problems are certainly influenced by the negative visions on globalization and liberalism, which neglect to take into account the positive effects of the free trade and liberalization of the markets. For example, more and more political leaders are trying to use this discontent among the society for obtaining an easy consensus, without truly having a real program to improve the life of the people. More importantly, without endorsing the intrinsic dangers, a strong shift back towards nationalism might come to fruition in the long-term as a result. Democratic legitimacy and social justice based on human rights principles should be used as the regulatory framework to structure global expansion of economic welfare as well as WTO rules However, the difficulty and limit of this approach lies in the fact that it affirms both that human rights should guide the process of global legal integration and that the WTO should implement such process. Suggesting that WTO law guarantees respect for fundamental human rights implies a refusal to evaluate the practices of organizations such as the WTO itself and the IMF. The following section of this chapter examines the particularities of China at a crossroads between the “Right to Development” and “NTCs,” given that China still seeks to grow its economy and expand industry to bring millions of more people out of poverty. Simultaneously, it plays an essential role (together with other BRICS countries) in creating a model to “develop” sustainably, with a view towards tackling climate change, avoiding the increasing environmental risks and damages, and balancing the attractions of foreign investments with labor rights, human rights, and public health. The subsequent section titled “Non-Trade Concerns status in the WTO multilateral system” develops a non-exhaustive overview and explores the integration of NTCs in the WTO. In particular, the interplay between environment and trade25 is examined and the prospects for the new acceding Members, taking China as a case study and its accession to the WTO in 2001, the change in the attitude of the WTO DSB while ranking public health issues over trade, the relations between food security and international trade regulations, the difficult balance of the right to access essential medicines and the protection of their IPRs, the respect of other human rights in the multilateral trading system, and the relations between cultural products and public morals.
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China’s accession to the WTO is widely understood as an important step towards greater global market liberalization and integration. However, this step has been also perceived in an ambivalent way. On one hand, the global market liberalization would have never been really completed without participation of such a major player as China. On the other hand, many observers articulated concerns about China’s ability to integrate into the WTO system. In order to tackle the issues of concern, attention was paid mainly to technical issues, which were seen as a precondition for China’s successful integration into the WTO system. For this reason, topics related with market integration, such as e.g. liberalization requirements, as well as topics related with transparency and legal and administrative policies, necessary for securing of just and equitable resolution of commercial and trade disputes, were initially addressed. Still, in the light of the changing and evolving geopolitical climate, it has become more evident that Non-Trade Concerns (NTCs) might be another multifaceted topic requiring special attention. EU and US, becoming increasingly aware of the fact that competition of economies with different level of development might result not only in job losses in developed countries due to relocation of production, but also to general deterioration of environmental, social and health standards, have accentuated the importance of a global consensus on NTCs and their inclusion into EU and US external policies concerning foreign trade and investment. Civil society from the developed world, in general, is afraid that further liberalization may endanger public policies at different levels: environmental protection and sustainable development, good governance, cultural rights, labor rights, public health, social welfare, national security, food security, access to knowledge, consumer protection, and animal welfare. On the other hand, coalition consisting of China and other BRICS countries as well as other developing countries gaining more influence in the WTO and other international fora has been able to articulate discontent with measures adopted by developed countries to address NTCs. The clash between interests of developed and developing countries reveals potential unfairness and inconsistencies of the international system, including the international trade system, which needs to undergo a deep reform to integrate the developing countries’ needs. Many of the measures that developed countries introduce to address NTCs were received by developing countries with suspicion, resistance, and even hostility. Developing countries, including China, doubt the authenticity of such considerations and think they might actually hide protectionist purposes. Additionally, developing countries see these measures as an indirect form of western imperialism whereby they will have no choice but to comply with the social, ethical, and cultural values of the developed states. Nonetheless, not only has China undergone serious reforms and adopted new regulations to address the issue of NTCs, but the country has even begun to play an important role in the international negotiations on NTCs—such as those on climate change, energy, culture, and so on. However, at the same time it provides an opportunity for China and other developing countries to defend their interests in a constructive dialogue with developed countries and restructure the system in order to find a necessary balance between globalization and sustainable development or to shape it according to their interests.
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This paper focuses on the concept of energy security in assessing whether, and how,the priorities related to climate change are gradually changing. After analyzing climate change’s impact on China, conducted via an analysis of the study’s available literature and through the support of international data,this article mainly focuses on the concept of energy security, itself. Under the second section, based on the examination of China’s efforts to transition towards a low-carbon economy, the authors provide a holistic definition of energy security through the lens of three dimensions: energy supply security,energy economy, and energy ecological security. The third section, in turn,addresses the relationship between energy security and climate change. The results presented in the conclusion insist that, in order to strengthen environmental protection in China, it is crucial to reform the highly inefficient and strictly regulated national energy market. In doing so, China’s transition to a low-carbon society and economy could prove less painful, as China’s available resources offer the potential for a strengthened ecological dimension and sustained socio-economic development.
Read moreIn recent years, climate change litigation has increased but many of these cases have failed to achieve their stated objective(s) of legally coercing states to combat global warming. Nevertheless, more recent rulings have signaled a shifting momentum in favor of climate activists, gaining significant international attention. Among these rulings are two cases out of the Netherlands and the United States (U.S.) –– Urgenda and Juliana. The former is considered a great success, given the Dutch state’s mandate to meet and increase its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. The latter is considered a case to build upon, given that the presiding U.S. judge dismissed the case. This article seeks to answer the following question: what lessons may be learned from the success of Urgenda, and the failure of Juliana, for future climate change litigation? The authors highlight two key factors that play vital roles in climate change litigation: the specificity to which the state is coerced to pursue strict environmental regulation and judicial activism affected by the types of demands made by the plaintiffs.
Read morePublic ownership is closely bound to the need of the government to protect and guarantee the well-being of its citizens. Where the market cannot, or does not want to, provide goods and services, the State uses different tools to intervene, influence, and control some aspects of the private sphere of expression of its citizens in the name and interest of the collectivity. Although, in the past century, this behavior was accepted as one of the expressions of the public authority and part of the social contract, this perception has shifted partially in accordance with the wave of privatization programs initiated in the 1980s and the advent of economic neoliberalism. The aim of the present research is to examine and understand how International Economic Law addresses public ownership. This paper is structured as follows. After the introductory remarks, Section II covers the relationship between public ownership and international economic law. Section II expounds the existing and historical regulatory framework on a state’s interference into the market and the more recent impetus to regulate State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in bilateral and regional Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Section III moves the analysis to China and highlights the challenges to international economic law and WTO Law brought on by Chinese SOEs and the lack of regulation in this context. Lastly, the article analyzes the increase in the use of SOEs to counteract the COVID-19 pandemic and assesses how the relationship between the state and the market will likely change as a result. We argue that in light of the severity of existing global challenges, the “social function” of public ownership and a more proactive role of the State in the economy could enable a more just transition, where the balance between economic development, social values, and a healthy and clean environment will be struck.
