Law Commons^™

Do Independent Boards Behave Differently? Examining The Voluntary Adoption Of Board Monitoring Mechanisms, Anita I. Anand

Anita I Anand

We ask whether firms with an independent board of directors are more likely than firms without an independent board to adopt recommended corporate governance practices designed to enhance the board's monitoring capabilities. Using hand-collected data from Canadian firms listed on both American and Canadian stock exchanges, we find that firms with both types of boards voluntarily adopt corporate governance practices and that independent boards are no more likely to adopt these practices than their non-independent counterparts. One exception to this statement is the formation of board committees. When boards are independent, the audit and compensation committees are far more likely …

The Politics Of International Economic Law: Legitimacy And The Uncitral Working Methods., Claire R. Kelly

Claire R. Kelly

Abstract The process of international lawmaking is, in part, a function of both politics and the attempt to engage in legitimate norms generation. States seek power through process in the international sphere. But States also use process enable representative, transparent, and effective rules. This paper considers how we might begin to deconstruct procedural proposals involving international norm generation by taking a look at a recent controversy over the methods of work at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). It will consider various paradigms to assess the legitimacy claims of international norms as applied to one particular controversy …

Accountability And The Commission On The Limits Of The Continental Shelf: Deciding Who Owns The Ocean Floor, Anna Cavnar

Anna Cavnar

Over the past decade, scholars and government officials have become increasingly concerned that the world is building an international institutional infrastructure that is unaccountable to the states and individuals it supposedly serves. This Article takes the question of accountability to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (the "Commission" or "CLCS"), the international body charged with overseeing delineation of the outer continental shelf – a process which will eventually give more than sixty countries exclusive control over millions of square kilometers of seabed and the resources, including potentially vast oil and gas deposits, found within it. The United …

Table 2. International Standards Of Child Labor In Agriculture, Irina Feofanova

Irina Feofanova

APPENDICES for COMBATING OF CHILD LABOR IN AGRICULTURE: CRITICISM OF EXISTING STANDARDS AND ROLE OF TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS.

Innovative Destruction: Structured Finance & Credit Market Reform In The Bubble Era, Aaron J. Unterman

Aaron J. Unterman

The combination of unregulated financial innovation and human greed has, and will continue to have, dire effects on the international economy. The financial crisis which began in the American sub-prime housing market, and spread across the globe, has devastated the structured finance industry and cast doubts on the new era of credit risk transfer, which had come to represent the achievements of financial innovation. This paper explores the role structured finance played in the credit crisis, dissecting the complex instruments which drove the industry and allowed the American sub-prime housing market to infect the international economy. This paper argues that …

In The Name Of Efficiency, Scott Shackelford

Scott Shackelford

India, the most populous and diverse democracy in the world, has a legal system to match. This system, a composition of ancient Hindi panchayats (village assemblies), Islamic law, and a formal British judiciary, has long been under immense strain, stifling economic competiveness and the pursuit of justice alike. As Lord Delvin famously quipped “If our business methods were as antiquated as our legal methods we should be a bankrupt country.” There are currently nearly 25 million cases pending in Indian courts, some of which have been appealed and argued for more than 20 years. Meanwhile, India spends only .2 percent …

A Strategic Functionalist Approach To International Commercial Mediation, Antonin I. Pribetic

Antonin I. Pribetic

Mediation in the international context is a relatively recent phenomenon. As an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism, third-party neutral mediation is firmly entrenched in the legal ethos and procedural rules of most common law jurisdictions; such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. However, in the rest of the world, including many European, Latin American and Asian nations with civil law traditions, mediation remains an elusive concept. Some commentators suggest this may be due in part to differences in systemic (i.e. adversarial vs. inquisitorial) and cultural (i.e. mediation vs. conciliation) orientations.

This paper considers whether International Mediation is …

International Commercial Arbitration In Cuba, Kevin S. Tuininga

Kevin S Tuininga

This article discusses the prospect of international commercial arbitration in Cuba.

