This dissertation investigates the advantages of procuring capital-intensive infrastructure services via Public-Private Partnerships (P3s or PPPs) – cost and time savings and; innovation and high levels of efficiency – accounting for these advantages by reference to the underlying legal provisions and principles that facilitate them; and in this process highlights two significant directions in which Canadian P3 law, policy and practice has evolved – the enactment of P3 legislation and/or the formulation of non-statutory P3-related policy; as well as the establishment of legal institutions that promote and/or facilitate P3 procurements. The dissertation also addresses key arguments raised against P3s, by reference to aspects of Canadian law, policy and P3 practice. The research methodology comprises a detailed review of legal and non-legal sources. The implication of the research findings is that, given the foregoing developments in Canadian P3 law, policy and practice, the key arguments canvassed against P3s are overstated and lacking in merit.

The article provides introductory notions about the new regulatory framework of the European Union on public procurement. The author argues that this new legislation forces us to rethink how articulate it to satisfies the public interest with respect to the principles of equality, efficiency, transparency, efficiency and accountability. It also forces us to rethink the administrative organization in the light of the own principles of public law. All that with the objective to approach us to the paradigm of the right to good administration as an element of control and accountability. / El artículo brinda nociones introductorias sobre el nuevo marco regulatorio de la Unión Europea sobre contratación pública. El autor sostiene que esta nueva normativa obliga a repensar en cómo articularla a fin de que satisfaga los intereses públicos con respeto a los principios de igualdad, eficacia, transparencia, eficiencia y rendición de cuentas. Además, obliga a repensar la organización administrativa a la luz de los propios fundamentos del derecho público. Todo ello con miras a acercarse al paradigma del derecho a una buena administración como elemento del control y de rendición de cuentas.

Dissertação (mestrado) - Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Escola Brasileira de Administração pública e de Empresas, Rio de Janeiro, 2015. / Bibliografia: p. 106-116. / As concessões e as Parcerias Público-Privadas (PPP) são mecanismos cada vez mais utilizados pelo setor público para alavancar os investimentos em infraestrutura no país. Para que haja viabilidade econômica das mesmas, as suas taxas internas de retorno (TIR) apresentam- se como variáveis que precisam refletir os riscos e a realidade do negócio. O presente estudo busca analisar as taxas de retorno utilizadas para a modelagem das tarifas - teto do setor de rodovias federais frente às especificidades do seu mercado. Para tal, são seguidas três frentes: a primeira é analisar a metodologia da taxa de retorno utilizada para a modelagem das concessões mais recentes de rodovias; a segunda é estimar uma taxa de retorno a partir de pesquisa bibliográfica; e a terceira é, por meio de dados de rentabilidade de balanços de concessionárias do setor, observar se as taxas de retorno das primeiras concessões foram devidamente calculadas na época. Na dissertação, concluímos que a atual metodologia da taxa de retorno do Tesouro Nacional pode ser aprimorada, principalmente em relação aos parâmetros de grau de alavancagem e capital de terceiros, e observamos que a taxa de retorno tem se aproximado do custo de oportunidade do setor ao longo das últimas etapas de concessão. O estudo visa contribuir para o debate sobre a rentabilidade dos projetos de infraestrutura rodoviária, em meio a um período de intensos investimentos no setor. / Concessions and Public-Private Partner ships (PPP) are mechanisms increasingly used by the public sector to enhance the investments in infrastructure in Brazil. To achieve economic viability in these projects, their internal rates of return (IRR) are variables which must reflect the risks and reality of the business. The present study seeks to analyse the IRRs used for modeling the price-caps of the federal highways' sector, under the specificities of such market. For this purpose, three approaches are pursued: the first one analyses the methodology of IRR calculation applied for modelling the most recent highway concessions; the second estimates an IRR based on bibliographic research; and the third makes use of data acquired from the balance sheets from the sector's concessionaries, to observe if the IRR for the first concessions of federal highways were propelly calculated at the time. In this dissertation, we concluded that the current National Treasury's methodology of the rate of return can be improved, especially in relation to parameters like leverage and debt, and we observed that the rate of return has come closer to the opportunity cost for the sector throughout the last concession rounds. This study aims to contribute to the debate on the profitability of road infrastructure projects, a midst a period of intense investments in the sector.

