This thesis examines fraud as a basis for the voidability of transfers in Scots law. In particular, it focuses on misrepresentation and fraud on creditors. In so doing, an attempt is made to provide a principled account of the effect of fraud on transfer which can explain the well-established rules in this area, show how these rules fit within the broader framework of private law and provide some guidance as to the appropriate result in cases where a rule is not clearly established. This account depends on examining the development of the law from a historical and comparative perspective, with particular emphasis on the periods during which the relevant rules and institutions were being developed or received in Scotland and on the links between this process and the wider ius commune tradition. The central contention is that avoidance of a transfer on the basis of fraud is justified by a personal right held by the party at whose instance the avoidance takes place. In the core cases, this personal right is a right to reparation for a wrong for which the transferee is liable. At the periphery, the personal right may arise from the law of unjustified enrichment rather than from the law of delict. This characterisation of the basis of avoidance explains the protection afforded to subsequent acquirers and the limited effect which avoidance has in certain circumstances. It shows the interaction between the law of property and the law of obligations in this area and enables principles developed in the context of one instance of fraud on creditors to be applied to difficult problems in relation to other instances.

The enactment of derivative action was expected to be actively used by shareholders to protect their interests. In fact, it turned out that this reform effort seemed futile as the right to engage in such actions was rarely exercised. This raises a question about the role of derivative actions in China; namely, should a derivative action system play a key role in protecting shareholder interests? If the answer is positive, the next question is how such a system could be improved in order to effectively discipline management. The essence of this thesis is to try to address these issues. This thesis argues that derivative action should and can play a key role in China’s corporate governance. First, minority shareholders in China face double agency problems within the company and thus protective mechanisms must be put in place. Second, this thesis formulates its argument by demonstrating the ineffectiveness of market forces and other legal methods. As a consequence, derivative action ought to retain a central role in regulating the misbehaviour of controlling shareholders and managers. After demonstrating the need to strengthen and improve derivative actions in China, this thesis starts to explore Chinas’ derivative actions system. It first examines derivative action cases before Company Law 2005. Despite the absence of a clear statutory basis for derivative actions in Company Law 1993, such cases have nevertheless appeared in the courts. After almost eight years of implementation, less than 80 cases were raised. Whilst this seems a good figure in comparison to other jurisdictions, closer examination shows this not to be the case. For example, the opacity of the demand requirement constitutes a barrier for shareholders wishing to exercise this right. More importantly, the funding rule of derivative actions is treated as the same with other forms of litigation. In view of the unique economic nature of the derivative action, a new funding rule for derivative action should be established. After discussing why derivative actions should play a significant role in monitoring management and how they should be improved, this thesis argues that shareholders are increasingly willing to take this action to protect their rights and interests because of the establishment of commercial society and the existence of the traditional culture of Legalist School. Also, the courts are more capable of dealing with derivative action cases because of the enactment of the Judges Law and the increasing recruitment of more qualified people to the judiciary. It is believed that the effectiveness of derivative action can contribute to foster good corporate governance in China.

This is a normative research on how best to structure financial regulatory agencies and principles consistently with the core objectives of financial regulation in such a manner that can yield an effective regulatory framework for Nigeria. It moves forward the debate on what an effective financial regulatory ought to be relative to a country's national context, its developmental stage and how international financial regulatory best practice principles can be 'woven' into the design of an enduring regulatory architecture in a developing economy such as Nigeria. The thesis contributes to three areas namely: the literature on comparative financial regulation, financial legal transplantation, and financial regulatory reform. On comparative financial regulation, it contributes a developing world perspective on the legal and institutional challenges of financial regulation and how to deal with these challenges. On financial regulatory transplantation, it contributes to the debate on how best to conceptualise a financial regulatory architecture that mirror contemporary international best practices and that fits into the Nigerian context. In relation to financial regulatory reform, the thesis makes two major sub-contributions. First, it links financial regulation in Nigeria with robust and multi-layered regulatory accountability mechanisms including judicial and democratic accountability. Second, it generates principles that can be transformed into laws and policies to achieve the following: (a) the imposition of mandatory inter-agency co-ordination among financial regulators; (b) imposition of a statutory duty on financial regulators to prevent regulatory failure; (c) the imposition of liability for a supervisory failure induced collapse of a financial institution and (or) a financial crisis; (d) the use of irreversible convertible debentures as a corporate governance disciplinary mechanism to deter imprudent business model and to serve as a forward looking strategy to address the 'historical inevitability of financial crises' in the unlikely event that the financial regulatory system fails.

