This thesis is concerned with the public control of motorised passenger-carrying vehicles and the effect of control on the development of this sector of the transport industry. The thesis consists of three main sections. In the first part, the origins and implementation of the Road Traffic Act, 1930 are examined. This Act marked the beginning of public control on the bus and coach industry which was then a relatively young and rapidly growing sector of the total transport industry. The implications for road passenger transport following the nationalisation proposals introduced by the Transport Act, 1947, are examined in the second part of the thesis. The 1947 Act did not specifically provide for radical changes in the public control. However, in making provisions for nationwide Schemes for road passenger transport it lay the foundations for substantial change. This section considers the progress of these Schemes and, in particular, documents the slow progress of the first of these for North Eastern England. The final chapter brings together information from the two earlier sections and highlights the more important differences and similarities in approach of the two pieces of legislation. The main objectives of the thesis are to analyse the background and implementation of these two Acts and to place this analysis into an economic framework. The examination of each of the two Acts commences with a review of pertinent economic theory before considering the historical evidence and reaching conclusions about the relevance of economic theory in contributing to our understanding of these events. The analysis benefits from access to new source material: these include Government and Cabinet papers and information from personal interviews conducted with people working in the industry when the Acts were passed. Reference to these new primary sources, in conjunction with a more formal economic framework, has led to a new interpretation of the origins of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, and a substantially more complete knowledge of the problems involved in developing a unified system for road passenger transport under nationalisation. In addition, the provision of an economic framework permits greater analysis not only of the individual Acts but of their similarities and differences and leads to a greater understanding of the legislative process in the transport sector.

The second half of the twentieth century has witnessed the emergence of ecological issues as among the most important problems in the global political agenda. The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that the challenge of ecology is larger than it initially appears to be. It argues that ecological problems represent a deeper problem in the way that the relation of human being to nature is conceptualised in International Relations. The structure of the thesis works through three layers. In the first layer, chapters 1 and 2, the problems in the oceans' ecosystem are presented, with particular emphasis on ocean management system in the south Pacific Cooperation. The impact of the United Nations Convention on the Law of The Sea III (UNCLOS III) in the region and on the ecosystem is analysed with particular emphasis on the species of Tuna. In this analysis the focus is the newly formed Exclusive Economic Zones and the concept of sovereignty. The second layer, chapter 3, begins with an overview of the importance of the concept of sovereignty for the discipline of International Relations. The analysis of the deployment of the concept in UNCLOS III constitutes the middle section. The last section presents the concept of sovereignty in terms of its operational aspect. It argues that sovereign decisions always decide about an exception on life. This move opens up the philosophical constitution of the concept by pointing to the deeper relationship between human beings and nature. The third layer, chapters 4 and 5, engages with the philosophical discussion of the human subject and nature. In chapter 4, the particular anthropocentric constitution of human being through Cartesian and Kantian philosophies is critically analysed. In chapter 5, a Heideggerian formulation of human subjectivity is presented as a new ground of thinking about nature. The conclusion, then, seeks to outline more precisely the implications of the thesis' argument with respect to International Relations.

United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea, or the Rotterdam Rules, is the most recent attempt to modernise and unify the rules governing the carriers ' liability in the field of shipping law. Although not in force yet, the Convention is expected to enter into force in the future and, if/when that happens, it is likely to make a significant impact on English law. This study explores the Rotterdam Rules' treatment of delay, carrier's sub-contractors and multimodal transport. Concentrating on three subjects that currently fall outside the Hague and Hague - Visby Rules either in whole or in part, the study argues that the resulting lacuna in the existing legal framework regulating these three aspects of the carrier's liability gives rise to significant problems, and the existing solutions devised in English law to address these problems fail to offer a complete solution. As a part of its goal to modemise the existing legal framework, the Convention aims to provide solutions to some of these problems; however, having examined the Rotterdam Rules' provisions dealing with delay, carrier's subcontractors and multimodal transport, the study questions the satisfactoriness of this response. This study offers an up to date analysis and a critical evaluation of both English law and the Rotterdam Rules provisions related to its subject matter, drawing attention to less than obvious problems in the existing legal framework and highlighting novel issues with regards to operation of the Convention provisions. Furthermore, the study goes beyond of merely portraying the potential problems with the application of the Rotterdam Rules and also explores possible ways of minimizing these problems, in the event that the Convention is implemented into English law. By way of providing a detailed analysis and recommendations the study intends to assist policy makers in deciding whether to adopt the Rotterdam Rules or not. Although much of the analysis and recommendations are made from the perspective of English law, the study may also be of interest to policy makers in other jurisdictions considering that the problems examined and the solutions proposed largely originate in the above-mentioned international conventions regulating carriage of goods by sea.