Esta dissertação concentra suas investigações nas contramedidas do direito internacional geral e da Organização Mundial do Comércio (OMC). No âmbito do direito internacional, estudou-se a essência política da sociedade internacional descentralizada, bem como a tendência do processo de fragmentação do direito internacional em direção a regimes mais regulados pelo direito. Além disso, investigou-se a tentativa de ampliação da normatização das contramedidas por meio do Projeto de Artigos sobre Responsabilidade Internacional do Estado de 2001. No âmbito do regime especial da OMC, analisou-se o maior adensamento jurídico das contramedidas como ponto culminante na fase de implementação das decisões no sistema de solução de controvérsias da OMC. Com base na avaliação sobre a necessidade de reforma do instituto das contramedidas da OMC, foram pesquisadas as principais propostas para sua modificação, buscando-se identificar a tentativa de redução do espaço político. A hipótese deste trabalho partiu da afirmação sobre a existência de uma tendência evolutiva no direito internacional geral e na OMC no que tange ao aumento da juridicidade do instituto das contramedidas. Entretanto, essa hipótese confirmou-se apenas parcialmente, pois a tentativa de aprimorar a regulamentação jurídica do instituto das contramedidas ocorre em meio à permanência de elementos políticos. / This thesis focused on countermeasures in general International Law and in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Regarding International Law, the thesis studied the political foundation of the decentralized international society, as well as the trend of fragmentation of International Law towards law-based regimes. Moreover, this thesis researched the attempt to regulate countermeasures through the Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts. Regarding the WTO special regime, the thesis analyzed its more law-based countermeasure as the last stage in the implementation of decisions in the WTO dispute settlement system. Based on the necessity of WTO countermeasures reform, the thesis investigated the main reform proposals, seeking to identify the attempt to reduce the political interference. The hypothesis of this research is the tendency towards a more law-based countermeasure in general International Law and in the WTO. However, this hypothesis has only been partially confirmed because political elements do not disappear despite the attempt to increase the legality of countermeasures.

Esta dissertação concentra suas investigações nas contramedidas do direito internacional geral e da Organização Mundial do Comércio (OMC). No âmbito do direito internacional, estudou-se a essência política da sociedade internacional descentralizada, bem como a tendência do processo de fragmentação do direito internacional em direção a regimes mais regulados pelo direito. Além disso, investigou-se a tentativa de ampliação da normatização das contramedidas por meio do Projeto de Artigos sobre Responsabilidade Internacional do Estado de 2001. No âmbito do regime especial da OMC, analisou-se o maior adensamento jurídico das contramedidas como ponto culminante na fase de implementação das decisões no sistema de solução de controvérsias da OMC. Com base na avaliação sobre a necessidade de reforma do instituto das contramedidas da OMC, foram pesquisadas as principais propostas para sua modificação, buscando-se identificar a tentativa de redução do espaço político. A hipótese deste trabalho partiu da afirmação sobre a existência de uma tendência evolutiva no direito internacional geral e na OMC no que tange ao aumento da juridicidade do instituto das contramedidas. Entretanto, essa hipótese confirmou-se apenas parcialmente, pois a tentativa de aprimorar a regulamentação jurídica do instituto das contramedidas ocorre em meio à permanência de elementos políticos. / This thesis focused on countermeasures in general International Law and in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Regarding International Law, the thesis studied the political foundation of the decentralized international society, as well as the trend of fragmentation of International Law towards law-based regimes. Moreover, this thesis researched the attempt to regulate countermeasures through the Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts. Regarding the WTO special regime, the thesis analyzed its more law-based countermeasure as the last stage in the implementation of decisions in the WTO dispute settlement system. Based on the necessity of WTO countermeasures reform, the thesis investigated the main reform proposals, seeking to identify the attempt to reduce the political interference. The hypothesis of this research is the tendency towards a more law-based countermeasure in general International Law and in the WTO. However, this hypothesis has only been partially confirmed because political elements do not disappear despite the attempt to increase the legality of countermeasures.

Cette thèse cherche à offrir de nouveaux éclairages sur le déploiement territorial des concessions étrangères en Chine aux XIXe et XXe siècles. Bien que la période étudiée s’étende de 1846 à la rétrocession des dernières concessions en 1946, un accent particulier est placé sur la décennie 1910 qui annonce l’essoufflement définitif des logiques expansionnistes. La première partie s’articule autour de l’analyse du projet d’extension mené par la Municipalité française de Tianjin de 1902 à 1946 dans le quartier de Laoxikai 老西開. Cet exemple emblématique sert de pilier et de tremplin pour l’écriture d’une histoire connectée de l’expansion des concessions étrangères. Le cas d’étude centré sur Tianjin permet de structurer la réflexion qui s’élargit, dans une deuxième partie, à Shanghai et Hankou. La mise en perspective de ces trois villes dévoile les principes et conditions dans lesquels évoluent les impérialismes étrangers en Chine, du rôle moteur joué par leur compétition mutuelle aux mécanismes d’échange et d’accommodement avec les fonctionnaires officiels et les citadins chinois. Elle révèle également la difficile posture et la faiblesse de l’Etat central avant et après la Révolution de 1911, ainsi que la complexité des rapports entre autorités nationales et locales. Elle représente enfin un observatoire privilégié d'une frange de la société chinoise des ports ouverts dont les modes d’expression et de contestation connaissent un tournant significatif durant les années 1910. La mise en connexion de ces mutations croisées conduit à nuancer tant le grand récit historiographique d’un impérialisme occidental triomphant que les représentations orthodoxes associées au nationalisme « moderne » chinois. / This thesis aims to further clarify the territorial deployment of foreign settlements in China in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Although the period examined extends from 1846 to the retrocession of the last concessions in 1946, special emphasis is placed on the 1910s, a decade which spelled the end of expansionist logic. The first part analyzes the project of expansion led by the French Municipality of Tianjin from 1902 to 1946 in the Laoxikai District 老西開. This symbolic example serves both as pillar and springboard for writing a connected history of the expansion of foreign settlements. The case study on Tianjin provides a clearer analysis that encompasses Shanghai and Hankou in the second part. Establishing a perspective on the three cities reveals the principles and conditions under which foreign imperialism evolved in China, where mutually competing forces played leading roles. Further, it captures and illustrates the mechanisms of exchange and compromise engaged with Chinese officials and urban citizens. It also discloses the difficult position and weakness of the Chinese State before and after the 1911 Revolution, and the complexity of the relationship between national and local authorities. Finally, it offers a unique vantage point from which to observe sections of Chinese society within the treaty ports whose forms of expression and protest experienced a significant turning point in the 1910s. Relationships between these intertwined evolutions challenge both the dominant historiographical narrative on Western triumphant imperialism and orthodox representations associated with Chinese "modern" nationalism.

