Este trabalho apresenta, a partir de uma análise comparativa, o poder normativo das agências reguladoras no direito norte-americano e o poder normativo das agências reguladoras no direito brasileiro. Inicialmente, aborda os dois grandes sistemas jurídicos ocidentais: common law e romano-germânico. Após, analisa a origem, a definição e as principais características das agências reguladoras norte-americanas e das agências reguladoras brasileiras. Segue examinando no que consiste o poder normativo das agências reguladoras norte-americanas e o poder normativo das agências reguladoras brasileiras, em face das respectivas ordens jurídicas. Propõe, assim, identificar entre os dois modelos pontos comuns e divergentes, de modo a contribuir para a compreensão dos conceitos e institutos introduzidos nos últimos anos no plano político e jurídico do Estado brasileiro. This research presents, from a comparative analysis, the rulemaking power of the regulatory agencies in the North American law and the rulemaking power of the regulatory agencies in the Brazilian law. Initially, it deals with the two great occidental law systems: common law and German Romanic. Thereafter, it analyzes the origin, the definition and the main characteristics of the North American regulatory agencies and of the Brazilian regulatory agencies. It follows examining what the rulemaking power of the North American regulatory agencies and the rulemaking power of the Brazilian regulatory agencies consist of, regarding the respective law. Then, it proposes to identify common and divergent matters between the two analyzed models, so as to contribute to the comprehension of the concepts and institutions introduced in the past few years in the political and law order of the Brazilian State.

Este trabalho apresenta, a partir de uma análise comparativa, o poder normativo das agências reguladoras no direito norte-americano e o poder normativo das agências reguladoras no direito brasileiro. Inicialmente, aborda os dois grandes sistemas jurídicos ocidentais: common law e romano-germânico. Após, analisa a origem, a definição e as principais características das agências reguladoras norte-americanas e das agências reguladoras brasileiras. Segue examinando no que consiste o poder normativo das agências reguladoras norte-americanas e o poder normativo das agências reguladoras brasileiras, em face das respectivas ordens jurídicas. Propõe, assim, identificar entre os dois modelos pontos comuns e divergentes, de modo a contribuir para a compreensão dos conceitos e institutos introduzidos nos últimos anos no plano político e jurídico do Estado brasileiro. This research presents, from a comparative analysis, the rulemaking power of the regulatory agencies in the North American law and the rulemaking power of the regulatory agencies in the Brazilian law. Initially, it deals with the two great occidental law systems: common law and German Romanic. Thereafter, it analyzes the origin, the definition and the main characteristics of the North American regulatory agencies and of the Brazilian regulatory agencies. It follows examining what the rulemaking power of the North American regulatory agencies and the rulemaking power of the Brazilian regulatory agencies consist of, regarding the respective law. Then, it proposes to identify common and divergent matters between the two analyzed models, so as to contribute to the comprehension of the concepts and institutions introduced in the past few years in the political and law order of the Brazilian State.