Reinsurance contract as a contract of uberrimae fidei, in contrast to ordinary commercial contracts, attracts a duty of utmost good faith requiring both parties to exercise their best effort and endeavor to help each other to make an informed decision and perform the contract concluded thereon without any dishonesty or deceit. There are various forms of reinsurance which adopt different ceding methods and have specific characters in the placing progress. The unique placing process in London subscription market of such complex and complicated reinsurance contracts by specialist brokers has to certain degree modified the operation of the doctrine of utmost good faith in reinsurance context. Moreover, from partial codification by the MIA 1906 to significant changed by Insurance Act 2015, it is fair to that the doctrine of utmost good faith has experienced one hundred years long revolution. The courts have taken many opportunities to structure the doctrine, establish rules of the tests, confine the scope and clarify remedies for qualifying breach. Such development of the doctrine itself has important affect upon its operation in reinsurance context too. Modification of the doctrine in reinsurance occurs due to several reasons. First, the special placing process in London subscription market affects the formation procedure of reinsurance contracts, consequently reshapes operation of the doctrine. Secondly, the characters of reinsurance contracts distinguished from underlying insurance would have some impact on operation of the doctrine in reinsurance context. In addition, other significant common law rules such as the principle of waiver, which is in extensive use in the reinsurance market practice, will also modify the operation of the doctrine in reinsurance context. Moreover, evolution of the duty itself, from an absolutely strict duty to a duty only requiring fair presentation, and a proposal of a new proportionate regime of remedies brings potential problems of its operation in reinsurance context. Consequently, notwithstanding there has been a long history of the doctrine and clarification of many aspects of the doctrine comes from a reinsurance cases, difficulties and problems still exist in operating such duty smoothly and directly in reinsurance like in direct insurance context. Such problems extend to every specific aspect of operation of the duty in reinsurance context, from the formation to performance, and then remedies for qualifying breach of the duty in claim stage.

Over the last 250 years, insurance law has become insurer biased to the detriment of consumers and modern business. Codification of judicial precedents and business practices resulted in the Marine Insurance Act 1906. There have been two attempts since the late 1950s to recommend changes, with reviews made by the English Law Reform Committee and the Law Commission in 1980. In the late 1970s, the insurance industry bought itself out of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. In 1981, non-legal changes came gradually with the introduction of the Insurance Ombudsman Bureau, which took account of the law but followed best practice. With each decade that has passed, changes in practice have deviated away from the strict legal position. The insurer no longer has an agent to arrange policies, collect premiums and complete claims forms. The late 1980s and early to mid-1990s saw the introduction of distance selling via the telephone. The late 1990s, and early into 2000, saw the massive boom in Internet sales, with search engines focused on finding the best competitively priced quotes from insurers; however, the reforms that were needed still did not occur. The Marine Insurance Act 1906 still applied and formed the basis of insurance law for many common law countries which copied the statue verbatim. As a result, these countries also had similar problems as those suffered by the insured in the UK; however, some have undergone bold reforms, as in the case of Australia, unlike the UK, which has lagged behind significantly. The Scottish Law Commission and the Law Commission instigated a joint root-andbranch review of insurance law in 2006, as a result of a British Insurance Law Association paper (Insurance Contract Law Reform and Recommendations to the Law Commission (2002)) that highlighted the discrepancies in the law towards the insured. Unfortunately, however, the Commissions chose to focus on only certain areas. This thesis does not cover these aspects. It is concerned, however, with what could broadly be termed 'good faith', the corresponding duties vis-à-vis the insured and the insurer pre- and post-contract where the insured suffers disproportionately due to the way the law has developed pro-insurer biased. This body of work supporting the award of a PhD examines these corresponding duties where the articles form a basis of a contemporary, critical examination of these duties, and develops suggestions as to how the joint Law Commissions of England and Scotland should have approached changes.