Read moreIn recent years, climate change litigation has increased but many of these cases have failed to achieve their stated objective(s) of legally coercing states to combat global warming. Nevertheless, more recent rulings have signaled a shifting momentum in favor of climate activists, gaining significant international attention. Among these rulings are two cases out of the Netherlands and the United States (U.S.) –– Urgenda and Juliana. The former is considered a great success, given the Dutch state’s mandate to meet and increase its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. The latter is considered a case to build upon, given that the presiding U.S. judge dismissed the case. This article seeks to answer the following question: what lessons may be learned from the success of Urgenda, and the failure of Juliana, for future climate change litigation? The authors highlight two key factors that play vital roles in climate change litigation: the specificity to which the state is coerced to pursue strict environmental regulation and judicial activism affected by the types of demands made by the plaintiffs.
Read moreClimate change is a global phenomenon. Therefore, globalization is the necessary hermeneutical horizon to develop an analysis of the metamorphosis climate change could cause at a political, social, and economic level. Within this horizon, this Article shows how the relationship between the concept of the Anthropocene epoch and the request for justice allows for framing a climate-justice and intergenerational equity–focused political interpretation of the effects of climate change. In order to avoid reducing such an interpretation to merely an ideological critique of capitalism, the conception of climate justice needs to be grounded in a rational, ethical model. This Article proposes that the ethics of responsibility, inspired by Hans Jonas’s well-known philosophy, could work as a promising rational foundation for climate justice. The ethics of responsibility also align with the principles established by the study and analysis of the relationships between science, technology, and society.
Read moreThe greening of the economy has emerged in recent years as an attempt to integrate sustainability into the economic growth paradigm. Through this, the international community is hoping to finally push the world into a green transition – even, in some instances, at the expense of “pure” economic growth. Against this background, the concepts of green economy and green growth have been examined from a legal standpoint. Numerous international and regional organizations have also addressed these terms, offering guidelines and clarifications. This chapter analyzes the development of these concepts in the legal field, along with the recommendations made by scholars and international organizations. Such analysis highlights several important barriers that should be taken into consideration for the international community in order to keep promoting the green transition.
Read moreIf we imagine the proverb “if the mountain won't come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain” as an equation with two variables, information and communication technologies (“ICT”) and public administration, it will not matter which place each one of them will take in the equation. In the present times of digital disruption, fourth industrial revolution, or even Harari’s looming specter of the so-called dataism, they are compelled to meet at some point, even if they prefer to avoid the encounter. Public administration must adapt to the pulse of the time. Public administrations (and elected representatives) around the world are facing more and more challenges posed by artificial intelligence (“AI”), block-chain technologies, big data and algorithms, and cyber-security. Sometimes, these challenges threaten national security. Policymakers recognize the need to update policies and regulations to reflect the impact these new technologies have made in our society. From another perspective, however, these emerging technologies might be useful instruments for public administrators to improve efficiency, considering its services are ultimately beneficial for the general well-being. Ultimately, successful emerging technologies in the public administration space will be able to facilitate the interactions and business of citizens – living human beings, which have (so far at least) different needs than machines, algorithms, and other technological processes. This article sheds light and focuses on the interplay between public administration, block-chain technology, and citizens. We begin by broadly describing emerging technologies in the context of sustainable development. Consequently, we scrutinize the application of block-chain technology in the field of public administration, its potential to enhance citizens' trust in their government, and block-chain's potential to transform the relationship between public administration and citizens. The article follows a recommendation given by scholars doing research on the block-chain technology, who identified the lack of research on the potential of block-chain “to address societal needs.” Considering the field of ICT is inherently international, and their pervasiveness can be seen as a symptom of border-less globalization, excessive liberalism, and lack of global governance, the paper will make use of relevant examples from a variety of countries irrespective of their regional location.
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Discusses the growing use of no-poaching agreements (NPAs) by employers in the EU and US, and whether they constitute anti-competitive restraints. Reviews the increased US enforcement efforts against NPAs, the less developed position in the EU, and its lack of formal policy statements on the issue. Compares the East Asian approach, and advises companies on practical measures to reduce the risk of their NPAs infringing competition law.
Read moreIn an effort to explore the potential threats that technology creates within the facets of the legal professions, the present article touches upon the ethical obligations of a lawyer receiving metadata inadvertently sent, in a non-discovery context. This analysis emphasizes the ethical pitfalls of the handling of metadata that is discovered by the recipient, without taking deliberate active steps to uncover metadata through mining. Although the present nvestigation builds on the current U.S. regulatory framework, in particular the American Bar Association (ABA) Rules of Professional Conduct (Model Rules) and on the opinions of the different state bars’ ethics commissions, the ethical considerations advanced herein and the further issues raised can be transposed in other jurisdictional arenas, overcoming a narrow normative positivism, and identifying overarching ethical issues that call for further reflection, rather than universal responses.
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Building on a comparative analysis of the principles laid down in case law in the United States and the European Union, this paper addresses the fundamental interpretative issues related to the definition of a regulatory regime for the secondary digital market of music content within the European Union, i.e., a market where digital music content downloaded from a traditional e-marketplace is resold. This analysis is all the more compelling given that electronic communications networks increase the risk of infringement of intellectual property rights, as copyrights become a decisive aspect of the regulation of electronic commerce. Over all, this article aims to map the basic regulatory landscape of this secondary market.
Read moreSolar energy has recently become the subject of heated policy debate across the United States, particularly at the state level. Proponents note that it provides a variety of environmental, public health, and economic development benefits for society and argue that it can help support electric grid operations. Many electric utilities, however, contend that the growth of customer-owned, distributed solar energy systems will create costs that the utilities must pass on to ratepayers. This debate has led to a wide range of technical reports seeking to quantify the costs and benefits of solar energy to electric utilities, ratepayers, and society at large. We review these studies, discuss the different perspectives that they represent, and identify the key variables that have shaped this value-of-solar debate. We conclude by discussing future research opportunities that could help to maximize the benefits of solar energy use while minimizing its potential negative impacts.
