This study, for the first time, brings together the detached understanding that facilitates coherent analysis of the emerging legal and regulatory issues that mobile payments introduce after financial inclusion in Kenya. To pursue these arguments firstly the thesis finds that the law on payments systems is incomplete as it does not address the specific issues necessary for an effective payments systems. It also puts forward the argument that the current regulatory regime is weak and largely unfelt due to its nascent state of development. Furthermore the current legal instruments are dispersed, and not uniformly applied among and across all payments systems and instruments as there exists an ambiguity in the legal definition of ‘mobile money’ and ‘deposits’ that present legal challenges in the enforcement of new regulations. Secondly, the cross-roads between the telecommunications industry and the financial industry that introduces non-banks into the retail payments market, presents a challenge in its effective regulation. As policy objectives are blurred when firms which are traditionally separated have to find appropriate regulatory frameworks in convergence. Thirdly this thesis examines the approach taken by Kenya in regulating mobile payments juxtaposing the realities that combine to blunt the impact of innovation and access to finance. This thesis serves as a foundational discussion on the regulatory capacity for the adoption and development of mobile payments within a regulatory vacuum and proposes that an appropriate regulatory framework is needed to addresses all these issues.

Pakistan is regarded widely today as a country continuing turmoil, in which multiple centres of political and armed power compete with each other, using violence as much as due democratic processes to settle their differences. And yet, as this dissertation seeks to show, there is also a tradition of democracy that has been fought for and won in ongoing nonviolent movements For almost half its life since its creation in 1947, military dictators, of whom there have been four in all, have ruled Pakistan. Amongst these, General Zia-ul-Haq ruled the longest at more than eleven years from July 1977 to August 1988. He not only executed Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan former Prime Minister but he was also able to bring about fundamental changes in the legal, political, religious, social and cultural affairs of the country. His rule is often considered a ‘dark age’ in the history of Pakistan. Two movements – the campaign to save Bhutto 1977-1979 and the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) 1981-1988 – were launched and led by political parties, of which the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was leading member, against Zia’s rule. Historians have generally considered both these movements to have been a failure. In this dissertation, it is argued that although MRD took much longer than the originally-envisaged three months to achieve its aim, it did not in the end fail. It should, rather, be seen as a gradualist democratic movement, which eventually brought the country back to democracy in 1988. The process took longer than expected for several reasons, the most important of which were a lack of unity amongst the leaders of its constituent political parties, particularly the PPP, the absence of an operational corps, and Zia-ul-Haq’s ruthless response to the nonviolent resistance to his rule. Additionally, Zia’s regime was supported for many years by international powers of the Western bloc, due to the war against Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

The Nigerian judicial system is currently in a state of distress. Not only has the judiciary been trailed by allegations of corruption, incompetence and god-fatherism amongst others, the wheels of justice in Nigeria are slowly grinding to a near halt. This is because of the large and growing case list of courts as well as the recurrent industrial strike actions embarked upon by court staff. As a solution to this crisis, stakeholders have put forward a number of suggestions, one of which is the use of alternative dispute resolution methods like domestic arbitration, as a solution to the problems of the judiciary and as a viable alternative to the court system. As we will however come to see in this thesis, Nigeria’s Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1988 (“Arbitration Act”), which is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law 1985, is not only outdated, it is also for many reasons not suitable and relevant to a developing country as Nigeria. For example, the existing Arbitration Act fails to take the legal and social idiosyncrasies of the Nigerian nation into consideration. Furthermore, the Act fails to incorporate the pre-existing and judicially recognized customary arbitration practice into the Act. In addition, the Nigerian Arbitration framework contains a number of anti-arbitration provisions, which have clearly inhibited the growth of domestic arbitration in Nigeria. Moreover, between 1988 and now, a number of beneficial changes have occurred within the sphere of arbitration and from which the Nigerian arbitration framework can draw lessons. All these among others, make the Nigerian Arbitration Act an unsuitable alternative to the court system in Nigeria. This thesis therefore recommends a bespoke domestic arbitration framework, which takes account of the legal and social idiosyncrasies of the Nigerian nation as well as recent but relevant domestic arbitration practices in similar jurisdictions as Nigeria. Among other recommendations, the proposed framework borrows a leaf from the deeply rooted and judicially recognised customary arbitration practice in Nigeria. Furthermore, in a bid to identify and incorporate relevant provisions and practices that have emerged within the sphere of domestic arbitration between 1988 and now, we undertake a comparative analysis of the Ghanaian Alternative Dispute Resolution Act 2010, the UNCITRAL Model Law 2006, the English Arbitration Act 1996 as well as the Uniform Act on Arbitration 1999 of OHADA. It is believed that this modern but tailored framework will encourage the use of domestic arbitration in Nigeria and by extension ameliorate the problems in the judicial system.