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The subject matter of this thesis is the individual — the citizen journalist — who utilises the Internet and its various social media platforms tools in providing information, news and matters of public interest within a socio-political context and engaging with other individuals through commentary, opinion and debate. The central theme of the thesis is the exploration of the interaction between the citizen journalist on the Internet, the media and the law. The thesis premises on the belief that citizen journalism on the Internet needs a legal environment which encourages the protection of the right type of speech that fuels socio-political discussion and debate in matters of public interest. Only then can the positive contribution of citizen journalism on the Internet thrive and the individual's contribution to meaningful discourse can be sustained. Underlying this is the sentiment that the credibility of citizen journalism on the Internet as a positive element in society rests upon its legal recognition. The original contribution of the thesis to knowledge is the exploration of firstly, the extension of the traditional media rights and responsibilities to citizen journalists on the Internet when contributing to socio-political discussion which is in the public interest; and secondly, setting out the development of new legal norms in relation to citizen journalists on the Internet, different from those related to the traditional mainstream media and professional journalists and unique to citizen journalism on the Internet. The legal consideration of rights and responsibilities of citizen journalists on the Internet pivots on the backdrop of the historical contribution of citizen journalism as well as the rise of the phenomenon and the theoretical underpinnings that support citizen journalism on the Internet as an effective tool of speech and expression. The thesis advances the application of constitutional jurisprudence of the freedom of speech and expression to social media activity, the extension of rights and responsibilities of traditional mainstream media to citizen journalists on the Internet, the proposition of novel legal treatment of Internet-enabled citizen journalism and advances new principles in relation thereto.

This work considers the legal fundamentals of EC telecommunications law. The liberalization process in die telecommunications sector was mainly developed by three important Court of Justice cases. Firstly, the British Telecommunications case1 was an early example of the application of competition rules in the telecommunications sector. Secondly, the Tetra Pak case" answered the question whether competition rules can be used to restrain anticompetitive practises in a particular market or market segment. The Court found that Tetra Pak was "in a situation comparable to that of holding a dominant position on the markets in question as a whole". In the literature, this is referred to as Associated Market Dominance. Thirdly, the Oscar Bronner v. Mediaprint3 case examined the essential facility doctrine, and that ruling, though restrictive, suggests that the doctrine may still be of relevance in the telecommunications field. In particular, the case showed that it is likely that an operator with strength on a related market (a mobile market compared to a fixed market) can be found to have control of an essential facility to which access is needed. In particular, incumbent fixed operators, which have benefited from a monopoly regime and its network, funded by the state through taxes, can be considered to control an essential facility. The study examines EC telecommunications law on its way to full liberalization, from the 1987 Green Paper to the fully liberalized market, which was in place in 1998. The considerable achievement over this ten-year period must be acknowledged. It is also shown how Article 86 EC was used by the Commission to force the liberalization process. The conclusion is drawn that "enforcement is the key to success", with some consideration being given to the energy and postal services. Part I ends with a more practical discussion of interconnection, which is considered to be the key element of Community telecommunications policy. In addition, the study examines consumer expectations in the converged fixed/mobile market. It shows that the majority of customers in the telecommunications market will actually subscribe to some form of converged service and that the regulator}' regime for that kind of service needs, therefore, to be carefully tailored to this new environment. As a result, the distinction between fixed and mobile will be less clear, and this requires that the regulatory framework adopts a consistent approach towards the two markets. The study further notes that given the complexity of the sector, consumer protection authorities seem to be willing to let specialist regulators handle the problems. It also discusses the possibility of applying competition rules in the area by, firstly, discussing the level of competition in the market for services and, secondly, the desirability of a market where operators and providers are encouraged to meet the needs of the customers in order to win their business. It continues by discussing the changeover from sector-specific regulation to the application of competition rules, with a special emphasis on significant market power. It also shows that the Commission needs to balance against the application of subsidiarity, tire need for greater certainty, as tire scope of the relevant product and service markets vary among tire different member states. Finally, tire study argues that conversion to reliance on competition rules is dependant on tire degree to which competition law can acquire tire analytical tools to deal with tire technical and commercial aspects of convergence in the field of mobile markets.

This DPhil thesis explores judicial activism in economic telecommunications regulation. It enquires into what factors explain its occurrence. Two debates in different strands of literature - and gaps in them - inspire the research. A first one is that various theories attempt to explain judicial activism, but no general agreement can be found on what factors actually have key explanatory power. The second gap is that the literature on regulation usually considers judicial actors as having a role in the enforcement or accountability stages of the regulatory process but largely ignore the role that they could have in the development of regulation. Empirically, I analyse judicial activism in relation to economic telecommunications regulation through an exploratory comparative study. The two countries, Chile and the UK, are chosen because they have similarities and differences that made them interesting for a comparative project, such as having different legal systems (common and continental law) and having a different political history but similar approaches to regulating telecommunications (privatisation and liberalisation). Through a critical analysis of interviews and of final decisions made by judicial actors in both countries, I explore whether the factors the relevant literature argues explain judicial activism actually do explain judicial activism in the two case studies, whether other factors not found in the literature are important in explaining judicial activism, and - most importantly - how these factors interact. Through the analysis based on the case studies I reach three main conclusions. First, that judicial activism is a jurisdiction specific phenomenon and different factors are found to explain it in each case. Second, the different factors that explain judicial activism - I argue - play different roles. Some are argued to act as enabling factors of judicial activism while others explain judicial activism in an immediate manner, which I call direct drivers. Finally, I argue that the findings of this thesis contribute to debates in different strands of literature, such as legal theory, and specifically descriptive accounts of adjudication.