Die Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit dem neuen belgischen Mobiliarkreditsicherungsrecht aus rechtsvergleichender Perspektive. Das im Januar 2018 in Kraft getretene, umfassend reformierte Gesetz wird mit dem US-amerikanischen, dem deutschen und französischen Recht sowie dem Draft Common Frame of Reference und dem UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions verglichen. / The dissertation is on comparative law and analyses the new Belgian law on secured transactions in movable assets which entered into force in January 2018, marking a broad reform in the law of securities. The new rules are compared to Art. 9 UCC, German and French law as well as the Book IX Draft Common Frame of Reference and the UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions. / Am 1. Januar 2018 ist in Belgien ein Gesetz in Kraft getreten, das das belgische Mobiliarkreditsicherungsrechts grundlegend ändert und modernisiert. Dieses Buch setzt sich zum einen mit den verschiedenen Etappen des Gesetzgebungsprozesses und dem Wandel des gesetzlichen Systems auseinander. Zum anderen werden die neuen Regelungen aus rechtsvergleichender Perspektive betrachtet. Dabei wird insbesondere das Registrierungssystem in den Fokus gerückt und ein Vergleich mit internationalen Vorbildern und Modellgesetzen angestellt. Letztendlich wird die Frage beantwortet, ob das belgische Reformgesetz seiner hauptsächlichen Inspirationsquelle, Art. 9 UCC, gerecht wird und ob es selbst als Vorbild für Reformen – wie der belgische Gesetzgeber hofft – tauglich ist.