Read moreThe Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the key federal agency that responds to natural disasters in the United States (U.S.), yet it has come under great scrutiny for several prolonged- and poorly-coordinated efforts in disaster response and recovery. The increasing frequency and severity of major natural disasters in the U.S. now presents new challenges for emergency preparedness and response teams. This has led to several cases where FEMA’s relief efforts were severely limited due to a lack of electricity during a disaster’s aftermath. To mitigate such circumstances, micro-grids offer value by disconnecting from the centralized electricity grid and operating autonomously, allowing hospitals, military bases, and other key emergency response related facilities to get back online quickly. This article examines how micro-grids can increase distributed generation (e.g., solar photovoltaics and wind), which, in turn, can improve grid resiliency and operations during disasters. Overall, if implemented correctly, the emergence of micro-grid technology could improve and expedite FEMA’s responsiveness to substantial disasters by keeping the power on, as well as allowing local communities to meet the unknown energy needs of the future.
Read moreSolar photovoltaic (PV) energy has provoked intense policy debate at the state level in the United States. Electric utility providers and other interests have fought to scale back or cut favorable state policies as grid-connected solar PV installations have increased. One innovative approach to dealing with these challenges is to permit community net energy metering (NEM) or “shared solar” that allows multiple electric utility customers to share the costs and benefits of ownership in a local solar PV facility. This has stimulated the development of off-site shared solar arrays, or solar gardens, and increased access to PV technology. In Virginia, however, no rules exist that require electric utilities to permit community shared solar through NEM. This article utilizes the punctuated equilibrium theory (PET) framework and a historical institutionalism methodology to examine the political forces that shape state policy and to analyze why Virginia has dismissed community solar legislation multiple times. Such an approach is useful in understanding how other historically laggard states may adopt community shared solar legislation in the future.
Read moreExtension agents are frequently tasked with determining industry clusters that exist in a region to support economic development. However, data suppression issues recurrently prohibit a comprehensive understanding of heavily concentrated firms in a region, particularly in rural areas. This article discusses the use of North American Industry Classification System codes within the LexisNexis Academic database as a technique for locating data about specific firms and analyzing regional industry clusters. This approach provides a practical and cost-efficient method for Extension agents and other researchers and practitioners to identify clusters and gather firm information in small geographies throughout the United States.
Read moreSolar energy policy has become controversial in Virginia and many other states. Proponents point to its environmental, public health, and economic development benefits, and argue that it can help support electric grid operations. However, detractors, including many electric utilities, contend that the growth of customer-owned, distributed solar energy systems will create costs that must be passed on to ratepayers. This article presents a case study in which the authors led a multi-faceted Solar Stakeholder Group to evaluate the costs and benefits of distributed solar energy in Virginia. We examine this project in the context of collaborative planning theory, finding that it created shared learning among participants and facilitated greater understanding of opposing viewpoints, but did not produce a consensus vision for future action. We also note some of the Stakeholder Group's broader contributions to the ‘value-of-solar’ debate and discuss its implications for future distributed solar energy efforts in Virginia.
Read moreOhio’s shale industry serves as a significant facet of the state’s economy, employing nearly 150,000 and contributing over $22 billion of positive impacts as of 2015. With advancements in hydraulic fracturing techniques, and access to the Marcellus and Utica shale plays in the eastern part of the state, Ohio has noteworthy potential for future shale development despite anecdotal discussion of a potential bust of the industry. This research employed a multi-industry economic contribution analysis using IMPLAN and an input-output methodology with 2015 data to quantify the economic contribution of the shale industry across the entire State of Ohio, as well as a 26-county Appalachian Ohio region where most shale extraction activity is taking place. Strong economic impact metrics are found for shale activity, including robust multiplier effects relative to other industries in the state. Out of the six modeled shale-related sectors, Pipeline Transportation, by far, pays the highest wages. Further, in order, the top five counties by total economic contribution per capita are Noble, Monroe, Belmont, Guernsey, and Washington. In fact, roughly 90% of the gross regional product in Monroe and Noble counties is attributable to the shale industry. With these findings, economic development and policy implications are highlighted, which are important as no other shale-play region in the U.S. is so disproportionally affected by resource extraction which contributes to regional poverty and negative pollution effects. Retaining wealth in this region with the legacy of boom-and-bust resource extraction is ever important, and this paper provides a baseline for analysis when looking how the shale industry changes over time.
Read moreAfter historically being driven by coal and, in more recent years, natural gas, Ohio’s energy industry has experienced notable growth in installed solar and wind capacity. Due to changes in consumer tastes and preferences, an overall decline in expenses, and environmental concerns about coal mining and hydraulic fracturing, among others, both public and industry support for renewables has grown. However, Ohio’s renewable energy policies have not consistently aligned with this support. This paper synthesizes reports and analyzes energy industry employment and capacity data in order to summarize the trends within Ohio’s present-day energy industry. After a brief surge, wind activity has stagnated, in part due to expansion of the turbine property line setbacks law. Wind employment has also been relatively erratic, seeing spikes and rapid declines that average to a growth of 13.6% per year from 2013–2016. Conversely, solar energy capacity has grown a bit more steadily due to fewer regulatory restrictions as well as supportive state net metering policies. Correspondingly, solar employment has grown more consistently at a rate of 11.3% per year during our study years. This paper highlights these trends, discusses policy implications moving forward, and makes recommendations for Ohio to stimulate the deployment of additional renewable energy capacity in future years. To accomplish this task, and to enhance sustainable development via renewable energy, we suggest that Ohio ease its wind setbacks and continues to protect the state’s renewable portfolio standard and net metering laws.
Read moreThis article investigates solar photovoltaic deployment through community choice aggregation programs. A case study of a solar energy program facilitated through a public energy council in Southeastern Ohio is highlighted, which used a ‘carbon fee’ model to collect a 0.2 cents per kilowatt hour incremental fee above the standard aggregation rate. This premium funds the development of behind-the-meter solar installations, and may serve as an exemplary approach for other aggregation programs to deploy solar.
Read moreThis study examines the economic, fiscal, and workforce impacts of two Dayton Power & Light (DP&L) coal‐fired power plant closures in Adams County, Ohio. The decommissioning of these facilities, and the closure of an associated training centre, will result in over 1,100 total lost jobs in the Appalachian region. A skillshed analysis revealed that displaced workers transitioning to emerging occupations with similar skill requirements will experience wage decreases. Decommissioned power plants in Ohio no longer pay tangible personal property (TPP) taxes, which will result in $8.5 million in lost tax revenue for local governments. These findings suggest that a multi‐pronged recovery effort will be required to assist this region, which has implications for similar communities in Appalachian Ohio dealing with coal plant closures.
