Judicial duties have for decades extended far beyond the scope of traditional adjudication, judges being progressively called upon to occupy the role of social engineers. Meanwhile, contexts in which judges evolve have transformed: mass damage nowadays tends to multiply and create new challenges not only for legal actors, but also for society at large. In spring 2011, the replies received by the European Commission to its public consultation on collective redress indicated European stakeholders’ strong interest in seeing judiciaries play prominent and leading roles in the supervision and monitoring of procedures which enable groups of claimants to seek together compensation for damage caused by mass events. Judges are thus expected to be neutral and robust agents while assuming heavy responsibilities under a considerable burden. Insights from social sciences however invite us to revisit policymakers expectations and may shed new light on current debates about mass litigation.

Activities by private actors in transnational sphere have been proliferating along with globalisation process. Private governance, either national or transnational, is realised in various ways, one of which closely relates to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Private governance and CSR are partially interwoven but are not the same on the whole. CSR roots deeply in social values, so does some initiatives in form of private governance. As ideology and practice, sustainable development has been influential for decades, and represents one of the mainstream social values. The thesis analyses above phenomena in Italy and China mainly, as well as other countries when necessary, with a focus on enterprise. Specifically, CSR, which is intrinsically related to sustainable development and often realised with the involvement of private governance, will be studied by comparing CSR in Italy and CSR in China, and by analysing the connections between the two from a transnational perspective.

After the 2008 financial crisis, the financial innovation product Credit-Default-Swap (CDS) was widely blamed as the main cause of this crisis. CDS is one type of over-the-counter (OTC) traded derivatives. Before the crisis, the trading of CDS was very popular among the financial institutions. But meanwhile, excessive speculative CDSs transactions in a legal environment of scant regulation accumulated huge risks in the financial system. This dissertation is divided into three parts. In Part I, we discussed the primers of the CDSs and its market development, then we analyzed in detail the roles CDSs had played in this crisis based on economic studies. It is advanced that CDSs not just promoted the eruption of the crisis in 2007 but also exacerbated it in 2008. In part II, we asked ourselves what are the legal origins of this crisis in relation with CDSs, as we believe that financial instruments could only function, positive or negative, under certain legal institutional environment. After an in-depth inquiry, we observed that at least three traditional legal doctrines were eroded or circumvented by OTC derivatives. It is argued that the malfunction of these doctrines, on the one hand, facilitated the proliferation of speculative CDSs transactions; on the other hand, eroded the original risk-control legal mechanism. Therefore, the 2008 crisis could escalate rapidly into a global financial tsunami, which was out of control of the regulators. In Part III, we focused on the European Union’s regulatory reform towards the OTC derivatives market. In specific, EU introduced mandatory central counterparty clearing obligation for qualified OTC derivatives, and requires that all OTC derivatives shall be reported to a trade repository. It is observable that EU’s approach in re-regulating the derivatives market is different with the traditional administrative regulation, but aiming at constructing a new market infrastructure for OTC derivatives.

