An analysis of the commercial letters of credit in England and Greece. Contents include the types of letters of credit, the legal relationships, shipping documents tendered under a letter of credit, transfer of the letter of credit, and the banker's security.

This Thesis addresses the issue of which law should apply in cases concerning cross border road traffic accidents. From the perspective of English law it examines the changes which have been effected by the adoption of the EU Rome II Regulation, the likely outcomes of the rules of Rome II, the interaction of Rome II with the Motor Insurance Directives and the complex tripartite relationship between Rome II, the Directives and the Hague Convention on the law Applicable to Traffic Accidents. The conclusion is that Rome II represents a different and more rigid approach to choice of law than previously existed in England and Wales. The dominant aim of Rome II is that of certainty and uniformity. Nevertheless, the competing aim of achieving justice for the parties creates a residual amount of conflict and uncertainty. However, a major criticism of the drafting of Rome II, advanced by this Thesis, is that it failed to recognise the importance of insurance in the settlement of traffic accident claims and to reflect this fact in its rules. This Thesis offers some proposals for reform in this regard.

This study examines similarities and differences in mediation practice across sectors and considers whether variations in delivery are so wide that they cannot be regarded as the same process. The following conclusions are based on interviews with experienced practitioners from a variety of settings: There is far more commonality across sectors than is currently acknowledged among mediators. While there are undoubtedly variations in practice, these are found as much within fields of delivery as between them. Historically, mediation operated within communities and provided social cohesion in the face of conflict and disharmony. As a result of the ADR movement, mediation is now closely associated with the civil justice system and virtually synonymous with ‘settlement’. This limits the potential for addressing ideological aspects of conflict resolution such as enhanced communication and relationship repair. There is an unresolved relationship between mediation and law, and an uneasy tension between lawyers and mediators. This is seen in the evolution of hybrid roles such as that of the ‘lawyer-mediator’. The mediation profession remains disjointed and makes little attempt to engage in dialogue across sectors. Despite core principles in common, there is no one representative voice of mediation and a need for greater clarity and cohesion.

This thesis explores issues concerning the conceptualisation and operationalisation of the right to a fair trial in the Kenyan criminal justice system. In particular, it looks at how and why there have been many difficulties with the implementation of this universal set of values that have been recognised since the adoption of the formal legal system in Kenya, and which have been enshrined in the Constitution since independence. It addresses a number of overarching questions. First, it identifies the factors that hindered the full realisation of the right to a fair trial. Secondly, it enquires into whether the shortcomings of the recently repealed Constitution in that regard have been fully addressed by the new Constitution adopted in 2010. Thirdly, it identifies and analyse the impact of factors outside the formal law which may have affected the practical operation of certain core elements of the right to a fair trial. Finally, in light of the above, it explores a number of approaches that might be used to address these other factors so as to help achieve at least a better, enforcement of fair trial rights in the country.

It is almost axiomatic in Cameroon that a succession decision would engender one social problem or the other. It is either open confrontation or the scare of witchcraft which inhibits the peaceful enjoyment of the property by the victorious parties. Most excluded persons resort to crime as a means of livelihood, and the propagation of HIV/ AIDS is partially blamed on the rules of succession which drive women into prostitution. The problem is that the intestacy rules are far removed from the reality and hence exclude meritorious family members. They ignore the fact that the deceased’s duty of maintenance towards certain members of the immediate and extended families needs to be continued by the estate, and enshrine instead, the principle of precedence which favours the nuclear family, to which customary law even ascribes a restricted meaning. Wills are an unreliable alternative. Few persons make them, and when made, there is no guarantee of their success in doing what the intestacy rules fail to do. This study proposes to remedy this by examining the structure of succession law, with a view to discovering the weaknesses and identifying possible areas for reform, within the context of an imminent family code for the country.

Taxis are a widely used and heavily regulated area of public transport in England and Wales, but one which has been neglected by law academics and researchers. The original contribution to knowledge provided by this study is the finding that effectiveness of regulation of the trade relies upon local authority regulators creating and implementing their own system of ‘law’ outside the legislative framework and the trade acquiescing in that regime. Taking a qualitative-based empirical approach, this study critically assesses the taxi licensing regime through the views, attitudes and beliefs of those involved in the day-to-day application of the law. Many aspects of taxi regulation involve the exercise of local authority discretion, but the current system grants discretion in areas which ought to be confined by rules and often that discretion is exercised improperly. Whilst some degree of local administration of the system is desirable, many elements of taxi regulation would benefit from national standards to ensure consistency and uniformity. Although the study found a number of important exceptions to these general conclusions, on the whole the most effective methods of regulation were found to be those which operated beyond the legal framework and in which the trade acquiesced.