Read moreThis article examines whether policies to incentivize solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the United States are achieving their objectives. We focus on non-utility solar PV, i.e., solar energy systems owned by homes, businesses, and other institutions besides electric utilities. Our study compares the impacts of these policy approaches to those of other non-policy factors such as per capita income, electricity costs, and the availability of solar energy resources. Using a hierarchical regression analysis with cross-sectional data from the years 2012-2013, we find that the most important drivers of non-utility PV deployment are retail electricity rates and available solar energy resources, followed by the presence of personal or corporate income tax credits and net metering policies. These findings indicate a need for stronger net metering policies, adoption of income tax credits over property or sales tax exemptions, and more aggressive renewable portfolio standards that create a more effective solar renewable energy credit market.
Read moreGovernments around the globe enact various energy and environmental policies focused on electricity production and consumption, conservation, waste management, water and air pollution, and many others. The public policy approaches to address such issues often lean toward a status quo that favors more powerful actors who sometimes attempt to stifle innovation. This paper reviews the “Punctuated Equilibrium Theory” framework and how it illuminates novel policy changes in an energy and environment context.
Read moreThe existing forest economics literature contains relatively few economic contribution studies at the state level in the U.S. While some prior studies have aggregated the economic contribution of forest sector activities at the regional or multi-state level, none have specifically calculated this in a comprehensive, homogeneous manner across all 50 U.S. states. Utilizing aggregation schemes in the existing literature, this research computes the economic contribution of multiple sectors of the commercial logging, forestry products, pulp & paper mills, and paper products for all 50 states. These findings have important implications, as strengthening these primary sectors of commercial logging and pulp & paper can help enhance wood products industry clusters and their individual industry sectors throughout the U.S. and breed strong regional economies
Read moreThis paper focuses on community shared solar photovoltaics (PV), an innovative solar energy program design that allows multiple consumers to share the costs and benefits of ownership in an off-site solar PV facility, opening market access to a wider variety of individuals. Community shared solar has been shown in prior literature to achieve cost reductions through economies of scale, as well as ideal project locations, collaborative emissions goals, and enhanced community cohesion, among other positive attributes. However, only 16 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia currently allow community shared solar implementation via formal legislation. Using a punctuated equilibrium framework and semi-structured telephone interviews with policy experts across the U.S. from the solar industry, environmental groups, government, and electric utilities, this research discovers that electric utility lobbying and an overall lack of attention have hindered community solar enabling legislation. However, opportunities exist for future development via increased participation, collaboration, and key events that may alter the policy equilibrium. Such research is useful in understanding how historically laggard energy policy states may adopt community shared solar legislation in the future.
Read moreMethane hydrates (hereinafter, MH), for many reasons, are widely recognized as a form of sustainable energy due to their environmentally friendly nature. MH, while burning, produce fresh water, which could in turn offer one possible solution to worldwide shortages of water. MH also maintains the capacity to change the landscape of the global energy supply. According to recent scientific evaluations, the potential global supply of MH is even higher than the total storage of traditional crude oil and conventional natural gas. However, its offshore extraction process could be linked to both catastrophic and non-catastrophic events that may contribute to global warming and climate change, cause harm to human health and life, endanger the flora and fauna, and threaten the very global environment as a whole. Therefore, from a legal viewpoint, an efficient and effective system of civil liability rules seem crucial to control the risks, and to compensate the victims to which damages may occur. This article takes into consideration China’s legal framework in assessing the risks connected to MH offshore extraction. Such a choice for examination is justified by China’s leading position for implementing the technology necessary for extracting MH. This analysis shows that China’s current legal instruments are still far from fully equipped to prevent the risks associated with the offshore extraction of MH, as well as to offer effective remedies for the victims once any damages have occurred. Therefore, more efficient measures and remedies should be considered (or even imposed) to address the specific risks of offshore methane hydrate extraction. Indeed, in the past few decades, China’s environmental protection laws and regulations have mainly focused on the environmental risks that may occur during the process of extracting conventional resources; however, they do not address methane hydrates specifically. This presents a legal challenge for environmental protection laws. The potentially catastrophic events that may occur as a result of the offshore MH extraction processes in particular present a legal challenge for environmental protection laws in China and across the globe. Thus, this article focuses on how to prevent these risks before they even occur, followed by a careful attempt to address compensation efforts for any damages caused by said catastrophes.
Read moreStates have sovereign rights that allow them to construct nuclear power plants.Moreover, engaging with nuclear power generation makes possible the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (2016-2030) in combating climate change,paramount to the Paris Agreement’s initiatives. In the same vein, however,constructing and operating power plants pose strict dangers to both general safety of the public, and to national security. Thus, plant operations should strictly abide by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standards and international law. As a result, it is important to consider the potential transboundary impacts of nuclear power plants and to conduct an appropriate transboundary environmental impact assessment (EIA). The article examines the construction of the Ostrovets Nuclear Power Plant by Belarus, close to the border of the Republic of Lithuania. The question in focus, however, is as follows: What international procedure can be used to coordinate issues of potentially negative transboundary impacts? Lithuania, in order to avoid the operation of the nuclear power plant, thus sought peaceful settlement of the dispute making use of the dispute resolution mechanisms based on international environmental agreements. The authors of this study show that the treaty bodies, established on the basis of international environmental agreements,provide important assistance in this matter in coordination with the IAEA. The use of these quasi-judicial means of resolving interstate disputes proves effective in pursuing a compromise between economic development and environmental protection. In the absence of such mechanisms at a universal level, one should consider utilizing such mechanisms in other regions of the world.
Read moreThe purpose of this paper is to present the multidimensional issue of an “energy transition” from a philosophical, i.e. conceptual and analytical, point of view. The argument of this paper is that “energy transition” is not simply a technological and economic problem, but also an epistemological, cultural, anthropological and even metaphysical one. Energy transition does not only consist of changing the kind of energy that is produced and consumed to power our modern middle-income societies, from fossil-fuels to renewable energies. Energy transition asks us to understand what is implied in cultural and social terms by such a shift from“grey” to “green” sources of energy that does not only entail qualitative transformation, but also could imply quantitative curtailment. What will be the consequences of our necessary departure from “petromodernity”, i.e. from the mode of living that came with fossil-fuels in modern times that shape our current age of the Anthropocene? To address this question, different dimensions of the philosophy of energy will be studied: epistemological, phenomenological,anthropological, critical and metaphysical. In conclusion, we will, first, propose the notion of a “negative energy tax” to address the problems of “energy injustice”. We will then refer to Bataille to provide an ontology of energy that can help to redefine our assumptions and expectations regarding energy spending.
