Brazil and England are an ocean apart and their legal systems are very different. Nevertheless, when it comes to the practice of arbitration, after many years, Brazil adopted an irreversible pro-arbitration environment while England has been an arbitration friendly forum for more than a century. When the use of arbitration grows, inevitably, the question of what disputes can be submitted to arbitration will be raised. The natural tendency is to expand the range of disputes, but this could not be understood as a rule, there will always be a limit. Even though arbitration in Brazil and England are not on the same level of sophistication, courts in both nations have been making decisions regarding issues of arbitrability. The question of what matters can be submitted to arbitration is not seen in the same way around the globe; however, hopes and engagements towards uniformity have been welcomed by the international community. This thesis examines the issue of arbitrability through a comparative study between the English and the Brazilian legal system. The scope of the research is to assess if looking at the two countries, one a stable economy with a tradition of arbitration and the other an emerging economy where arbitration has grown expansively over the past ten years, is feasible to seek alternatives on a possible harmonisation. In order to achieve the thesis' goal, the research fIrst provides for a deep examination of what arbitrability is and its implications. After such scrutiny, the comparative study is done by making an analysis of the current Arbitration Acts in England and Brazil, demonstrating how they approach the issue of arbitrability and how the case law concerning the issue of arbitrability compares. The comparative research is done by looking at the functional equivalence that arbitrability has in both legal systems to see in which direction the two nations are going and if they are approaching or distancing themselves from in the international view of arbitrability. The results verify what can be extracted from the English system to be implanted in the Brazilian system and vice-versa. Through this examination, utilising England and Brazil as case studies, the conclusion asserts if there are alternatives leading toward harmonisation or if such an attempt should be excluded from international policies in arbitration.

The lack of complete harmonization at EU level during the electricity and telecommunications reforms allowed for regulatory competition between the Member States. The aim of the thesis is to explore what regulatory lessons can be learnt out of the comparison of the different regulations of the UK and Germany. The major differences between these regulations concern: 1) unbundling, 2) regulatory authorities and 3) Significant Market Power (SMP) regulation. Chapter 1 gives a general basis, through the analysis of the specific regulatory outcomes (prices, market shares and consumer satisfaction) then a more qualitative analysis of the separate legal issues above is carried out in Chapters 2, 3 and 4. Chapter 2 focuses primarily on past regulatory differences in vertical separation of the network: in general a more separationist approach in telecommunications than in electricity. We found that this difference is justified since stronger separation correlated with more companies challenging the incumbent in the electricity sector, while we found no evidence for this in the telecommunications sector. Chapter 3 assesses whether the UK could benefit from the creation of a super-regulator similar to Germany’s Bundesnetzagentur, by merging Ofgem (the energy regulator) and Ofcom (telecommunications regulator). We found that since there is no visible convergence yet between the energy and telecommunications sectors, it would only make sense to merge the UK regulators if this would lead to enhanced cost-effectiveness. Chapter 4 assesses the difference between the electricity and the telecommunications regulation in terms of the use of SMP regulation. SMP regulation is an integral part of the telecommunications regulation, but the concept is not applied in the electricity regulations. We assess whether SMP regulation could benefit the electricity regulations. The conclusion is that the introduction of an SMP-style regulation could be a practical, politically feasible and potentially beneficial alternative solution.

