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In the 1990s and early 2000s lender liability for the remediation of contaminated land was considered the greatest environmental risk for lenders. The threat of liability from Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 initially drove the introduction and use of environmental due diligence in banks. But instances of such lender liability are now considered highly unlikely. It is because of the low risk of lender liability and the empirical knowledge gaps that existed in the literature basis that this research was necessary. The overarching research question of this thesis examines the lenders’ current perceptions of the threat of the environmental risks, as well as the main drivers for the use and development of environmental due diligence in banks. Unique interview data were collected from fifteen semi-structured interviews with elite banking professionals to test the research premise. There are three, primary environment-related risks. According to the banking respondents’ data the current environmental risk ranking is: (1) lender liability – low risk; (2) the indirect risks – medium risk(s); and (3) reputational risk – high risk. Thus reputational risk has now replaced lender liability as the greatest risk. The interview data further verify that banks use a range of due diligence techniques before and after the grant of loan finance to manage environmental risks. And further to this, the main driver for the continued use and development of environmental due diligence in banks has shifted from lender liability to reputational risk. Originality is assured in this thesis by the use of the interview data. The research fills the empirical knowledge gaps that existed in the literature basis, and has implications for the theory, practice and future research opportunities in a number of areas, including law and banking.

In the wake of the US detention policy in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the practice of detention without trial has gained a degree of attention unparalleled in the history of common law tradition. Legal analyses of all kinds have ensued, and countless policy plans and guidelines have been created. Yet, despite the pedigree of detention without trial, the historical dimension to the practice of detention without trial has not been invested with the scrutiny that it deserves. Drawing on the history of detention without trial in Britain, this research seeks to draw a roadmap for the evolving features of detention without trial. It will be argued that it is by virtue of this historical understanding that we can make sense of the modern laws governing the practice of detention without trial and its associated features.

Traditionally, only States are considered as duty-bearers under international human rights law. Fundamental human rights guarantees have been conceived as standards of legal protection for individuals against the abuse of States. However, with the emergence of various non-State actors, States are no longer the only entities who may interfere with the enjoyment of human rights. The obligations of certain categories non-State actors under international human rights law have been much studied, but the application of international human rights law to “unrecognised entities”, who fulfil the traditional criteria of statehood and have achieved de facto independence but are not generally recognised as States by the international community, have received relatively limited scholarly attention. This thesis aims to fill this gap and examine whether existing rules of international human rights law, especially those concerning non-State actors, provide any basis for such application. Special emphasis will be placed on the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan) as an example of an unrecognised entity. From the birth of the United Nations, the ROC government participated in human rights-related work within the organisation. Yet, after the adoption of General Assembly Resolution 2758, which recognised the representatives of the government of the People’s Republic of China as the lawful representatives of China, the ROC’s signatures and ratifications of international treaties are no longer recognised, and Taiwan’s recent attempts to ratify/accede to international human rights treaties have been unsuccessful. Questions arise whether Taiwan is bound by these treaties and non-treaty rules of international human rights law. It is envisaged that an examination of theories and practice regarding the application of international human rights law to unrecognised entities will inform the case study of Taiwan and contribute to the development of arguments justifying the application of international human rights law to Taiwan.

This thesis provides the first extended taxonomy of charitable intention in the law of schemes. It does so in order to identify the legal functions of intention and suggest critical doctrinal (‘black letter’) reforms so that those functions can be better carried out. Where appropriate, it draws on Australasian statutory and common law innovation. It contrasts developments in those related jurisdictions as a reference point for English reform. Two functions of intention are identified. In the context of established trust reform, intention is one element of a broader process of ‘balanced variation’. The original intention of the donor is balanced against broadly defined effectiveness standards. By contrast, in the context of testamentary construction, intention has a different role. It is constructed simply to make a failed will possible to effect. Efficacious reform is possible with regards to both those functions, and so this thesis proposes a series of common law and legislative changes.

