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.

The relationship of international investment law (IIL) with the rule of law is an increasingly important topic. There is a broad agreement that the rule of law is a guiding notion for IIL and investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS), both in terms of their own operation and regarding the obligations imposed on host States. One of these obligations – the FET standard – has been specifically interpreted as requiring respect for certain fundamental rule of law principles such as predictability, non-arbitrariness and transparency. The principal argument of this thesis is that the FET standard should be seen, in addition to securing international rule of law for foreign investors, as a tool to strengthen the national rule of law in the host States. Progressive development of the FET subprinciples should be complemented with a systematic taking into account the existing national rule of law framework in a host State. This can both enhance ex ante predictability of FET decision-making, and allow for other broader benefits that come out of rule of law improvement. The proposed approach would involve a systematic recourse to a holistic set of existing municipal and international obligations beyond the investment treaty so to help interpret and apply the FET standard. These obligations embody a specific national vision of the rule of law that should be given recognition and support, within limits and without jeopardizing the international character of the IIL norms. Furthermore, decision-making can be enhanced by having recourse to comparative benchmarks to provide persuasiveness of determinations and by limiting the role of good faith considerations. With a complementary focus on the national rule of law, investment awards can become a clearer source for suggesting needed reforms, bringing benefits to a wider circle of domestic stakeholders and more broadly supporting the host State development.

My thesis critically examines whether Malaysian laws on Muslim women’s rights are harmonious with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Women’s Convention). I argue that the interpretation of ‘equality’ is the key to constructing the possibilities of harmonisation. In my conceptual analysis of rights in Islamic and international legal jurisdictions and declarations and in feminist discourse, I argue that both Islamic and international legal jurisprudences present rights as an instrument for equality among human beings. I argue that the principles of equality according to the Islamic jurisprudence and feminists’ standpoint are harmonious. I argue that Malaysia has taken appropriate measures, including laws, policies, administrative decisions and programmes, to eliminate women’s disadvantages based on the principal areas of concern and recommendations made by the CEDAW in its Thirty-Fifth Session. However, there are a few areas that need specific improvement for the betterment of the laws, policies, administrative decisions and programmes in securing Muslim women’s equality rights. I explore whether reservation of Article 16 (1) (a), (c), (f) and (g), pertaining to different entitlements to rights for women and men in Muslim marriage and family relations entered by the Malaysian Government to ensure the prevalence of Shariah practised in Malaysia, renders Malaysian Muslim women’s rights laws irreconcilable with the principle of equality underpinning the Women’s Convention. I argue that Malaysian laws may become harmonious with the Women’s Convention through a womanist interpretation of Shariah, and the empowerment of the rights-bearer within the Women’s Convention’s wider objectives.

In 2012, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) were elected in 41 police forces across England and Wales. This reform significantly changed the structure for police governance for the first time since the formalisation of the tripartite system in the Police Act 1964. Elected by the local public, with powers to set the police budget, hold the Chief Constable to account, create local policing strategies through public consultation, and allocate funding for community safety activities, PCCs were criticised as likely to have omnipotent power and potentially politicising the police. This theoretically driven thesis uses urban political analysis to identify the impact of these new actors on local community safety policy, specifically how the agenda is set in negotiation with other relevant actors, and the type of agenda that this negotiation produces. The multiple-embedded comparative case study design enables insight into the significance of the English and Welsh Context for PCCs, through the examination of two case study sites: Bristol, in Avon and Somerset, and Cardiff, in South Wales. Through the use of interviews, document analysis, observations and social media analysis, the impact of PCCs on local community safety agendas is evidenced to be limited due to their necessary operation within a policy network, in which other actors have community safety agenda-setting responsibilities, and resources to pursue these. The creation of PCCs’ agenda is reliant on local contingencies within the policy network, including PCCs’ claims to expertise and how they view their role, how other agencies engage with the new actor, and the local context of the case study site. This dependence on established agencies within the policy network, results in convergence of PCCs’ agendas, focused on risk management and situational crime prevention, favoured by local authorities in the era of austerity.