This thesis examines the nature, content and legal implications of the constitutional right to development and investigates its (non-)realization by inquiring how development and human rights are being pursued in Ethiopia. In addressing these issues, this study analytically situates the conception of the right to development as enshrined in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) Constitution within the context of the general human rights and development debates, the normative framework of the right to development as established by the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development (UNDRD) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR). Thus, it discusses the theoretical and moral basis for linking development and human rights and conceptualizing the claim for development as a distinct human right. It further explores the evolution of the right to development into an international human rights norm and addresses its attendant controversies. It subsequently analyses the nature and content of the right to development as established under the UNDRD and ACHPR before engaging with the issues relating to the FDRE Constitution. This research has employed doctrinal and comparative legal research methodologies and also involved critical analysis of policy documents and data from secondary sources. This research finds that the right to development as enshrined in the FDRE Constitution is enunciated in ambiguous terms and asserts that it needs to be understood within the broader constitutional context of Ethiopia which, in conformity with UNDRD and ACHPR, considers development and human rights to be interdependent and mutually reinforcing projects which can only be realized through such interdependence and mutuality. It further submits that the constitutional right to development generally provides a legally binding normative framework within which development processes in Ethiopia should be pursued and puts a constitutional limit on the power of the State as it relates to development undertakings. It, however, identifies that, despite its legally binding nature, the observance of this right is not provided with effective guarantee (enforcement mechanism) as the Ethiopian courts are excluded from enforcing constitutional human rights. This study also claims that the realization of the constitutional right to development has been impeded by the governing ideologies of revolutionary democracy and developmental state which undermine the basic conditions necessary for undertaking development and human rights as interdependent and mutually reinforcing goals of the Constitution. Its review of Ethiopia’s successive development policies reveals the marginal importance given to human rights in general and the two fundamental aspects of the constitutional right to development – the right to active, free and meaningful participation in development and the right to fair distribution of the benefits of development – in particular. Its assessment of Ethiopia’s balance sheet of socio-economic development and human rights in the last decade also attests that development and human rights have been practically disentangled and signals the need for taking the constitutional right to development seriously.

This thesis investigates the role of temporary, ad hoc commissions of inquiry appointed to investigate corruption in Uganda from 1999 to the present. It is based on a qualitative research study that involved analysing the relevant literature, official documents such as inquiry reports, newspaper reports and web-based materials; as well as interviews and focus group discussions. The study locates itself in an analysis of and inter-relationship between two dynamics - of global 'good' governance, and of the influence of neo-patrimonial politics that characterise local governance - on the appointment, processes and outcomes of commissions of inquiry into corruption in Uganda. In looking at these factors, the thesis aims at explaining why the institution of the ad hoc commission of inquiry has emerged as the anti-corruption "instrument of choice" during this period of Uganda's history. The findings suggest that the global anti-corruption framework signified by the good governance agenda is hindered by various factors such as the self-interest of donors, the moral hazard inherent in aid and the illegitimacy of conditionality; all of which contribute to the weak enforcement of governance-related conditionalities. This in turn causes aid-recipient countries such as Uganda to do only the minimum necessary to keep up appearances in implementing governance reforms. National anti-corruption is further hindered by the government's tendency to undermine anti-corruption by selective or non-enforcement of the law, the rationale being to insulate the patronage networks that form the basis of its political support from being dismantled by the prosecution of key patrons involved in corruption. Thus, the need to appear to be a "good governor" whilst protecting patrons from possible prosecution necessitates a symbolic approach to anti-corruption that nonetheless seems authentic. Ad hoc commissions of inquiry chaired by judges, which facilitate a highly publicised inquisitorial truth-finding process, therefore emerge as the ideal way of tackling corruption because they facilitate "a trial in which no-one is sent to jail." Commissions of inquiry into corruption in Uganda have therefore played a complex and multiple role in anti-corruption and governance in Uganda. They enabled the government to prove its credentials as a good governor especially at a time when it was being discredited for its reluctance to adopt a multi-party system of government. They also served to appease a public that was appalled by the various corruption scandals perpetrated by a regime that had claimed to introduce "a fundamental change and not a mere change of guards" in Uganda's politics. Nevertheless, while they enabled the regime to consolidate power by appeasing donors and the public, they also constituted significant democratic moments in Uganda‘s history by allowing the public- acting through judges and the media- to participate in holding their leaders accountable for their actions in a manner hitherto unseen in a country whose history had been characterised by dictatorial rule.