La sépulture est souvent appréhendée à titre d’exception ou par une superposition de notions : copropriété familiale, bien familial, chose hors commerce, indivision perpétuelle, droit réel spécial... Cette approche disparate dissimule l’existence d’un droit des sépultures qui peine, en conséquence, à constituer un droit unifié. Le droit des sépultures se trouve fractionné en plusieurs branches : droit civil, droit pénal et droit public. A travers elles, apparaissent de nombreuses problématiques, liées à la nature et au régime proposés. Pour ces raisons, il est nécessaire d’aborder le droit des sépultures par la recherche de ses fondements, inchangés depuis le droit romain et le droit médiéval. Le premier fondement est le sacré ; le second la communauté. Tous deux prennent leur source dans l’histoire du droit et continuent d’exister dans le droit positif. Ils font apparaître une unité du droit des sépultures, autour d’une double fonction : assurer la séparation du mort et du vivant et perpétuer le culte des morts. Du point de vue anthropologique, le sacré, premier fondement, se distingue du religieux, et se manifeste selon deux opérations : la délimitation d’une frontière entre sacré et profane par la séparation, puis la protection de ce nouvel espace délimité par la répression de toute atteinte. Pour les sépultures, ces deux opérations sont effectuées respectivement par l’extracommercialité et par la protection pénale. Le premier mécanisme est issu du droit romain et montre une protection originale de la sépulture ; toute activité juridique qui n’est pas incompatible avec le respect des morts est autorisée. L’autre mécanisme concerne l’incrimination de violation de sépulture, qui perpétue sa dimension sacrée. Le second fondement est communautaire : il est apparu pour les sépultures de famille avec les communautés médiévales, à une époque où les biens et les personnes étaient soudés en un groupe familial unique. Désormais adapté par l’affectation familiale, un tel fondement se maintient dans notre droit avec un régime de propriété collective, à travers la transmission successorale restreinte au groupe familial et un principe égalitaire, ce qui fait de la sépulture une véritable propriété communautaire. Bien sacré, propriété communautaire, les fondements des sépultures mettent en exergue des dimensions originales de la propriété. / Burials are often considered in terms of acceptions or superimpositions of notions: family co-ownership, family property, off-trade affairs, joint possession, specific real right… This multi-entry approach conceals the existence of a right of burial which, as a consequence, is difficult to define as a unified right. The right of burial is divided up into various branches— civil law, criminal law, public law—which rise various questions linked to the very nature if the different systems. For this reason, it is necessary to tackle the right of burial from the point of view of its foundations, which have not changed since the establishment of Roman law and Medieval law.The first founding principle concerns the sacred; the second is about the community. Both originate in legal history and are still valid in the field of positive law. They show a unity in the right of burial as regards two main functions: ensure the separation between the living and the dead and keep up the traditional practice of ancestor worship. From the anthropological viewpoint, the sacred—the first principle—distinguishes from the religious, and is expressed in two main missions: the definition of a frontier between the sacred and the profane by the separation, then the protection of this new space delineated by the suppression of any violation. For the burials, these two missions are respectively accomplished by a position out of commerce and by the criminal procedure. The first mechanism comes from Roman law and shows an original protection of the burial process; every legal activity which is not incompatible with the respect of the dead is allowed. The other mechanism concerns the incrimination of the violation of the burial process and its sacred nature. The second founding principle is about the community: it was created for family burials by medieval communities, at a time when properties and people were seen as a unique family unit. Nowadays adapted by the family affectation, such a principle is maintained in our legal system because of a collective ownership regime, through the transmission of the succession restricted to the family and an egalitarian principle, which turn burials into a property of the community. Sacred property, property of the community, the founding principles of burials bring to light specific dimensions of the concept of property.