Letters of credit, which are a well-recognised payment instrument, have bridged international trade between different countries. The UCP, which is often regarded as “soft regulation” has provided a solid backing for the operation of documentary credits and nowadays the latest revision, UCP600 is universally incorporated into nearly all letters of credit. This thesis focuses on two vital but controversial parts in a documentary credit operation, i.e. document examination and rejection under UCP600. The central research question addressed by this thesis is: Has the UCP600 provided a sufficient framework for banks to fulfil their obligations concerning document examination and rejection under documentary credits? This question can be divided into three separate issues. Firstly, what requirements should a bank fulfil during document examination and rejection as judged by the law of documentary credits and market expectations? Secondly, what requirements have been expressly or implicitly set out in the UCP600 regime? Finally, has the current UCP system provided a proper and sufficient framework to the addressed areas? If not, what should and can be done next? In order to answer the above questions, this thesis draws upon other ICC sources, such as the ISBP, the ICC Opinions and DOCDEX decisions, which are frequently missed in other academic works. The novelty of this thesis lies in a below-the-surface analysis of the controversial areas of UCP600 by using the experience gained from recent case law before suggesting ways to move forward. The merits of this thesis are not limited to observing the current loopholes in the UCP system, but also in endeavouring to solve current problems by providing feasible suggestions for improvement for the next UCP revision.

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The conduct of Marine insurance broker is subject to the general principles of agency law. However, it is also affected by the traditional customs and contemporary market practices in the field of marine insurance. As a result, marine insurance broker’s duties and liabilities have unique features which are different or not that common for other general agents. Firstly, marine insurance brokers have duties that will not be observed by other general agents who effect a contract on behalf of their principal. For example, marine insurance broker has a personal liability to pay the premium under the marine insurance contract he obtained for the assured. Secondly, marine insurance broker’s multiple roles in the course of its business frequently raise the issue of conflict of duty and interest. Thirdly, the broker’s way of placing a cover makes it hard to put the line between the broker’s service of providing information and the service of providing advice. This is crucial for assessing the broker’s liabilities when he fails to obtain the cover for the assured. These exceptional features make marine insurance broker’s duties and liabilities a valuable topic for research. However, there is no scholarly monograph which specifically considers these matters. The thesis will examine whether the exceptional duties should be reformed to comply with the general law of contract and agency. If not, is there any reform that can be made to improve the clarity, certainty and fairness of these duties. The thesis will also identify the broker’s duties that are inclined to give rise to conflict of duty and interest and analyse how the issues are being treated by the court, and regulation authorities. Then the author will make recommendations on how to avoid the conflict of duties and interest. Finally, the thesis will discuss how the broker’s liabilities are being assessed and how the brokers can protect their own risks of extensive liability by inserting a limitation of liability clause in the retainer.

In this thesis concerning the protection of well-known trade marks against confusion in the European Community Trade Mark (CTM) and Japanese trademark systems, the author critically considers the difficulties in comprehensively defining ‘well-known trade mark’ in the relevant international trade mark instruments. After critical analysis of various definitions of both ‘trade mark’ and ‘well-known trade mark’, she undertakes a comparison of the definitions of the parallel concepts of ‘trade mark of repute’ and ‘syuchi-syohyo’, and also undertakes an assessment as to the extent to which these trade marks are protected against confusion and kondo in the CTM and Japanese systems, respectively. It is concluded that the protection of well- known trade marks against confusion in the CTM and Japan cannot be said to be completely clear, and the author identifies some areas for legal reform

In 2001 the European Commission began a far reaching consultation to ascertain whether obstacles arise for the proper functioning of the internal market and for crossborder trade from the existing divergent and fragmentary state of European contract law at the EU and national levels. This question was answered in the affirmative. Action was needed to simplify the regulatory environment for cross-border trade; to provide businesses and consumers with a single, comprehensive, and directly applicable contractual framework for cross-border transactions in the internal market. This thesis offers a solution to the current obstacles to cross-border trade on the basis of the Commission’s principal proposals for future action; the review of the acquis communautaire, the creation of a Common Frame of Reference, and the adoption of optional instruments of European contract law. It undertakes a chronological and critical assessment of the proposals and progress to date, in order to determine the most appropriate way forward for European contract law. It seeks to do so against a wider debate which highlights the economic, socio-cultural and political issues and interests which bear on the suitability and desirability of the Commission’s proposals and which must be accommodated within the final response. It also draws on existing examples of trade regulation, in particular, harmonised instruments, which share the objective of facilitating cross-border trade, at the international level. Such examination assists the understanding of the regulatory approach that must be taken to European contract law, and more particularly determines the extent to which the objectives of action at the European level can be realised within the internal market. It is against this background, and at a time when the EU is looking to the internal market, and the facilitation of cross-border trade as a means for Europe to emerge from economic crisis, that this thesis presents necessary action for the immediate development of the European contract law project. It concludes that the adoption of optional instruments present the most appropriate way forward. This is not, however, an absolute solution. The review of the acquis and the resulting proposal for a Consumer Rights Directive has an integral part to play moving forward. In search of coherence and consistency in European contract law however the CFR, both as a legislative toolbox and basis for the optional instruments, must underpin the future regulatory response. It is clear that all three of the Commission’s proposals must figure in the way forward.

