Accountability, Transparency and Democracy in the Functioning of Bretton Woods Institutions


Book Description

This book investigates the strengths and weaknesses – in terms of transparency and compliance with the democratic principle – of Bretton Woods Institutions, considering the most important innovations from the original framework achieved through the introduction of independent accountability and complaint mechanisms (the Inspection Panel and Independent Evaluation Office), but also due to relevant reforms in the internal governance of the International Monetary Fund and the new financial assistance tools. One of its main focuses is on evaluating the socio-economic impact of conditionality in the countries requiring financial assistance, acknowledging the need to strengthen social protection policies in the adjustment programs. In addition, emphasis is given to the effects of the “constitutionalization” of the Washington Consensus in the European Union, with the establishment of the so-called “Berlin-Brussels-Frankfurt Consensus.”




Transparency in Government Operations


Book Description

Transparency in government operations is widely regarded as an important precondition for macroeconomic fiscal sustainability, good governance, and overall fiscal rectitude. Notably, the Interim Committee, at its April and September 1996 meetings, stressed the need for greater fiscal transparency. Prompted by these concerns, this paper represents a first attempt to address many of the aspects of transparency in government operations. It provides an overview of major issues in fiscal transparency and examines the IMF's role in promoting transparency in government operations.




Accountability, International Business Operations and the Law


Book Description

A consensus has emerged that corporations have societal and environmental responsibilities when operating transnationally. However, how exactly corporations can be held legally accountable for their transgressions, if at all, is less clear. This volume inquires how regulatory tools stemming from international law, public law, and private law may or may not be used for transnational corporate accountability purposes. Attention is devoted to applicable standards of liability, institutional and jurisdictional issues, and practical challenges, with a focus on ways to improve the existing legal status quo. In addition, there is consideration of the extent to which non-legal regulatory instruments may complement or provide more viable alternatives to these legal mechanisms. The book combines legaldoctrinal approaches with comparative, interdisciplinary, and policy insights with the dual aim of furthering the legal scholarly debate on these issues and enabling higher quality decision-making by policymakers seeking to implement regulatory measures that enhance corporate accountability in this context. Through its study of contemporary developments in legislation and case law, it provides a timely and important contribution to the scholarly and sociopolitical debate in the fastevolving field of international corporate social responsibility and accountability.




Transparency and Critical Theory


Book Description

This book takes an interdisciplinary approach to the critique of contemporary ideology, offering an innovative genealogy of one of its most fundamental discursive manoeuvres: the ideological effacement of mediation. Providing a comprehensive historical revision of media (from the Greeks to the Internet), this book identifies several critical junctures at which the tension between visibility and invisibility has overlapped with conceptions of neutrality—a tension best incarnated in today's use of the word transparency. Then, it traces this term's evolving semantic constellation through a variety of intellectual discourses, exposing it as a key operator in the revaluation of ideals, sensibilities, and modalities of perception that lie at the core of our contemporary attention-based economy.




Encyclopedia of Law and Development


Book Description

This comprehensive Encyclopedia is an indispensable resource in the area of law and development. Bringing together more than 80 entries, the Encyclopedia spans a variety of approaches, contextualised histories, recent developments and forward-looking insights into the role of law in development. It is an invaluable reference point for scholars seeking to engage with issues at the intersection of law and development from both within and outside of the legal field, as well as a thorough but succinct overview for post-graduate students.




Global Rights?


Book Description

What is the place of human rights law within global governance? How can we safeguard human rights in various sites of global governance? What is the role of the state, non-state actors, and global governance institutions in all this? Global Rights?: Human Rights in Complex Governance interrogates how human rights and global governance interact with various sub-fields of international and transnational regulation to answer these foundational questions. The volume offers a detailed exploration of the role of human rights in global governance contexts, such as the sovereign debt regime, global value chains, development assistance, international food governance, and the laws of war. Through an in-depth study of several global governance regimes based on diverse theoretical and methodological approaches, this volume challenges the mainstream discourse on the evolution of human rights law and its limits. As a result, issue areas that are rarely in conversation with each other--such as the World Bank's practices and the law on the use of force--are examined through a common analytical framework that is both rich and flexible enough to shed new light on individual areas of concern and simultaneously reflect on cross-cutting themes. Bringing human rights experts together with leading scholars in the law of international organizations, public finance, corporations, and use of force, Global Rights? thus serves as a contemporary reflection and set of arguments on how to study and productively think about human rights in complex governance settings.




Public Participation and Foreign Investment Law


Book Description

Public Participation and Foreign Investment Law critically discusses the different forms of public participation that can be found or envisaged in foreign investment law. It provides the first systematic treatment of public participation in foreign investment law in its main forms and from different perspectives.




International Law and Business


Book Description

This book introduces law in the context of international business. The basics of law are explored using a clear comparative methodology. International and regional economic institutions are discussed, next to the fundaments of private law. These include contract law, liability law, labour law, company law, privacy law, intellectual property law and international private law. The book goes beyond the usual focus on Western legal systems and uses examples from all over the world to provide students with comprehensive knowledge of business law. It is set up rather broadly, so that it can be used by teachers throughout their entire curriculum. Each chapter ends with a clear summary. With its colourful cases, this book is accessible and fun to read.




The European Banking Regulation Handbook, Volume I


Book Description

In two volumes, this book covers in a comprehensive, internally balanced, systematic and detailed way the field of European Union (EU) banking law and regulation. In three parts, Volume I offers a brief introduction to the role of banks in the contemporary financial system and the theory of banking regulation, a thorough analysis of international financial standards which are contained in the sources of public international banking law (and of public international financial law, in general), a detailed presentation of the gradual evolution and the sources of EU banking law, as well as a precise analysis of the law-making process and the key institutional aspects of this branch of EU economic law. The standards and rules adopted and the institutions created in the aftermath of the (2007-2009) global financial crisis and the subsequent euro area fiscal crisis, as well as during the current pandemic crisis are discussed, as appropriate. A detailed analysis of the substantive aspects of EU banking law will follow in Volume II




European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2019


Book Description

Volume 10 of the EYIEL focusses on the relationship between transnational labour law and international economic law on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). As one of the oldest UN Agencies, the ILO has achieved considerable progress with respect to labour rights and conditions. The contributions to EYIEL Volume 10 assess these achievements in light of current and future challenges. The ILO’s core instruments and legal documents are analysed and similarly the impact labour standards have on trade and investment agreements. In its regional section, EYIEL 10 addresses recent developments in the US and the EU, including the US’ trade policy strategy towards China as well as the reform of the NAFTA. In its part on institutions, EYIEL 10 focusses inter alia on the role of the rule of law in relation to current practices of the International Monetary Fund and of the WTO’s Appellate Body as an international court. Furthermore, it provides an overview of current cases before the WTO. Finally, the volume entails a section with review essays on recently published books in the field of international economic law and international investment law.