This study analyzes the activities of the organized crime groups involved in the drug business, as well as examining national and international efforts to control these groups. Specifically, this study addresses the following questions: How is organized crime connected to the international drug business?; What are the major transnational organized crime groups involved in the international drug business?; What is the nature of the drug problem as it relates to organized crime internationally?; What international cooperative law enforcement efforts currently exist to deal with organized crime and the drug business? Findings indicate that efforts to create an effective international law enforcement network are needed to meet the challenges of drug trafficking and globalized crime. To date, such efforts have largely been unsuccessful.

Out of a total of 2,976 double tax agreements (DTAs), some 60% are signed between a developing and a developed economy. As DTAs shift taxing rights from capital importing to capital exporting countries, the prior would incur a loss. We demonstrate in a theoretical model that in a deal one country does not trump the other, but that the deal must be mutually beneficial. In the case of an asymmetric DTA, this requires compensation from the capital exporting country to the capital importing country. We provide empirical evidence that such compensation is indeed paid, for instance in the form of bilateral official development assistance, which increases on average by six million US$ in the year of the signature of a DTA. / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

This thesis addresses the potential of private-public partnerships (PPPs) to involve private forest owners in formal forest protection. These partnerships have been widely advocated as means to engage actors from diverse sectors in collaborative new relationships, formed in a step-wise manner, to improve management of resources that combine public and private goods. Nature Conservation Agreements (NCAs) are the first kind of PPPs to be used in Swedish forest protection. NCAs were introduced in 1993 and are agreements based in civil law between a private forest owner and the Swedish Forest Agency or County Administrative Board. Although NCAs were introduced to promote interest in nature conservation among forest owners, the response has been rather weak. Thus, in 2010 the government launched a pilot project called the Komet program, in which private forest owners in selected pilot areas initiated protective measures. Although criticized by environmental non-governmental organizations, the government decided after the pilot project terminated in 2014 to implement the Komet program’s working methods nationwide. In this thesis, PPPs’ potential to contribute to forest protection is analyzed by applying the “Ladder of Partnership Activity” framework, developed to study global PPPs, with appropriate modifications for a national context. The framework incorporates, in a stepwise manner, context, the actors’ motives relating to trust-building, the creation of collaborative advantages in the partnering process and the institutionalization of PPPs. The thesis contributes to an empirical understanding of top-down and bottom-up PPP processes. It is based on studies in which qualitative research methods were applied to examine selected cases presented in four papers, designated Papers I-IV. The main sources of information are qualitative interviews with involved forest actors and policy documents they have produced. Papers I and II focus particularly on trust-building and the partnering process as perceived by involved forest actors, while Papers III and IV address the institutionalization of PPPs and their requirements to change the political order of forest protection in accordance with governmental objectives. The results show that willingness to adopt PPPs is dependent on past experience of collaborative efforts. They also show there is substantial discretion in involved actors’ interpretation of prescribed guidelines, and their motives may vary substantially. However, as long as they share the same ultimate objective, i.e. to protect forests, PPPs may still be successfully established. A major potential problem is that public officials tend to prioritize protection of biodiversity, while forest owners want to protect social values and unproductive (“useless”) forests. Thus, shared motives are essential to establish trust and initiate collaborative efforts. The voluntary element of initiatives supported by the Komet program appears to be essential for deliberation. PPPs need to be implemented nationwide to be institutionalized. However, the Swedish government has not provided sufficient resources and leadership capacity to enable PPPs to play their envisaged role in its forest governance system. If the government wants to adopt bottom-up approaches, it needs to provide sufficient resources so that the partnerships does not compete with other formal instruments and protection arrangements. Furthermore, coordination within and between sectors needs to be improved to clarify the purpose of the policy recommendations.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the extent of how have recent decisions of ECJ in cases Gasser, Turner and Owusu compromised the efficiency of jurisdiction agreements under Brussels I. Regulation. The main and most important aim of European Union, as a political and economic union, is facilitation of trade among Member States. Commercial transactions, especially in international framework are heavily regulated by contracts, wherein parties tend to regulate all potential issues in order to prevent applications of national laws. Therefore in international trade, the importance of party autonomy is even more significant than, in any other branch of contractual relations. One specific expression of party autonomy is incorporation of jurisdiction agreements into contracts, whereby parties determine which national court will have jurisdiction in the case of potential dispute. These so-called prorogation agreements are at the European level, regulated by Brussels I Regulation. However the ECJ has in several recent cases prioritized other principles, such as mutual trust and avoidance of irreconcilable judgements to the prejudice of party autonomy, which has together with very literal approach in construction lead to uncertainty in efficiency of application of jurisdiction agreements. This thesis...