Dignity founds The Law: from the centralising dignity of sovereign and parliament; to the particular dignities of The Crown and the Courts; to challenges that The Law fails to respect human dignity. Remembrance revealed through historic experience (in a survey of dignity in UK statute and Case law) and societal reflection (in dignity, jurisprudence and philosophy literature), reveals dignity evolved through Stoic characterisation of dignity as a logically reasoned, ethically considered way to be, to contemporary ideas that challenge the logic and or ethics of an imposed way of being. Much contemporary dignity literature accepts limits to law, working within The Law to try to claim the posited self-indulgent position of sovereign dignity, in claims of rank and rights. I suggest the only dignity to withstand societal scrutiny, in a consistent guiding message recognised through two millennia of Stoic informed wisdom, is that people individually sense, reason and reflect on good ways for themselves and society to be. People, who accept societal limits, but aspire to more. Consistent with this history I suggest a new definition for dignity; ‘societally valued worthiness in being’ that positively emerges from humans being in dynamic society. People limited by The Law try to concretise dignity, and law; to pin down particular ways for people and society to be, contained in rules of law. For example, governing law, assumed in sovereign dignity naturally arising in the leadership of people in particular ways of being concretised in autocracies and democratic parliaments; The Law providing the normative guidance of how to conform to that way of being. Yet, in agreement with John Austin, I suggest logical reason and ethical considerations of dignity do not arise exclusively in sovereign roles, but naturally from a positive ferment of command and obedience that challenges, and or necessarily supports, the positions of asserted dignity. I challenge Austin’s presumption that sovereign positions are only maintained by coercion, suggesting dignity also arises in societies bound by care and cooperation. I recognise the positive ferment of The Law in governing law, but also in wider contexts of dignity, societally valued worthiness in being, that work independently of The Law. I adopt the work of William Twining and his distinctions of ‘law talk’ of The Law and ‘talk about’ governing law to inform and enhance a re-picturing of a positive Natural Law Continuum. Finally I adapt Hohfeld’s matrix of rights to suggest that incidents of The Law reveal the locus of dignity in The Law’s making. The matrix, The New Model of Governing Law, can be used to (re)consider whether a particular position of The Law (still) has dignity; is The Law valued worthy of being in contemporary society. Understanding The Law’s dignity, alongside contemporary determinations of dignity, confirms The Law as societally valued, and or illuminates ways and dignity (independent like minds) loci to support, innovate or challenge The Law. Sovereign dignity, and societal law, evolves through the emergence of human dignity in incidents and issues recognised as contained in governing law, within the wider societal determination of Natural Law Continuum.

In September 2004, scientists from the California Institute of Technology and the European Organization for Nuclear Research succeeded in sending 859 gigabytes of data from California to Switzerland in less than 17 minutes. At such speed, a full-length feature film can be downloaded in 4 seconds. In those 4 seconds, the copyright of a piece of work can easily be infringed on the internet. In recent years, with the improvement of the technology, it has become possible to convert analogue work into digital work through a simple process: it can then be distributed to millions of people from all over the world in a few minutes, using the Internet. In the 1990s, Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing networks exploited this new technology. Using file sharing networks, users started to download songs and movies without paying for them. As a result, the music and movie industry suffered great financial losses. While courts are still dealing with the legal issues caused by P2P networks, an even greater issue has materialised, that of transnational digital copyright infringement through websites. Traditional copyright laws operate territorially and some websites use this territoriality, by going beyond national boundaries and operating abroad. They sometimes use the loophole-ridden copyright laws of foreign countries. Therefore, copyright infringements on the Internet have become an international problem and this situation poses a new challenge for copyright holders. The principle of territoriality is not sufficient anymore. It is obvious that those infringements on the Internet are a global problem, affecting all nations. International issues are usually best solved through international cooperation. The solution clearly lies in the reform and harmonisation of International Private Law (IPL) of copyright at global level. In this Ph. D. thesis, three different scenarios have been examined to show the challenges encountered by copyright holders on the Internet. Jurisdiction and applicable law issues have been identified in these scenarios. The aim of this study is to examine the IPL of copyright on the internet.