This thesis explores the key issues surrounding the transmission of digital assets on death. To answer this primary research questions, the author first looks at the legal nature of digital assets, which are defined as any asset of personal or economic value online (capable of post-mortem transmission). She then analyses in depth the three most typical and widely used types of assets: virtual worlds, emails and social networks. In trying to reach decisions on the legal nature of digital assets, the thesis first looks for help to the institution of property. If an asset can be considered the property of the deceased user, then in most countries it forms part of an estate and transmits on death. The same goes for intellectual property (primarily copyright herein). If an asset cannot and should not be considered property, or protected by copyright, then arguably it cannot transmit on death. The thesis finds that email contents, virtual world items and social network contents are not and should not be considered as property. Some of this content can, however, be protected by copyright and thus is transmissible on death. If significant user interests and expectations exist in the transmission of digital assets on death, therefore, legislative action will be required in the areas of copyright and succession laws. The research demonstrates that some of the content, primarily information and personal data, is neither property nor protected by copyright. For this content, the analysis discusses some alternative legal institutions (breach of confidence, data protection) and argues that their protection can be extended to include the deceased users. The thesis thus introduces a novel phenomenon of post-mortem privacy, the protection of privacy interests of the deceased. It argues that this phenomenon merits a policy and legal account and submits that this concept should foster the user’s autonomy and control, preventing the default transmission of digital assets on death. The thesis further looks at the allocation of ownership of assets through service providers’ contracts, finding a contradictory approach of service providers regarding ownership and transmission of digital assets. These contracts usually curtail the users’ autonomy and control over their assets in life and post-mortem. There have been some recent technological developments led by Google and Facebook, which enable an in-service transmission on the death of some of the content associated with these accounts. These solutions are not free from problems, and the thesis evaluates them and proposes some improvements. User’s autonomy is the main underpinning value of the thesis and the basis for some tentative solutions suggested in the thesis.

Litigation PR, as a distinct type of legal communications, is about fighting a case both through the law courts and in public, ‘in the court of public opinion’. Litigation PR practitioners offer effective communications techniques to ensure that the client’s image is completely aligned with the legal representative’s efforts and the litigation strategy, while ensuring the legal team’s and the client’s messages are understood outside the courtroom in different legal jurisdictions during the legal process. This research intends to provide an overview to a series of external forces as well as the main internal drivers in order to explain when and how the new the new institution of Litigation PR evolved in England. As such, this thesis intends to be among the first accounts of the rise and evolution of Litigation PR, this new and, arguably, under-researched branch of PR in England. The evolution in England reflects distinct communication, legal, political, economic and historical traditions. Therefore, it will be claimed in the thesis that the history of Litigation PR in England has an entirely independent historical evolution than that of the new branch in the US where this PR specialist practice originally evolved in the 1980s. The research gives greater explanation as to why the English common law legal system and London as the Litigation PR capital of England are extensively investigated. Accordingly, the thesis also focuses on describing the context within which Litigation PR development took place, the unique features of Litigation PR in England and the consequences of the particular jurisdiction on the practice of this new PR branch. As a historical analysis the thesis also investigates and introduces the economic and legal reforms of the 1980s that provided a uniquely fruitful business climate for the rise and development of the new PR branch, particularly in London. This detailed historical inquiry explores the emergence and evolution of Litigation PR in England in a certain period, from 1992 to 2010. The thesis uses qualitative historical methodology, including analyses of primary as well as secondary sources to introduce the topic addressed. Interviews were undertaken with key senior lawyers, judges and PR practitioners. Accordingly, this historical inquiry interprets the key events, personalities, institutions, as well as the attributes of the legal communications market in London and how these were shaped by Thatcherite liberalization and economic policies from the mid-1980s. The thesis also presents the evolution and significant changes of the civil and criminal procedural rules inevitable to the practice of Litigation PR, and as such, has also determined the historical evolution and the theoretical background of the new branch of PR in England.

This thesis is an examination of the secondary register phenomenon. Also known as "second" or "international" registers, they exist alongside the national register of a particular flag state, but are subject to a different level of regulation. This study situates the development of secondary registers within ongoing debates about globalization and state sovereignty. It also develops a classification system for secondary registers based on whether they are controlled by a parent state or an autonomous offshore jurisdiction. This thesis compares the regulatory regimes and crewing costs on different secondary/national register pairs using port-state control data and seafarer nationality patterns. It also conducts an in-depth case study of the Isle of Man ship register to determine the processes by which it developed, as well as how it interacts with the UK and other state and non-state actors. The results of these investigations suggest that offshore is not necessarily synonymous with deregulation, that the national scale maintains its relevance and that there is a particular need to ground theoretical discussions in empirical analyses. This thesis further argues that Jessop's "competition state" possesses the greatest explanatory power with regard to the Isle of Man ship register, but that broader claims require further research.