Read moreAccession of Russia and Kazakhstan to the World Trade Organization (WTO) constitutes a landmark event in the history of this organization, especially in relation to trade in energy, in general, and trade in electricity, in particular. As a result, the role of the WTO in regulating trade in electricity has increasingly grown. However, the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union, a treaty that binds both Russia and Kazakhstan,necessitates additional regulation for trade in electricity, concurrent with law of the WTO. Recently, this treaty was amended by the Protocol on Common Electricity Market on July 1, 2019. As a result, compatibility issues between the rules of the WTO and the Eurasian Economic Union arise. This article concludes that the law of the WTO can be relevant to trade in electricity between member states of the Eurasian Economic Union and third countries because of the specific place of the rules of the WTO under the Eurasian Economic Union legal order.
Read moreThis article focuses on the regulations of the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea (hereinafter as Caspian Sea Convention), which was adopted in 2018.It regulates the development and access to Caspian fossil fuel resources and protects its environment, which are important factors for the sustainable development of the region. The main finding of this paper is that the Caspian Sea Convention, having established the maritime zones, has, for the first time ever, recognized the territorial sovereignty of the individual riparian states in the Caspian Sea and defined its territorial scope. After presenting to the riparian states' their rights and obligations within the newly defined maritime zones, the paper analyzes the new legal framework for the development and use of the natural resources of the Caspian Sea. It also elaborates on the new legal regime for the transportation of resources by means of vessels and submarine pipelines.
Read moreConsidering the fact that its existence is abundant while maintaining the ability to generate freshwater while burning, methane hydrates have been classified as sources of sustainable energy. China currently maintains an international role in developing technology meant to explore offshore methane hydrates buried under the mud of the seabed, their primary laboratory being the South China Sea.However, such a process does not come without its hazards and fatal consequences ranging from the destruction of the flora and fauna, the general environment, and – the greatest hazard of all – the cost of human life. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (hereinafter ‘UNCLOS’), being an important international legal regime and instrument, has assigned damage control during the exploration of methane hydrates as being the responsibilities, and liability, of individual sovereign states and corporations. China adopted the Deep Seabed Mining Law (hereinafter the DSMLaw) on 26 February 2016, which came into force on the 1 of May 2016, a regulation providing the legal framework also for the Chinese government’s role in methane hydrate exploratory activities. This article examines the role of the DSM Law and its provisions, as well as several international documents intended to prevent transboundary environmental harm from arising as a result of offshore methane hydrate extraction. Despite the obvious risk of harm to the environment as a result of such activities, the DSM Law has made great strides in regulating exploratory activities so as to meet the criteria of the UNCLOS. However, this article argues that neither the UNCLOS nor the DSM Law are adequately prepared to address transboundary harm triggered by the exploitation of offshore methane hydrates. In particular, the technology of such extractionis still at an experimental stage, and potential risks remain uncertain – and even untraceable - for cross-jurisdictional claims. The article intends to seek available legal instruments, or models, to overhaul the incapacity within the current governing framework, and offers suggestions supporting national and international legislative efforts towards protecting the environment during methane hydrate extraction.
Read moreThis paper focuses on the concept of energy security in assessing whether, and how,the priorities related to climate change are gradually changing. After analyzing climate change’s impact on China, conducted via an analysis of the study’s available literature and through the support of international data,this article mainly focuses on the concept of energy security, itself. Under the second section, based on the examination of China’s efforts to transition towards a low-carbon economy, the authors provide a holistic definition of energy security through the lens of three dimensions: energy supply security,energy economy, and energy ecological security. The third section, in turn,addresses the relationship between energy security and climate change. The results presented in the conclusion insist that, in order to strengthen environmental protection in China, it is crucial to reform the highly inefficient and strictly regulated national energy market. In doing so, China’s transition to a low-carbon society and economy could prove less painful, as China’s available resources offer the potential for a strengthened ecological dimension and sustained socio-economic development.
Read moreNational energy security, parallel with the ultimate goal of emissions reductions, is of utmost priority for the Chinese government. In order to comply with the requirements set by the Kyoto Protocol, the Chinese government announced, on November 25, 2009, that 2020’s CO2 emissions would be reduced by 40%-45% in accordance with the data collected from 2005. Said goal was met three years ahead of schedule. Even in light of such an accomplishment, however, commentators suggest that the overall nationally determined contributions (NDCs) made by the Parties belonging to the Paris agreement are not enough to reduce global warming by even 2°C.
Read moreHuman societies have witnessed great developments in the last couple of centuries for many reasons, including the use of energy in particular conventional energy resources such as oil and gas. Such developments have resulted in a situation where each state has been seeking to ensure the existence of sufficient and constant energy supplies that allow the functioning of its society, the constant economic growth and the protection of national security. This has been the case where nations with great energy supplies have had the upper hand in geopolitics and in determining the market price. This is why numerous countries that lacked such energy supplies have adopted a strategy of ensuring good relations with the nations exporting conventional energy resources. Particularly, in the last couple decades,these nations have simultaneously started investing in alternative energy sources such as nuclear and renewable energies to reduce dependency on conventional energy sources. Additionally, while some nations have succeeded in using alternative energy sources to reduce such dependency, others have failed despite the huge investments made in this context. Even worse, many nations who have a huge amount of energy reserves have witnessed the so-called resource curse as the populations of these countries did not benefit at all from the exploitation of the natural resources. Yet, regardless of all these realities, energy is still considered as the main element that allows the development and progress of any nation, which is why the focus is on ensuring energy security by any means possible.
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This book, through various differently oriented chapters, tries to give an insight on how the European Union and its multilevel model of governance must try to strike a balance between diverging interests and priorities. In particular, the EU and the European states (including the CoE’s Members) should implement all possible actions to protect individuals’ dignity, along with other important sustainable community priorities such as public health, sustainable development and the protection of the environment, social values, and fundamental freedoms. At the same time the regulations and practices should be able to build-up an appropriate business environment that is sufficiently friendly to corporate activity to permit companies to produce growth and create new job opportunities, without affecting any of the individual substantial rights and liberties. The book contains chapters providing an overview and comparison of different existing practices with constructive suggestions for future policy-making, as well as chapters dealing with more specific issues related to business and human rights. Overall, this book attempts not only to summarize the outcomes of the most intensely debated challenges; it also tries to provide constructive criticism and valuable suggestions for the future for policymakers and legislators to move forward. Business and human rights hold many complex and intricate relations, as well as the interests of subjects who do not have an equal social and legal position. All these diverging values and opposing concerns require a very delicate and diplomatic approach in order to bring clarity and binding security for all the involved stakeholders. Nevertheless, the future outlook of the field looks promising, mainly due to the large amount of documents, frameworks, opinions, and bilateral agreements, but also thanks to the incessant and sometimes constructively obstinate activity of institutions, and national and international courts. This book has the potential to also be one of the sources for fostering incremental positive development in order to consolidate more human conditions and values in the global economy, free-trade and business, which should be primarily for humans. Not only for the privileged ones, but for all human beings.