In the 1970's, western countries endured economic crisis. As a result, the reform of welfare system took place, including the reduction of entitlement-based income assistance for vulnerable groups, and the tightening non-profit funding environment at government foundation lever, which led to fund shortage of non-profit organizations and thus public services were reduced. Meanwhile, economic crisis also brought about social problems such as unemployment, environmental deterioration, etc., which raised the need of public services. Responding to this situation, some traditional non-profit organizations began to utilize market-based approaches to solve these social problems and as a consequence, social enterprises emerged in Europe and United States in 1990's. By now, social enterprise is a growing globe phenomenon. Since 2004, researches and practices of social enterprise from developed countries have been introduced into China, and some entrepreneurs adopted this mode to perform social activities. Its positive impacts on society and economy attracted a large number of researchersâ attention and some of them dedicated themselves into it. However, the current results of these researches are still lagging behind the practice of social enterprise, meaning that the theories cannot offer the practices strong system support, especially in the field of legal system of social enterprise. To address this urgent need, the thesis researches the leading legal theories and practices of social enterprise from western countries, and attempts to establish a social enterprise legal system in China. The first part of the article displays general context in China, including economy, policy, practice and legislation. It also addresses the important issues, the meaning as well as the methodologies and arrangement of this research. The second part of this article sorts out the basic theories of social enterprises, including concepts, features, characters and functions. The sort is centered some developed countries in Europe, including Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain and other important research organizations, and the United States; it mainly focuses on the important issues of the establishment of social enterprise legal system in China and the developed countries that lead the researches and practices of social enterprise in the world. The third part of this article analyzes the legal systems of social enterprises in the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States, which can be adapted to the realities in China. In addition, their specific regimes, in regard of important legal issues, can serve as reference to the establishment of social enterprise legal system in China. The last part of this article provides some legislative suggestions based on the combination of experience from the developed countries and realities in China. The sinicization of the experience from other countries should be catered the needs of the establishment, especially the needs of integration of former related laws. The main factors, including purposes, principles, definitions and models of social enterprises should be analyzed before establishing the specific legal regimes of social enterprises. Moreover, legal suggestions of regimes for Specialized Farmers Cooperatives, Welfare Enterprises and People-run Non-enterprise Units are put forward accordingly, as well as some suggestions for other quasi social enterprises on establishing new regimes. Last but not the least, the article analyzes the regimes of supporting measures and regulations, which can provide social enterprises with resources and positive adjustments from external systems.

Protection and enforcement of intellectual property law are fundamental to stimulate innovation and to compete in the global economy. Copyright law is not very involved in trade agreements, in which there is more space about other intellectual property rights, such as patents, geographical indications, protected designation of origin, trademarks, designs. By setting harmonized standards in copyright law, contracting States aim at reducing national discrepancies, ensuring the level of protection required to creativity and investments in production of new original works, promoting access to knowledge for users and business. The general purpose of harmonization through the negotiation of free trade agreements, among others in different fields, would be to enforce works protected by copyright law. It implies the necessary balance between the interests of right holders (in order to achieve a reinforced protection, including by extending the copyright term of protection) and users (by accessing copyright-protected works entered the public domain following the expiration of the term of protection). This equilibrium cannot be achieved by providing for an excessive extension of the term of protection of copyright, which risks distorting the copyright nature. This research project concerns the rules provided in current trade negotiations about copyright law. Since the secrecy and lack of transparency of the trade negotiations, it has been difficult to reconstruct a precise path and background of specific language and wording of their provided rules. The reconstruction has possible thanks to leaked drafts and public statements. The result is that there are not many books and academic papers about this topic, by isolating it in academic studies.

The last decade saw an increase in foreign investor interest in the acquisition of agricultural land in the global South. This phenomenon has come to be defined as land grabbing, due to the controversial nature of land deals and their impact on the livelihood of rural populations. According to recent estimates, more than 60 percent of these acquisitions have taken place in sub-Saharan Africa, a region characterized by inherently pluralistic legal systems. In line with regional trends, Ghana and Zambia have been targeted by foreign investors interested in acquiring large tracks of land for agricultural purposes. Land tenure systems of these two countries are the complex outcome of hybrid legal orders that stratified over the centuries. In particular, the role of traditional authorities, i.e., chiefs, in land management is still prominent, as respectively 80 and 94 percent of land are regulated by customary law. By adopting a legal pluralist perspective, this thesis looks at the dynamics between customary and statutory tenure in Ghana and Zambia in light of contemporary land investment processes, which are critically discussed from a multi-disciplinary angle. By outlining land tenure systems, a legal analysis of the framework in which land investments are negotiated is provided. In particular, this thesis focuses on the process through which investors access land in Ghana and Zambia, by discussing the procedures and guarantees envisioned by national legislation and customary law. Together with a critical analysis of land legislation in the two countries, it illustrates large-scale acquisition cases and incorporates insights from empirical research conducted in rural districts. It then offers a comparison of investment practices in the two countries to illustrate the main challenges that large-scale land acquisition pose at the local level. This thesis contributes to the literature on land investments and to the broader global land debate by focusing on the pluralist nature of the land tenure systems of Ghana and Zambia and discussing empirical evidence of land acquisition practices.