The research area of this doctoral thesis is determined by the interaction between legal and technical disciplines such as the Industrial Property (IP) and the industrial or product design respectively. The area they have in common awakens interest from the perspective of identifying a resource that contributes to the key aspect of design and creativity in the search for different and innovative products. One of the main features is that while industrial design can incorporate into a single product ornamental, distinctive and technical functions, the IP system manages these aspects separately. That is why we can say that industrial design is related to the IP through the different types of protection: industrial design, marks (three-dimensional) and patents. In this regards, IP governs the aspects related to the protection of creative methods, additionally it has available the resources of patent databases, identified and consolidated by companies that traditionally considered the industrial property in theirs process design. However, in this research it has been detected additional contributions from judicial interpretations and administrative clarifications of the legal affairs in patents, trademarks and designs. The aforementioned contributions have an impact on the design process in the research phase (analysis of information, establishment of legal-technical, legal-ornamental and legal-distinctive requirements); in the identification of new guidelines for developing conceptualization phase (variation or addition of new ornamental, functional or distinctive features), and in the validation phase (innovation). Additionally, the structure of the patent document has provided guidance for the inclusion of additional information in the documentation phase (technical report on innovation). Furthermore, feedback from professionals and students groups linked to the area of design has been a key factor when developing guidelines for the implementation of the proposed legal tools. Likewise, the opinion of many companies, considered under this study, associated to the design that has had about the IP and design, which has determined that innovation is a highly valued criteria, therefore a methodology that helps to identify the contribution to the "state of the art" of their proposals would be very well accepted; similarly a design methodology that allows companies to minimize the risks of industrial property. The research findings can be summarized with the following products: 1. Study on the role of design and industrial property, applied to the consuming design companies associated to the Industrial Design School of the Faculty of Architecture and Design, University of Los Andes, Venezuela. 2. Value Added Method (MEVA) based on legal considerations such as the identification of common and different elements. 3. Guidelines: Legal-distinctive related to the subject of three-dimensional marks; legal-ornamental related to the subject of industrial design; legal-technical related to patent, extrapolated as design guidelines. Finally, it can be concluded that Industrial Property joins the disciplines that work with product design, illustrating their contribution through the MEVA, which seeks to promote innovation and the registration process to guide the designer in developing new concepts, validating their contribution with respect to competing products, substantiating the emphasis (distinctive, ornamental, technical) of the product and familiarizing it with legal-distinctive, legal-ornamental, legal-technical guidelines of the Industrial Property. / El área de investigación de esta tesis doctoral se determina por la interacción entre las disciplinas jurídicas y técnicas, como la propiedad intelectual (IP) y el diseño industrial o producto, respectivamente. El área que tienen en común despierta interés desde el punto de vista de la identificación de un recurso que contribuye al aspecto clave del diseño y la creatividad en la búsqueda de diferentes e innovadores productos. Una de las principales características es que mientras que el diseño industrial puede incorporar en un solo producto ornamental, funciones distintivas y técnicos, el sistema IP gestiona estos aspectos por separado. Es por ello que se puede afirmar que el diseño industrial está relacionada con la propiedad intelectual a través de los diferentes tipos de protección: diseño industrial, marcas (tridimensionales) y patentes. En este respecto, IP regula los aspectos relacionados con la protección de los métodos creativos, además, tiene a disposición los recursos de bases de datos de patentes, identificados y consolidadas por las empresas que tradicionalmente se consideran la propiedad industrial en el diseño de procesos de ellos. Sin embargo, en esta investigación se ha detectado contribuciones adicionales de interpretaciones judiciales y aclaraciones administrativas de los asuntos legales en patentes, marcas y diseños. Los aportes antes mencionados tienen un impacto en el proceso de diseño en la fase de investigación (análisis de la información, el establecimiento de los requisitos técnico-jurídica, legal-ornamental y jurídico-distintivos); en la identificación de nuevas directrices para el desarrollo de la fase de conceptualización (variación o adición de nuevas características ornamentales, funcionales o distintivos), y en la fase de validación (innovación). Además, la estructura del documento de patente ha proporcionado orientación para la inclusión de información adicional en la fase de documentación (informe técnico sobre la innovación). Por otra parte, la opinión de los profesionales y los grupos de estudiantes vinculados al área de diseño ha sido un factor clave en el desarrollo de directrices para la aplicación de los instrumentos jurídicos propuestos. Del mismo modo, la opinión de muchas empresas, considerado en este estudio, asociada al diseño que ha tenido sobre la propiedad intelectual y el diseño, lo que ha determinado que la innovación es un criterio de gran valor, por lo tanto, una metodología que ayuda a identificar la contribución al "estado del arte "de sus propuestas serían muy bien aceptado; igualmente una metodología de diseño que permite a las empresas para minimizar los riesgos de la propiedad industrial. Los resultados de la investigación pueden resumirse con los siguientes productos: 1. Estudio sobre el papel del diseño y de la propiedad industrial, aplicado a las empresas de diseño de consumo asociados a la Escuela de Diseño de la Facultad de Arquitectura y Diseño, Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela Industrial. 2. Valor Método Agregado (MEVA) en base a las consideraciones legales, tales como la identificación de los elementos comunes y diferentes. 3. Directrices: Jurídico-distintivo en relación con el tema de las marcas tridimensionales; jurídico-ornamentales relacionados con el tema del diseño industrial; técnico-jurídica en relación con las patentes, extrapolado como pautas de diseño. Por último, se puede concluir que la Propiedad Industrial se une a las disciplinas que trabajan con el diseño del producto, lo que demuestra su contribución a través de la MEVA, que busca promover la innovación y el proceso de registro para guiar al diseñador en el desarrollo de nuevos conceptos, validando su contribución con respecto a la competición productos, que justifique el énfasis (distintivo, ornamental, técnica) del producto y familiarizarse con las directrices legales distintivo, legales ornamental, jurídico-técnicos de la Propiedad Industrial.

This thesis investigates the relationship between investment law and the power of states to produce and implement environmental measures. Through a strictly legal approach, and by situating the issue within the framework of public international law, this project endeavours to find avenues for the incorporation of environmental legal obligations within the investment legal regime. The thesis examines the main substantive protections granted to investors by the system of bilateral and multilateral investment instruments, before considering the ways in which, through express provisions, general conflict rules, and procedural means, tribunals can take environmental law into account. This taxonomy is tested in the third part of this work, through the analysis of the jurisprudence issuing from investment tribunals in disputes containing an environmental element.

No description available.

