Magister Legum - LLM / This study unveiled the trade-environment debate which has been revolving in the World Trade Organization for quite a long time now. While economic integration and trade liberalization offer the promise of growth and prosperity, environmentalists fear that free trade will lead to increased pollution and resource depletion. On the other hand, free traders worry that over-reaching environmental policies will obstruct efforts to open markets and integrate economies around the world. Trade liberalization has the potential to affect the environment both positively and negatively. Trade and environment tensions have therefore emerged as a major issue in the debate over globalisation. This paper examined the contours of these tensions and argued that trade policy and environmental programs can be better integrated and made more mutually supportive. / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM / This paper will analyse critically the main sources, namely UNCAC, the African Union Convention on Prevention and Combating Corruption (AU Convention), the Southern African Development Community Protocol against Corruption (SADC Protocol) and the Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption (CoE Convention). Furthermore, the paper will examine the corresponding explanatory notes and try to provide a picture of the most important aspects of the issue. As many countries are obliged to consider the criminalisation of trading in influence, drawing an overview of it may make a substantial contribution to its comprehension. Due to the limited space, the paper is unable to cover all provisions of trading in influence in countries where it exists. Accordingly, the discussion will be restricted to the situation in France, Spain and Belgium. By analysing the position in these countries, the different approaches to criminalisation can be highlighted. / South Africa

The non-discrimination obligation has existed since the twelfth century. It has been practiced since then, changing from a conditional to unconditional form with the passage of time. It became firmly applied unconditionally at the multilateral level in 1947 after the formation of the GATT trading system upon which several countries based their trading relations. In 1995 when the WTO was formed, the underlying principles of the GATT 1947 became part of the WTO trading system, including the non-discrimination obligation. When countries join the WTO they automatically become subject to the non-discrimination obligation. The ever increasing value of services and trade in the value of intellectual property has necessitated a look at the fundamental principles of world trade that countries have to adhere to in their trade relations. Incidentally, countries are not at the same level economically, hence one of the purposes of the WTO is to facilitate development in developing countries. Accordingly, this requires different application and/or interpretation of these fundamental principles in different situations, depending on the development level of each Member country. Amongst the five principles that underlie the international trading system, the non-discrimination principle is the focus of this study. The sustainability of the entire economic relations between WTO Member countries is dependent upon their fair compliance with this obligation. The obligation is found in Articles II and XVII of the GATS and Articles 3 and 4 of the TRIPS. The Membership of the WTO is made up of developed and developing countries. As a result of the fundamental nature of the obligation it is imperative that the scope and interpretation of this obligation, as developed by WTO adjudicating bodies, be analysed to determine if the obligation’s application and/or interpretation satisfies the above fundamental object and purpose of the multilateral system of trade. The intention here is at all times to show the importance that the non-discrimination obligation carries in international economic and legal interactions and how non-observance of this obligation would negatively affect relations between Member countries of the WTO.

This study endeavors to explore the value of informal cross-border trade to household poverty reduction. Informal cross-border trade has become a panacea to most Zimbabweans both employed and unemployed in the middle of the socio-economic crisis which has eroded the standards of living in Zimbabwe. This study is an eye opener to those who view informal cross-border trade as merely a survival strategy. It explores the efficacy of informal cross-border trade as a poverty reduction strategy looking at its viability and sustainability despite criticism by many people who associate informal cross-border trade with all kinds of negativity. It thrusts forward the agenda of participatory poverty reduction agenda within a nexus of partnerships and relationships between the government, non-governmental organization, institutions and families. Informal cross-border traders have maneuvered their way out of the chains and shackles of poverty even though it has been tough due to many obstacles from different angles. They have helped to distribute the scarce goods and products in Zimbabwe as a consequent of the socio-economic crisis. If they are given a better platform they can 5 perform much better than they are getting at present. Thus this study advocates the forging of networks between various stakeholders in both the formal and informal sector in order to fight against poverty.

This study analyzes the evolution of the regime governing private international trade law from its inception in the eleventh century through to its modern formulation in the twentieth century. It also seeks to explain its development by focusing on three theories of international relations. The regime is defined in terms of its substantive and procedural dimensions. The nature and strength of the norms governing the substantive dimension (prices, liability for defective goods, allocation of transport costs, insurance, and financial and credit arrangements) and the procedural dimension (locus of regulation, methodology of rule creation, and dispute settlement) are analyzed over three historical phases. These three periods are the medieval period, from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries, the early modern period, from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, and the modern period in the twentieth century. The regime norms are found to exhibit significant continuity over time, although there has been considerable variation in the rules. The strength of the regime has also varied over the three phases. Three theoretical perspectives (structural realism, functionalism, and sociological analysis) are evaluated for their relative ability to explain the origin, evolution, nature, and strength of the regime. Each perspective is found to offer important insights, but a synthesis of approaches is necessary to capture the complexity and richness of the regime's evolution. Structural realism does not account for the origin of the regime and is of limited assistance in explaining the strength of voluntary standards. It does, however, explain the influence that states' concerns for political/legal autonomy have had on the regime and offers a reasonably good account of the roles that the United States and the United Kingdom have played in the evolution of the regime. Sociological analysis assists in accounting for the origin and nature of the regime, but it does not provide a comprehensive theory of cooperation. Reference to the other approaches is required as a supplement to sociological analysis. Functionalism provides the best explanation of the origin and nature of the regime. However, it is unable to account for variations in the strength of the regime over the three historical periods. Reference to the influence of changing structures of political authority and to the ideas, knowledge, and values of the major commercial actors is necessary as a supplement to functional analysis. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