This research argues that cooperatives have become uncategorizable in terms of their identity, especially when one attempts to distinguish them from investor-owned firms and hence it is further argued that they should have specified objectives that match with their historical not-for-profit objectives so that they can easily distinguishable. The cooperatives have become uncategorizable mainly due to the gradual adaptation of the idea of investor owned firms into cooperatives and the possibility of organizing business enterprises in the form of cooperatives. The problems are further exacerbated in Ethiopia due to (1) the existence of state incentives to cooperatives,(2) the legislative failure to properly define cooperatives,(3) the policy failure to properly define cooperatives objectives (4) the absence of state regulation of cooperatives or self- regulation by the cooperatives themselves. Cooperatives could easily be categorized if they have specified objectives that match with their historical not-for-profit objectives. Historically, they were intended to solve problems left unsolved by market forces or state intervention or even the charities. Currently, it is the issue of trust that remains unsolved by these alternatives. Although trust is a foundation of any society, it is an attribute which is in decline due to changing nature of community. Consumer cooperatives are viable alternatives of reviving trust by rebuilding traditional communities in a contemporary world. This argument is advanced by reviewing academic writings and critically analyzing the Cooperative Society Proclamation No. 147/1998 in comparison to the Commercial Code of Ethiopia. This is further followed by critical examination of policy documents of the Federal Government of Ethiopia concerning cooperatives. The actual motives and practical regulation of Ethiopian Cooperatives are evaluated on the basis of interviews. Academic literature is used to review the importance of trust and the role of the cooperative in safeguarding and rebuilding it.

This thesis compares the political culture of university students in South Korea before and after the democratic transition in 1987. It identifies the changes in the following: the attitudes to politics, government and media; the political socialization process; the experience of political participation; and the reasons for political participation and non-participation. Qualitative analysis was used to analyse the data collected from interviews and surveys conducted on respondents who were university students in the 1980s and current university students. It was found that compared to university students in the 1980s, current university students held less intensely negative attitudes towards the government. However, although current university students were interested in politics, they were still distrustful of politicians, did not have a political party they supported and had low levels of perceived political efficacy and political participation. Based on these findings, this thesis examined three different types of theories to explain the changes in the political culture of university students. First, demand-side theories that focus on underlying socioeconomic changes to explain changes in the political culture were used to analyse the changes in the reasons for political participation and the changes in the political socialization process. Second, intermediary-side theories that emphasise the role of media were used to examine the changes in the attitudes towards the media and the experience of latent political participation. Finally, supply-side theories that focus on the supply of politics and governance were used to explain the changes in the other elements of political culture. Close examination into the workings of democracy in South Korea since the democratic transition in 1987 revealed that there were indications of cartelisation of the political party system, which explains the low levels of political trust and perceived political efficacy reported by current university students.