As a system of hereditary social stratification, caste is associated primarily with South Asia, particularly India, but it also exists in South Asian diaspora communities including in the United Kingdom. Discrimination based on caste affects around 167 million Dalits – formerly ‘Untouchables’ – in India alone. In the United Kingdom it is estimated that there are at least 200,000 people of Dalit origin, possibly many more. Government-commissioned research suggests strongly that discrimination and harassment based on caste also exist in this country. This thesis discusses the legal regulation of caste discrimination in India, in international human rights law and in the United Kingdom. In order to contribute to an understanding of how caste can be conceptualised legally and how caste discrimination can be regulated legally, the thesis examines how the concept of caste and the phenomenon of discrimination and inequality on grounds of caste have been defined, constructed and addressed by law. It traces the evolution of the religious, social and legal rationales for caste discrimination, and conversely the evolution of legal remedies for its elimination. Caste is a complex social phenomenon; this thesis explains and addresses the legal challenges of capturing caste in national and international law and examines the advantages and limitations of existing legal analyses and frameworks for tackling discrimination based on caste. In India, caste discrimination and inequality persist, despite constitutional and legislative measures for their elimination; this thesis examines why this is the case, identifies the lessons learned from India’s experience and suggests ways in which India could extend and improve its legal and policy responses to caste discrimination. International human rights law engagement with caste discrimination dates from the mid-1990s. The thesis explains and analyses the prohibition of caste discrimination in international human rights law and the reasons for and implications of the refusal by India, the world’s largest caste-affected country, to accept the conceptualisation of caste discrimination as a form of internationally-prohibited racial discrimination. Other international law approaches to caste discrimination (for example minority rights) are also considered and assessed. A particular focus of the research is the legal regulation of caste discrimination in the United Kingdom. Hence, the thesis undertakes a detailed analysis of the capacity of domestic discrimination law to capture caste. The Equality Act 2010 provides for the introduction, by ministerial order, of a statutory prohibition of caste discrimination by adding caste to the definition of the protected characteristic of race, but reservations have been raised about the appropriateness of legislating for caste discrimination, and as at 1 April 2013 no such order had been made. This thesis challenges the reservations to caste discrimination legislation. It explains why existing discrimination law is inadequate to capture caste, and it argues in favour of an express statutory prohibition of caste discrimination in national law, in accordance with the UK’s international human rights law obligations, as an essential – although not the sole – element of a strategy to tackle such discrimination. In doing so, the thesis also reveals the role and contribution of domestic grassroots activism in securing legal change.

This thesis addresses a neglect of legal analysis in the scholarship on cultural relativism, international human rights law, and Asian values. While a wealth of scholarship exists on cultural relativism as a philosophical or political question, and while the cultural rights of members of minority groups are often addressed from a legal perspective in the context of the European Court of Human Rights, the interaction between broader cultural values – those operant at the societal level – and human rights standards has not been adequately analysed as a question of law. Chapter I provides an overview of the debates on cultural relativism to detail how questions of law have been neglected, and how they would complement the existing scholarship if fully addressed. It concludes there is a need to examine how far international human rights law permits cultural values to affect the manner and extent of implementation as an empirical issue. Chapter II makes it clear that the core question is one of interpretation – i.e., in seeking to establish whether cultural values are permitted to affect implementation of human rights norms in any fashion, this hinges on how the terms of international human rights treaties are interpreted so as to permit it, or not. Chapter III then takes this principle and sets out what the accepted rules of treaty interpretation are, and how international human rights treaty terms in particular are to be interpreted in light of their unique character. This leads us to what is sometimes argued to be the legal basis for the programmatic interpretation of human rights treaties: Article 31(3)(b) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, or subsequent practice establishing the agreement of the parties on a given interpretation. We postulate that the interpretations given by the United Nations human rights treaty bodies are potentially constitutive of subsequent practice under the Vienna Convention, and, if so, we argue that this would be the most appropriate focal point for answering our core question. The rules guiding the use and formation of subsequent practice, however, are not clear. Chapter IV examines what guidelines have been developed in other contexts; in particular, this involves surveying the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice and the World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Procedure, and drawing some inferences from that jurisprudence to arrive at a method for assessing the development of subsequent practice in international human rights law. Using this pattern of analysis, Chapter V then illustrates how it can be applied by using a case study – the interpretive practice of the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women regarding Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia – and draws preliminary conclusions to demonstrate how this mode of analysis addresses the gap in the scholarship.

The Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) standard is the most important and, because of its flexible nature and its status as a ‘catch-all’ provision, most controversial investment protection standard in international investment treaties. The standard imposes the most far-reaching obligation of any aspect of such treaties. This thesis’ core contention is that the current investment tribunals’ interpretation of the FET standard prioritises the interests of foreign investors and neglects the perspectives of host developing countries. Therefore there is a pressing need to reconceptualise the interpretation of the FET standard. In service to depicting the perspectives of host developing countries, this thesis advances an understanding of classifications such as ‘developing’ and ‘developed’ that reflects the issues and challenges that these countries face in the investment dispute context, such as their lack of resources, administrative capacity, technology, and infrastructure, as much as the economic and social level of development international organisations generally emphasise in their classifications. It addresses socio-political circumstances such as political instability, social unrest, conflict and its aftermath, social and political transition, and economic crises and their impact on host developing countries in the investment dispute context. Through a detailed study of the approaches they have taken to such issues in their interpretation of the breach of FET standard in disputes involving host developing countries, it shows that current investment tribunals have taken inconsistent and inadequate approaches to the issues host developing countries face. It argues that a reconceptualised interpretation of the FET standard which acknowledges the developmental issues and challenges this thesis has identified would accommodate the needs of the host developing countries while continuing to give reasonable protections to foreign investors and therefore serve the needs of the system as a whole.

The 2007-09 Global Financial Crisis has been described as the greatest crisis in the history of financial capitalism. The failure of the global financial system was triggered by the ‘Great American Real Estate Bubble,’ however it quickly developed into a global liquidity squeeze that left financial markets at the brink of collapse. The thesis argues that the general culture of banking prevalent at the time both caused and exacerbated the crisis. The Business Strategies were excessively risky, focusing on short-term gains, at the expense of financial security. It is therefore purported that to mitigate the risks of any future global financial crisis a fundamental change in the culture of banking is needed. Behavioural expectations and norms must be redefined and more prudent strategies inculcated. The thesis will show that the only way to hope to achieve such a cultural shift is to employ a holistic approach, encompassing supervision, regulation and crucially corporate governance mechanisms. Previous debates within the UK have tended to focus on macro and micro regulatory reform. However, it is purported that it was in many cases, risk monitoring and management practices within financial institutions that dramatically failed. Whilst prudential regulation is important, the thesis will show that it alone is insufficient to change the culture within the financial system; a multi-faceted approach is needed. The central argument to the thesis will show that corporate governance mechanisms must play a central part in the legal and regulatory response to the Global Financial Crisis, as part of a cohesive package of measures necessary to effect cultural change; it will do this by conducting a case study into the collapse and subsequent nationalisation of Northern Rock Plc.

This thesis examines the legal authority of non-state rules in international commercial contracts and their application in state courts. Non-state rules can be divided in uncodified rules and codified rules. Uncodified non-state rules are general principles of law, practices, trade usages, and custom. They have a customary origin. Codified non-state rules are model laws, restatements of law, standard terms and conditions, and guidelines. They are created by international organisations and trade associations. Non-state rules have legal authority in the national and the international sphere. Their legal authority can be established by looking at different factors: promulgator, substance, support, and application. It is especially the last factor which plays a deciding role in measuring their legal authority. This thesis uses three main case studies: France, England, and the US to understand the legal authority of non-state rules. After having established what non-state rules are and how their legal authority can be measured this thesis concentrates on their application in courts. It asks three important questions: when can non-state rules be applied? When are they applied? And how are they applied? There are four scenarios in which non-state rules are applied in descending degrees of legal authority: first of all, they are applied as the applicable law to the contract, secondly they are applied as sources of domestic law, thirdly they are used to interpret the applicable law, and fourthly they are applied as contractual rules. Legislations have a preference for uncodified non-state rules such as trade usages and general principles. These are often sources of domestic law. To apply these uncodified non-state rules judiciary resorts to codified non-state rules to go from the general principle to the practical application. After studying the application of non-state rules in depth, this thesis concludes with a framework and classification that leads to understanding the legal authority of non-state rules.