Obiettivo della tesi di ricerca è lo studio comparato dei sistemi di registrazione immobiliare e, in particolare, del modello tavolare italiano. Tale sistema pubblicitario si caratterizza per essere vigente solo in alcuni territori del nostro ordinamento e, più precisamente, in quelli un tempo facenti parte dell'Impero Austroungarico, annessi al Regno d'Italia a seguito della Prima guerra mondiale. Il lavoro si propone di svolgere un'analisi strutturale del Libro fondiario, in comparazione con i sistemi italiano della trascrizione, austriaco e tedesco, al fine di individuare le peculiarità del modello e studiarne la natura. A conclusione della ricerca si potrà verificare, infatti, come le principali caratteristiche di tale sistema siano in realtà riconducibili al processo di adattamento al diritto sostanziale italiano che il registro ha affrontato, oltre che alla natura di enclave normativa che tutt'ora esso assume nell'ordinamento italiano. La prima parte della tesi è dedicata ad una panoramica dei differenti modelli di registrazione dei sistemi facenti parte della tradizione giuridica occidentale, a cui segue un'analisi sui diversi meccanismi che disciplinano la trasmissione dei diritti reali per atto inter vivos, mortis causa nonché a titolo originario per usucapione. L'ultima parte della ricerca si delinea invece in uno studio di tipo strutturale e ha lo scopo di analizzare i meccanismi di adattamento e di evoluzione dei singoli modelli. Dal punto di vista metodologico, il presente lavoro si basa sull'applicazione di uno dei principali strumenti della scienza giuridica comparatistica, ovvero la teoria dei formanti sviluppata da Rodolfo Sacco, a cui si affianca l'utilizzo di dottrine proprie della law and economics e analisi di carattere spiccatamente privatistico.

La ricerca si propone di esaminare l’ordinamento giuridico della Regione Amministrativa Speciale di Hong Kong, costituita a seguito della fine del dominio coloniale britannico in terra cinese, analizzando come il ritorno sotto la sovranità della Repubblica Popolare Cinese ha inciso sul sistema di Hong Kong sia da un punto di vista della struttura giuridico-istituzionale sia da un punto di vista della lingua del diritto. L’analisi si svilupperà partendo da un preliminare inquadramento analitico con riferimento ai temi della circolazione dei modelli e dei flussi giuridici (con specifico riferimento ai processi storici della colonizzazione inglese), del fenomeno delle mixed jurisdictions e del bilinguismo giuridico e si dedicherà poi alla ricostruzione dell’evoluzione del sistema di common law di Hong Kong prima e dopo l’handover. In questa parte, dopo una ricostruzione da un punto di vista delle istituzioni e delle fonti del diritto della RAS, verranno messi in evidenza quali sono gli elementi di continuità e gli elementi di innovazione che si trovano all’interno dell’attuale sistema di Hong Kong. L’analisi si concerterà quindi sul tema del bilinguismo giuridico, prendendo in esame sia il suo sviluppo all’interno delle istituzioni giuridiche e della giurisprudenza delle corti della RAS, sia le strategie traduttive seguite nella costruzione del nuovo diritto bilingue. In questo contesto saranno altresì analizzate le questioni terminologiche legate alla trasposizione del diritto di common law in lingua cinese, esaminando alcuni termini impiegati nel lessico della statute law di Hong Kong. Infine si procederà a una riflessione conclusiva sulle criticità e sulle prospettive evolutive che segnano oggi il bilinguismo giuridico nell’ordinamento Hong Kong.