Read moreAt first sight the potential discrepancy between competitive behavior of market participants, trade rules and the basic notion of sustainable development may seem to be of a negligible importance. However, during the interactions of market processes with sustainability goals through various levels of support, provided by public or private entities problems arise, even more so in the light of the commitments of the Paris Agreement, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and corporate social responsibility principles. This Article aims to address the most obvious overlappings between these areas under the coverage of legal provisions regulating the grant of state aid, subsidies and policies related to mutual cooperation of private subjects towards achieving sustainability. The purpose is to draw conclusions regarding the criteria taken into consideration during the evaluation of competition distorting behaviors in case of environmental and sustainable energy state aid, subsidy- and contract-based cooperation and coalitions among private entities.
Read moreThe adverse position and protests of civil society on economic globalization from the Seattle movement against the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in 1999 to Occupy Wall Street have been primarily fueled by the concerns for the negative consequences and effects that globalization might have, amongst the others, on environmental protection and labor rights. To let the international community better understand that economic liberalization is not merely aimed at ‘pure’ economic growth, it is necessary to take as a model that should be applied on a global scale the integration process of the European Union (EU). Since the establishment of the European Economic Community the four freedom of the Internal Market (people, services, capital and goods) have been essential to reach this objective. The EU is relying on the flexibility offered by the Art. XX of GATT 1994, and broadly the WTO framework to include under its trade policy what has been referred as Non-trade concerns (NTCs). NTCs seek to balance the excess that, a globalization too much focused on economic growth have created. The Regulation EU 995/2010, known as “EU-Timber Regulation” is a leading example of this approach. EUTR, in fact, prohibits the placing and use on the internal market of timber and timber products that come from illegal activities. The aim of the regulation is to enhance trough market restrictions environmental protection, the sustainable use of resources in the EU and abroad. Another example of this approach is the Free Trade Agreement ratified in 2015 with South Korea. The EU-South Korea FTA under its chapter 13 titled “Trade and Sustainable Development” calls for the protection of the environment and of labor rights. Further, the FTA explicitly refers to the discipline of the International Labor Organization (Article 13.4) and to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Article 13.5). The EU should keep following this path to make clear its intention to distinguish between a globalization without a soul and a globalization that increase standard of living, quality of life and environmental protection. Economic sustainability and the inclusion of NTCs should be, therefore, founding values for the EU institutions and citizens.
Read moreChina joined the international community of the United Nations (UN) shortly after the establishment of the organization in 1945. Even though China was to a certain extent treated as an international pariah in the turbulent times following the civil war won by the Mao Ze Dong and the Communist Party, significant success was marked in 1971 when – already as the People's Republic of China – it was awarded a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, originally held by Taiwan. This step might be also interpreted as the international community's tacit approval of One China policy. From the very beginning, China followed a pragmatic approach to its membership in the Security Council in particular and UN in general, considering its personal interests and building coalitions, especially between the countries of global South. As China's economy has grown, the country has also taken over a more active and assertive role in UN. When talking about the Chinese perspective of international law, it is firstly necessary to clarify the Chinese perception of law in general, and the paper will make a brief overview. Additionally, China's accession to the WTO has been an important milestone not only for China, but also for the international community and global economy. China's accession made the WTO a truly worldwide organization. The differences between respective members of the WTO from various regions of the world concern also the values they promote and this paper will focus on Non-Trade Concerns. For instance, China has a different perception of human rights than the Western countries. Moreover, China has demonstrated its willingness to assume responsibility and to foster international action to combat climate change.
Read moreThe natural gas present in the Levant Basin is an energy source of primary importance not only for the states bordering the eastern Mediterranean Sea, but for the European Union as well. Nevertheless, natural gas in this stretch of sea has so far been scarcely exploited, mainly because of the geopolitical tensions that have affected the region for at least a century. Against this context, the present contribution analyzes the normative and regulatory trends among the countries situated to the west of the Levant Basin and the European Union, closely examining the current and potential role played by MedReg, the Association of Mediterranean Energy Regulators, to evaluate the adequacy of current methods of cooperation in energy exchanges.
Read moreWhen an individual has suffered a violation of her human rights by or involving corporations, she should have recourse to a court or quasi-judicial mechanism to enforce responsibility of perpetrator. It appears that the victims of human rights violations by or involving corporations have presently a limited access to a court either in their home country or in the country where the corporation in question is registered or, indeed, in the international arena. The present article attempts to clarify whether existing implementation procedures under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are effective and whether they could serve as a point of departure for enforcing human rights obligations of corporations. The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are the only international corporate responsibility instrument that has been formally adopted by states. In this way, the OECD Member States are obliged to establish National Contact Points, which have primary responsibility to ensure the implementation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises at the national level. In this way, the present article argues national implementation of the OECD Guidelines remains a challenge in a number of countries. To this end, it examines a growing number of jurisprudence under the National Contact Points relates to human rights and it investigates challenges faced by a number of states regarding the implementation of the OECD Guidelines. Finally, a convincing argument can be made that these problems are all surmountable by strengthening the existing implementation system of the National Contact Points. This article lends its support to the growing trends movement arguing for more effective regulation of corporations relating to human rights at national and international levels.
Read moreDrawing borders between countries has historically been a very demanding task, often underpinned by deeply-rooted emotions that suppress the argumentative dialogue and reasoning and in too many cases has led to long-term general deterioration of relationships which may devolve into war. As the title suggests, the focal point of this paper will be a legal assessment or a legal prediction of the outcome of the maritime border delimitation dispute between Slovenia and Croatia in the northernmost part of the Adriatic Sea, namely in the Piran Bay. The paper will be structured into four parts. In the first part the authors will present the factual context of the dispute, followed by a presentation of the legal arguments that both countries have laid on the table so far. In the third hermeneutical part, these legal arguments will be applied to the factual context assessed in light of valid international law and especially the existing jurisprudence on international juridical and non-juridical bodies, including the practice of other states in similar cases. In the last part the authors will predict the outcome of the case as if they were the arbitrators or the judges of a tribunal to whom the dispute between Slovenia and Croatia will most likely eventually be referred to.