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The use of pharmacotherapy for paedophilic sex offenders (PSOs) has been debated amongst the public, policy makers and scholars regarding the benefits that it brings. Still, controversy remains because pharmacotherapy causes impairment of physical and mental integrity, serious side-­effects, ethical and legal dilemmas, and human rights challenges. This thesis investigates a reasonable way of addressing the concerns over pharmacotherapy for PSOs. There is scope for the law to pursue an approach of depriving sex offenders of their liberty to engage in a sexual relationship with the imposition of pharmacotherapy (Deprivation of Sexual Liberty, DoSL) as a means of addressing their sexual criminal behaviour and in the interests of protecting society. I argue that paedophilia has significant effects on individuals’ capacity to critically reflect on first-­order-­desires which signifies a conflict between first-­order-­desires and second-­order-­desires or higher-­order-­desires. This conflict compromises the capacity of those offenders to make autonomous decisions in terms of being subject to pharmacotherapy. Employing the European Convention on Human Rights as a framework, the use of pharmacotherapy engages or interferes with protected rights. Human rights issues concerning the use of pharmacotherapy for PSOs can be addressed using conformity with the standards established by the Strasbourg Court under Article 3 or being subject to justifiable limitations under Articles 8 and 12. By applying this human-­rights-­based assessment to DoSL, I also argue that this alternative approach to the problem of PSOs is in accordance with the Convention. The originality of this thesis, therefore, lies in three main arguments: (i) pharmacotherapy can be used as an involuntary treatment for PSOs; (ii) it can be adopted by the criminal justice systems as an appropriate and justified punishment for those offenders; and (iii) Deprivation of Sexual Liberty can be considered as an alternative approach to resolve the problem of paedophilic sexual crimes.

The EU Race Equality Directive (RED) was adopted in 2000 to foster the development of a basic legal framework to address racism and, more generally, to put into effect the principle of equal treatment at national level. However, there are some concerns that the effects of the RED have not been as far-reaching as expected. Through a comparative study between Britain and Spain, this thesis analyses whether the RED has triggered effective legislation and policies in these jurisdictions, and which factors and actors may be relevant to improve the effectiveness of racial equality legislation and policies. Initially, the thesis acknowledges that the RED’s potential to trigger effective regulatory strategies at national level is constrained by its underlying enforcement model, based mainly on individual litigation. Building upon the theory of the Social Working of Law, the concept of effectiveness is defined as the combination of ‘ex-ante effectiveness’, which contributes to preventing discrimination, and ‘ex-post effectiveness’, which minimises the negative effects that discrimination has on victims, once it has occured. This distinction is used to frame the comparative analysis, which is conducted in three building blocks. Firstly, it is argued that formal adjudication has intrinsic limitations because victims bear the burden to initiate legal proceedings but, at the same time, the system deters them from doing so. Secondly, it is submitted that a diverse network of advice-providers (ie equality bodies, trade unions and NGOs) and an appropriate use of Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms can contribute to improving ex-post effectiveness. Finally, this thesis also recognises the importance that employers’ policies can have in preventing discrimination, such as those derived from positive duties, collective bargaining and voluntary initiatives. However, the thesis also concedes that the effectiveness of employers’ policies largely depends on the regulatory framework, social awareness about racial discrimination and workforce participation.

The thesis is an analysis of how the complementarity regime of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) can be implemented in member states, specifically focusing on African states and Nigeria. Complementarity is the principle which outlines the primacy of national courts to prosecute a defendant unless a state is ‘unwilling’, ‘genuinely unable to act’, assuming the crime is of a ‘sufficient gravity’ for the ICC. This thesis argues that a mutually inclusive interpretation and application of complementarity should be followed because it will increase domestic prosecutions and reduce self-referrals to the ICC. African states need to have appropriate legal framework in place; implementing legislation and institutional capacity as well as credible judiciaries to investigate and prosecute international crimes. The mutually inclusive interpretation of the principle of complementarity entails that the ICC should provide assistance to states in instituting this framework while being available to fill the gaps until such time as these states meet a defined threshold of institutional preparedness sufficient to acquire domestic prosecution. The minimum complementarity threshold includes proscribing the Rome Statute crimes in domestic criminal law and ensuring the institutional preparedness to conduct complementarity-based prosecution of international crimes. Furthermore, it assists the ICC in ensuring consistency in its interpretation of complementarity. The thesis uses the policy-oriented approach, to define the relationship between the ICC and states as one of interdependence and to demonstrate that decision makers at the domestic level need to join the international community to implement complementarity. Complementarity has been stipulated in the Rome Statute without a clear and comprehensive framework of how states may implement it. The thesis proposes a framework that will hopefully help member states to overcome this problem.