Il lavoro nasce, quanto a stimoli, dall’instabilità delle regole che governano il “bancario” per approfondire un argomento, quello degli interessi c.d. composti, che vive da sempre nell’ambiguità (rectius, dissociazione) di formanti di segno opposto. La dinamica di conflitto, di contraddizioni, di rottura fra formante legislativo e giurisprudenza disorienta la prassi e restituisce allo studioso regole operazionali, non mere declamazioni, sovente incompatibili tra loro. L’obiettivo che ci si propone è allora quello di delineare – per il medio della comparazione giuridica – l’esatto ambito applicativo del fenomeno anatocistico, sia ripercorrendo l’evoluzione storica dell’istituto nel diritto civile e commerciale, sia attraverso un confronto con la disciplina dettata in tema di obbligazioni pecuniarie e interessi. Si è così dato ampio risalto, oltre ai temi più generali dell’(in)adempimento e degli interessi monetari con le loro tradizionali partizioni (prima tra tutte, quella in compensativi e moratori), a “province” della scienza giuridica strettamente inerenti l’istituto in esame, come gli usi, la trasparenza, l’usura, ecc. Tale inquadramento, tuttavia, coglie esclusivamente alcuni profili strutturali del fenomeno in discorso. Altri non meno significativi ne risultano trascurati: la dialettica fra autonomia privata e controllo giudiziario; il ruolo della clausola madre di buona fede oggettiva; i risultati dell’applicazione delle regole di informazione, di adeguatezza, di meritevolezza e di equilibrio economico. Un diverso inquadramento, forse più coerente con il mercato del credito europeo, profila presupposti costruttivi differenti e conseguenze applicative non trascurabili.

The research, employing a comparative and multidisciplinary approach, aims at understanding the conflict between information privacy and copyright enforcement in the digital era. Throughout the whole study attention will be paid to the effect that technology has on these rights. The systems under scrutiny will be the European one (with particular regard to Italy) and the North American ones (US and Canada). The starting point of this analysis are a number of selected lawsuits in which copyright holders have tried to enforce their rights against Internet users suspected of illegal peer-to-peer downloading. In so doing, copyright enforcement collided with users’ information privacy. In analyzing the way in which these decisions were taken, I shall try to understand how technology affects society. Many studies have demonstrated the interaction between technology and society. Copyright and information privacy laws are themselves a product of technology and innovation. The idea behind my analysis is that technology not only affects society, but that it also affects lawmakers, and even judges (who, directly or indirectly, are lawmakers as well). Indeed, judges do not live a secluded life, but operate within a society. Therefore, it is at least plausible, if not necessary, that their decisions reflect the values of that society. In other words, technology influences society, which, in turn, affects judicial opinion. To assess if my statement is sound, I shall consider the perception of copyright, limited to file-sharing activities, in the three normative systems. The same analysis will be undertaken with regard to information privacy. As will be seen, unsurprisingly, technology has affected in many ways the substance of both privacy and copyright norms. But technology has also affected people’s lives, people’s way of behaving, and, in the end, people’s minds. This has led to a different perception of the need to protect the aforementioned rights, even if in opposite directions. Privacy concerns have been increasing, while copyright is more and more seen as something “negative”, for a variety of reasons. Given this, a plausible answer to my main line of inquiry is that courts’ decisions reflect this common sense position of prioritizing privacy over copyright. In particular, I shall examine the literature related to the way courts judge and if and how they can be influenced by the society and culture in which they operate. Importance will be given to the way that this influence could enter into judicial reasoning. If it is true that technology changes society, which in turn affects the judicial mind, then technology enters into this contextual backdrop for adjudication. Therefore, the question I would like to answer is the following: could this be a reason why, despite similar legal frameworks, the outcomes of lawsuits are quite different among the considered legal systems? This would be the goal of my research, conscious of the fact that anyway my answer would be just one of the many possible explanations.