Review Of "Havens In A Storm: The Struggle For Global Tax Regulation", Anthony C. Infanti

Anthony C. Infanti

This short essay is a review of J.C. Sharman’s book "Havens in a Storm: The Struggle for Global Tax Regulation." In the essay, I first provide a brief overview of Sharman’s book, which approaches the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s struggle with tax havens over “harmful tax competition” from a political science perspective. I then describe how the book (and, by extension, this review) will be of interest not only to those in the fields of international tax and international relations, but also to those concerned more generally with the dynamics of struggles between the powerful and the weak. …

Debt To Odious Finance: Avoiding The Externalities Of A Functional Odious Debt Doctrine, Christiana Ochoa

Christiana Ochoa

Christiana Ochoa* Abstract The Odious Debt Doctrine has limped along in the legal imagination for over 100 years and by some estimates even since Aristotle. In recent years, and particu-larly in recent months, legal theorists and practitioners have attempted to define the contours and details of this controversial and undeveloped doctrine. This Article looks at the generally agreed upon characteristics of the odious debt doctrine and considers the spill-over effects and externalities that would ensue if this doctrine were ever made regularly operative. Many commentators have noted the in-creased costs of borrowing and lending that would result from the doctrine. …

Ex Aequo Et Bono: De-Mystifying An Ancient Concept, Leon E. Trakman

Leon E Trakman Dean

The ancient concept, ex aequo et bono, holds that adjudicators should decide disputes according to that which is “fair,” and in “good conscience”. Despite its long history in international adjudication and even though it is enshrined in the Charter of the Permanent Court of International Justice, the concept of ex aequo et bono is often avoided on grounds that it operates outside of law, or is deemed to be contrary to law. This article argues that the concept has a valuable and emerging significance in modern law. It is ideally suited to resolving disputes between parties who are engaged in …

"Legal Traditions" And International Commercial Arbitration, Leon E. Trakman

Leon E Trakman Dean

“LEGAL TRADITIONS” AND INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION The Common and Civil Law systems have guided the enactment of major codes, laws and guidelines that regulate international commercial arbitration. From the doctrine of freedom of contract to the procedural rules governing arbitration hearings, international arbitration has built its legal culture around these two traditions. Recent concerns expressed by luminaries like William Slate, President of the American Arbitration Association, challenge the pervasive influence of these traditions over international commercial arbitration. Is the American tradition of law practice too litigious to serve as a viable model for international commercial arbitration? Is arbitration unduly preoccupied …

"Legal Traditions" And International Commercial Arbitration, Leon E. Trakman

Leon E Trakman Dean

The Common and Civil Law traditions underpin international commercial arbitration. From the doctrine of freedom of contract to the procedures governing arbitral hearings, international arbitration has built its legal culture around these two great traditions. Recent concerns expressed by luminaries like William Slate, President of the American Arbitration Association, challenge the pervasive influence of these legal traditions over modern arbitration. Is the practice of law in the United States too litigious to serve as a viable model for international commercial arbitration? Is the culture of international arbitration unduly steeped in the Common and Civil Law at the expense of other …

Finding Harmony With Uncitral Model Law: Contemporary Issues In International Commercial Arbitration In India After The Arbitration And Conciliation Act Of 1996 , Sandeep S. Sood

Sandeep S. Sood, J.D.

Abstract India’s international commercial arbitration system has undergone substantial changes over the past decade with India’s sudden emergence as a global economic power. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996 was enacted in response to address extreme latency in the court system, attract foreign direct investment, and to establish India as a viable forum for international commercial arbitration. While the enactment of the 1996 Act has proven largely successful on these fronts, significant problems remain in providing interim measures of protection, enforcing and challenging arbitral awards, defining arbitral subject-matter, challenging and removing biased arbitrators. Not coincidentally, tensions remain greatest in …

Finding Harmony With Uncitral Model Law: Contemporary Issues In International Commercial Arbitration In India After The Arbitration And Conciliation Act Of 1996 , Sandeep S. Sood

Sandeep S. Sood, J.D.

India’s international commercial arbitration system has undergone substantial changes over the past decade with India’s sudden emergence as a global economic power. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996 was enacted in response to address extreme latency in the court system, attract foreign direct investment, and to establish India as a viable forum for international commercial arbitration. While the enactment of the 1996 Act has proven largely successful on these fronts, significant problems remain in providing interim measures of protection, enforcing and challenging arbitral awards, defining arbitral subject-matter, challenging and removing biased arbitrators. Not coincidentally, tensions remain greatest in areas …

Cross-Border Outsourcing: U.S. International Tax Pitfalls, Pratfalls, And Opportunities, Anthony C. Infanti

Anthony C. Infanti

During the past decade, there has been a surge in outsourcing by businesses both in the United States and abroad. In the face of this surge in outsourcing as well as the trend toward outsourcing activities that come closer and closer to a business' "core," some commentators have underscored the need for businesses to make an educated decision about whether and what to outsource. This article, which, as its title indicates, is particularly concerned with cross-border outsourcing, is written in the same vein. It provides a non-exhaustive examination of the myriad of circumstances under which a decision to outsource the …