The study develops two significant arguments in relation to Pakistan’s socio-legal situation and analysis. First, it outlines and discusses the various prominent facets of the country’s legal architecture to formulate and present, what the thesis terms as, Pakistan’s Socio-Legal Tapestry. It considers the historical and conceptual trajectories of some of the multiple legal and normative structures that prevail in the country, their interplay and encounters, as well as their limitations and problems. It puts this socio-legal architecture at the heart of the examination, and by making the different constituents of the legal terrain explicit – components that include common law, Islamic law, colonial law, traditional law, legal ‘exteriority’ of tribal regions, and issues of ‘lawlessness’ – it makes the case for a holistic understanding of law as the necessary prerequisite to understanding the difficulties that that the country’s law, state and the wider society are faced with. The second significant argument of the study emerges from this expansion of the subject matter of (socio)legal analysis. It is argued that a shift in the understanding of what constitutes law in the context of Pakistan logically leads towards a (re)consideration of the lenses and narratives generally employed to examine it. The identification, examination and problematisation of these narratives – which include the dominant state-oriented legal narrative and the legal positivistic approach, the Islamic law narrative, legal pluralistic approach and the ascendant discourse on human rights – formulate the second substantive part of the study. It is argued that these Narratives of law differ in terms of how they perceive the context, identify their priorities, frame the problems and then propose solutions for their rectification. However, caught in a struggle to maintain their definitional consistencies, these narratives are only able to adopt a partial view of the picture and, owing to that, they generate contradictions that ultimately weaken their approach and proposed solutions. The purpose behind these two arguments is both to make a case for new avenues of context-specific legal analysis, as well as to create possibilities for it in the case of Pakistan. The problems that the country faces and the suffering that its people experience create an urgent need to recognise the deficiencies, both in our conceptualisation of law in this particular context, as well as the narratives, perspectives, theories and ideologies that we employ to approach it. This necessitates the search for alternative narratives for comprehending Pakistan’s socio-legal situation, to offer more nuanced approaches that might enable us to frame issues differently. This, I argue, is the most pressing task for those engaged in the analyses of legal, social and political spheres of Pakistan, and the necessary first step if our goal is the (re)formation of the legal and normative orders to make them more accountable to the people. By adopting the framework of colonialism and Coloniality to offer a different lens to understand Pakistan’s socio-legal peculiarities, the study presents one such attempt in this vein, with the purpose of initiating discussion and inviting critique.

Through analysis based on an empirical study of the Chinese criminal process, this thesis examines the underlying reasons that lead to a striking feature of criminal trials in China---the absence of witnesses. The Chinese criminal justice system routinely relies on official written dossiers to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused. To investigate whether the constructed written evidence is truly reliable, participant observation and semi-structured interviews have been conducted to explore how these investigative dossiers are created, scrutinised and utilised at different stages of the criminal process. Themes that emerge in this study include the police's manipulation and fabrication of written statements, prosecutors' acceptance of, and even encouragement of, police malpractice in falsifying evidence, coerced prosecutorial interrogation in pursuit of a guilty plea, the pro forma trial process, predetermined judicial outcomes based on the official dossier produced and marginalised defence practice throughout the criminal process. Approaching the enquiry from an internal perspective of the legal institutions for the first time within empirical research, this study outlines the key issues with the Chinese criminal justice system through examination of the strategic inter-relationships between the key legal actors, the deep-seated legal culture embedded in legal actions and the structural injustices that follow. Positioning these findings within the Chinese socio-political context, this study reveals that the criminal justice system in China is not a precise truth-finding process, but serves as a State apparatus of social control. The criminal justice system has been structured through the Appraisal System, bureaucratic management, and the central value of collectivism in such a way as to maintain the stability of the authoritarian regime. None of China’s criminal justice institutions are capable of functioning independently to protect innocent individuals from being wrongly accused and convicted. Thus, wrongful convictions should not be seen as aberrational or exceptional, but as an inevitable outcome of established deficiencies.

This thesis examines the impact of structural reform strategies of International Financial Institutions (IFIs) on the rule of law, good governance and development in Pakistan. In doing so, it explores the extent to which the ethos and instruments of rule of law and good governance could be helpful in mitigating problems of social justice as experienced by Pakistan. One important outlet through which this is explored is the internal factors that have aggravated conditions of poverty and social injustice. The interface of these social variables is made possible by the scale of Pakistan’s social challenges which has culminated in the involvement of IFIs in the country’s internal struggles. But like other countries, the IFIs involvement in Pakistan’s domestic affairs has aggravated social injustice rather than alleviating it. The principal argument of this thesis is that absence of social justice in Pakistan could be attributed to the interaction between IFI policies, weak structures of governance and the rule of law. While IFIs policies have recently attempted to emphasise human rights, good governance and the rule of law, these have been ineffective partly because of IFI submissiveness to strategic interests of the United States and Western powers. The theoretical and analytic framework of the thesis is mediated through Amartya Sen’s capability approach. Capability means: What people can positively achieve is influenced by economic opportunities, political liberties, social powers, and the enabling conditions of good health, basic education, and the encouragement and cultivation of initiatives. The institutional arrangements for these opportunities are also influenced by the exercise of people’s freedoms, through the liberty to participate in social choice and in the making of public decisions that impel the progress of these opportunities (Sen, 1999:5). The theoretical framework is used as the frame upon which to engage the impact of Structural Reform Strategies of IFIs on the rule of law, good governance and development in Pakistan as the case study.