The goal of the graduation thesis is an attempt to extend to all the persons interested in entrepreneurship in Mexico current information concerning this issue. Preamble of the work constitutes a brief characteristics of the country including a short historical review. A fundamental chapter of the thesis is dedicated to the business ambient follows. Its specificity have been analysed on the basis of two different methods - PEST method and SWOT method. Further, there are surveyed promising sectors of the Mexican economy in light of investment and foreign trade and all that with respect to the opportunities for the Czech business corporations. A separate chapter is dedicated to the process of entrepreneur's penetration the Mexican market and its terms. The graduation thesis is also focused on characteristics of particular institutions engaged in the field of foreign trade and investment which can give an advisory opinion or help to the clients. A part of the work is also a list of contact addresses of the entities mentioned in the thesis. Closing chapter presents concrete subvention examples of the Czech corporations export activities.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to analyse position of selected Central American countries in the world economy. Selected countries are Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. The thesis is divided into five main chapters. The first chapter provides general information about Central America. The second, third a fourth chapter characterize general and economic information, international trade, foreign direct investments and future possibilities and perspectives of selected countries. In the last part I describe socioeconomic comparison of selected countries.

The paper´s objective is to analyze economic relations between Czechoslovakia and Great Britain in 1960´s. The basic thesis of the paper is the assumption that mutual relations were growing during 1960´s. Next assumption of the paper is that evolution of the mutual foreign trade was unique in comparison with the foreign trade with other countries, and that the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the army of the Warsaw Treaty in August 1968 resulted in decline of mutual economic relations. The analysis is based on the survey of the sources from 1960´s, especially from the archive of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. On the basics of the paper´s objectives, the conclusion is that mutual economic relations and foreign trade were growing during 1960´s. However, this improvement was typical for the aggregate czechoslovak foreign trade, therefore the first part of the assumption wasn´t confirmed, as well as the next part about the decline of mutual relations and trade after the occupation.

China permits foreign investors to establish foreign investment companies limited by shares (FICLBS) together with Chinese domestic investors after 1995. FICLBS are a new form of foreign investment in addition to Sino-foreign Equity Joint Ventures, Sino-foreign Contractual Joint Ventures and Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprises. In the meantime, FICLBS have close relations with and are strictly governed by PRC Company Law. The double nature of FICLBS accounts for many characteristics of FICLBS. As a form of foreign investment, FICLBS are based on the foreign investment regime. FICLBS are governed by the legal provisions relating to foreign investment regime. At the same time, various State and Party policies give various characteristics to FICLBS and make them different from other foreign investment enterprises. As a form of modern company, FICLBS are greatly influenced by both civil law and common law as a result of the policy of joining the world economy. This thesis focuses on the common law influences. The influences of common law on FICLBS are manifest in various respects. On the other hand, various Chinese characteristics are intentionally remained. These Chinese characteristics can be found in many important phases and aspects of FICLBS such as corporate capacity, corporate governance, shares and dividends. The contradicting characteristics of FICLBS are a product of the contradicting State and Party policies underlying them. On one hand, China adopts the opening-up policy and has been making constant efforts to join the world economy. On the other hand, China has always been trying to maintain the so-called Chinese characteristics despite the fact that there is no generally accepted definition of Chinese characteristics. Although China has always been committed to keeping its policies consistent, the unstable nature of the policy basis of FICLBS will inevitably affect the future of FICLBS. However, since the opening-up policy of China will not possibly be reversed in the future, FICLBS will remain available for foreign investors no matter how the specific policies are changed. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

This diploma thesis deals with the question of export support for small and medium enterprises in the context of international trade of the Czech Republic. It presents a comprehensive study of the development of foreign trade of the Czech Republic since 1993 to the present, focusing especially on the role of small and medium-sized enterprises and their importance for the whole economy. Fruther it maps the availability of both state and private export support services which are consequently compared with actual needs, identified through own research among small and medium-sized enterprises. On these basis possible modifications leading to more efficient and transparent system are recommended with ambitions to improve the export performance of small and medium-sized enterprises.