Magister Legum - LLM / The so called business judgment rule (hereinafter referred to as ―the BJR or the rule‖) that serves to protect directors from liability for negative consequences of honest, reasonable business decisions that went wrong, was developed by the American judiciary in the early 19th Century.2 Percy v. Millaudon, a Louisiana Supreme Court decision quoted above, articulated what is now referred to as the BJR.3 This case provides the earliest expression of the American BJR.4 Delaware courts subsequently issued a series of cases formulating the BJR as a presumption.5 Although the earliest expression of the rule was provided by a Louisiana court, the dissertation will focus on the Delaware case law formulation of the rule.6 The essence of the BJR is that judges should not second guess directors‘ decisions if certain elements of the BJR are fulfilled.7 Courts are required to exercise caution when dealing with claims brought by either stakeholders or shareholders against directors who have made bona fide, also referred to as good faith, business decisions.8 In order to be protected by the BJR and for it to act as a safe harbour, the court will determine whether certain requirements have been met before applying the rule.9 The Delaware courts formulated the BJR as a presumption and in order for directors to be protected by the rule they must have made an informed business decision, in good faith and in the honest belief that the decision will be in the best interest of the company.10 As will be discussed later, this formulation of the rule is referred to as the traditional BJR. In addition to the aforementioned formulation, another formulation was provided by the American Law Institute (hereafter referred to as the ―ALI formulation‖).11 Initially there had been difficulties codifying the ALI version of the rule but later it was successfully codified in paragraph 4.01(c) of the ALI Corporate Governance Project.12 This formulation requires a director to ensure that he has no personal interest in the matter, he is reasonably informed of the matter prior to making the decision and he rationally believes the decision will be in the best interest of the company.13 If the director complies with the aforementioned requirements, the director will be considered to have acted in good faith.14 Directors owe fiduciary duties to the company and in instances where they breach one or more of these duties they can incur personal liability.15 The rule thus emerged because of the need to protect directors and it serves as a safe harbour for those individuals who made a decision in conformity with the aforementioned requirements.16 In commercial terms the rule bestows economic freedoms and freedom of entrepreneurship to directors guided, in any case, by ―the best interest of the company‖.17 The most commonly cited reasons for the existence of the rule are that it promotes risk taking, encourages competent persons to serve as directors, prevents judicial second-guessing and promotes judicial efficiency. It further provides directors with sufficient freedom to manage the company and it ensures that the interest of shareholders and those of directors are balanced.18

The problem of this study was to compare two approaches to teaching concepts of American law and government as to their relative effects on achievement, attitude, and critical thinking performance of high school students.

Despite Brazil’s importance in the world economy and its increasing participation in foreign trade, there is considerable legal uncertainty regarding the law applicable to international commercial contracts involving Brazilian parties because Brazilian judicial courts do not respect parties’ freedom to choose the governing law, thus this determination is only made by a judge, according to Private International Law rules of the forum. Applying these rules, this study demonstrates that there are at least three potential legal regimes: the Brazilian law, the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, and a foreign domestic sales law. Making use of the American law as the foreign law, a comparative analysis of these three legal regimes regarding contract formation demonstrates that their approaches are very distinct, and this confirms the legal uncertainty. In order to reduce this problem, three different strategies are proposed to the Brazilian government.

Despite Brazil’s importance in the world economy and its increasing participation in foreign trade, there is considerable legal uncertainty regarding the law applicable to international commercial contracts involving Brazilian parties because Brazilian judicial courts do not respect parties’ freedom to choose the governing law, thus this determination is only made by a judge, according to Private International Law rules of the forum. Applying these rules, this study demonstrates that there are at least three potential legal regimes: the Brazilian law, the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, and a foreign domestic sales law. Making use of the American law as the foreign law, a comparative analysis of these three legal regimes regarding contract formation demonstrates that their approaches are very distinct, and this confirms the legal uncertainty. In order to reduce this problem, three different strategies are proposed to the Brazilian government.

Most of today's college students perceive higher education as the most critical element to their future success, quality of life, financial security, and general well-being. Consequently, more and more students entering colleges and universities choose to major in professional or pre-professional programs such as business, engineering, pre-med or pre-law. The majority of past research has concentrated on student attrition and retention in undergraduate education for the majority population. These studies have not enabled scholars to obtain a deeper understanding of the factors relating to minority populations -- especially those from the Hispanic community. In addition, the majority of these studies have not provided an understanding of students' progress and eventual success in legal education. The purpose of this study was to determine which variables from commonly accepted foundational theories on higher education retention, attrition, and student development are applicable to the first-year experiences of Hispanic students enrolled in a Juris Doctorate Program at an accredited law school at a public institution who are the first in their family to attend. Using both a survey instrument and narrative interviews, the study revealed that first-generation Hispanic students are disadvantaged compared to their peers when it came to understanding important law school financial, cultural, and academic issues. While family support, faculty relationships, law school study/support groups, academic mentoring, and academic advising positively influenced first-year progress; the respondents' cultural identity and race negatively impacted faculty and peer interactions both in and out of the classroom. The lack of need-based financial aid, higher tuition costs associated with legal education, tuition deregulation, increased debt from borrowing, and poor information about financial assistance all negatively affected their success. The negative effects of stress and anxiety permeated numerous first-year experiences including law school orientation, law school classes, final exams, grades, and figuring out how to pay for school. These results should help key stakeholders associated including faculty and administrators to better understand minority student issues and the impact of stereotype threats specific to the legal education context in an effort to reduce first-year attrition rates and improve minority access to the legal profession. / text

