In the era of globalization many writers (e.g. Hannah Arendt, David Held, Robert Fine) have argued that the ideology of nationalism is being challenged by the growth of cosmopolitan developments, ideas and institutions. This thesis takes off from the evolution of 'cosmopolitan criminal law' out of international law. It argues that implicit in the elaboration and use of the 'crimes against humanity' charge at Nuremberg and at the ad hoc International Criminal Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda (ICTY and ICTR), is the admission that genocide and ethnic cleansing are the business of the whole of humanity and that perpetrators may no longer hide behind the principle of national sovereignty. I argue that the establishment of the principle of individual criminal responsibility for such crimes is not simply a legal fiction. I further argue that the greatly expanded role for short-term instrumental rationality which prevails in modem society (e.g.Zygmunt Bauman) does not limit social actors to a choice of either complicity in or a stepping out of society. The evidence shows that perpetrators do make choices for which they may be held responsible and are not simply puppets of rational structures. The thesis looks at three responses made by the international community to ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia: the peace at all costs policy, which allowed ethnic cleansing to go unhindered in Bosnia; the bombing policy which failed to stop but reversed some of the effects of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo; and the establishment of the ICTY which is judging some of the perpetrators. I use the trials of Dusko Tadic and of Tihomir Blaskic as case studies to investigate the working of the first international criminal tribunal. I also investigate the trial of Andrei Sawoniuk, held in London in 1999, for his actions during the Holocaust in Belarus, and the libel trial in which David Irving sued Deborah Lipstadt. Using these four cases, I examine the functioning of cosmopolitan criminal trials, the different contexts in which they are held, their use of evidence and law, the extent and limits of the justice they achieve, and their role in the production of authoritative cosmopolitan narratives.

The title of this thesis is Freedom of Association and Trade Union Rights in Europe, Comparative Analysis of the ECJ and ECtHR Case Law. There are several issues that the thesis will try to shed light on. Firstly, it will identify what level of freedom of association as a trade union right is deemed acceptable at the international and European levels. At the international level the ILO and ESC standards will be looked at, while at the regional level I will research the case law of the two European Courts – CJEU and ECtHR. Secondly, the standards of the CJEU and ECtHR will be compared to each other. This way, we will know which of the two protects trade union rights better and where there might be flaws. Thirdly, after comparing the CJEU and ECtHR standards with each other, they will be compared to the international standards of the ILO and ESC. This way I will check how the regional standards are in concert with the international standards that are respected worldwide. Finally, the prospects of EU accession to the ECHR will be looked at. Here I will investigate whether the accession might affect the protection of trade union freedoms in Europe, and if so, in what way.

The ultimate aim of this thesis is to examine the legitimacy and procedural fairness of the asset-freezing legal systems1 as a counter-terrorism measure, in order to offer recommendations on how to reform the law in Jordan. To that end, it is argued that counter-terrorism measures generally undermine procedural fairness and relevant human rights. This thesis explores how sophisticated legal orders deal with the adverse effects of lack of legitimacy and procedural fairness in the asset-freezing counter-terrorism, in order to form a model that can resolve the defects in the application of the asset-freezing systems. To achieve this end, the thesis is divided into seven chapters. It starts with a brief introduction. Chapter 1, seeks to explore the development of the asset-freezing in the United Nations (hereinafter ‘UN’), the changes in its nature, and determines if the United Nations Security Council (hereinafter ‘UNSC’) is empowered to impose such asset-freezing obligations. Chapter 2, inspects the decision-making procedures involved in the asset-freezing against designated persons such as UNSCR.1267, and its descendants, and the observation of procedural fairness in the UN legal order. Chapter 3, examines the application of the UNSC asset-freezing systems by the European Union (hereinafter ‘EU’) and its procedures, and the observation of procedural fairness in order to explore its inconsistencies and flaws. Chapter 4, looks at the legal challenge to the UN and EU legal orders, the lack of judicial protection in the UN, and the possibility of compensating for this lack by the EU Judiciary based on the autonomy of the EU legal order to see if the EU courts have the capability to provide effective judicial protection and the extent of such judicial protection . Chapter 5 deals with the approaches followed in applying the UN, EU and national asset-freezing systems and their procedure in the UK legal order, also the observance of procedural fairness in these contexts. Chapter 6 examines the right to effective judicial protection and the approach followed to accommodate the security considerations in proceedings before the UK court. Chapter 7 explores the application of the asset-freezing systems in Jordan, the lack of procedural fairness and the limited judicial protection offered. Finally, the thesis presents concluding remarks and recommendations for law reform in Jordan.

The Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was conceived of as the Court’s gatekeeper and empowered in the Rome Statute to provide an essential counterbalance to the significant discretionary powers granted to the Prosecutor. This thesis analyses in detail the PTC’s powers at the different stages of the Court’s proceedings in which it is called to intervene – ie pre-investigation, investigation and pre-trial stages – and argues that, in general terms and save some limitations, the PTC has the necessary tools to carry out its function. In particular, the PTC has been empowered to prevent possible abuses of power and shield the Prosecutor from external pressures through the judicial review of his most critical discretionary decisions. By way of that judicial control, the PTC is meant to examine the rationale behind the Prosecutor’s decisions in order to guarantee that the exercise of discretion is not abusive or the result of improper political pressures. This is necessary to safeguard the legitimacy of the institution as a whole and to protect the rights of those that can be affected by the Court’s investigations and prosecutions. However, a systematic evaluation of the way in which these powers have been applied reveals that the PTC’s judges have adopted a rather cautious approach to their role, showing some reluctance to firmly scrutinise the Prosecutor’s exercise of discretion. As a result of the Court’s inherent limitations and the political climate in which it operates, there is a concrete risk that external actors may try to politicise the role of the Court, exerting political pressures on the Prosecutor. The adoption of a more proactive and firm role by the PTC will not only encourage a more transparent decision-making process by the Prosecutor, but will also urge cooperation and genuine investigations and prosecutions at the national level, therefore minimising the risk of the Court’s political instrumentalisation. Accordingly, this thesis argues that, for as long as the PTC boldly embraces its full powers, the ICC will function smoothly and strengthen its reputation as a fair and impartial means by which to obtain international criminal justice.

The argument of this thesis is that measures taken by international bodies to establish the rule of law in postconflict situations are undertaken in the mistaken belief that they will automatically enhance conditions for the rule of law to flourish. In fact, examination of the situation in Southern Sudan demonstrates that there is a wide disconnection between the measures pursued and the outcome of the process. This study will therefore inquire into the different meanings attributed to the concept of the rule of law in order to establish what the concept signifies in the context of statebuilding, with a focus on Southern Sudan. How does the theoretical understanding of the rule of law correlate with the legal and institutional measures taken by international organizations such as the United Nations and the African Union to build the effectiveness of the state in Southern Sudan? The study will further address issues such as what kind of state institutions are envisaged by rule of law reforms, together with the historical and theoretical imperatives which orient and drive the rule of law building process in post-conflict situations. The research is envisaged as a contribution to the debate on how to make ‘rule of law work on the ground’. It is hoped that if practitioners and policy makers take into account the findings of this study, their contribution to rule of law reforms in countries like Southern Sudan that have experienced protracted conflicts will not only achieve their objectives of reforms but also significantly improve the social and economic wellbeing and human rights protection of the people in whose name these reforms are pursued.

The Olympic Movement has a constantly expanding mandate which has seen it venture into many fields other than simple staging of the Olympic Games. For example, it has extended its mandate into the equal representation of women in sport, but more importantly, this thesis examines its new mandate of building peace through sport, which is contained in the Olympic Charter’s 2nd Fundamental Principle of Olympism. It has also indirectly influenced the production of the UNGA Olympic Truce Resolutions, by calling on the UN to revive the ‘concept of ekecheiria’. However, the Olympic Truce Resolutions are frequently flouted, and more often than not, by the Host Nation itself, including the UK and the USA in recent years. This thesis examines a possible solution to this failing, which is the Olympic Truce Resolutions codification into a binding Treaty where states and the entire Movement are party to it. This thesis recognises that there is the inherent problem in this, in that the Olympic Movement is not comprised of states. Its core actors are the International Olympic Committee, National Olympic Committees, and International Sporting Federations (and to a lesser extent OCOGs). Hence this thesis submits the novel concept of Olympic Singularity, eight unusual features that amplify the EU doctrine of the specificity of sport on the Olympic playing field. These eight cumulative features unite to allow the Movement to be co-signatories to the Truce Treaty, alongside states. It also enables the Movement to govern the Truce Treaty and any sanctions thereof. Again, this is because of the features of Olympic Singularity, the most notable of which is that the Movement is unusual because of its universal singular webbed framework which necessitates its consideration as a single powerful organ capable of action on the international stage equivalent to states. Olympic Singularity justifies the Movement’s special treatment before law, in the form of an atypical international law subject, in that it unites independent actors into one organ, enabling them to have capacity on a par with those reserved to states and international governmental organisations. This would only take the form of governing and sanctioning a Truce Treaty. This thesis examines precedent for this in that the ancient Olympic Games were governed by a single state who dispensed real sanctions for the breach of ekecheiria. It also examines in a case study, South Africa which shows that the end of apartheid was assisted by the UN and the Movement uniting and using sport by way of a binding international Treaty, ICAAS 1985. Hence the capacity of the state system was required alongside the recognition of all involved that it was a Treaty.