This thesis examines whether the rule against torture and ill-treatment in international human rights law could be interpreted to provide more effective protection to older people from key forms of mistreatment which they frequently experience. The thesis' inquiry is prompted by the current disagreement at the United Nations over whether the universal human rights framework contains 'normative gaps' or merely 'implementation gaps' regarding older people. The thesis argues that there are doctrinal shortcomings in the anti-torture framework as currently understood, which prevent the norm from effectively protecting older people in contexts of deprivation of liberty, lack of access to adequate care and impunity for 'historic' torture or ill-treatment. The thesis contends that these doctrinal limitations stem from conceptual paradigms developed without consideration of older people's experiences and from the tendency for discriminatory structures and attitudes in society and law to obscure older people's rights violations. The thesis proposes that dignity reasoning could guide and facilitate the norm's interpretation in order to more effectively protect older people. Maintaining that dignity is the core value underpinning the norm, the thesis proffers a substantive conception of a dignity violation that would shed light on older people's human experiences of torture or ill-treatment, thus challenging the norm's current formalistic constraints. A cornerstone of the proposed conception of a dignity violation is the idea of vulnerability. The thesis argues that an understanding of vulnerability as inherent or situational powerlessness would allow for the identification of structural causes of older people's mistreatment, which could be addressed by adaptation of the norm's positive obligations. By investigating the need and potential to address doctrinal shortcomings within the existing international human rights normative framework, the thesis provides a perspective that has been missing from the debate over a dedicated instrument on the rights of older people. The thesis also makes a unique contribution to scholarly analysis of the meaning and functions of dignity and vulnerability in human rights adjudication.

The thesis conducts a review of the US Alien Tort Statute (ATS) to determine how it may be used to improve the prospects of international law enforcement in national courts, particularly with regard to international human rights law. Analysis follows case law under the statute and deals with a series of discreet issues that have arisen in US courts. An argument is made in earlier chapters that the ATS may be used to improve the prospects of international law enforcement if US judges voluntarily adopt legal standards issued by international courts and tribunals. Later chapters examine case law from the US Supreme Court to assess how the statute may improve international law enforcement in the future. Particular areas of interest are the extraterritorial application of US law, corporate liability for international law violations, how to manage the foreign policy implications of the statute, and the possibility of a similar legislative development in the UK. The thesis concludes that the ATS may be used to improve the prospects of international law enforcement in key areas, which are identified by an examination of case law.

This thesis looks at the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme. This is a green tax on energy consumption that targets large businesses not already covered by the EU ETS or CCAs. The CRC has been reformed on numerous occasions and will now come to an end in 2019. Importantly, the CRC has received relatively little academic attention, especially in legal scholarship. Drawing upon 31 original, semi structured interviews with regulatees, solicitors and the Environment Agency; and a quantitative analysis of emissions under the scheme, this PhD will begin to tell the story of how the CRC has been perceived by those who pay it. This is an account of how different regulatory aspects send deeper messages to regulatees. In particular, this thesis considers: stability; competence of the regulator; nudging; positive incentives; and the efficiency of the CRC. As such, this thesis draws on a wide range of literature in order to analyse the above themes in light of the original data from the empirical study. This thesis concludes that how regulation is packaged and presented to regulatees is critical and can affect how they engage with a regulatory scheme such as the CRC.

This thesis uses a socio-legal methodology to investigate how mental capacity law balances protection and empowerment of vulnerable adults in cases concerning capacity to: consent to sex, marry and decide on contact. The thesis questions answered are: 1) Who is understood to be vulnerable in mental capacity law and why? 2) To what extent do vulnerable adults participate in mental capacity law proceedings? 3) What forms of knowledge are valued in mental capacity law? 4) How do mental capacity law interventions balance protection and empowerment in relation to adults vulnerable to abuse? These questions are answered by analysing empirical data collected through Court of Protection observations, case file reviews and social worker interviews. I argue that mental capacity law views its subjects as inherently vulnerable, usually because of their disability, in contrast to viewing adults as being vulnerable for situational reasons. Contributing to vulnerability theory, I argue that vulnerability needs to be understood in situational, embodied and relational terms, rather than as caused by features inherent to the individual, such as their mental disability. Viewing adults as vulnerable in situational ways can lead to more nuanced interventions to protect them from abuse whilst ensuring they are empowered as decision-makers.