Les accidents de transport aérien international de passagers sont sources de contentieux complexes, notamment parce qu’il s’agit d’affaires souvent multipartites, engendrant parfois une constellation de procédures pour un même fait générateur en raison de la pluralité de nationalités des demandeurs et défendeurs ainsi que de règles de compétence divergentes selon la qualité des défendeurs. Même si le transport aérien reste le moyen de transport le plus sûr, sa massification a conduit à la multiplication de ce contentieux, d'autant plus que la volonté de protéger les passagers a conduit les juges nationaux à une appréhension large de la notion d'accident au sens des conventions internationales. Le mouvement d'uniformisation en droit aérien n'a pas pour autant suffi à résoudre la complexité de ce contentieux. Ces conventions ne constituent pas un ensemble de règles autonomes. Elles ne règlent pas nombre de questions de droit et accordent un rôle central à la lex fori. Ainsi, malgré l'existence de ces conventions, les accidents de transport aérien international de passagers sont fortement propices au forum shopping. Plus encore, la Convention de Varsovie de 1929 et la Convention de Montréal de 1999 institutionnalisent le forum shopping en prévoyant une multiplicité de fors compétents au bénéfice du demandeur. De plus, le forum shopping est parfois exercé par le défendeur. L'absence de juridiction internationale compétente en la matière conduit inévitablement à des divergences de solutions, aucun juge ne pouvant revendiquer le monopole de l'interprétation. Cette thèse se concentrera essentiellement sur la comparaison des solutions juridiques françaises et états-uniennes. / International passenger air transport accidents often give rise to complex litigation, as they involve a diversity of parties, with a myriad of proceedings triggered by the same causing event as plaintiffs and defendants may have different nationalities and be governed by different jurisdictional rules according to their personal status. Although air transport is the safest means of transport, its massification has led to a sharp rise in litigation, as domestic courts, seeking to secure passengers’ utmost protection tend to give an extensive meaning of the term “accident”, as used in international treaty law. Although air transport law has become more uniform, these remain highly complex litigations as relevant conventions do not offer self-contained regimes. They leave many legal issues unsolved, leaving a pivotal role for lex fori, and do little to discourage forum shopping. Both the 1929 Warsaw Convention and the 1999 Montreal Convention enshrine the doctrine forum shopping as they offer plaintiffs a diversity of convenient fora. Defenders too may avail themselves of a diversity of fora. The absence of an internationally competent court leads to inconsistent outcomes as no court may lay claim to the only valid construction of a particular case. This focus of this thesis is a comparative analysis of French and U.S. legal solutions.