Due to the low domestic savings rate, Turkey is in strong need of foreign capital to finance investment and cover account deficits. However, foreign investors traditionally shy away from companies in which insider control is high. As in the case of many emerging markets, Turkey’s corporate landscape is characterized by a high percentage of family owned companies. Turkey has been classified as an ‘insider system’ in terms of corporate governance, which means that it is shaped by relationships between controlling families and managers. The obscure nature of insider control is a source of concern for foreign investors, as the lack of information and transparency increase the cost of investment. Risk, which affects the potential profit, is one of the main aspects of any decision regarding investment. Therefore, in order to for the Turkish market to gain benefit from the inflow foreign capital, the focus of policy makers should be not only on profitability, but also on transparency and accountability to reduce investment risk. Corporate governance has relatively recently arisen as one of the main factors underlying investment decisions, as it reduces the risk caused by the lack of trust and confidence in the investment environment. However, the level of compliance of Turkish companies with the existing corporate governance standards of Capital Markets Board of Turkey has been quite low. Thus, the new Turkish Commercial Code proposed important reforms towards a corporate governance framework for Turkey. The purpose of this Thesis is to evaluate whether the implementation of the Turkish Commercial Code reforms with regard to corporate governance has had an impact in Turkey’s attempts to attract more foreign equity investors into Turkish Capital Market. The relationship between corporate governance and foreign investment has been studied in other market economies, but studies focusing on Turkish market are rare, and virtually none of them take into account the legal aspects of the problem. Even though there is literature showing an improvement on the corporate governance standards after the new Commercial Code, the effect of corporate governance legislation on foreign investment in Turkey is an issue worthy of further examination. This Thesis contributes to the existing literature by evaluating the effect of corporate governance legislation on attracting foreign investors in the case of Turkey. The findings illustrate that, even though there is still room for improvement, the new regulatory framework has had a positive impact on foreign investors and their perception of the Turkish market.

The predominant understanding of secularism is based on two notions. First, the secular state should be completely or strictly separated from religion. Second, the secular state should be strictly neutral with regard to religion. This understanding of secularism, what I call secularism as strict separation/neutrality, equates neutral to secular and excludes religious arguments a priori from public political debate by invoking secular or public reason. Its more aggressive form, viz. ethical secularism, embraces the whole secularisation thesis as a comprehensive doctrine and thereby aims to impose a secular way of life upon individuals. Both types of secularism have significant exclusionary effects on religious arguments. They are therefore inconsistent with the democratic ideals of equal participation and state neutrality. In order to address this problem, I suggest in this thesis the need to reconsider the relationship between secularism and the place of religious arguments in public political debate. The originality in the thesis lies in its redefinition of this relationship within the context of an alternative understanding of secularism. I argue that the democratic principles of equal participation and state neutrality are best pursued when a facilitative understanding of secularism is embraced. Facilitative secularism is based on three assumptions. First, that there should be a minimum functional, institutional, organisational, and role differentiation between the state and religion, what I call secularism as minimal differentiation. Second, that secularism as minimal differentiation should be delinked from the restrictive interpretations of philosophical and sociological secularisation. And third, that a more inclusive and pluralist framework for public political debate should be generated. This framework should be created by redefining the doctrine of restraint. The place of both religious and secular arguments in public political debate should be determined according to whether they comply, not with secular or public reason, but with the normative criteria of secularism as minimal differentiation and the civic virtues of deliberation. In this study, I also apply this novel understanding of secularism to an illustrative example of the Turkish experience of secularism. The aim is to indicate how well facilitative secularism provides a suitable theoretical and normative framework with respect to expression of religious arguments in public political debate in Turkey.

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