This thesis explores the trade related aspects of environmental standards. It assesses the potential for trade related conflict between Developed and Developing countries arising out of Unilateral Environmental Action (UEA). Furthermore it analyses the concept of Mutual Recognition (MR) and Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) to understand how the inherent characteristics may potentially be utilized to reduce friction in international trade while implementing standards. The thesis also looks at the WTO compatibility of environmental standards, UEAs and MRAs. It uses a “Black Letter” methodology of doctrinal analysis, concentrating on doctrinal principles associated with the transnational governance of environmental standards and includes the analysis of statutes and cases of the WTO.

The focus of this study is the property rights theories tested in the context of Modern China’s rural areas. It is divided into three parts: Part I presents the theoretical framework, concepts. These form the analytical tools. Part II briefly describes the three big transformation of rural arable land ownership in modern China. This is a particular case in which the theoretical framework can be tested. In Part III of this study I apply the analytical framework developed in part I to understand the puzzles and problems described in part II. This is the application of theory to the history and reality. In this research, I show that the change of property rights is central to political, economic and social change in that particular society. As a formal institution, property rights provide an incentive or disincentive structure for a particular economy. The contrasting economic performance in modern China’s agriculture can be well explained by the underlying force— the property rights institutional arrangement. The stagnation and decline of Chinese economy and universal poverty is conditioned by the disincentive structure of the Commune System. While the specular economic growth and its relief of poverty is driven by the incentive structure of the Household Responsibility System (HRS). The success of the HRS is in that it is not only a government institutional arrangement but also a communal institutional arrangement in its origin. The rules created by the peasants themselves are legitimized by the central government as property rights. It really matter who creates the property rights and for whom. This research attempts to enrich our knowledge in social science. It challenges the conventional and standard political and economic theory used to explain Chinese puzzles in its economic growth and social development. In the theoretical sphere, it contributes mainly to the literature of Marx’s theory of property, Honoré’s concept of ownership and Ostrom’s theory of common-pool resources and institutional change. In the practical sphere, it contributes to our understanding of the radical and complex change in Modern China’s rural areas.

Like consociationalism and territorial pluralism, centripetalism is a multiculturalist way of managing ethno-cultural diversity. Many scholars have examined how a consociational or territorial pluralist formula might help Turkey to resolve its long-running Kurdish problem. To date, no one has paid enough attention to the merits of centripetalism by scrutinising whether they might contribute to the solution of the problem. There is a general neglect of centripetal solution in the academic literature on Turkey's Kurdish question. As an interdisciplinary study, this thesis seeks to fill the centripetal research gap in the literature. The thesis argues that neither consociationalism nor territorial pluralism might be the optimal multiculturalist approach that Turkey should embrace in resolving its Kurdish issue. The thesis comes up with an original centripetal formula for the resolution of the issue. The proposed formula is constructed on the following three cornerstones: 1) a parliamentary system which is built on a 560-member legislature elected via an original version of the Alternative Vote Plus electoral system; 2) asymmetric territorial autonomy for each Kurdish-populated province; and 3) cultural autonomy for individual Kurds residing in the Turkish-dominated provinces. According to the thesis, this centripetal formula might enable Turkey to satisfy or begin to satisfy all main Kurdish demands, the fulfilment of which is regarded by almost all segments of Kurdish society as the basic requirement for the solution of the Kurdish problem. The formula might also create a multiculturalist Turkey less likely to witness some problematic political scenarios that would happen should the Republic establish a consociational or territorial pluralist model for the solution of the problem.