Read moreThis article analyses the Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy of the International Labour Organization. It argues that given the current lack of a legally binding international document on human rights obligations of corporations, the focus on work towards legally-enforceable, existing international standards must be sharpened and new standards should be drafted.
Read moreA Review Essay on the 2008 report of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and Transnational corporations and other business enterprises, Professor John Ruggie to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Protect, Respect and Remedy: a Framework for Business and Human Rights AH/HRC/8/5, 7 April 2008.
Read moreOn August 28, 2008, the United Kingdom's National Contact Point (UK-NCP) issued its decision in Global Witness v. Afrimex Ltd. In this case, Global Witness, a non-governmental organization, alleged that Afrimex Ltd. (Afrimex), a British corporation, violated the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD Guidelines) by paying bribes to a rebel group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and purchasing minerals from mines in the DRC that employ child and forced labor. This Insight analyzes this case and its importance for efforts to heighten corporate responsibility for the protection of human rights.
Read moreLawyers, economists and social scientists alike have for a number of years agreed that foreign investment has the potential to act as a catalyst for the enjoyment of an individual’s fundamental human rights, particularly in developing countries. This article discusses and critically analyses corporate human rights obligations and the lack thereof under stabilization clauses in foreign investment contracts. The balance of this article is devoted to exploring three main issues relating to corporate human rights obligations and stabilization clauses. First, stabilization clauses in foreign investment agreements are examined in relation to corporate obligations and responsibility for fundamental human rights. In doing so the substantive and procedural dimension of stabilization clauses is analysed. Second, using the concrete examples of the Mineral Development Agreement between Mittal Steel and the Government of Liberia Mittal Steel Agreement and of the Baku‐Tblisi‐Ceyhan Pipeline Project as case studies, this article considers an application of stabilization clauses in foreign investment contracts in relation to the fundamental human rights obligation of states and of corporations. Third, a proposal for reform in the form of a fundamental human rights clause is introduced. To be clear, the argument here is that the fundamental human rights obligations of investors, particularly of corporations, must be included in foreign investment agreements.
Read moreThe discussion on corporate human rights obligations has been ongoing for some time. More recently, the potential for corporate accountability under a new domain of international law, namely international criminal law, is being explored. This raises questions as to the interrelationship between and the intersection of the two fields of international law. This article argues that the intricacies of accepting corporations as duty-bearers of human rights obligations are of a quite distinct nature than those permeating the international criminal law debate. Moreover, the corporate violations at stake are to a very large extent of a different nature. It is thus argued that the discussions on corporate liability in the two fields of international law run parallel rather than directly intersecting. The debate on corporate human rights obligations may well be informed by potential future developments within international criminal law, but international criminal law is not the panacea that solves all theoretical and practical obstacles surrounding the debate on corporate human rights obligations.
Read moreIn Saadi v Italy, the European Court of Human Rights held that article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits expulsion of individuals to states where they would face a "real risk" of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment. This article analyses the ECHR's reasoning.
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Almost a billion people do not have access to clean and safe water. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation is increasingly being considered a fundamental human right. Corporations play an important role in the realization of the right to water. For example, they can become violators of the right to water where their activities deny access to clean and safe water or where water prices increase without warning. Corporations can have a positive or negative impact on the human rights of individuals, wider communities and indigenous peoples. This paper argues that corporations bear a certain responsibility for the realization of the human right to water, which can be derived from international as well as national (constitutional) law. Corporate obligations under the human right to water can potentially be based on the right to water as set in national law and in the international human rights treaties and in corporate codes of conduct. It is asserted that this responsibility is different and separate from the responsibility of state governments and should never undermine state obligations to observe the human right to water. In short, the paper argues that corporations have an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the right to water deriving primarily from national legal orders.
Read moreThe right to a fair trial is one of the backbones of the rule of law and a conditio sine qua non for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. This article examines whether fair trial guarantees can also be exercised before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Do fair trial guarantees apply and, if not, should they apply to the sports arbitration proceedings before the CAS? If so, is the nature and scope of such fair trial guarantees broader, narrower or the same as in regular judicial proceedings? What happens when the CAS violates one of the fundamental principles of a fair trial? What are the most appropriate ways to improve the guarantee of a fair trial before the CAS? Does the monitoring jurisdiction of the Swiss Federal Tribunal suffice to guarantee procedural public policy guarantees, including fair trial guarantees? This article therefore identifies whether the procedural rules and case law of the CAS should follow all four component parts of the right to a fair trial (the right to a fair hearing, the right to an independent and impartial tribunal established by law, the right to a public hearing and the public pronouncement of judgments, and the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time). The balance of this article explores the nature, value and status of this concept through its fundamental principles developed in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
Read moreInternational law regarding the denial of justice has in past centuries attracted the greatest minds of international legal scholarship. Scholars such as Hugo Grotius and Charles De Visscher have discussed the concept. The last book on this subject was published by Alwyn V. Freeman in 1938. Denial of Justice in International Law by Jan Paulsson is hence an important and necessary contribution to the study of international law, since it tries to shed new light on the subject that has been neglected in past decades. This book offers an original and comprehensive approach to one of the most salient concepts of international law. It arose from the Hersch Lauterpacht memorial lectures given by the author at the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, in the autumn of 2003.
Read moreOn 30 June 2009, the European Court of Human Rights delivered three decisions deriving from the situation in the Basque country, Herri Batasuna and Batasuna v. Spain, Etxeberría and Others v. Spain and Herritarren Zerrenda v. Spain. In Herri Batasuna and Batasuna v. Spain, the European Court of Human Rights upheld the dissolution of the political parties Herri Batasuna and Batasuna, whereas it held in Etxeberría and Others v. Spain and Herritarren Zerrenda v. Spain that the political groups, which wished to continue the activities of the illegal political parties, are also prohibited from presenting candidates in municipal, regional and autonomous community elections. This article will briefly explore some of the basic legal questions arising from the above decisions. It attempts to demonstrate that the Court's analysis is entirely at odds with the functioning of a democratic society, and it argues that the extreme measure of dissolution of Herri Batasuna and Batasuna, Etxeberría and Herritarren Zerrenda may have been avoided by employing less drastic and individualized measures. Despite the Court holding that the dissolution of the political parties and groups was necessary and proportionate, it may have failed to establish the factual basis and therefore also its conclusions are subjected to criticism.