El responsable tributario, en el ordenamiento jurídico español, es un obligado en nombre propio al pago de una deuda tributaria ajena. Dicha naturaleza jurídica tiene repercusiones sobre el régimen jurídico de la responsabilidad tributaria. Así, en cuanto obligación de pagar la deuda tributaria ajena, implica que la relación entre el responsable tributario y el sujeto pasivo o deudor principal no sea de reciprocidad. En segundo lugar, el hecho de que el responsable tributario se encuentre obligado a pagar una deuda tributaria ajena debería concretarse en un principio de subsidiariedad de la responsabilidad tributaria. La tercera implicación que cabe mencionar consiste en la prohibición de extender la responsabilidad tributaria sobre las prestaciones de naturaleza personalísima que componen la deuda tributaria, en particular las sanciones tributarias.Por otra parte, esta obligación de pago de una deuda tributaria ajena solamente podría estar justificada en la medida en que fuera reconducida a los esquemas de la responsabilidad civil extracontractual derivada de la lesión por tercero de un derecho de crédito. La persona que lesiona el derecho de crédito de un tercero, con el que no se encuentra relacionado jurídicamente, debe indemnizar por el daño patrimonial ocasionado. Por esa razón, estaría justificado obligar a pagar la deuda tributaria a la persona que lesiona el crédito tributario, desde fuera de la relación jurídica que une al acreedor tributario y al sujeto pasivo, como indemnización por el daño causado. Entonces, para poder obligar a pagar la deuda tributaria ajena, será necesario que concurran los presupuestos típicos de la responsabilidad civil extracontractual; a saber, la existencia de un daño, de una conducta ilícita y culpable, y una relación de causalidad entre el daño y comportamiento contrario a Derecho. Los casos en los que es posible imaginar una lesión por tercero del crédito tributario son, por un lado, aquéllos en los que el sujeto pasivo actúe a través de un representante, y sea éste quien tenga encomendado el cumplimiento de las obligaciones tributarias; aquellos otros en los que un tercero participa en la comisión de la infracción tributaria por el sujeto pasivo; y, finalmente, los casos en los que la ley obliga a un tercero a prevenir o evitar la lesión del derecho de crédito tributario por el sujeto pasivo. En cualquiera de estos casos, sería admisible imponer a un tercero la obligación de pagar la deuda tributaria ajena, siempre que concurriesen todos los requisitos de la responsabilidad aquiliana. La responsabilidad tributaria dejaría de ser una garantía personal del crédito tributario, para pasar a ser un mecanismo de compensación del daño patrimonial causado injustamente por un tercero extraño a la obligación tributaria.La mayor parte de los supuestos de responsabilidad tributaria existentes en nuestro ordenamiento jurídico, regulados dentro y fuera del articulado de la LGT, nacen como consecuencia de la realización de un hecho ilícito por el responsable. La mayoría pueden ser, además, reconducidos a los esquemas de la responsabilidad civil extracontractual derivada de la lesión por tercero del crédito tributario. Es posible, pues, en todos estos casos, realizar una interpretación correctiva de los propios presupuestos generadores de la responsabilidad tributaria y del régimen jurídico aplicable a la misma, con el fin de aproximarla a los límites de la responsabilidad aquiliana / The nature of the tributary responsibility, as soon as obligation of paying the other people's tributary debt, implies that the relationship among the responsible one tributary and the passive fellow or main debtor is not of reciprocity. In second place, the fact that the responsible one tributary it is forced to pay another people's tributary debt it should be summed up in a principle of subsidiarity of the tributary responsibility. The third implication that is necessary to mention on the material régime of the tributary responsibility, derived of the nature that we come attributing to the same one, it consists on the prohibition of extending the tributary responsibility on the benefits of nature personalist that compose the tributary debt. Said otherwise, the responsible one tributary it cannot be forced to pay those exigible patrimonial benefits to the main debtor that you/they have character personalist. On the other hand, yes that would be exigible to the responsible one the delay interests yielded as consequence of the main debtor's delay, since it is not benefits of character personalist. It is certain that, to demand to the responsible one tributary the payment of the delay interests, supposes to force him to respond of the consequences of a behavior that it is not he attributable. Now then, this is part of the own essence of the tributary responsibility; he/she is also forced to pay a born tributary debt of the realization of a budget in fact in which has not intervened and, in fact, in the measure in that the passive fellow has not carried out the payment