Much has been said about the unfairness of binding bill of lading holders with the charterparty contracts, the copies of which are rarely provided together with the bills of lading. Besides, many people felt strongly that importing the provisions of an unseen contract creates a more risky international trade environment. Yet, it is an undeniable fact that incorporation clauses can make the holders subject to the charterparty provisions, even though the copies of these contracts are not shown to them. Nonetheless, since the early years, the issue of whether the charterparty terms are actually imported into a bill of lading has given rise to a great amount of litigation between the carriers and the holders. After a long line of judicial decisions given in this vein, it is now clear that for the charterparty clauses to be incorporated, both the bill of lading and the charterparty need to overcome a set of hurdles, which are popularly known as “the rules of incorporation”. It is equally clear that while these rules establish the formulas to incorporate, they also cause numerous discussions about their workability and longevity in the ever-changing shipping and international trade practice. In the meantime, the rules raise the questions of to what extent the holders are protected against the potential pitfalls arising from the incorporation clauses, and whether the solutions to the problems are adequate in terms of giving commercial efficacy to these clauses. In particular, the overall impact of the rules of incorporation forces all the concerned parties to ask one question: Is the glass half full or half empty? With a view to bringing these issues to light, this thesis thoroughly examines and compares the respective rules of incorporation adopted in English and U.S. law, which offer strikingly different methods to tackle the question of incorporation. In order to illustrate the impacts of the incorporation clauses on the contractual position of the bill of lading holders, the thesis looks at the incorporation of the particular charterparty clauses which have mostly given rise to disputes between the parties, such as forum selection, demurrage, fiost and similar clauses. Notably, the thesis discusses the viability of the incorporation rules in the wake of the new international movements concerning the unification of the laws governing the bills of lading. Finally, this study, inter alia, concludes that the trend is more receptive to the carriers’ imposition of monetary liabilities through the incorporation of charterparty terms than the enforcement of charterparty forum selection clauses.

Health related biotechnological research is undoubtedly a significant social utility. Such research leads to development of drugs, diagnostics, and better understanding of the causes of diseases and illnesses that plague humanity. It also helps to drive economic growth. Patenting and the commercialisation of the products of biotechnological research enterprise provide the necessary economic incentive to encourage investment, drive innovation and productivity in such enterprise. While significant profits are made from this enterprise, these profits are presently shared between researchers (and their employers) who develop the products and private companies that market the products in a commercial arena. Although human biological material is an essential raw material for most health related biotechnological research, the individuals who contribute this essential raw material (‘sources’) are largely excluded from partaking in the profits made from research enterprise. While it is important to safeguard the profit interest of developers and marketers of products generated from biotechnological research enterprise in order to maintain the incentive to embark upon such ventures, the current two-dimensional approach to profit sharing is arguably untenable. It is inconsistent with notions of justice which form part of the fabric of a civilised society. Furthermore, sources are becoming aware of the potential commercial value of biological material as the matter continues to be debated in the public arena and they may refuse to participate in research if they perceive they are treated unjustly. This potential state of affairs could hinder research progress since its survival depends to a significant extent on the continued supply and availability of human biological material. One supposition advanced here is that sources who contribute commercially valuable biological material towards research enterprise should be empowered by law to claim compensation for their contribution, or alternatively, to direct such compensation into further research, if they so wish. Furthermore, a source’s interest in determining how and by whom his or her biological material is used should also receive more robust protection under the law than at present. Such an approach arguably enhances the ethics of research enterprise by helping to promote justice, dignity and autonomy for sources. It is proposed that a hybrid liability/property policy framework should be introduced for this purpose, a framework which should seek to safeguard the interests of sources of biological material, without discouraging innovation or eroding the economic incentive to conduct and invest in research. An attempt is made in this discourse to sketch the contours of one such model.

Giorgio Agamben‘s work has been at the forefront of modern debates surrounding sovereign exceptionalism and emergency powers. His theory of the state of exception and engagements with Michel Foucault appear to focus upon sovereign power‘s ability to remove legal protections from life with impunity, described by the figure of homo sacer. Much secondary scholarship concentrates upon this engagement. This thesis contends that this approach is too narrow and assimilates Agamben‘s work into Foucault‘s own thought. Through his engagement with Foucault, Agamben‘s thought is argued to be immanent and directed toward questions of fundamental ontology. Agamben contends that the human being, and all social structures, including law, are defined negatively through being held in relation to an ineffable transcendent ground. This negativity is transmitted through the exception. In challenging foundational mythologemes, Agamben questions received conceptualisations of sovereignty, arguing that sovereignty is a mythologeme used to legitimate and justify governmental praxis. Agamben‘s immanent thought seeks to philosophically justify a messianic politics and form-of-life no longer grounded in negative foundations. This form-of-life Agamben terms ―whatever-being‖, a life lived beyond relationality. This thesis transposes Agamben‘s thought on exception, sovereignty, the human and power into the realm of legal reasoning. A form of ethical decision-making and precedent charitable to Agamben‘s thought is constructed, constituting a unique contribution to jurisprudence. This ethical decision focuses on whatever-being‘s singularity. However, Agamben‘s eschewing of relationality means this ethical decision-making is aporetic, still reliant upon a derivate form of relationality. This thesis illustrates how Agamben‘s thought is constructed through a misreading of Heideggerian hermeneutics and a failure to acknowledge its debt owed to Levinasian ethics. Agamben remains trapped within two critiques of his non-relationality, one drawn from Heidegger‘s hermeneutic circle of Being, the other drawn from Levinas‘s ethics of the Other. Ultimately, Agamben‘s philosophical conclusions are contended to be unsustainable