Read moreA short comment on the 2009 report of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, Professor John Ruggie to the United Nations Human Rights Council, “Business and human rights: Towards operationalizing the 'protect, respect and remedy' framework” AH/HRC/8/5, April 22, 2009.
Read moreThis Insight describes and analyzes the 2011 Update of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
Read moreThe association of human rights with business has gained a strong foothold in international, as well as domestic, law. A great number of United Nations (UN) initiatives include a reference to corporate responsibility for human rights. This article attempts to clarify the current attempts within the United Nations to address and regulate corporate responsibility and accountability for human rights at the international level.
Read moreThe relationship between human rights law and business has emerged in recent years as one of the most topical to be discussed and put on the agenda almost worldwide. The activities of corporations in this globalized environment have often served as the catalyst for human rights violations; due to the lack of institutional protection, some corporations are able to exploit regulatory lacunae and the lack of human rights protection. On 9 April 2010 Professor John Ruggie, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, submitted his fifth Report under the title “Business and Human Rights: Further steps toward the operationalization of the 'protect, respect and remedy' framework.” The objective of this article is to examine his 2010 report and to establish whether this Report has contributed to clarifying standards in the field of human rights and business.
Read moreThis article explores the treatment of detainees in treaty and customary international humanitarian law. Detainees are persons who do not or have ceased to take a direct part in hostilities or are hors de combat. It contextualizes the discussion on the treatment of detainees by illustrating an example from contemporary Slovenian history relating to the barbaric treatment of detainees on the Slovenian territory after Second World War, where more than one hundred thousand persons were executed. This article argues that fundamental human rights apply in all situations and that the fundamental guarantees apply during and after the hostilities to all categories of detainees. In this way, it further explores fundamental guarantees, a meeting point between international human rights law and humanitarian law. Based on these findings this article argues that there are strong legal and moral grounds to address crimes against humanity committed in Slovenia against detainees after the Second World War.
Read moreInternational criminal law falls within the areas of international law which have progressively developed in the past two decades. This field of law has come a long way since its first steps in Nuremberg and Tokyo after the Second World War and the more recent establishment and functioning of ad hoc tribunals in the Hague and Arusha and the permanent International Criminal Court. In this way, international criminal law has taken confident and decisive steps towards becoming a full-fledged discipline of international law, and towards ridding itself of non-compliance problems so common to the (non-)functioning of general international law. It must be noted, however, that the status of international criminal law as a full-fledged and independent discipline has never been questioned by its practitioners and scholars. In this sense, the Oxford Companion to International Criminal Justice confirms that international criminal law has come of age and become a full standing discipline within international law.
Read moreThis monograph is one of the first on the contribution of the International Court of Justice (‘ICJ’) to interpreting and developing international human rights and humanitarian law rules and principles. Although such a book has been long awaited by academics, students and practitioners of human rights and public international law worldwide, it has been worth the wait despite its minor weaknesses.
Read moreThis treatise is the first on public international law in Slovenian by a Slovenian author. Although such a book has been long awaited by students, academics and practitioners of international law in Slovenia, it was worth waiting for despite its minor weaknesses. Both the choice of the book title - ‘Foundations of International Law’ - and its length indicate the author’s attempt to present the topic comprehensively and broadly but only in its most essential characteristics.
Read moreThis article aims to assess the achievements and challenges facing transitional justice processes which have taken place in the countries most affected by the armed conflicts resulting in the violent dissolution of the former Yugoslavia and whether, and to what extent, these processes have furthered inter-ethnic reconciliation. The two variables used for this purpose are the scope of individual criminal accountability for war crimes and the scope of reparations provided to victims of the armed conflicts occurring throughout the 1990s and in the early 2000s. The following analysis combines an assessment of relevant international and domestic efforts. Thus, first, the article analyses the impact of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY or tribunal) in the transitional justice processes in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia or BiH), the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Macedonia), Serbia, and Kosovo. Over the last 20 years the tribunal has investigated and prosecuted a considerable number of individuals for mass atrocity crimes. Subsequently, the focus shifts to assessing the domestic efforts surrounding the prosecution of war crimes and awarding of reparations for victims of the armed conflicts in these countries. The article argues that lack of sufficient coordination and close cooperation between international stakeholders and a general reticence on the part of the national authorities to engage meaningfully with past wrongs have resulted in a situation where many perpetrators of war crimes remain unpunished and individual victims have barely received any reparations. The article holds that for the ongoing transitional justice processes to meaningfully further inter-ethnic reconciliation in the republics emerging from the former Yugoslavia continued legal reforms and a pluralistic public discourse, which embrace a strong focus on the rights of victims of war crimes, are necessary.
Read moreOn 24 June 2010, the Austrian Constitutional Court rendered its most recent decision in a series on bilingual topographical signs in the Austrian province of Carinthia in V 9/10-9. The Court held that the difference in size between the German and Slovenian topographical signs for Bleiburg-Pliburg, Drveša vas- Ebersdorf and Žvabek were illegal and unconstitutional. Recall that the Austrian Constitutional Court had already held, on 13 December 2006, that the difference in size between bilingual topographical signs in German and in Slovenian in those places was illegal and unconstitutional and that this had to be resolved. However, this decision was put aside and bilingual topographical signs of different sizes remained in place.
Read moreEarlier this year, on 27 February, a mass demonstration was held in Sarajevo, where 10,000 victims of the Srebrenica genocide expressed their disillusionment with the judgment of the International Court of justice ('ICJ') handed down a day earlier. On 26 February 2007, the ICJ had delivered its decision in the Case Concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v Serbia and Montenegro) {'Genocide Convention Case (Merits)'). One of the victims in the demonstration carried a banner where it was ironically written that 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men were killed by 'aliens'. This is just one indication that the ICJ's decision will have far-reaching consequences regarding the stability of this troubled region. This article examines the decision from a substantive point of view and attempts to shed new understanding on the decision.
Read moreEven though freedom of the press is not absolute and must be balanced with other interests, it is often accorded decisive weight over other rights. Deriving from freedom of expression, freedom of the press belongs to a genus of "heavyweight" rights beneficial to society as a whole. The status of the right in a democratic society was considered in Klein v. Slovakia, a recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights. This case concerned alleged Slovakian interference with freedom of expression under article 10 of European Convention on Human Rights.
Read moreHong Kong’s War Crimes Trials are some of the domestic war trials after the Second World War that have so far been forgotten by domestic and international researchers. They included the prosecution of individuals for violations of the law of armed conflict during the Second World War in South East Asia. Edited by Suzannah Linton, the book offers a clear, authoritative and comprehensive introduction to the subject of Hong Kong’s War Crimes Trials.
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