The object of this thesis is Voluntary tools for the protection of the environment. Voluntary environmental tools, also known as voluntary instruments or approaches, are a set of activities primarily used by business entities to reduce their negative impact on the environment. Their hallmarks are voluntary, ie. Private entity make voluntary decision if voluntary instrument applies or not, and their use is not mandatory in any legislative provisions stipulated, and prevention, ie. applied mainly as a preventive tools used to eliminate the negative effects of business activities on the environment. Voluntary tools are one of the tools of environmental policy. Despite their disparate developments, we can say that their use has expanded since the 90 of the 20 century. in connection with a new environmental strategy that seeks to prevent negative impacts on the environment by trying to cause these effects to actively seek out and eliminate (prevention strategies). In the first part I have dealt with historical and institutional development of voluntary instruments as a whole. Watching the development in the context of international, European and national developments. In the second part, I defined a voluntary instrument, and then classified them into two main groups according to the independence of...

Environmental protection and the World Trade Organization Klára Šmídlová Abstract The theme of this diploma thesis is the relationship of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to the environmental protection. In its three chapters, this paper carries out an analysis of the historical aspects of this relationship and also of the questions, which are being solved in the present. The first chapter outlines the evolution of the relationship between the international trade and the environmental protection since 1947 when the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was concluded. The second part of the paper focuses on the analysis of the provisions of the particular WTO agreements, which approach the issue of the environmental protection in different ways. The case law established by the WTO bodies during solving of the disputes between the member states is especially emphasised in analysis of the provisions of the WTO agreements. Finally, the last chapter is devoted to the research of the relationship between the WTO and multilateral environmental agreements, above all those making use of the trade measures to achieve their goals.

This work focuses on globalization, more closely on the economic aspects of this process. Small countries, especially developing ones are in the spotlight, as they face unique challenges that have been addressed by the international community for decades at least. The success rate of the intervention is very questionable and leaves room for improvement, which may be a platform to elevate millions out of poverty, solve crippling problems, provide access to technology and improve the global economic system. The uniting hypothesis is that that small developing nations are functioning in a hostile environment when it comes to trade, intellectual property protection and debt, which makes it extremely difficult for them to globalize competitively. Economic history, trade and technology are the main filters of this research. Conventional economic theory like market fundamentalism, and international trade theories will be discussed. A holistic literature review, will try to depict the many sides of the argument. The data used will be from the World Competitiveness Report, World Bank's World Development Indicators, other World Bank data, apropriatiate statistical offices. A case study is implemented to conclude the thesis and in this case to evaluate the hypothesis as only partly true, since small...

The goal of this diploma thesis is to provide an overview of the increasingly more important world of copyright protection as it concerns computer programs. The focus of this overview being primarily that of the national law of the Czech Republic, however this diploma thesis takes into account international law where applicable as well. The thesis begins with an introduction into the very concept of copyright law, the definition of a copyrightable work and that of computer programs and terms related therein. What follows is a brief account of the history of computer programs and computer programing in general as a basis for the following legal perspective into the matter. An international overview of the subject matter follows, including a look at key moments from an international perspective at the field of copyright protection of computer programs, including a brief overview of the Berne Convention, the TRIPS Agreement as well as aspects of European Law. Computer programs as subjects of copyright protection, including additional classification, are the basis of the next chapter, while an account of the specifics of authorship, co-authorship, collective works and works created under employment follows thereafter. The subject matter of copyright itself, distinctions therein, the subject matter of...

The main purpose of this thesis was to give a general overview of the problem of child soldiers and their protection among international law conventions and among regional law agreements with the focus on the African continent. The use of child soldiers in armed conflict is qualified as one of the worst forms of child labour.The majority of child soldiers are active in Africa and, to a lesser extent, in the Middle East and Asia. Besides introduction and conclusion, the study consists of five chapters. The first chapter describes the protection of child soldiers on the international level. Therefore it is focused on individual conventions, especially on Geneva Conventions, Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure, but as well on the International Labour Convention No. 182 or the Rome Statute. The soft law represents Paris principles. Discussed is particularly the question of the age limit for child participation in armed conflict. The second chapter is concerned with the international control mechanisms, resulting from the above-mentioned...

The Nature of International Law in Agreements concluded by International Non-governmental Organisations The aim of this thesis is to examine the international nature of agreements concluded by international non-governmental organisations (hereinafter referred to as INGOs). Do INGOs enter into contracts ruled by public international law? As INGOs regularly participate in international conferences, this first research question implies others: What is the role of INGOs in international treaty - making? Are they or might they become parties to "traditional" international treaties? With regard to the method of work and sources, the study is an analysis based on various academic publications including books and articles and detailed research into particular agreements. The work is composed of four chapters. Chapter one is introductory and defines the term INGOs, provides short information on their history in international law and describes their current position in international law. Chapter two discusses the issue of subjects of international law with respect to INGOs. The possibility of INGOs being the subjects of international law is investigated. Chapter three concentrates on international treaty-making. This chapter is divided into five parts aimed at characterising this general topic in accordance...