La Chine a adopté le 27 août 2006 la loi « sur la faillite de la République populaire de Chine », consacrant la transition d’une économie socialiste, où peu de place était accordée aux droits des créanciers et des débiteurs, à une « économie socialiste de marché » où les droits des créanciers et des débiteurs se trouvent restaurés. La protection des créanciers est ainsi devenue l’une des principales préoccupations du droit chinois des procédures d’insolvabilité afin de favoriser l’investissement et de promouvoir la croissance économique de la Chine depuis son adhésion à l’Organisation mondiale du commerce. Eu égard à la place actuelle de la Chine dans l’économie mondiale, il est essentiel d’analyser le droit chinois des procédures d’insolvabilité ainsi que sa mise en œuvre afin de pouvoir apprécier la situation réservée aux créanciers et la pertinence de ses dispositifs de traitement des difficultés des entreprises, que l’on mettra en perspective avec ceux des droits français et américain.Ce droit chinois de l’insolvabilité se caractérise par sa prévisibilité pour les créanciers,qui peuvent envisager le déroulement des procédures d’insolvabilité tout en mesurant les risques, et par sa reconnaissance de leurs droits sur les actifs du débiteur, en particulier lorsque ces créanciers sont privilégiés. Il se révèle favorable aux créanciers en ce qu’il organise des procédures conformes aux standards de la pratique internationale du traitement de l’insolvabilité. Néanmoins, il se révèle insuffisant tant par ses carences en matière procédurale et substantielle qu’en raison des incertitudes qui subsistent dans sa mise en œuvre et dans la recherche des responsabilités. / China has adopted on August 27th, 2006 the "Bankruptcy Law of the People's Republic of China" consecrating the transition from a socialist economy, where little consideration was given to the rights of creditors and debtors to a "socialist market economy" where the rights of creditors and debtors are restored. Creditors protection has therefore become a major concern of insolvency proceedings under Chinese law in order to favor investment and promote economic growth of China since its accession to the World Trade Organization. Given the current position of China in the global economy, it is essential to analyze the insolvency proceedings under Chinese law and their implementation in order to assess the situation reserved to the creditors and the pertinence of the companies difficulties treatment solutions, putting them into perspective with those under French and American laws. Insolvency proceedings under Chinese law are defined by their predictability for creditors enabling them to consider the progress of these proceedings while measuring the risks, and by the recognition of creditors’ rights over the assets of the debtor in particular when they are secured creditors. They are favorable to creditors by complying with standards regarding international practice of insolvency treatment. Nevertheless, they are insufficient to creditors both by their deficiencies in procedural and substantive matters and by uncertainties subsisting in their implementation and in responsibilities research.

Le présent mémoire a pour but de présenter une analyse des règles de droit s'appliquant aux sûretés grevant des valeurs mobilières indirectement détenues, ou détenues auprès d'un intermédiaire, en Amérique du Nord. Afin de procéder à cette étude, il sera nécessaire d'expliquer brièvement le fonctionnement du système de détention indirecte des valeurs mobilières et de déterminer la nature juridique de la valeur mobilière indirectement détenue et des droits de l'investisseur à son égard. Une analyse critique sera faite des différents cadres juridiques nord-américains applicables aux sûretés grevant ce type de valeurs mobilières en examinant, d'abord, les règles du droit civil québécois. Seront ensuite étudiées les règles du droit des sûretés des provinces canadiennes de common law de même que les règles du droit américain. Un tel examen nous permettra d'identifier les lacunes de chacun de ces cadres juridiques et de constater le manque d'uniformité entre eux. Afin d'apporter des solutions juridique à ce manque d'uniformisation, le présent mémoire analysera finalement les objectifs recherchés et les règles proposées par la Conférence pour l'harmonisation des lois au Canada, UNIDROIT et la Communauté européenne en matière d'harmonisation des règles du droit des sûretés grevant des valeurs mobilières indirectement détenues. / The objective of this master thesis is to present an analysis of the laws applicable to security interests in indirectly held securities, or securities held with an intermediary, in North America. In order to do so, it will be useful to brief1y explain the mechanism of the indirect holding system and to determine the legal nature of both the indirectly held security and the investors' rights in such securities. A critical analysis will be made of different national legal frameworks applicable to securities interests in indirectly held securities, beginning by the rules of Quebec civil law. The legal framework applicable in the other Canadian provinces and in the United-States will then be analyzed. Such analysis will allow us to identify the deficiencies ofthese legal frameworks and to identify a need for uniformity among them. In order to identify legal solutions for the harmonization of North American laws pertaining to security interests in indirectly held securities, this master thesis will analyzed the objectives and the rules proposed by the Uniform Law Conference of Canada, UNIDROIT and the European community.