Since the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) came into existence in 1948 (then later formed the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1994 at a conference of 123 countries), many economic blocs in the world have been established and it is the aspiration of many States to participate in a regional integration for a variety of different reasons such as language, religion, geography and increasing trade. One of the best examples of wide-ranging and advanced economic integration is the European Union (EU) which has established a Customs Union as well as an Internal Market. An advanced stage of Monetary Union (a Single Currency) has been adopted in the majority of its Member States. Of the many other examples of economic integration regulated by GATT, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) may be considered as the best example of advanced regional integration in the Arab world as it has set up a Customs Union, a Common Market and there is a Monetary Union agreement among the majority of its Member States. On the basis of the foregoing, the thesis is a comparative analysis of the customs laws and practices of the GCC and of the EU. The comparison focuses on the nature and extent of the competences of the functionally equivalent institutions of these two organisations in relation to the implementation of the customs union and how and to what extent they are exercised – in order to evaluate the GCC system in particular and to suggest potential improvements. The thesis also explores the main obstacles that have faced the full implementation of the GCC customs union, including non-compliance by some of the GCC Member States with the agreed common commercial policy, with a view to providing suggestions and possible solutions for these obstacles. The thesis analyses whether the GCC has explicit or implicit international legal personality to act on behalf of its Member States at international level on issues related to the common commercial policy – as compared with the legal situation of the EU, pre- and post-Lisbon Treaty, by examining negotiation of the agreement between the GCC and the EU. The thesis also discusses the rules of international law related to conflict between treaties, in particular the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969, in order to provide possible solutions for third party agreements which may conflict with GCC law.

Individual persons are the most influential players in the online digital environment. Regarding their internet activities, these individual players could perform their role as either the original creator, the user, or the subsequent creator of the online digital works. When they are performing different roles, they are protected under different fundamental rights. For example, when online user borrows an online original works of the original creator to create online derivative works, two fundamental rights which are relevant are ‘copyright’ and ‘the right to freedom of expression’. The thesis focus on the rights of these online individual players in these two important aspects: copyright and the right to freedom of expression. Based on the inexplicable conflict between both rights, this thesis fundamentally argues that it is not as what was previously claimed that ‘copyright is the engine of free expression’. On the other hand, it is the other way around that ‘free expression is an engine of copyright’. This is following the logic of the deductive argument based on the evidence that ‘free expression is an engine of creative expression’ and ‘creative expression is an engine of copyright’. The argument above thus supports the importance of creativity in the copyright regime. It is thus certified that under the fundamental concept of copyright there lies a strong concept of system that protects and encourages the prosperity of human’s creativity under the term of authorship. Therefore, the protection of copyright in the digital era should not be directed away from this very fundamental concept. In terms of making online derivative works, this thesis therefore proposed that an exception of copyright infringement should be allowed for unauthorised user in so far as it encourages the prosperity of human’s creativity and does not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and does not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author, as certified under Article 9 of the Berne Convention. For this purpose, the thesis finally proposed that it is possible under the fundamental concept of copyright and the internet technology to create a distinction between the act of making adaptation and making publication of the online digital derivative works. This is, at least, to allow unauthorised making adaptation of the online digital works for prosperity of individual’s creativity, without re-publishing of those derivative works online.

This Thesis examines the current public policy and regulatory options likely to influence the future development of the information market. The context is the successful delivery, by digital technology, of the Internet - the precursor to a future broadband network, more popularly known as the `information superhighway'. This advance, which feeds on convergence of the information and communication technologies, will enable text, sound and image to be manipulated, exploited and communicated in digital format across a number of delivery platforms. It has introduced a new phase of intensive policy analysis among administrations intended to lead to the development of national or regional information infrastructure plans, designed ultimately to produce a global framework. A central focus of policy examined by the Thesis is what form the regulatory environment should take to encourage synergy between the public and private sectors in respect of their contributions to the plan. Throughout the work the approaches of the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States are compared. The core of the Thesis is four papers, located in Chapters 1-4, which have either been published or accepted for publication in 1995/96. The first three will appear in the International Journal of Law and Information Technology (Oxford University Press) and the fourth in the 1995 International Yearbook of Law, Computers & Technology (Carfax). Chapter 1, `A Jurisprudence for Information Technology Law' considers the legal response to `digitization' and what the future holds. Chapter 2, `Public Sector Policy and the Information Superhighway' develops one of the themes from Chapter 1 and considers the public policy dilemmas posed by the information superhighway. Chapter 3, `Public Information Access Policy in the Digital Network Environment assesses the arguments for reform of EU access policy, its implications for the UK and the contribution it will make to the information market. Chapter 4, `A UK National Information Policy for the Electronic Age' reviews the progress of the UK in developing an integrated information policy for the information society. Chapter 5 contains a Conclusion. The author believes the Thesis to be the first sustained public policy analysis of the subject since the digital network first began to enter the public domain in 1993.

Causation is a crucial issue in ascertaining whether certain loss or damage is covered in an insurance policy. Although marine insurance is well-known for investigating the “proximate” cause of loss in order to determine the insurers’ liability, decisions by English courts are far from reconcilable. The problem has been suggested to be the inference of matters of fact, and consequently, causal connection is deemed as a complex and uncertain issue. In the light of incoherency and uncertainty of law in this respect, the value of this research lies in the effort to conceptualize and develop a set of consistent causation rules in the marine insurance context and to explore how perils themselves would affect the formation and application of causation rules. Essentially, the proximate cause in law should not remain as a mere open question of fact. In order to achieve the merits, this dissertation scrutinises the causation theory itself and also the correlations between the perils involved in the policy. Introduction presents the legal problem of causation in marine insurance law and stresses the importance of setting up coherent and certain rules. The research on the pure causation theory consists of two chapters: Chapter One regarding the test of causation, i.e. the doctrine of proximity; and Chapter Two on concurrent causes. The subsequent three chapters concentrate on identifying the cause of loss from the nature and concepts of different marine risks. Chapter Three introduces marine perils and examines how causation rules apply in the case of a few typical insured and uninsured perils; Chapter Four and Chapter Five are concerned with exclusive researches on inherent vice and seaworthiness respectively. Apart from the substantive analysis on causation, burden of proof is addressed in the last chapter. Finally, the Conclusion provides a summary of the issues and the set of causation rules.

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.